Police Send SWAT Team, Break Into Wrong House (With TV Film Crew) In Response To Internet Troll
from the wow dept
We've heard of police very frequently overreacting to things and sending in SWAT teams when they aren't necessary. We've also heard of them sending SWAT teams to the wrong place. But this latest story, found via Radley Balko (who tracks these things like no other) may be the most insane yet. It involves police sending a SWAT team and breaking into the wrong house (whose front door was open) in response to some internet trolls. I'm not kidding.The issue was that on a Topix community forum for Evansville, Indiana, someone claimed that a list of police staff had been "leaked." Some trolls in the comments spoke out against the police -- and one certainly went too far, suggesting that a certain officer's house was going to be shot up. Rather than investigating the issue, the police got some info on where the comment came from (or, rather, where they thought the comment came from) and sent the SWAT team and a TV news crew to the home of Ira and Louise Milan -- whose front door was open. Now, they could have rang the doorbell and spoken to them. But, instead, they broke down the screen door, broke the front window, and tossed a flashbang into the living room.
And... all for naught. While they seized a bunch of computer equipment, it turns out that no one in the house had anything to do with anything. Something they could have ascertained by, you know, talking to people in the house. The police are defending their massive overreaction because.... the internet!!!!
“This is a little more difficult that a traditional crime scene, because we’re dealing with the Internet. They definitely weren’t expecting (a SWAT team at the door). The reason we did that is the threats were specific enough, and the potential for danger was there.Yes, so because the police might overreact, you should watch what you say online. And also always be ready for a SWAT team to show up, in case a stranger you know nothing about says something bad online. After all, it's "the internet."
“This is a big deal to us,” Cullum said. “This may be just somebody who was online just talking stupid. What I would suggest to anybody who visits websites like that is that their comments can be taken literally.”
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Filed Under: evansville, indiana, police, swat team, trolls
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usa nr 1
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Re: usa nr 1
How about the UK
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2158187/Armed-police-drag-group-home-force-lie-ground-gu npoint--got-WRONG-HOUSE.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bungling-cops-raid-wrong-home-117 487
Canada
https://ourtaxdollarsatwork.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/toronto-canada-police-raid-wrong-h ome-with-warrant-they-couldnt-produce-and-terrorize-innocent-family/
Ireland
http://www.irishcentr al.com/story/roots/emeraldextracts/irish-police-raid-wrong-house-in-drugs-bust-105677333.html
And that was just the first few hits on google.
Love how people throw stones without first looking at themselves.
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Re: Re: usa nr 1
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Re: Re: usa nr 1
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Re: usa nr 1
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Unreasonable search
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Aw c'mon
I'm at a loss. How do you top THAT???
I guess it's more difficult because its a cybercrime? Help me understand. Please.
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Re: Aw c'mon
It's more difficult because the cops fucked up—and everybody with an ounce of sense knows the cops fucked up. That makes it really difficult.
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Re: Aw c'mon
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Re: Aw c'mon #3
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Re: Aw c'mon
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Re:
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3:30 through the end of the video.
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but ... but ... but ... television!?!?
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Land of Liberty, my ass.
The tired troll argument “the US not as bad as Xyzistan” is just plan dumb talk from losers too gutless to think and too stupid admit they are losers.
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Re: Land of Liberty, my ass.
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Re: Land of Liberty, my ass.
If you're not, what makes your loser country so much better than my loser country?
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Re: Land of Liberty, my ass.
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Huh?
Now granted this was a massive, massive overreaction to a random internet comment, and any ten-year-old could have told them that there was no actual threat. That still doesn't make the police here into bullies or thugs. It just means they are very very stupid.
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Re: Huh?
Nothing to see here, carry on about your business.
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Re: Re: Huh?
The problem is, the police are allowed to do stuff like this because when there are rogue bombmakers, I would really like a SWAT team to toss flashbangs through the windows and bust down the doors. The failure here isn't that the police decided to mess with some innocent people for kicks, the problem is that they didn't bother to do the most basic investigation before assuming that the owner of an IP address must be a criminal explosives nut.
