Posted on 04/10/2008 8:06:37 AM PDT by woollyone
MIAMI -- Officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives barged into a South Florida home Wednesday only to discover they had the wrong address.
The ATF agents were supposed to conduct a raid at a home in the 2600 block of Northwest 49th Terrace in northwest Miami-Dade County, but they were off by one block. They entered a house on Northwest 49th Street instead.
A mother and her 2-year-old boy were among the innocent people inside the home when the agents came in
It’s Springtime, and the daisies need to be pushed up.
Maybe he could get a job doing that.
;’}
The agents must be arrested, tried, and put in jail. They broke into the home of an innocent person without a search warrant. Apologies don’t count.
If the innocent person had exercised her right to defend herself and her family against an unjust agressor, and used deadly force, the highly trained agents would have cut her in two with bullets, and killed the children as well.
There is no excuse. There can be no apology. Strong, unthinking armed men protected by body armor threatened the life of an innocent person.
“So it’s easy to criticize—I’ve done my share of criticizing ATF. But how do you avoid this? “
Well, if it takes months of investigations, tracking down leads, questioning informants, filling out forms for a warrant, and getting a judge to sign it....
I’d say the way to avoid it, is to get the address correct.
Guess they did such a good job with alcohol, tobacco and firearms they had to expand their repertoire. Maybe tomorrow it will include chemical pesticides and doggie poo.
When their paycheck comes from the Feds.
Wait for the contingent of JBT-lovers here to show up and defend these idiots.
The ATF is not only a rogue agency, its an utterly useless one.
Why do we need a law enforcement agency for three LEGAL commodities?
The Stasi, KGB, Kempei Tai, and Sicherheitendienst are alive and well here in the United States.
“The agents left tear gas cans in the house”
Which means the entered using those tear gas canisters...I would bet they destroyed the doors as well as broke half the windows in the home.
Probably will walk across the stage and receive his performance cash incentive check due to outstanding duty performance.
Lon Horuchi a real role model for a terrorist/murderer.
Just The Facts,
NSNR
That callous disregard started before WACO with those imbeciles with badges.
No, I cqan’t pin it down right now but I remember quite a bit of discussion about it at the time. I believe it was attached to a budget bill but I could be wrong on that. If you’re really interested you could probably Google it.
ANYone shoots MY dog..I don’t care WHO it is...gets shot in return. Badge or no badge.
Period.
-Eric
I agree 100%. Try them and fire them.
Really,
NSNR
It’s deja vu all over again...
Knowing the BATFE's reputation, it probably wasn't tobacco they were smoking. More likely an herb of interest to the DEA.
I can't remember the last time I heard about someone having an RPG.
But when mistakes happen (and you know that they do!), who pays the price? Certainly not the officers. It is the innocent bystanders. They pay, and sometimes pay the ultimate price.
There are better, albeit less sexy ways of minimizing mistakes. Like following up with intelligence (I know, Oxymoron) before unleashing the dogs of war. Situational awareness: Who is coming and going, that sort of thing.
Perhaps the approach should be different. Not that I have the answers here, but how about shutting off the water, gas, and electricity, jam cell phones, and surround the house. Give them a chance to surrender before "Dynamic entry" is tried. Innocents and most all bad guys will give it up in seconds. If the boys wanna escalate, then drive the APC through the house. IMO, safer for all, but certainly not sexy.
The only thing that I can say for certain is being hated by everyone for your tactics is not sexy. It is hurting law enforcement.
“So it’s easy to criticize—I’ve done my share of criticizing ATF. But how do you avoid this? Do you send officers into unknown situations without scary looking flak jackets and helmets? Do you give bad guys 30 seconds warning to pick up their guns? Do you politely request permission to enter? The problem is the ongoing decline and fall of Western Civilization. My brother in law is a cop. In today’s world, every encounter with a citizen is scary. It’s hard to stay alive and not be uber-cautious because the country is full of psychopaths with RPG’s. If you’re a cop, you err on the side of overwhelming force and pray you don’t make mistakes.
I’m sorry. But that type of sentiment scares the hell out of me. What in the world have we become?
Oh...and howabout this....Next time Mr. Jackboot. Besides all your macho friends in the cool looking black masks and tacticool outfits, why not take along one of those guys with the blue uniform and the USPS patch on his shirt. Maybe he’ll be smart enough to find the right address for you. “
Imagine the headlines if the innocent home owner had shot a ATF agent or so! That poor fool, if he survived, would be the one in jail, not the thugs who crashed into his home and gassed his family.
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