WI: Serving Warrant Results in Police Death

Gun Watch ^ | 10 February, 2019 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Image from CBS58.com

In Houston, on Monday, 28 January, a no-knock search warrant resulted in the wounding of four police officers and the death of middle aged couple who had owned their home for 20 years.

The deaths and woundings seem to have come from the use of the no-knock warrant. There have been many problems with no-knock warrants.

Thousands of no-knock warrants are used each year.

In Milwaukee, on 6 February, a Milwaukee tactical team was serving a search warrant in an investigation of illegal drug and firearms sales.

It is unclear if the warrant was a no-knock warrant. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the warrant was announced from a loudspeaker during the attempted service of the warrant. From jsonline.com:

The Tactical Enforcement Unit arrived to search a home in the 2900 block of South 12th Street at 9:17 a.m., and three minutes later officers made contact with two people and "shots were fired," Assistant Chief Michael Brunson Sr. told reporters earlier Wednesday.

Three law enforcement sources have told the Journal Sentinel Rittner was shot with a high-powered rifle. Two of those sources said Rittner was shot through a door.

(snip)

A neighbor said he heard a loudspeaker calling out an address about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday and walked to his window. He then saw a black armored vehicle and police officers swarming the house and heard about five seconds of gunfire followed by someone yelling, "Shots fired!"

It is not known if the officers were attempting to break down the door of the house before, during or after the loudspeaker announcement. Here is part of the statement from the Milwaukee Police Department:

On Wednesday, February 6th, 2019, at about 9:17 a.m., the Milwaukee Police Department's Tactical Enforcement Unit responded to the 2900 block of South 12th Street to conduct a search warrant. The target of the search warrant was wanted for the illegal sale of firearms and drugs. While conducting the search warrant, officers announced themselves as police at which time the suspect fired several rounds. Officer Matthew Rittner was struck by gunfire and transported to Froedert Hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.

Unlike the Houston case, other officers on the scene did not unleash a hail of gunfire into the house. Two suspects were taken into custody. One of them was Jordan P. Fricke, 26.  Fricke was reported as being the target of the raid.  We do not know if his name was on the search warrant.

There is no mention of how Fricke was arrested, or if he claimed he did not know it was police who were attempting to break down his door. We know that he must have given up quickly and surrendered peacefully.  There was another person in the house who has not been identified. It is not clear if they were arrested.

I have not found any statement that any contraband was found at the house.

Fricke did not have any misdemeanor or felony arrests prior to the raid.

The search warrant has not been published as of this writing. 

I have not found any reports of charges being filed against Fricke or the other person in the house when the raid was conducted. 

It is unknown if recordings of the raid and gunfire are available, or if body cameras were worn.

The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident.

Wisconsin requires an outside agency to investigate police shootings.

Wisconsin has a strong "Castle Doctrine" statute. People may use deadly force to prevent an unlawful forcible entry of their home. There are exemptions if the person was engaged in criminal activity or if the person forcibly entering was a public safety worker, and the person inside knew, or reasonably should have known, they were a public safety worker. Here is the wording of the statute with the exceptions.  From wisconsin.gov: 

1. The actor was engaged in a criminal activity or was using his or her dwelling, motor vehicle, or place of business to further a criminal activity at the time.

2. The person against whom the force was used was a public safety worker, as defined in s. 941.375 (1) (b), who entered or attempted to enter the actor's dwelling, motor vehicle, or place of business in the performance of his or her official duties. This subdivision applies only if at least one of the following applies:
a. The public safety worker identified himself or herself to the actor before the force described in par. (ar) was used by the actor.
b. The actor knew or reasonably should have known that the person entering or attempting to enter his or her dwelling, motor vehicle, or place of business was a public safety worker.

I have doubts that a person inside a house would "reasonably have known" that the people breaking in were public safety workers, simply from a loudspeaker on the street.

There are many details about the raid that are not known at this time. They include the number of shots fired, what caliber(s) were used, whether officers returned fire, the particulars of the warrant, and whether any contraband was found at the house.

It could be days or weeks or even months before we determine if this is another tragedy caused by the overuse of no-knock raids.


©2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

[marktwain]

No charges yet. Charges have to be filed by Monday, at the latest.

If it was not a no-knock raid, it appears to have been a close approximation of one.

[eyeamok]

No Knock Raids are why I believe Public Servants and Hollywood Actors should be Swatted on a regular basis.

[oincobx]

Perhaps the surprising thing about the Roger Stone arrest was not that the level of force used was atypical, but that it is typical.

[outofsalt]

The widespread use of headphones would make a loudspeaker useless in the initiation of a no knock entry.

[PapaBear3625]

I’m thinking that, rather than every police dept having their own SWAT unit, that SWAT should be something that State Troopers do, and that local police depts have to ask State Police for SWAT support (and have to JUSTIFY and be BILLED for each usage).

[BraveMan]

It had been a stretch of 21 years since a Milwaukee Police Officer had been killed in the line of duty. Now it is three within the last 8 months that have been killed.

