Outside the Beltway

Video of a SWAT Raid

Steve Verdon
12

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Columbia MO SWAT raids a residential house. They find a pipe with residue, a small amount of marijuana (enough for misdemeanor offense) and a grinder. In the process of conducting this raid these brave and fearless cops shot and killed a (possibly crated) pit bull dog, and shot and wounded a welsh corgi.

These highly trained cops also did cracker-jack investigating and knew that the suspect they were going to arrest lived at the house with his wife and 7 year old child…oh wait, no. They did not know that the suspects wife and child were living there.

The video is not easy to watch.

Via Radley Balko.

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12 responses to “Video of a SWAT Raid”

  1. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    sometimes the only difference between the cops and the criminals is the uniform

  2. Derrick Avatar
    Derrick

    But the Teabaggers wants limited govt! I’m sure that there will be protests.

  3. S Avatar
    S

    I’m married to a federal law enforcement agent, there are guns and other items in this house. We have three large and harmless dogs, whose barking usually keeps some people away. We are law abiding citizens. This “home invasion” is an outrage!

    We have had locally several cases of innocent civilians (including a small town mayor) that have been victims of government home invasions. Houses trashed and damages, beloved pets shot “running away” from the police. And this is all happening right outside D.C. What’s happening elsewhere??

    It is one of my many fears, that somehow, for some reason they will come to our house and kill my dogs and possibly shoot or kill my husband or myself.

  4. Franklin Avatar
    Franklin

    Before I comment, I’ll wait for someone who thinks they can put up a reasonable explanation for this.

  5. Triumph Avatar
    Triumph

    Cops suck!

  6. PD Shaw Avatar
    PD Shaw

    Franklin, I think Mark Thompson at League of Ordinary Gentlemen puts together a reasonable explanation for this. I think he’s probably right.

  7. Billy Avatar
    Billy

    Two other interesting side notes:

    Columbia, MO over the last few years has voted to decriminalize marijuana possession. I know there was pushback from reactionaries in the area (and I don’t know if the efforts were ultimately repealed), but the upshot is that this is a very tolerant community that is actively seeking to prevent this kind of government overreach.

    The parents were charged with child endangerment as a result of this raid.

  8. Franklin Avatar
    Franklin

    Franklin, I think Mark Thompson at League of Ordinary Gentlemen puts together a reasonable explanation for this. I think he’s probably right.

    Thank you for that, it was a good read and I accept his stance that the explanation is the sick prioritization we put on enforcing drug laws.

    While it was actually a “reasonable explanation,” I guess I really meant for someone to explain how the raid itself was reasonable. Mr. Thompson appears to agree that it wasn’t.

    The parents were charged with child endangerment as a result of this raid.

    The SWAT team should be charged as well. They just guaranteed another generation of criminal by traumatizing the kid unnecessarily.

    /For fun, do a Google Image Search for “welsh corgi” and assess its threat level in less than a second. If you determine it to be significantly more dangerous than a beanbag chair, congratulations: you’ve earned your SWAT degree.

  9. Trumwill Avatar
    Trumwill

    Franklin, Mark actually has a follow-up coming closer to what you’re looking for.

  10. Matt Avatar
    Matt

    worthless…

    Has anyone confirmed if one of the dogs really was in a kennel when it was shot. A couple “news” sites reported that the dog was in the kennel still (kennel training for that kind of dog is common and the dog would be in the kennel at bedtime).

  11. Robert Avatar
    Robert

    Ooooh, big cop with machine gun in black shoots a corgi! Big man! HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT YOU DOG KILLING BASTARD! I spent 30 years in the military with seven of those as Military Police. IDIOT COPS! Having a badge does NOT make you right! I hope this guy has a defense fund to sue your ass off personally! I hope you get a stigma as a dog killer! Your video shows how idiotic you all are. KEYSTONE COPS ALIVE AND WELL! I am Republican and have respect for law and military, but you, officer dog hater, just took a HUGE chunk out of that! I am livid! If the arrestee has a defense fund let me send $500 to it now! No more policeman’s ball ticket purchases here. DOG KILLER! THIS IS POWER RUN AMOK!!!

  12. bocomo Avatar
    bocomo

    I live in Columbia, MO. We are enraged. Nothing in memory has brought our community together like this. I have not the time to read all of your comments on this blog, as I have been looking at blogs about our fair community from all over the world..

    The history of the video here:
    http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/may/06/complete-coverage-february-2010-swat-raid/

    The video was obtained by our local newspaper who for once, acted like real journalists. The police did not want or ever intend for this video to be seen. I am surprised they didn’t “lose” it.

    A good place to get a feel of how Columbians are reacting to this story here, read the comments after this news article:

    http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/may/06/chief-details-swat-incident/

    and the comments after this article. Trouble brewing in our fair town….

    http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/may/03/drug-raid-inquiry-is-ongoing/

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