Posted on 05/27/2011 4:57:16 AM PDT by marktwain
TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) -They say a picture is worth a thousand words. SWAT video, however, might be priceless, according to the lawyer representing SWAT in the shooting death of marine Jose Guerena.
"In your opinion, is this now cut and dry once you see the video?" KGUN9 asked. "Yeah, you watch the video and clearly you hear sirens, you see them (SWAT) approach, you see them knock and announce several times. Clearly, anyone in the area will know police were there," explained SWAT lawyer Mike Storie.
For the first time, we saw what happened the morning of May 5th. Until now, we had just heard from both sides, including the Marine's wife, Vanessa Guerena. A few days after the shooting, KGUN9 asked her about SWAT announcing itself before entering, "At any point did you hear them yell, "police or SWAT?" asked KGUN9's Joel Waldman. "No no!" answered Guerena. "At any point did you hear sirens outside?" asked Waldman. "Oh no!" answered Guerena.
"You're saying they only yelled SWAT after the shootout?" Waldman continued. "Oh, yes, yes!" responded Guerena.
We sat down with lawyer Mike Storie to watch the video shot by SWAT. And, he pointed out something completely contrary to Guerena's wife's claims, "The person is now knocking on the door, and giving verbal commands as far as announcing in Spanish and in English who they are, you see him (SWAT officer) knocking," explained Storie.
"The breacher moves in; they move in, the shield and now we hear the shots," pointed out Storie.
And, lots of them, SWAT admits to firing 71 shots in just seven seconds. After the shooting, the Pima County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Michael O'Connor explained that number of shots, "They're going to fire until the threat is over. (SWAT) fired in seven seconds."
And, Storie told us there was a threat; a gun pointed right at them. The deputy to the right of the shielder, Storie said, saw it first, "The person above his right shoulder will be the first one who is looking down the hallway who will see the gun turning the corner and being raised towards them."
We reached out to the Guerena's attorney, Christopher Scilepi, but he did not return KGUN9's phone call.
Yes, but the badgelickers are either getting more timid or fewer in number. Hard to see how anyone with a conscious can defend this. I suspect the only Freepers stepping forward to defend the execution squad are themselves “LEOs”.
Forgotten in all of this is the fact that a man died because warrants are served like this to keep drug dealers from flushing drugs down the toilet before the cops can find them.
There was no way to arrest him on the street because there was no arrest warrant. They had no probably cause to arrest anyone. No one in the house was specifically named in the warrant.
Even the cops have admitted that they found nothing in the house that would have led to arrest.
This was simply a search warrant. The one and only reason they move in like this is to prevent the destruction of evidence. If there is a belief that the residents are dangerous, police can set up a perimeter around the house, announce themselves and order the residents out. That’s how they do it when they are dealing with a known armed subject and the only reason they don’t do it with warrants is to preserve evidence.
“The one and only reason they move in like this is to prevent the destruction of evidence.”
So,,, Why didn’t they wait until he was at work, and serve the search warrant on his wife?
Gotta watch this video posted on the NRA website regarding gun confiscation.
This lady was holding what looked like a .38 around the cylinder in a nonthreatening manner as she defended her right to stay put in her home. You then hear a cop say, “There's a gun or she’z gotta gun”. Paraphrased.
They charge in on her, throwing this lady to the kitchen floor. PISSED me off to watch such an abuse of power.
I've always respected law enforcement, but over the last decade or so, ordinary citizens are feeling the oppression from what really appears to be paramilitary forces and hyper vigilant cops. It seems everyone’s a suspect now days.
You are being logical.
“Forgotten in all of this is the fact that a man died because warrants are served like this to keep drug dealers from flushing drugs down the toilet before the cops can find them.”
I’m all for preserving evidence, but the use of SWAT teams has proliferated beyond all reason. I’ve worked out with a couple of SWAT guys. To them it was all about the thrill and machismo. There should be no place on a SWAT team for a guy who lives for the excitement of breaking down a door and screaming “FREEZE!”
