Your papers, please.
Posted on 05/14/2012 6:00:16 PM PDT by Altariel
Victor Flores said he was in the bathroom of his Petaluma home last week getting ready for work shortly after 4 a.m. when an explosion shattered the predawn silence, followed by a scream.
He immediately thought his wife was being attacked as she returned home after working the night shift, Flores said.
In fact, dozens of federal agents had converged on their McNeil Avenue house to arrest their oldest son, also named Victor Flores, and search the rental house as part of an investigation into a 2010 triple homicide in South San Francisco.
The quiet neighborhood was awakened by loud bangs, presumably from flash-bang devices agents often use to distract a suspect as they enter a building.
Then the bullets started to fly.
When the gunfire ceased, three federal agents were wounded.
One of the family's two dogs, a boxer named Sassy, was dead.
The Flores' home was peppered with bullet holes, including one mere inches above the headboard on the bed where Flores' youngest son slept.
****
He even appeared in court a week earlier and could have been arrested then, his parents said.
“I don't know why they did this to us,” Ana Flores said.
Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security Investigations, would not address the question of the agency's approach to the arrest, except to say, “Our foremost consideration is the safety of the agents” and other people in the area.
(Excerpt) Read more at pressdemocrat.com ...
America has the lowest violent crime rate in 50 some odd years yet the we have more and more SWAT raids.
“I suspect that the wounded cops were wounded by friendly fire.”
I suspect you are right. But IMHO it’s moot. When someone sets off a bomb in your house you have every reason to believe you are in danger and shoot in self defense. I know the cops love to use their toys, but it’s stupid tactically to use a flash bang in any situation other than a known armed standoff. The whole idea is to blind, deafen, and disorient the people inside. Great. They can’t see that you are cops or hear you announce that you are cops. Storming a house with innocent family members should be the last resort, not the first.
To make the country safe for its citizens, all SWAT equipment should be banned and destroyed. These hopped-up cowboys are totally insane when they don their gear and go hunting for anything that moves. Unfortunately, many times that means pets, the elderly and children are shot as the bullets of the black-garbed Barney Fifes fly.
I’m surprised someone hasn’t set up a situation where that would be a possibility.
Eyes
When something like this happens, I am reminded of the movie,”An Innocent Man,” a 1989 movie starring Tom Selleck. I remember being horrified by the premise of this movie. The cops enter the wrong house in a drug raid, kill the wife and frame the husband. I remember when I saw this film, the though of something like that happening was totally unimaginable to me.
In the name of officer safety, you could just kill every one in the house.
Or you could knock on the door like a civilized human being.
Why do people not know the difference between the words "woman" and women?"
Do you realize that the word "woman" is singular, meaning ONE WOMAN.
The word "women" is plural, meaning MORE THAN ONE WOMAN.
Do you seriously not know that?
I would say if you were a criminal it would be smart to rise early before dawn and be ready.But first, be sure the dog is safe.
I don’t want to see Police Officers shot or injured, but these raids in the middle of the night are BS.
It’s the new name for ICE.
It does seem odd, doesn’t it ? If they are concerned about meeting armed resistance, why do they not surround the house, announce themselves through a bullhorn, and see what response they get ? They can always perforate the house if the people refuse to come out or start shooting.
This family would have quietly exited the house with no shots fired, no damage, and the kid arrested. Of course, they also had a search warrant, so these cops would undoubtedly have torn up the house anyway. Judges should all have at least one experience of a search warrant being served on their home so they can experience having all their furniture slashed up and destroyed. They seem way too eager to issue search warrants that will destroy a person’s property.
It was a typo. I apologize.
With that kind of ammo, they can shoot to their hearts content. They've so much they need ammo carriers just to support a traffic stop. And, GOD forbid they stop a 70 year old MALE instead of the 95 year old grandma.
Robert Lasso was killed because he pointed his weapon at a Pennsylvania homeowner’s two dogs.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2762845/posts
Thank God for the “Grammar Police”.
Hmmm, maybe we should contact the new CIA director since those ROE are his and he might be able to talk some sense into Homeland Security.
Now you’re going to tell us that you have never made a mistake! HA!!!
That’s a very good idea but it might be better with a twist - require the judge to supervise the raid.
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