(*) "S.W.A.T" = "stupid wild-assed thugs"
PRAYERS UP for justice -- and for his orphaned children who are going around asking "Was Daddy bad?"
Hint: What would've happened if they would've been filmed doing the same thing in Iraq?
Posted on 05/27/2011 9:15:42 PM PDT by marktwain
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – Video of the SWAT raid and deadly shooting of former Marine Jose Guerena has raised many questions from 9 On Your Side viewers who wanted to know how much force police are legally allowed to use when serving a search warrant.
9 On Your Side Reporter Steve Nuñez sat down with Criminal Defense Attorney Michael Bloom to show him the raw footage of the raid. The Pima County Sheriff's Department released the video to the media on Thursday.
"I'm sure everyone's reaction first of all, it's horrible," said Bloom as he watched SWAT officers fire 71 bullets at a person they identified as Guerena.
"It's a horrifying situation," said Bloom.
But Bloom, who has 34 years experience representing victims of illegal searches, wanted to make it clear: he is not connected to the case. Nor has he seen the search warrant or other key investigative documents.
"I'm not expressing an opinion as to whether or not the shooting was justified or not," said Bloom.
Instead, Bloom agreed to analyze the raw footage and provide his expertise on the legal interpretation of how police are supposed to serve a search warrant.
The video shows SWAT sounded its sirens for eight seconds while driving up to Guerena's house.
Nuñez asked Bloom if this eight second warning met the legal criteria.
"That probably technically complies with the law," answered Bloom.
However, Bloom said the sound of a siren does not identify the type of emergency vehicle it's coming from. And that's why the law says police have to identify themselves by yelling, "Police," before breaking down the door and entering.
Nuñez asked Bloom if the law defines how long officers are supposed to wait for someone to respond before they can force their way inside of a home.
"There is no specific case that says its six seconds or fourteen seconds or this or that," said Bloom. "It's a reasonable amount of time."
And as far as using deadly force when serving a search warrant? Bloom said by law, police are always justified to shoot anytime they are threatened with deadly force. And once police pull the trigger they are justified to keep shooting until they run out of ammunition.
"If in fact the gentleman points a weapon at police that justifies that they're not required to wait until he starts firing," said Bloom.
Bloom said because of the amount of force used by police the public has the right to know every detail surrounding the shooting and what exactly police knew about Jose Guerena.
The higher up screwed up in the briefing and the SWAT team members need to learn some fire discipline.
They are going to rue the day they ever thought of themselves as “elite” when they are sniped by ordinary run of the mill americans who are sick of the police state bearing down on em. You cant raid what you cant see.
I’ve always been a pro-cop guy, in general, and have SWAT friends here and there.
But has anyone noticed that before they breached the door, one of the boys says “Bang Bang Bang”, just loud enough for the microphone to pick it up?
At least one person on that team WANTED to kill, IMHO.
absolutely agree. especially about the murder 1.
the original mistakes are bad enough, but they had the medics on site in <5 minutes, and let him bleed to death for 1:14.
...and especially, after reading this, and learning they probably planted the “big gun”:
Statement of Vanessa Guerena (wife of Marine killed by AZ SWAT.)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2725997/posts
Petitfour in Post 18 gives a very moving summary, with much info i didn’t know.
Watch the guy who drops back, while the others approach the door. Once the shooting starts, he rushes the door and appears to raise his gun over the shoulders of the other cops and blindly shoot into the home.
You’re right. They should have taken the necessary time to ensure who it was they were dealing with before they went in. It sould have not only saved a man’s life, but it would have also not compromised a case, in the event the guy was a real deal.
I hope the sheriff loses his next election, he certainly should have been one of the ones asking questions.
My guess is that he might have either been star-struck over seeing SWAT for the first time, or he was licking his chops as to the kind of boost a big drug bust would have given his re-election chances.
I’m hoping they have now sunk into a deep hole.
“This use of SWAT was akin to using a .50 caliber machine gun when a shot of Mace will do the job.”
More than a few headcases are attracted to such pseudo-military jobs for exactly that reason.
This was murder, if only negligent homicide. I wonder who the murder victim had offended, and how. He may well have been a complainant about area drug trafficking, and rewarded accordingly. That is pure speculation, but something here is very, very wrong and it preceded this execution.
Noticed that. Asked a former spook/officer I know. That's tactical talk for "bang down the door." Akin to "go go go," but meaning take the door out.
I'm not defending the thugcops. See above - I'd convict for murder 2 or maybe 1 if on a jury judging them. Just adding some info...
(*) "S.W.A.T" = "stupid wild-assed thugs"
PRAYERS UP for justice -- and for his orphaned children who are going around asking "Was Daddy bad?"
Hint: What would've happened if they would've been filmed doing the same thing in Iraq?
It is really worse than you describe.
I did not look at the video, but I get the picture.
Guy works 12 hours in the mine. Easy job?
Not hardly.
According to reports I saw, he had slept only about two hours when the SWAT team arrived.
Think about it. Very hard job, long hours and asleep for two hours.
That is the period when most people are really sound asleep, very hard to wake up, etc.
I have slept through thunderstorms, my cell ringing with 24” of my head, dogs barking, etc., under similar circumstances.
Complicated by the fact that English is not his wife’s first language and was terrified so the amount of communication possible is 5 seconds or so was very likely not helpful to him.
I don’t know what mine is saying half the time when I am wide awake and English is very much her first and only language.
So the cops’ terrible judgment, might I call it stupidity, and his disadvantaged position doomed him from the start.
But the burden is on the cops because they should never have been there under the circumstances. Meeting him as he got off work would have resolved the whole matter with no risk to anyone. No one comes out of the mine with a AK-15 or uzi.
New one on me. "Breach, Bang and Clear" is what I'm familiar with.
The proof that they didn't is that the marine responded to their entry by arming himself. But as pointed our, raising his hands and attempting to surrender might have been just as fatal.
watch their body language, too. one guy has his rifle slung over his back. no one seemed to be very tense. the guys turning on the siren for a couple of seconds seems happy. sounds like the radio is on in the vehicle. looked like they were having fun - until they started shooting.
That is something, wow. I did not read that. HOWEVER, I did read an interview with the lawyer representing the SWAT members and I found it very strange. According to that interview, there were several other houses that were raided at the same time, NO arrests. He said IF, Jose had just let them in he would not have been arrested either. Hello???
I’ve been screaming and yelling as loud as I can for months and months now, posting every news article I can find trying to show all of y’all the cops in this country are completely out of control...
Just hit my screen name look at my threads I’ve started in the past 12 months or so...
I’ve been screaming and yelling as loud as I can for months and months now, posting every news article I can find trying to show all of y’all the cops in this country are completely out of control...
Just hit my screen name look at my threads I’ve started in the past 12 months or so...
I’ve been screaming and yelling as loud as I can for months and months now, posting every news article I can find trying to show all of y’all the cops in this country are completely out of control...
Just hit my screen name look at my threads I’ve started in the past 12 months or so...
Apparently some jurisdictions have simplified it to "bang bang bang." After all, union backed thugcops don't have to be exactly intelligent, and three words is a lot to remember when you're about to execute a retired Marine who has barely slept for three days...
I believe that the way that a certain blogger puts it is that you are no longer entitled to a fair trial, only an unfair firefight.
You are not the first to notice this. This was an execution squad.
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