Free Republic

Where was the Reverend Al when police killed Hispanic Iraq war vet Jose Guerena? Jay Stephenson GenerationSnooki.com March 24 2012 On May 5 last year, former Marine and Iraq war veteran Jose Guerena was just minding his business before police raided his Arizona home and opened fire, releasing more than 70 rounds in 7 seconds while his wife Vanessa and 4-year old son listened from a nearby closet. Armed with SWAT gear and an armored carrier, police no knock raided the Guerena home searching for illegal drugs that were never found. He was suspected of taking part in a marijuana...

...no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution (emphasis added) The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land…. No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law. Sections 3 and 8 of the “Declaration of Rights” from the Arizona State Constitution’s “Declaration of Rights” People seeking to defend the manifestly indefensible often sabotage themselves by disclosing critical details...

A Tucson, Ariz., SWAT team defends shooting an Iraq War veteran 60 times during a drug raid, although it declines to say whether it found any drugs in the house and has had to retract its claim that the veteran shot first. And the Pima County sheriff scolded the media for "questioning the legality" of the shooting. Jose Guerena, 26, died the morning of May 5. He was asleep in his Tucson home after working a night shift at the Asarco copper mine when his wife, Vanessa, saw the armed SWAT team outside her youngest son's bedroom window. "She saw...

The latest in the war of words sparked by the Tucson tragedy: Local tea party groups are actively working to recall Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik for "politicizing a tragedy" after he pointed a finger at Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives after the January 8 shootings of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and 18 others. On Friday, the nation's attention was focused on Giffords's move from the Tucson hospital where she was initially treated to a Houston rehabilitation facility. In Arizona, meanwhile, tea party activists are planning a "Dump Dupnik 2012" rally for January 28 outside the Pima County Sheriff's Department....

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Louis Gohmert (R.-Texas), a former prosecutor and judge and a current member of the House Judiciary Committee, is offering some advice to Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who has gained national attention since Saturday for his suggestions that radio and television talk shows were somehow responsible for the shooting attack in Tucson that took the lives of 6 people and wounded 14 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Says Rep. Gohmert to the sheriff: “Shut up before you do any more damage to the prosecution’s case.” At the Capitol on Wednesday, Gohmert told CNSNews.com, “As far as advice...

President Obama’s dramatic news at last night’s memorial service in Tucson that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ has just minutes before opened her left eye for the first time since the shooting has created some confusion in light of news from doctors that Giffords “could open her eyes” on Sunday. But doctors today provided a simple explanation: Wednesday was the first time Giffords opened her eyes on her own, which Giffords' neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Lemole Thursday called “a major milestone.” “When we examine patients, particularly in this state we have to ‘wake them up,’ give them some stimulus, and with that stimulus...

Wounded U.S. congresswoman moving all her limbs, becoming more aware of her surroundings TUCSON, Ariz. — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has passed a "major milestone" on her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head, doctors said Thursday. The Arizona congresswoman has been sitting up, dangling her legs on the edge of the hospital bed and moving her limbs in response to commands. That's after she spontaneously opened her eyes during visits with her colleagues Wednesday night. She is able to lift both of her legs on command and is yawning and starting to rub her eyes, doctors said."She's becoming more...

A close reading of Sherriff Clarence Dupnik's recent statements suggest that he and Jared Lee Loughner may suffer from similar degrees of delusion. The sheriff has leveled charges of racism, bigotry, and conspiracy without evidence or argument. Indeed, the entire state of Arizona has been indicted by the Tucson Sheriff as a "Mecca (sic) for prejudice and bigotry." Clearly, political operatives and a sympathetic media would like to stem the recent Democratic electoral hemorrhage by laying the criminal violence in Tucson at the feet of conservatives and Republicans. By any historical or contemporary measure, any attempt to link conservative politics...

n response to a query by the L.A. County Libertarian Examiner, Pima County Arizona election officials have confirmed that Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik will next be up for election in 2012. Mary Martinson, of Pima County Elections prompty replied to our question and said "The Sheriff in Pima County is up every 4 years. The Sheriff’s term is 4 years. The next time he (Dupnik) will be up for election is August 28, 2012." His official webpage states that Sheriff Dupnik, who turned 75 yesterday, was first appointed Sheriff in February 1980 and has been re-elected seven times....

