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 ...
Many are cowards and bullies who love to carry guns.
And they’re adrenalin junkies. Drive by a fender bender and there’ll be 3 city cops, 2 deputy sheriffs, 3 or 4 constables and a fire engine. Watch an idiot drive 90 miles an hour down the freeway in city traffic and there’s not a cop to be found. Why? ‘Cause half of them are at the fender bender and the rest are kicking people’s doors in.
I hope this cop becomes someone’s prison bitch. I don’t see where it was neccessary to shoot a guy who has a golf club. Especially when you’ve got him outnumbered 5 to 1.
Now I’ll wait for the “cops are always right and we should lay down and lick boot whenever they tell us to” crowd.
Had the cop been listening to too much angry rhetoric from law-abiding citizens?
There are people who post here who have no problem with this.
“”If this were an American soldier in IRAQ or Afghanistan right now, he would be cashiered summarily poste haste...””
That’s the truth. Look at the trouble Lt. Col. Allen West got into just for firing a shot into the ground next to a captured Iraqi’s (or was it Afghani?) head.
I counted 7 SWAT going into that house - how many more weren’t in the picture? AND shouting “get on the ground”, when the guy has been shot and is already on the floor???
Disgusting.....
Yup.
This video literally made me want to throw up.
I have never done drugs ever, but even so, does possession of drugs warrant this type of crap?
Seriously. GMAFB.
This shooting would not pass muster in most jurisdictions. The suspect was at least 12 feet from the door that the police opened with enough light in the room to see that he had a golf club. Golf clubs are not considered lethal from that distance. The police did not act in a manner which is consistent with sufficient force and public safety.
They could have given the suspect a few seconds before doing a quick draw and firing with deadly force.
I am not either a liberal or a police officer. This was not a righteous kill!
I no longer believe that.
Tyranny incarnate.
Next time I hope the home owner is waiting with a shotgun.
__________________________
Never bring a golf club to a gun fight.
This is a peek into his noggin......
http://www.policemag.com/Channel/Gangs/Articles/Print/Story/2008/08/Ogden-Utah-05-26-2006.aspx
Those people are vile disgusting scum who apologize or think this is ok.
I hate to say this, and can’t even believe I am, but sometimes, you almost wish the homeowner fights back like in The Professional and these a_______ think twice before raiding a home at 3 am for drugs like in a case like this.
It was less than one second.
OLTG's Rules for a Happy (and Longer) Life: "Don't be a drug addict!"
Like I said earlier, at sme point some homeoner is going to respond like in The Professional, and the public will cheer that person on.
People are getting sick of his nonsense. i don’t care if the guy had 2 poundsof coke, thistype of summary execution is nt warranted period.
Yep this allso cracked me up.
I mean serious first they cry police in front of the door.
I mean good luck to hear it (or believe it) when you are inside. And in the next moment you get gunned down in cold blood in your parrents house (what if it has been the mother or his father?) without any warning or even a chance to trop your “weapon” (Yeah i´m shure a guy 10 or more feet away NOT MOVING with putter in his hands is a grave threat to a swat team).
.
And what if the guy was a drunk instead?
This was murder, and anyone thinking this is ok really should ask if this was a family memeber how they would feel about this.
After seeing this, my view of 99% of cops went lower than even I thught it could go.
In the novel "Unintended Consequences", the main plot point comes about because the BATF decide to raid an empty house -- and find out that the house is not empty, and that they have messed with the wrong guy.
This country needs Henry Bowman.
This was murder, nothing less.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.