Posted on 01/18/2011 2:17:18 PM PST by darkside321
Utah police shot and killed a man within seconds of storming his parents' home, video of the raid shows. The police had a warrant to search for drugs, but found only a small amount of pot and an empty vial that had apparently contained meth.
Local media report that Todd Blair, 45, was a drug addict rather than a dealer, according to friends and family.
In the video, Blair can be seen holding a golf club above his head as police smash through his door. Within seconds, without demanding Blair drop the iron or lay down, Weber-Morgan Strike Force Sgt. Troy Burnett fires three shots into him. The local prosecutor has deemed the killing justified, but his family is planning a federal lawsuit, arguing that police had plenty of alternatives.
Blair's death raises the question of why multiple heavily-armed officers were sent to raid a drug addict -- and why Weber and Morgan counties in Utah would even need a "Narcotics Strike Force." Local police forces are able to keep to property they seize in drug raids, often without the necessity of a conviction, creating a perverse incentive to reinvest in military equipment and carry out additional raids.
The killer, Sgt. Burnett, had previously told a law-enforcement magazine that he and fellow officers were trained to shoot quickly and at close range. Burnett had previously put the training to use by shooting and killing an armed suspect in 2008.
"Maybe a month before this [2008 shooting], we did our qualification and this kind of scenario was played out in live fire training where we had to quickly draw and fire at close range," Burnett said at the time. "It wasn't quite identical, but it was close...
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnewsmania.com ...
Well sorry but a .223 FMJ fired from an assault rifle at close range is lethal. There is a chance that the “armor” will stop it (even the more powered 7,62) but this is far away from given, Again we are talking about military armor! and not civilian or police body armor. 2 or 3 hits from a .223 asault (at close range) rifle will kill you no matter what body armor you where.
Maybe 5 seconds would have saved this guy’s life, maybe not. Given the option - I’ll go with the chance at an extra 5 seconds to drop and move away.
I always heard that the best way to deal with SWAT would be to run and regroup. Hoping their gear would weigh them down enough to give me the advantage. They look like they are built to stand and fight in close quarters - not chase. They’d get a lot more worn out sprinting 30 yards than I would. They have to consider each others positions - I would know that whatever moved was out to get me. This could be a wrong assumption- but it’s what I’ve always heard.
This guy was most likely dead from the outset. Still, 5 seconds was a lot more than he got.
No knoxks are total crap unless its an active hostage situation imho.
You know, these swat teams do make mistakes: false tip, wrong address, etc. If they make a mistake, chances are it will be non-users, like you or me, they are doing a dynamic entry on... except as law abiding citizens we have less reason to think the police would be knocking our door down.
Imagine someone knocks your door off it’s hinges at night without any real warning... what is your first instinctive reaction? Do you want to assume its the police and if so what if it is armed criminals pretending to be police? If police can get away with blowing a junkie away within 5s of doing a dynamic entry for holding up a golf club, they aren’t any less likely to do it to us just because they were at the wrong house.
Authorities make mistakes, abuse their powers and otherwise act unjustly towards the citizenry. This guy may have been stupid for using meth and pot, but shrugging off his right to defend his home means you give up your right to do the same.
I agree.
What a world we live in.
The loss of innocent people was unfortunate but we're long past the point where people should be shocked and dismayed by someone striking back at and out of control government.
Sadly, all the hand wringing and qualifying of statements before any facts were even known tells me that while we're too far down the rabbit hole to ever go back to the way things used to be, people are afraid to even show tacit approval of someone striking back. It gives me a sinking feeling.
Exactly right; I agree with GlockTheVote: only in the most crazy emergent situations should anything resembling a no-knock raid occur. Basically, some kind of major crime in progress, hostage situation, etc.
Any other interpretation of the Fourth Amendment falls into Blue Jays' "a few screws loose" category...
When it comes right down to it, the People need to be fully educated and informed on their Unalienable and Natural Rights.
Our rights are what they are, not what the state says they are.
At least, when we fully understand our Freedom and associated Rights, we can make informed choices when deciding how to respond to deadly criminal scenarios like the ones easily created by police nowadays with these abominations known as "no knock warrants".
The police abuse of warrant powers is one of the most Tyrannical facets of modern America. And, of course, there's the ludicrous Seizure issue as well. Basically, the Central government is (unconstitutionally, of course) evolving and implementing a Federal Police State...
No, I’m not able to watch that. I spent a career and didn’t kill anyone’s poor ol’ pet dog. I always carried some treats, a catch pole and hardly ever used the catch pole, common sense stuff, made friends with most of the dogs that looked like they were going to tear you up (defending their turf of course, that’s what they do best).
Poorly trained officers seem to be the norm, immediately start capping people’s pets or tazing people when some words would have worked best. There are exceptions but I never killed fido, busted some dog fighters though, now THAT is very satisfying.
That is just plain murder.
Guy never had a chance to assess his situation.
They come through the door and with 3 quick “get on the ground” commands fire instantly after the last command.
JBT all the way.
Afraid you’re right.
Saw the video a few days ago and was sickened...
These thugs need to be charged with murder, and a few other charges and spend time in prison where they truly belong. Those responsible for these kind of acts are criminals and threats to civil society.
I will not be surprised to hear about the day some JBTs make another “mistake” and some of them are literally blasted back out the door from a person lawfully defending himself and his family.
This kind of garbage needs to stop.
There’s been enough wrong door raids to doubt that.
Moreover, as Radley Balko points out there is *no*
need for a dynamic (read: violent) entry for a non
violent. offense.
This is a murder on video. Does everybody understand?
For what happens to drunks look up Douglas Zerby. Or
Niles Meservey.
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