Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

As family shrieks, police kill dog (probably due to a lack of fresh donuts)
CNN ^

Posted on 01/08/2003 10:02:50 PM PST by spetznaz

COOKEVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Police video released Wednesday showed a North Carolina family kneeling and handcuffed, who shrieked as officers killed their dog -- which appeared to be playfully wagging its tail -- with a shotgun during a traffic stop.

The Smoak family was pulled over the evening of January 1 on Interstate 40 in eastern Tennessee by officers who mistakenly suspected them of a carjacking. An investigation showed James Smoak had simply left his wallet on the roof of his car at a gas station, and motorists who saw his money fly off the car as he drove away called police.

The family was driving through eastern Tennessee on their way home from a New Year's trip to Nashville. They told CNN they are in the process of retaining a lawyer and considering legal action against the Cookeville, Tennessee, Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol for what happened to them and their dog.

In the video, released by the THP, officers are heard ordering the family, one by one, to get out of their car with their hands up. James Smoak and his wife, Pamela, and 17-year-old son Brandon are ordered onto their knees and handcuffed.

"What did I do?" James Smoak asks the officers.

"Sir, inside information is that you was involved in some type of robbery in Davidson County," the unidentified officer says.

Smoak and his wife protest incredulously, telling the officers that they are from South Carolina and that their mother and father-in-law are traveling in another car alongside them.

The Smoaks told CNN that as they knelt, handcuffed, they pleaded with officers to close the doors of their car so their two dogs would not escape, but the officers did not heed them.

Pamela Smoak is seen on the tape looking up at an officer, telling him slowly, "That dog is not mean. He won't hurt you."

Her husband says, "I got a dog in the car. I don't want him to jump out."

The tape then shows the Smoak's medium-size brown dog romping on the shoulder of the Interstate, its tail wagging. As the family yells, the dog, named Patton, first heads away from the road, then quickly circles back toward the family.

An officer in a blue uniform aims his shotgun at the dog and fires at its head, killing it immediately.

For several moments, all that is audible are shrieks as the family reacts to the shooting. James Smoak even stands up, but officers pull him back down.

"Y'all shot my dog! Y'all shot my dog!" James Smoak cries. "Oh my God! God Almighty!"

"You shot my dog!" screams his wife, distraught and still handcuffed. "Why'd you kill our dog?"

"Jesus, tell me, why did y'all shoot my dog?" James Smoak says.

The officers bring him to the patrol car, and the family calms down, but still they ask the officers for an explanation. One of them says Patton was "going after" the officer.

"No he wasn't, man," James Smoak says. "Y'all didn't have to kill the dog like that."

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Free Republic; Government; Miscellaneous; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: cops; dog; guns; lawenforcement; pigs
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160161 next last
To: HoustonCurmudgeon
Your (allies) would include Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, Mao and every petty dictator and royal since the beginning of time.

That's absurd, practically every state that has ever existed has had some sort of police force. You might as well say I'm allied with serial killers for drinking milk as a child.

Next time you’re mugged use your cell phone to call a cop. I on the other hand will use my concealed hand gun (w/permit) and protect myself.

I totally support your right to blow away anyone who tries to mug you. But your notion that you can safely be an island unto yourself is ridiculous.

You probably have not had to shoot many muggers I suspect. But imagine if there were no prisons, how many times would you have had to? Lots more. Most of the criminals are recidivists, and many would-be recidivists are in jail. Who put them there? I think we both know the answer.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

141 posted on 01/11/2003 11:58:24 AM PST by republicman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 138 | View Replies]

To: republicman
I found this at www.politicalthoughts.com/terry.html

Seems to sum up a lot of the feelings here.

Excerpt from Herald-Citizen interview with Cookeville, Tennessee Police Chief Robert Terry on the shooting of James Smoak's pet dog.

G. Galilei: Police Chief Robert Terry, do you think your officer overreacted in shooting the Smoak's pet dog?

Chief R. Terry: Hell no! The officer, who wishes to remain anonymous due to modesty, was hoping that the teenager would run so that he could blast him like officer Kent Moore shot Clayton Helriggle in Ohio.

