SWAT officers invade home, take 11-year-old at gunpoint

WND ^ | Jan 7, 2008 | Bob Unruh

[driftdiver]

Nearly a dozen members of a police SWAT team in western Colorado punched a hole in the front door and invaded a family's home with guns drawn, demanding that an 11-year-old boy who had had an accidental fall accompany them to the hospital, on the order of Garfield County Magistrate Lain Leoniak. The boy's parents and siblings were thrown to the floor at gunpoint and the parents were handcuffed in the weekend assault, and the boy's father told WND it was all because a paramedic was upset the family preferred to care for their son themselves. Someone, apparently the unidentified paramedic, called police, the sheriff's office and social services, eventually providing Leoniak with a report that generated the magistrate's court order to the sheriff's office for the SWAT team assault on the family's home in a mobile home development outside of Glenwood Springs, the father, Tom Shiflett, told WND.

[NonValueAdded]

Just exactly how is screwing someone who had nothing to do with it going to rein in the JBTs?

Because ultimately the voters of the district did have something to do with it. They put those mutts in power. Since sovereign immunity will probably insulate the perps, the only way to bring their misdeeds to the voters' attention is to hit them in the wallet. Sad but true.

[from occupied ga]

Because ultimately the voters of the district did have something to do with it.

But the voters and the taxpayers are NOT the same. See post 68 and particularly the link in that post.

[MotleyGirl70]

WOW - the excerpt was bad enough, but the story just gets worse at the link.

My jaw dropped as I read on through the article; unbelievable.

[driftdiver]

“We would have to change the number of stars on all the flags.”

Well...if we don’t fight against this kind of action then we will have to change the number of stars anyway. We could just put one big red star on the flag and be done with this great experiment.

[LIConFem]

"The ONLY thing that will stop this is the successful CRIMINAL prosecution of the police and magistrate involved in this."

A'yep...

[pipeorganman]

The paramedic is the problem ... and we'll never know what becomes of him or her.

No, it goes back even further. It is the laws that medical personnel must work under.

Most states have laws that require licensed medical personnel to report any cases of suspected child abuse to the authorities. Failure to do so results in the loss of one's license and livelihood, plus fines and the very likely possibility of getting sued.

Unfortunately, common sense gets thrown out the window with the result being that innocent people get harmed.

[no dems]

Ron Paul will probably have this in his next TV ads.

[NonValueAdded]

It is the best that can be done. The sheriff is one of the major bad actors in this story (based on the reporting). He stepped in when the police wisely opted out. The sheriff is an elected official. Even if as you say, the voters are not the taxpayers, they will still be denied the largess their elected minions can dole out. The sheriff’s opponent will be sure to point that out. Furthermore, a judgment on the books will have a deterring effect. We can argue about how much of an effect, but under the current system it is the best that can be done. And a big judgment will make the locals think twice before messing with the family again. Hey, more power to the family to pierce the sovereign immunity flak jacket, but that is highly unlikely unless the Feds step in on a civil rights basis.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

"The ONLY thing that will stop this is the successful CRIMINAL prosecution of the police and magistrate involved in this. If they face personal consequences for their actions then it will stop - not before." IMO, the only way prosecutions like that will ever be staus-quo isafter there have been successful lawsuits to the tune of $100's of millions by taxpaying citizens who have been abused by such tyranny.

[Wallace T.]

Abuses like this tend to move people to support someone like Ron Paul, whose evident blindness toward the danger from Islamic terrorism and the increased threat from Russia, China, and their Marxist allies is as dangerous to our national safety as overbearing social workers, tyrannical judges, and brutal SWAT teams are to our personal liberty. Much of what Paul says on the domestic front is accurate, but his foreign policy views are disastrous.

[FreePaul]

The cops are trained to follow orders, even if the orders come from a nazi administration. The cops can’t ever question.

I seem to remember that sixty or so years ago a lot of people went to prison for "just following orders." I've seen, in the last few years, people still being punished for what happened then. Why should "cops" be treated differently?

[Scotsman will be Free]

If this story is accurate I hope that he sues the crap out of all of them, and gets punitive damages.

[Scotsman will be Free]

You are correct in the main. Social services don’t get warrants as such, they get a court order which is similar in nature and effect.
They can do squat without a court order or your permission, at least in my state.

[from occupied ga]

And a big judgment will make the locals think twice before messing with the family again.

Hasn't done so yet. We've had lawsuits aganst the city and the police, but until Kathryn Johnston was murdered by the police and they couldn't cover it up, not much was done.

Here in Atl last year the APD JBT's murdered a 93 year old woman, planted drugs in her house and GOT CAUGHT IN THE COVER UP. So far two of three are serving relatively brief sentences, with the third yet to be sentenced (last I heard). BIG promised shakeup in the APD, but when the dust settled, all of the bad actors in the police adiminstration were still there (except the "detectives" who actually did the deed) just moved around. Hey after all Atlanta is an african kleptocracy - chief of police is from New Orleans (that should tell you something).

The only good thing is that the APD hasn't been caught kicking in doors and planting drugs since then. I guess a little jail time is what it took to calm them down, but I suspect the effect will diminsh with time and before too long they'll be up to their usual SOP.

[Scotsman will be Free]

Cuz it pisses off the political bosses that write the budget checks.

[from occupied ga]

Why should "cops" be treated differently?

Because

• They're our cops and can do no wrong
• They put their lives on the line ever day protecting us (Since sept 1 five cab drivers killed in Atl zero cops which is the more dangerous profession I wonder)
• How dare you question the boys in blue
• They'll lose their jobs if the fail to follow orders
• etc

I would hope that the sarcasm tag would be necessary, but around here you never know - The above was sarcasm.

[from occupied ga]

Cuz it pisses off the political bosses that write the budget checks.

When have you ever heard of a politician or a bureaucrat that shrunk from spending taxpayers dollars like there was no limit?

[from occupied ga]

someone like Ron Paul whose evident blindness toward the danger from Islamic terrorism

Richard Nixon whose blindness toward the danger of communism ...

[Scotsman will be Free]

Well, all I know is that lots of police policy was written with an eye towards not being sued.

[dusttoyou]

Lived in Colorado a couple of years, about the prettiest place anywhere. The politics and politicians are about the worst, excepting Tom T. Lots of PC lovin libs. Got out of there first chance.