My observations from the video leads me to believe this is a really undisciplined crew. A couple of these clowns were really casual until the shooting started, and it didn't really get any better after that. Maybe its because they are typically roughing up women and children, shooting dogs, terrorizing non-violent pot smokers, etc. (or fantasizing about being commandos on the Afghan frontier).
Their actions on the objective may also tell you that they bring that same work ethic to developing intel and making decisions on how to approach problems PRIOR to getting out of the truck. At a minimum this was negligent homicide and I hope the county goes bankrupt over this. Maybe the citizens of that dump will then make some leadership changes.
If this SWAT team, or others like it, ever encounter determined resistance, it will turn out very differently. Very sad.
>> You keep defending this based on the warrant. I have heard several versions as to why the warrant has not been released; one version is that it was a “blanket” warrant that covered several locations and was based on really old intel and unreliable CI’s (the Marine just moved into this home a few months ago). It may even turn out to have been an illegal warrant. Time will tell. <<
IF the warrant turns out to have been illegal, I’ll certainly hop on this bandwagon. But then my criticism will be on the judge (and the district attorney’s office?), not the SWAT team.
If it turns out that the warrant was a blanket warrant, since they weren’t looking for marijuana or something else so easily destroyed, I’ll be very critical of how quickly the SWAT team entered the home. If you raid a house early enough, and charge in fast enough, there’s no difference between a knock warrant and a no-knock warrant. However, that’s DOES NOT APPEAR to be critical here, since he was crouching in wait, with his gun, rather than coming to the door.