Gentlemen,
Lets take just the smallest of steps back here. Heaven knows I'm no fan of no-knock warrants. The inherent risk of harm to innocents simply does not sit well with me other than in extreme circumstances. However, there is simply nothing in the articles posted on this case that indicates that the wrong house was hit or that there was not sufficient justification for the judge to issue the warrant.
These are warrants by judges and their questionable constitutionality has been upheld. That said, I think that the threshold used by judges to grant them is way too low and that they are used far too routinely. If one wishes to trash no-knock warrants there are ample cases to use, such as Kathryn Johnston who was murdered by corrupt narc cops who perjured themselves to get the warrant and then planted drugs on her corpse. Another example is the above referenced mayor in MD.
My point is that perhaps we should not assume a ton of facts not in evidence about this particular raid where 4 cops were shot; for all we know there was sufficient justification and this was a turd who wanted to shoot cops rather than go away. Simply for the sake of making an effective argument, there are plenty of cases out there which are well documented and can easily be used.
Once again, I'm not defending these things. I've discussed them with the door kickers at some length and IMO they are inherently reckless in most circumstances and the threshold used by the judiciary is far too low. I just don't think that it helps those who are criticizing them to immediately assume facts not in evidence.
Joe
Lets take just the smallest of steps back here. Heaven knows I'm no fan of no-knock warrants. The inherent risk of harm to innocents simply does not sit well with me other than in extreme circumstances. However, there is simply nothing in the articles posted on this case that indicates that the wrong house was hit or that there was not sufficient justification for the judge to issue the warrant.
These are warrants by judges and their questionable constitutionality has been upheld. That said, I think that the threshold used by judges to grant them is way too low and that they are used far too routinely. If one wishes to trash no-knock warrants there are ample cases to use, such as Kathryn Johnston who was murdered by corrupt narc cops who perjured themselves to get the warrant and then planted drugs on her corpse. Another example is the above referenced mayor in MD.
My point is that perhaps we should not assume a ton of facts not in evidence about this particular raid where 4 cops were shot; for all we know there was sufficient justification and this was a turd who wanted to shoot cops rather than go away. Simply for the sake of making an effective argument, there are plenty of cases out there which are well documented and can easily be used.
Once again, I'm not defending these things. I've discussed them with the door kickers at some length and IMO they are inherently reckless in most circumstances and the threshold used by the judiciary is far too low. I just don't think that it helps those who are criticizing them to immediately assume facts not in evidence.
Joe