Posted on 07/27/2004 9:46:21 AM PDT by JOAT
When I was growing up, my mother used to say that we would never see a dictatorship in America because Americans would not fire on other Americans at the behest of the government.
I no longer believe this is true.
And frankly, that's the difference between what happened in Russia (leading to the fall of Communism) and what happened in Tianmen Square.
Police are not giving up on searchBullet from last week’s shooting the missing link
By Jim Collar
of The NorthwesternOne small piece of missing evidence could make or break the police department’s efforts to identify a perpetrator in last Saturday’s shooting of an Oshkosh police officer.
While days continue to pass, investigators aren’t giving up hope.
Police Friday morning used metal detectors in a sweep along the 1500 block of Minnesota Street in an attempt to locate the bullet that struck Oshkosh police Officer Nate Gallagher last Saturday night.
An unknown person shot Gallagher in the arm at 10:10 p.m., while he stood outside his squad car talking to another officer.
Police officers earlier this week distributed letters to those in the neighborhood asking them to search their properties for damage or metal fragments from the bullet.
Sgt. Steve Sagmeister said nothing had come of the searches as of Friday afternoon. Still, the investigation hasn’t gone cold, he said.
“They’re still getting leads here and there,” Sagmeister said.
Police last week seized a number of firearms during consent searches of homes in the area, but need the bullet to match against them. Police also served a search warrant at the property they believe the shot originated from.
The search revealed “a person of interest” and led to two felony drug charges.
Both residents, however, were released on signature bonds Tuesday.
The 44-year-old woman will remain at the home in the 1700 block of Minnesota Street, while her 50-year-old husband will live on the 700 block of Fourth Avenue as the drug cases proceed, court records show.
Deputy District Attorney John Jorgensen during the Tuesday charging conference said the couple went to Crivitz while police searched their home.
Officials in the Marinette County Clerk of Courts Office Friday said there are no search warrants on file under their names.
Oshkosh police Chief David Erickson this week said the situation showed the hard work, professionalism and resiliency of his officers, though it’s unfortunate the perpetrator remains on the streets.
“It’s been kind of frustrating that we haven’t been able to make an arrest yet, but we’ve done just about as well as we could do given the scenario we had that night,” Erickson said.
Jim Collar: (920) 426-6676 or jcollar@thenorthwestern.com.
Suspect bound over for trial on drug charges
Man expected to enter plea Aug. 19
By Jim Collar
Of The Northwestern
An Oshkosh man called a “person of interest” in the July 17 shooting of an Oshkosh police officer was bound over for trial on drug charges Tuesday based on marijuana found in his home while officers searched for firearms.
The 50-year-old man, a resident of the 1700 block of Minnesota Street, is scheduled to enter a plea to the felony marijuana manufacturing charge during an arraignment hearing Aug. 19. Oshkosh police officers during a Tuesday preliminary hearing in Winnebago County Circuit Court testified that a marijuana plant and items consistent with a growing operation were in their plain view while serving a warrant seeking guns and ammunition.
The search warrant was served at the home on the day after Officer Nate Gallagher was shot near the intersection of 17th Avenue and Minnesota Street, according to testimony. Oshkosh police continue to investigate the attack. An unknown person shot Gallagher in the arm while he stood outside his squad car speaking to another officer, police said.
Deputy District Attorney John Jorgensen during the man’s initial appearance last week said the property of the man and his 44-year-old wife is believed to be the source of the shot that struck Gallagher based on the trajectory of the bullet. The Northwestern is not releasing the names of the couple, because they were linked to the shooting, though no charges relating to the unprovoked attack have been filed.
Many of the circumstances surrounding Gallagher’s shooting have been kept out of the public eye.
While the marijuana case is moving forward, authorities remain quiet as to why they believe the man could have been involved in the shooting. Authorities sealed the search warrant after its return.
Defense lawyer Brian Mares on Tuesday questioned two witnesses seeking testimony on the limits of the search warrant and the type of weaponry they were hoping to find. Jorgensen objected to three questions Mares posed to Oshkosh police officers Mark Schafhauser and Dean Artus based on reasons of relevancy. Judge Thomas Gritton allowed Schafhauser to answer in general about what the department sought.
“Guns, ammunition, that sort of thing,” he said.
Testimony on Tuesday didn’t reveal any specific evidence returned from the search other than marijuana and drug-related paraphernalia. Jorgensen last week said the marijuana charges are applicable despite the limited scope of the search warrant, because of a legal exemption that allows for police to act on illegal items kept within plain view.
Jim Collar: (920) 426-6676 or jcollar@thenorthwestern.com.
This is going to go to far someday and then all cops will be labeled as thugs. Its getting close i'm afraid. this is clear display of abuse of power over the citizens of this country. Just yet another straw on the camels back......
So, if the magic bullet is never found, guess the rightful owners can kiss their property goodbye. They'll sit in an evidence locker until the department decides to dispose of them.
>>the property of the man and his 44-year-old wife is believed to be the source of the shot that struck Gallagher based on the trajectory of the bullet.<<
HUH? They would have to be able to locate the bullet to determine the trajectory.
In a couple of days the cops will "find" the missing bullet.
Just as soon as they have done the ballistics tests on the confiscated weapons, and are able to fish a couple of extra rounds out of the tank.