G. Galilei: I understand that you have videotape of the officer shooting the dog?

Chief R. Terry: Hell Yes! You should have seen the look on the dog's face, or what was left of it's face. That dog approached the officer thinking he was going to get a treat or fetch a ball. Boy was he surprised! Of course, like everywhere else in the country, law enforcement gets away with the shoot first, ask questions later approach by claiming they felt threatened. Have you ever noticed how many people with a badge and a gun are paranoid and feel threatened? It is why I carry. I can shoot back at rouge officers who take pot shots at me. You common folk can not. You want to shoot folks and their loved ones with impunity, carry a badge. Ask officer David Hawn in Modesto, California. Ask officer Kent Moore in Preble County Ohio.

G. Galilei: Are you implying that the officer Hall will not be disciplined for this?

Chief R. Terry: Hell No! And oops on you, you stated his name. Look, the system will say he was justified and did not use excessive force. I can tell you for sure though, if it was my dog, I would use the same justifiable force in the center of his chest, or better yet on his dog. Give the system a chance to work though. If the system fails the Smoaks, then they can hunt Hall down like a dog.



Attorney General John Ashcroft responds: Acts such as this are what I alluded to during my confirmation hearing with Senator Ted Kennedy. I submit an armed populace can deter acts such as this. I say let's have everybody shoot first and sort it out later. How many more innocent people and dogs must die before we react? All kidding aside though, I have access to the unedited police videotape of this incident. The tape clearly show the family begging the officers on the scene to shut the car doors so that the dogs would not get out. The tape shows the officer was not in danger and fired out of callous indifference or cowardice. If Chief Terry continues to protect this cowardly officer then the Chief and the officers involved should be fired.

Comments, questions? E-mail Galileo

HOME

142 posted on 01/11/2003 5:04:07 PM PST by shee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: republicman
But imagine if there were no prisons, how many times would you have had to? Lots more. Most of the criminals are recidivists, and many would-be recidivists are in jail. Who put them there? I think we both know the answer.

How pray tell did we go from not trusting the police to get much done, to not having prisons? I'm all for prisons and hope the cops fill them up, I just don't believe they are going to "protect" me, or that the are type people I want as close friends. Some of them are fine, many I know could just as easily ended up on the other side of the law.

143 posted on 01/11/2003 7:23:23 PM PST by HoustonCurmudgeon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: republicman
BTW since you have no profile may I ask where you're from and have you spent your entire life in a big city?


144 posted on 01/11/2003 7:24:58 PM PST by HoustonCurmudgeon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 141 | View Replies]

To: spetznaz
I live in Tennessee. One attorney seeking to defend the action of the "officer" said that a "pit bull like that can tear the flesh off a man's leg. The officer had to act to defend himself." My husband and I were howling at the TV. PIT BULL. The wagging "beast" was a bull dog! Defense attorney moron!

This thing heats up more and more in this state every day. It didn't really get traction for the first week, but now that the video has hit the airwaves things are really going wild. The governor's office is involved, the media outlets from around the state are keeping the story going, and the people of the state are livid.

145 posted on 01/11/2003 8:57:31 PM PST by falfa (Where will it all end?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TaZ
Bump
146 posted on 01/12/2003 4:30:04 AM PST by Sir Beowolf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: TaZ
"...You watch the video and tell me a jury wouldn't award for emotional distress..."

At some point the beancounters will oblige the powers that be to knuckle under and say, "OK... How much do want?"

A good jury will (in effect) reply, "How much you GOT?"

If I were on the Smoak's jury the sky would be the limit.

It would cost the rulers of Tennessee so much of their cache of stolen tax plunder that fundamental changes in police recruiting and oversight would afterward proceed at light-speed in that state.

147 posted on 01/12/2003 7:43:17 AM PST by DWSUWF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: budwiesest
"...My assumption from all that I see re:law enforcement/ their tactics is that we live in a much more dangerous world than previously imagined. Given their military approach to all things civilian, I'd suggest we prepare to do the same..."

Well said and deserving of being repeated.

148 posted on 01/12/2003 7:45:45 AM PST by DWSUWF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: ambrose
"...The other thing is that these Pigs are COWARDS. Remember Columbine? They let a couple of dorky teens shoot up a school and did NOTHING. The coward Pigs wouldn't put their donut-eating asses on the line to save school kids. Ahhh, but when it is a tail wagging pooch, then they're "brave"..."

And don't forget how they marched the survivors out, at gunpoint, with their hands in the air.

Obviously worried that any one of them might be a time travelling terrorist or shape-shifting alien armed with a trans-dimensional cloaked energy weapon no doubt.