The latest, Police Officer Matthew Rittner, was a 17-year veteran of the department. Rittner was fatally shot with a high-powered rifle Wednesday as a team of officers tried to serve a search warrant at a south-side duplex in an investigation into illegal gun and drug sales.

The suspect, 26-year-old Jordan Fricke, is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on a preliminary bail of $500,000.

[S.O.S121.500]

Had ENOUGH Yet ? ........................ Enforce the Bill of Rights .........It is the LAW...

[thoughtomator]

In virtually every one of these no-knock cases, a peaceful arrest could be made simply by waiting for the person to go out for food or some other shopping trip.

[marktwain]

In virtually every one of these no-knock cases, a peaceful arrest could be made simply by waiting for the person to go out for food or some other shopping trip.

There are a lot of reasons to believe Jordan Fricke would have answered the door and submitted peacefully to the police search.

He had no prior criminal record.

He had a current concealed carry permit.

He surrendered peacefully, once he understood what was happening.

There is much about this case we do not know. Much is likely to be revealed on Monday. I have not seen any charges filed yet.

[trebb]

They should be required to surround a place and give a loudspeaker notification to say they are coming in...and 5 seconds later make the move. No-knock raids cause unnecessary deaths on both sides and make it harder for some to understand the danger to regular officers that get shot when responding to complaints or serving papers.
If they give notification and then have to use overwhelming force, so be it.

[BraveMan]

Jordan Fricke: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

[marktwain]

5 seconds later make the move.

Five seconds is way to short of a time to answer the door.

My unpublished research shows and average time of 15 seconds to answer the door.

It stretches out to two minutes when people are in the shower, taking a cake out of the oven, changing a baby, or many other things.

Waiting for someone to answer the door for a warrant should be at least a minute, if not two.

[Navy Patriot]

Seems Jordan P. Fricke was guilty of engaging in prohibited Second Amendment activities.

[Drew68]

Fricke did not have any misdemeanor or felony arrests prior to the raid.

Well, you're f**ked now!

Unless I'm on the jury.

[Drew68]

Officer Matthew Rittner was struck by gunfire and transported to Froedert Hospital, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[myerson]

I wonder if it could have been “friendly fire” from a SWAT AR-15 typical of such operations?

[grumpygresh]

The local leftist Milwaukee TV media (ABC) has hardly focused on the fact that this was a SWAT or tactical raid. The media only stated that this was some sort of drug related charge but, they were not specific.

The leftist media has been intentionally overlooking the excessive use of force in the execution of arrest warrants. Om the national level, they have enthusiastically championed the police state tactics of Mueller and FBI.

If there is reason to believe that the police used excessive force in the raid, I think it is time for jurors to stand up and find the defendant not-guilty for charges related to the death if the officer. Jurors need to ask whether they want to live in a Gestapo police state. Police should also consider how much the over-reliance on SWAT raids and overwhelming force actually makes them less safe in executing warrants.

When the government fears the people there is liberty, when the people fear the government there is tyranny.

[grumpygresh]

Remember Waco?

Remember the sheriff said that they could have arrested Koresh anytime he went into town by himself to pick up supplies.

But, let’s admit it, it was a lot more fun for federal agents to use their toys and armored vehicles to blow up a community with women and children.

[logi_cal869]

I understand the position of LEO to undertake these cases with safety of officers being the utmost importance. That stated, such procedures as “no-knock warrants” should be reviewed by an independent commission, such as a Citizens Review Board or the-like.

Now, then...naivete aside, it would be interesting to weigh some valid statistics. I am personally aware of the state of American justice and the severity of its miscarriage when innocents are targeted for investigation, prosecuted in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary and convicted of crimes they did not commit.

In this era, most here are aware of the term “swatting” but many here may not be aware of LEO’s reliance upon CIs (confidential informants) and the weight they provide to getting warrants.

All you need to do is pay the right person to make an allegation and this event is repeatable across the country on what is likely more than a weekly basis.

Take the Houston shooting, for example:

“Another problem? There is nothing in the returned warrant showing heroin, or paraphernalia related to heroin. Police say a confidential informant bought heroin at the house the day before.

“There’s nothing identified in search warrant return as scales or baggies, or anything that would be used to distribute heroin or any other drugs for that matter,” Zuniga said.”

https://abc13.com/what-was-found-in-home-after-deadly-drug-raid-hpd-warrant/5127653/

I’m bookmarking this article to follow it more closely, but I really don’t need another obsession right now. I hope Dean and others are following these cases closely and that those with access are using a microscope and FOIA to get to the bottom of a disturbing trend in this country...

[ChildOfThe60s]

This country is a police state. Just because you or I have not been attacked in our own homes doesn’t change that, we could be any day.

It’s a shame that the cop died, but no more so than the number of innocent people who are being killed in these raids. And even if some of these people have criminal records are they capital offenses? Because when they’re killed they are dead.

How many of these thousands of no-knock raids by SWAT teams every year are targeting people who are suspected of offenses that are capital offenses? I have yet to read of one. Most of the ones I read seem to be scummy informants getting paid to target people. Raids like this, based on the word of a single paid druggie informant are plain and simple criminal.