My suggestion, the local top politician should have to sign off on a SWAT operation. Nine times out of ten, they’d find another approach that would work fine.
“Why didn’t they wait until he was at work, and serve the search warrant on his wife?”
Because its more fun to do it like this. When you have some guy stoked up on roids making the decisions you don’t get rational outcomes.
In would be hard in fifteen seconds to go from being asleep to knowing what was going on. The Marine was responding to his training, and did a great job assuming a defensive position in that time.
Preserving evidence at what cost?
Even with these tactics drugs have never been more available on the streets of every town in the USA.
Its about power, money and control. It sure isn’t about stopping drugs or keeping Americans safe.
how long before the border cartels begin targeting leos and judges for ski mask raids ???
Now the Indians, are dressing up like Cowboys. And the Cowboys are wearing armor and putting their war paint on.
*Revised from Cherokee Fiddle.
“Oh, and I did not see any obvious markings on the officers to show that they are police. They looked like combat troops” /// good point! one of the relatives of the Marine, was killed by a home invasion in Tuscon. a law abiding Marine, is much more likely to think that man with a gun his wife saw through the window, is a criminal, than police. and in home invasions, criminals often have jackets that say police, and knock, and announce as police.
...but bottom line, they refused to let medics come in, for 1 hour 14 minutes, until he died. i don’t care if they announced or not. separate issue. what happened afterward, was deliberate murder.
Yeah, I remember that video. I dropped my membership in the NRA when it offered only a tepid response to the gun confiscations in New Orleans during Katrina, as opposed to GOA’s very forceful and loud deunucations. I don’t like the militarization of the country’s police forces one bit, esepcially since citizen safety now takes a backseat to officer safety.
The standard operating procedure - following the rules, itself constitutes prima facie evidence that what we have here is a violation of civil rights. These procedures, fitting for a battlefield assault on enemy lines, have only a very tiny justification in only the most extreme situations.
1. Perfunctory announcement.
2. Immediate breaching of the premises.
3. Immediate violent and deadly resort to weapons.
These things show themselves to have no place in a Constitutional republic.
A warrant for this type of action should only be issued upon presentation of compelling evidence that a crime of horrific dimensions exists.
Ostensible reasons like “preservation of evidence” or other canards cannot justify this.
To repeat what I said, that this is a “standard operating” procedure instead of a desperate last resort in the face of monstrous crime, is prima facie evidence that the people who have designed and planned this kind of police activity should be indited for crimes against our Constitution. As for those who carry it out, Nuremberg's principal applies, following orders is not a justification for doing wrong.
The other day there was a post about Thomas Jefferson, it gave a number of examples of his thinking - very pithy quotes. How far have we fallen from our ideals. But when we let "experts" run the show that's what we get. It is an axiom that war is too important to be left to generals. I'd add that law is too important for lawyers, policing is too important to leave to police, government is too important to leave to politicians and bureaucrats, on and on. The only people the Founders trusted with their liberties, and the preservation of the same was the "People". The Bill of Rights indicates that the Founders did not trust their liberties to the "representatives of the people in congress".
FACT: The victim, and expert in the firearm he has, had the safty on.
CONCLUSION: He had no intent on firing on the officers.
There was no danger, other that that posted by the police. If, then, they were “following procedures” then the “procedures” are getting innocent people killed, and should be changed.
The police can be wrong without it being murder. Where it becomes murder is where they prevented the EMTs to save their victim’s life, after shooting him so many times.
Is the Swat lawyer caught in a lie?
He said that the found riflesS and handgunS (plural) and body armor, but according to this story:
there founds a .38 and body armor.
Add the AR-15, and you get a rifle (singular) and a pistol (singular).
Did the attorney lie to try to cover-up for his clients?
The guy that announced had his mouth full of shit and you could hardly understand what he was saying. Probably sounded like a loud mumble inside the house.
Let’s set up a scale:
On one side, you put “drug dealers flushing the stash”,
on the other, you put “cops shooting innocent people”.
Now... you weigh it.
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