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has managed to place himself in the media spotlight by blaming the political and media climate as the reason for last weekend's Tucson's massacre. In fact, the Pima County Sheriff went as far as to blame talk radio host Rush Limbaugh for the tragic shooting that took the lives of six and wounded 14. However, if Sheriff Dupnik is willing to use this line of logic, is he then willing to take responsibility for the fact that his own adult daughter was arrested on drug charges in his own county? His daughter was first arrested for on...

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik ascribed blame in a murder case to radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh - thereby labeling him an accomplice - while conceding he has no proof. At a press conference in the summer of 2009, President Barack Obama admitted to not having all the facts about an incident involving his friend Henry Louis Gates and the Cambridge Police. He then proceeded to declare that the Police "acted stupidly" anyway. Gates was belligerent with his arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley, called him a "racist" and then demanded an apology. Crowley refused to issue one. Sheriff Dupnik...

Democratic Sheriff Clarence Dupnik went on CNN on Saturday and blamed everyone but Jared Lee Loughner for Jared Lee Loughner’s shooting of 21 people, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. CNN did not challenge Dupnik... Dupnik knew at the time that Loughner’s obsession with Giffords went back to 2007... Then he made the mistake of going on Fox News. Megyn Kelly challenged him. He lost.

Glenn opened the TV show tonight by discussing Jared Lee Loughner’s attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords that left her in critical condition and six people dead, including a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge. When Glenn found out about the shooting, he issued a note to his staff: No statement whatsoever, no speculation. It’s common sense, Glenn said, but the rest of the media didn’t seem to think that. Ever since the shooting, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn have all been blamed for the actions of an insane individual. But as Glenn pointed out, the media script does...

...But a look through Dupnik's past reveals a much more complex figure than his current portrayal as a liberal Democratic crusader. Dupnik first joined the Tucson Police Department in 1958, was appointed sheriff of Pima County in 1980, and has won re-election ever since. Perpetually over-tasked and under-resourced, Dupnik's force has the near-impossible job of dealing with not just the usual case load, but also the continuous flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico. In 1981, Dupnik sent a message to all residents: Arm yourselves... Arpaio and Dupnik disagree over whether local law enforcement should be responsible for fighting illegal immigration....

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I have a question about Arizona gun laws. Where I live, NC, the Sheriff is the one who signs/issues gun permits. Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has been on television slandering everyone and blaming anyone he can. He had previous run-ins with Jared Loughner for making threat. Is this Sheriff the one responsible for issuing Loughner his permit to purchase the firearm used in the assassination attempt and murders?

Sheriff Dupnik is insisting that Sharon Angle and Sarah Palin incited this shooting, while also admitting he has no evidence of Loughner's motive as yet. I just heard him say both to Geraldo Rivera on Fox. Dupnik has no evidence to support his "opinion" and Loughner is more likely a leftist than conservative. But isn't the sheriff's irresponsibility extending to jeopardizing the case and handing Loughner a variety of defenses? First of all, the Sheriff keeps saying Loughner is a seriously disturbed individual. That alone is giving credence to an insanity defense. Next, Dupnick is stating that such disturbed individuals...

On Fox News, Megyn Kelly interviewed the man in charge of the Arizona shooting investigation, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Kelly introduced the interview saying, “it is always a difficult task to try to assign reason to an irrational act, but that is one of the things that Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is trying to do.”From there, Kelly was persistent, yet extremely deferential as she expressed the doubts of many who are wondering why the Sheriff is so publicly offering his speculative opinion that “vitriolic rhetoric” helped lead to the tragedy. Although the sheriff had no specific evidence of...

Despite mounting concerns about his bizarre and disturbing behavior, local mental health authorities in Pima County, Ariz. said Monday that no one reported any concerns to them about Tucson mass shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner. Loughner is accused of shooting 20 people on Saturday, killing six and wounding 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D). "To the best of our knowledge, he was never and is currently not enrolled in our system," said Neal Cash, president of the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, the organization that provides mental health services to Tucson and Pima County for the state. The majority of...

Oh, you better hope this is not true: "The sheriff has been editorializing and politicizing the event since he took the podium to report on the incident. His blaming of radio personalities and bloggers is a pre-emptive strike because Mr. Dupnik knows this tragedy lays at his feet and his office. Six people died on his watch and he could have prevented it. He needs to step up and start apologizing to the families of the victims instead of spinning this event to serve his own political agenda." What have I been saying? That in point of fact the Sheriff...