149 posted on 01/12/2003 8:01:24 AM PST by DWSUWF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: El Gato
"...All in all no big deal, but the lady acted as if they had uncovered a terrorist cell making Chemical weapons next door..."

I hate to be a grammar-nag, but the misuse of the wordy 'lady' is a pet peeve of mine.

I'm sure you meant to say:

"...All in all no big deal, but the STUPID SLUT acted as if they had uncovered a terrorist cell making Chemical weapons next door..."

Carry on.

150 posted on 01/12/2003 8:08:52 AM PST by DWSUWF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 102 | View Replies]

To: spetznaz
Soo... when did we start believing CNN?

Dan

151 posted on 01/12/2003 8:11:48 AM PST by BibChr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: republicman
"...And then let me guess once America became free the founders abolished all police? I don't think so..."

The 'police', as they exist today, would be utterly alien to the Founding Fathers.

I'm confident that they would have 'abolished' them, had they existed then. (which they did not)

Local law enforcement at the time of the Founding Fathers was primarily the bailiwick of the Sheriff, whose office derives from the archaic English 'Shire Reeve'.

Not equivalent to a 21st Century policeman...

Not even close.

152 posted on 01/12/2003 8:22:52 AM PST by DWSUWF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 109 | View Replies]

To: DWSUWF
I'm sure you meant to say: "...All in all no big deal, but the STUPID SLUT acted as if they had uncovered a terrorist cell making Chemical weapons next door..."

No I didn't, although the stupid part would certainly be appropriate. Absent any evidence to the contrary I always assume women and girls are ladies. The article provided no such evidence. A slut would be someone who is sexually promiscuous, and nothing in the article indicated that the woman fit that description either. No evidence that she actually is a lady either, but as I indicated that is always my assumption.

153 posted on 01/12/2003 11:54:35 AM PST by El Gato
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 150 | View Replies]

To: El Gato
"...No I didn't, although the stupid part would certainly be appropriate. Absent any evidence to the contrary I always assume women and girls are ladies..."

Well then, it's clear that we're 180 degrees apart!

I NEVER 'assume' such a thing.

I always assume that a girl or a woman is just that, and no more... A girl or a woman.

The word 'lady' represents something more, something earned.

"...The article provided no such evidence. A slut would be someone who is sexually promiscuous, and nothing in the article indicated that the woman fit that description either..."

Actually this heavy emphasis on 'sexually promiscuous' is a relatively recent corruption of the word's meaning.

Traditionally, a slut was a slattern who MIGHT also be sexually active. This being noted, I'll grant you that most modern desk references will mirror the trend to poorly define 'slut' narrowly.

Most Americans under 30, however, don't have a clue what a slattern is, hence the choice of the better known word 'slut'.

"...No evidence that she actually is a lady either, but as I indicated that is always my assumption..."

'Lady' is too decorous a word to squander on a woman whose treasonous contempt for the Bill of Rights clearly indicates that she is much, much less than one.

154 posted on 01/12/2003 12:24:54 PM PST by DWSUWF
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 153 | View Replies]

Comment #155 Removed by Moderator

To: spetznaz
Bump for a new year. Anybody see any slackening of this stuff over the intervening year? I haven't...
156 posted on 01/02/2004 4:52:32 PM PST by dcwusmc ("The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dcwusmc
Actually ... it's gotten a whole lot worse
157 posted on 01/02/2004 4:54:04 PM PST by clamper1797 (Conservative by nature ... Republican in Spirit ... Patriot by Heart ... and Anti Liberal BY GOD)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 156 | View Replies]

To: clamper1797
True enough. However, despite that, let me wish you a Happy, Prosperous and FREE New Year!

(And an EMPLOYED one... which is what I am looking for!)
158 posted on 01/02/2004 5:01:51 PM PST by dcwusmc ("The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 157 | View Replies]

To: dcwusmc
You and me both my friend ... haven't worked since Augest. House goes on the market Monday
159 posted on 01/02/2004 5:20:09 PM PST by clamper1797 (Conservative by nature ... Republican in Spirit ... Patriot by Heart ... and Anti Liberal BY GOD)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 158 | View Replies]

To: clamper1797
OUCH. That sucks. You're something in IT. IIRC. I have heard rumors that things will pick up this quarter. Plus, if something I am trying works out, I will let you know the particulars if you don't mind working in Berserkely or its vicinity.
160 posted on 01/02/2004 5:33:39 PM PST by dcwusmc ("The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 159 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160161 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson