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RSS icon Comments on Winning the War on Drugs

1

I always find it interesting when they mention things like "He left behind a wife and three children – ages 2, 8 and 14." If he were single (maybe gay) would it make it less tragic? Poor guy got shot, that must have ruined his day. He should have thought of job related hazards before he had kids.

Posted by Sargon Bighorn | January 21, 2008 7:38 PM
2

This story serves gun-control as well, countering that NRA myth of the self-protecting home-owner

Posted by vooodooo84 | January 21, 2008 7:48 PM
3

Um, and your point is? What if the warrant was related to an investigation of the rape of your sister would you want them to just walk away when no one opened the door?

Maybe it was a "no knock" raid, that would complicate things, but it sounds like he shot through the door (though that is not entirely clear), what if it had been his drunk neighbor trying to get into the wrong house? Or the girl scout selling cookies knocked too loud? Well, it would probably be manslaughter in that case, first degree murder does seem a bit much, but I am not a lawyer.

Maybe the fact that the cops didn't kill him is what makes it newsworthy? "He and several other officers" several? and they didn't pump 15 rounds apiece through said door? OK, I guess it is news, but still, it was Chesapeake, not NYC.

@2, There was some suspicion that criminal activity was taking place in the home, "If you outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns". And his irresponsible use of a gun got him charged with murder. Probably a better case for outlawing Meth than guns.

Damn. I must be getting old.

Posted by Epimetheus | January 21, 2008 8:16 PM
4

@3 the article doesn't indicate that there was any wrongdoing at all until the moment the guy shot the officer, and the gun probably was legally owned. If it had been buglers instead of police officers, the right wing would trumpet this as a case of blah blah righteous homeowner blah blah dead scum instead of dead officer with half-orphaned kids and a "suspected" druggie.

Posted by vooodooo84 | January 21, 2008 8:29 PM
5

Yeah, this is not the sort of case the NRA likes to talk about. Legally purchased gun, paranoid homeowner, dead cops.

Posted by tiktok | January 21, 2008 8:46 PM
6

Just because he's "suspected" does not mean he ISN'T guilty. I strongly dislike the implication that because the article doesn't mention that drugs were found, the search warrant was thus pointless, and there was a waste of life, blah blah. Except cops can get shot serving any kind of search warrant, and search warrants are given out to find more conclusive evidence.

Also, doesn't meth make you incredibly paranoid?...

Posted by Marty | January 21, 2008 8:50 PM
7

burglers not buglers. sorry i could really use an edit feature. please help me out Slog-Masters-extraordinarie

Posted by vooodooo84 | January 21, 2008 8:52 PM
8

There are many, many people who have desired the opportunity to shoot the bugler.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | January 21, 2008 9:40 PM
9

"If he were single (maybe gay) would it make it less tragic?"

Yes.

Posted by w7ngman | January 21, 2008 9:47 PM
10

If he were a single (maybe gay) bugler it would have been less tragic

Posted by vooodooo84 | January 21, 2008 9:57 PM
11

@3 Epimetheus:

Looked up that name.

The Titan of "hind-thought" (lack of foresight) charged with giving traits to all animals so when it "was time to give man a positive trait, lacking foresight he found that there was nothing left. . . . .As further punishment, Zeus created Pandora, the first woman, for Epimetheus, knowing that he would fall in love with her"
[wikipedia]

Oh.

So, it doesn't mean "skin characteristic of a meth user." My bad.

Posted by unPC | January 21, 2008 10:57 PM
12

@11, yep, that's right, I wondered if anyone would recognize it. I thought about using Prometheus' name, it sounds better since I kind of screwed up with you humans, sorry 'bout the Republicans. But it seemed dishonest to hide behind an assumed name LOL!

And @4, I said "suspected", after all some judge signed a warrant, I didn't say he was a criminal or that he would have had a gun if guns were illegal. I was just pointing out that it was possible that he could have a gun even if they were "controlled", someone thought there was probable cause for the warrant for something, maybe "controlled" substances? (the article just said "search warrant"). Banning guns is about as likely to be successful as banning Meth.

Posted by Epimetheus | January 22, 2008 12:40 AM
13

One online article says the police have refused to confirm that the shot officer was at the correct address.

Posted by mikeblanco | January 22, 2008 4:05 AM
14

Unless there is some immediate threat to someone's life, why do the police have to break into a house they know or have reason to suspect is occupied, in order to execute a search warrant?

I can see it when they're trying to save a life. Beyond that, I just don't see the need for those kinds of tactics.


Posted by Bruce Garrett | January 22, 2008 4:08 AM
15

Marty,
Generally one of things happens in these cases. If drugs are found in the house, the police who were involved in the raid will let everyone know as soon and as loudly as possible. If no drugs are found in the house, they will be silent for as long as they can keep their mouths shut.

Posted by thehim | January 22, 2008 7:01 AM
16

@14:
The coppers have to break in so that, you know, the guy doesn't throw away the evidence they're looking for.
If you prefer to have no searches at all except to save a life, you can try to get laws passed restraining the local cops or the feds from executing searches like this. There's nothing in our Constitution that says we "have" to empower the cops to do these types of things.

Posted by unPC | January 22, 2008 8:43 AM
17

@1, so what is your point? Someone died, doing a job that most people don't want to do. Everyone hates the police until they need them.

The fact that he left behind a family is tragic.

Posted by ahava | January 22, 2008 8:50 AM

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