Tag Archives: Raid

Police State, Politics, US

Retrial for Officer Joseph Weekly to begin in Detroit

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Four years ago, the Detroit Police Department conducted a raid on a home in search of a murder suspect, but a 7-year-old girl was caught in the crossfire.

Aiyana Stanley-Jones was killed during the raid from a gunshot wound to her head.  Aiyana was sleeping on the couch in the living room of the house, when a flash grenade thrown by police crashed through the window.  The police hoped the grenade would render the inhabitants inside the house confused and easy to subdue.  After the grenade went off, police stormed the house, and within seconds, Aiyana was shot and killed.

Officer Joseph Weekly, 38, is being charged with involuntary manslaughter and careless discharge of a firearm which resulted in the death of Aiyana.  Officer Weekly testified in court for his first trial in 2013, according to RT, “I replay this every day in my head… There’s nothing else I could have done differently.”

His first trial ended in a deadlock and was declared a mistrial in June, 2013.

The retrial is set to begin soon as juror selection began this morning despite Officer Weekly’s attorney, Steve Fishman, asking for an adjournment until 2015 following the shooting in Ferguson.  Fishman wrote, according to the Detroit Free Press, the “media frenzy” following the shooting has resulted in the vilification of police officers across the nation, and this would not allow for a fair and unbiased trial for Officer Weekly.

His defense is calling the shooting tragic, but also defending Officer Weekly saying his actions were not grossly negligent.

Officer Weekly is part of the Special Response Team who was carrying out a warrant in search of Chauncey Owens, a suspect in the death of 17-year-old Je’Rean Blake.  Aiyana’s father, Charles, is accused of providing the gun which was used to kill Blake.

US

FEDS Raid Home for $60K Land Rover SUV for EPA Violation

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A North Carolina woman is lawyering up after the Department of Homeland Security came to her house and seized her 1985 Land Rover Defender SUV.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” she told WBTV.

Brinkley bought the Land Rover Defender last year via the internet. She had invested more than $60,000 into the car.

“They popped up the hood and looked at the Vehicle Identification Number and compared it with a piece of paper and then took the car with them,” she said.

According to WBTV, in recent years some importers have been changing VIN numbers in order to comply with import regulations. All vehicles imported into the United States have to meet strict safety and emissions standards, which Land Rover Defenders do not. The only way around these standards is by importing vehicles  25-years-old or older, which is why in recent years importers have changed VINs to make a vehicle appear older.

Defenders, which are considered rare in the U.S., sell at a premium — even 25-year-old ones.

Brinkley said she has been trying to reach the seller with no success.

She told Fox News that she had a title for the vehicle and did enough work on it that it would have passed inspection. Brinkley said the warrant presented to her had the name of a previous owner on it.

“There were 40 seized that day all over the United States,” Brinkley said, adding that she’s in “disbelief” that her property could just be taken.

“I want my car back,” she said.

She has 35 days to appeal the seizure, but has no idea where her SUV is.

WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

Politics, US

Feds Raid Colorado Pot Industry After Promising Not To Intervene

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Denver, Colorado (Photo by: (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)
Denver, Colorado (Photo by: Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Months ago I wrote about the Obama administration’s seeming change of heart when it came to the federal ban on marijuana. According to the Justice Department as long as the drug was kept away from children, the black market and federal property then all was fine. Echos of applause were heard for this seemingly historical moment. However, the feds seem to be contradicting themselves leaving many confused.

In Denver, recreational shops were scheduled to open in only a few short weeks. However, according to The Denver Post, federal agents raided the homes of two individuals and more than a dozen facilities selling the drug.

All parties involved claim they were properly licensed, followed all state regulations and were not doing anything which would have prompted the feds to step in.

Although the feds did lift restrictions, they still said they will aggressively enforce the law in the following situations:

  • Preventing distribution to minors;
  • Preventing revenue from marijuana sales from going to criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels;
  •  Preventing diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal to other states;
  •  Preventing state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity;
  • Preventing violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana
  • Preventing drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use;
  • Preventing the growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands;
  • Preventing marijuana possession on federal property.

According to The Denver Post, federal officials would not reveal which of the above exceptions those involved violated.

One individual’s lawyer told The Denver Post, “They took $1 million worth of plants from his facility,” said Wollrab, who represents Laszlo Bagi, owner of Swiss Medical in Boulder. “They didn’t leave any instructions, saying don’t replant. There was no court order of cease and desist. No explanation.”

According to a Justice Department representative in Denver, no arrests were actually made in the raids. The raids were conducted by, the Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations unit, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Denver Police Department and state and local law enforcement.

Perhaps the most interesting element of this event is that the local police were involved. State law allows citizens to grow, smoke and medicate with marijuana.

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