In a couple of days the cops will "find" the missing bullet.Just as soon as they have done the ballistics tests on the confiscated weapons, and are able to fish a couple of extra rounds out of the tank.
In Oshkosh? Only if the defendent can't afford to buy off the charges. The Oshkosh PD has been caught playing that game before.
What's wrong with that? I'm sure the cops would not do that unless the gunowner was guilty of *something* to begin with. Why do you hate cops so much?
/ bootlicking mode
Why do ordinary citizens "need" guns anyway?
Maybe they're negotiating now.
In this particular case the cop was actually justified in the shooting but wanted to make sure.
Somebody had a brain fart. This is completely unconstitutional.
PS: Nobody takes my self defense equipment without getting past the fusillade.
I spoke an officer several years ago who admitted he kept a .25 Jennings for that very reason.
In this case, they just need a fired slug from a confiscated rifle. Very easy.
7-29-04 TYRANNY UPDATE!
Oshkosh police say 'Sorry' for trampling citizens' rights in door-to-door gun confiscations.
Oshkosh, Wis. -- In what appears to be an admission of wrong-doing by the Oshkosh Police Department, Fox 11 WLUK (Green Bay) has reported that area resident Terry Wesner was offered an apology by the department.
Police evacuated citizens from their homes within a quarantined area near Smith Elementary School Saturday night (July 17, 2004) to conduct a broad gun sweep of the neighborhood following the shooting of Oshkosh police officer Nate Gallagher.
Residents reported returning home from area shelters -- where they were herded by police -- to find their guns gone.
Others watched in awe as police took their firearms after giving police consent to search. Some were told by police their firearms would be subjected to ballistics tests, and would be returned.
"However, the bullet that hit officer Gallagher was not found," said Corey Graff, executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. "So how can police conduct ballistics tests if there's no bullet with which to match the results? It defies logic."
Graff said the biggest issue is what he calls the department's "Guilty-until-proven-innocent" posture towards citizens.
In what appears to be a blatant knee jerk abuse of police power, the department unleashed the dogs — literally — when the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) showed up with its K-9 Unit to begin house-to-house searches.
According to media reports, the suspect fled on foot into the neighborhood, and has not been apprehended.
Warrants for searches were issued for at least two homes, (perhaps more) but homeowners in the area reported having all their firearms taken by police.
Some witnesses said the whole neighborhood was evacuated by force and citizens were being told – not asked, but told – to hand over their guns. Some weren’t even asked.
"That’s what makes me so mad," said resident Terry Wesner in an Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004). "They had no reason [to remove firearms] without a warrant. . .I didn’t know they removed anything until my buddy, who’s staying with me, noticed they were missing. I thought you had to have a warrant to take someone’s guns." [Emphasis Added]
In a subsequent report, another resident, who worked the late night weekend shift, reported he came home to find a scene that looked like his home had been burglarized — he said personal belongings were thrown about — and his gun safe was empty.
"They didn’t even leave a note, telling me what was going on," the man said on camera.
An elderly woman said she woke up to find police — who were reported to be dressed in black, quasi-military gear — conducting a search in her home in the early morning hours.
"Did the fact that this poor senior citizen happened to live in the immediate area of the crime warrant "Reasonable Suspicion" or "Probable Cause" that she could have committed this heinous act?" asked Graff.
"Is Grandma taking pot shots out her kitchen window? Is she hiding something in the cookie jar?" He said.
In the same Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004) Oshkosh Police Captain Jay Puestohl was reported to have, "declined to say on what grounds officers had the right to remove the firearms…"
"If officers were acting honorably and respecting property owners' rights, why not say so? Why not be upfront? Why the secrecy?" Graff said.
One resident in the neighborhood may have found himself the subject of the investigation simply by refusing to consent to a search (entirely within his rights) according to the news report.
The Oshkosh Northwestern story quoted one neighbor — who suspected homeowners who exercised their right to refuse consent to the heavy-handed searches, were presumed guilty by police — as saying:
". . .[T]hey’ve been downright rude to us. . .You don’t treat so-called civilians this way." [Emphasis Added]
The news story goes on to say that Captain Puestohl ". . .declined to say whether officers pursued the warrant because the residents refused a consent search."
This hysteria-driven Oshkosh neighborhood gun grab could establish a nightmarish precedent for a wide-open abuse of police power to be unleashed upon Badger State gun owners said WGO.
The silence from other gun rights groups on this issue is deafening.
"The institutional gun lobby is just as scared as the poor people in that Oshkosh neighborhood," Graff said. "They might be thinking, 'If I speak out, will my guns be next?'"
Wesner, one of the brave gun owners to speak out against the rash of gun confiscations that occurred after the shooting, said police confiscated his guns after entering his home without a search warrant.
He reported in a Thursday, July 22 television interview with WLUK-FOX 11, "They [the police] are not going to come in my home again [without a warrant]."
That same report stated that the police "acknowledged a lack of proper procedure [in not obtaining a warrant]."
Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. said the most effective response for gun owners is to join and contribute to the organization's bold, no-compromise educational crusade.
There would be HELL to pay................
Why am I not surprised by this event. It had to happen eventually.
Updated info here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1182199/posts
(It doesn't look good for the cop-defenders, or for those who called the gun-rights organization liars.)
They have to do ballistic tests on it. /sarcasmmmmmmmm
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