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Re: Re: Re: Huh?
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Re: Re: Re: Huh?
Also, I understand that you think the police being "very, very stupid" is a sort-of, kind-of, partial excuse for this behavior; it isn't. They sent in SWAT primarily as a scare tactic. They knew this wasn't a real threat; they also knew this person wouldn't receive any punishment if they investigated this properly. So instead of doing their jobs they decided on a little street justice.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Huh?
If they were trying to blow up the house, then they wouldn't all have been on the porch when they threw in the pair of flashbangs.
Take a look at the report filmed by the news crew: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: SWAT Raids Home Investigating Threats Made To EPD Officers & Families
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Huh?
If they were trying to blow up the house, then they wouldn't all have been on the porch when they threw in the pair of flashbangs.
Take a look at the report filmed by the news crew: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: SWAT Raids Home Investigating Threats Made To EPD Officers & Families
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Re: Huh?
Unreasonably breaking doors and windows, and unreasonably throwing a flash-bang into an occupied room makes the the police here into bullies and thugs.
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Re: Re: Huh?
"Front door is open, 18 year old girl on the couch watching the food network."
"Break the window and toss in a flash!"
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Re: Re: Huh?
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Re: Huh?
Two things. It isn't what they say it is what they do. And what exactly is the threat? Seems like it was some guy talking smack about the police on internet. How threatening!
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Punishment!
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Last weekend the police state was in Minneapolis-St. Paul. It moves around: here and there. A week-end in the Twin Cities and then on to Evansville.
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swat
tip of the iceberg as far as official stupidity goes. Look up the story about the kid @ Central Library using a TOR browser.....
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Re: swat
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Re: swat
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Judges are supposed to approve search warrants... do they also have to approve S.W.A.T. raids?
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Re: Re:
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How is this a "suggestion?" Is in, "I suggest that if you want us to break down the door of someone you don't like, go ahead because we'll believe anything?"
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In related news
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Re: In related news
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Wow, that's exactly the opposite of what I would suggest. I've never taken any Internet-based threats literally, and they've never turned out to be serious. That's a pretty good track record. How's your policy working out for you, Cullum?
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Lee Harvey Oswald was blamed for killing the President and Dallas Police Officer JD Tippit, a couple miles away around forty minutes later, despite photos show him at the doorway of the Texas School Book Depository, when the shots were fired in the first instance, and when the three tramps were marched by hours later!
The Moorman shot has snipers nests on the Grassy Knoll, with muzzle flashes behind the picket fence left screen, E Howard Hunt firing with Martin Luther & Coretta King to his right .. Afro Secret Serviceman Abraham Bolden is behind and to Coretta’s left, the “Badgeman” enhancement, has Dallas Policeman Joe Smith firing from behind the rotunda wall, with Gordon H Arnold, an unidentified bald guy, and deaf mute Ed Hoffman & wife.
William F Buckley was "Umbrella Man," who signaled the shooters all systems were go, his accomplice is believed to be Corsican adventurer Lucien Sarti .. As the limousine emerged from behind the freeway sign, the driver William Greer, turned and looked over his right shoulder, he turned back, and while holding the steering wheel with his left hand, retrieved something from under the dash with his right hand,
He transferred the object to his left hand, and turning back around to look at the President, brought his left hand around his body, and aimed and fired at John Kennedy’s head .. The Three Tramps were E Howard Hunt of Watergate fame, Charles Harrelson father of television actor Woody Harrelson, and Charles Frederick Rogers, wanted in Houston TX, for killing and dismembering both his parents in 1965!
Ted Gunderson was FBI Bureau Chief in Dallas when President K was murdered, after the shooting he was filmed in possession of one of two rifles, on the sixth floor of the TSBD, he was in Memphis when Martin Luther King was shot, and in Los Angeles when Senator Robert Kennedy was slain,
He was part of the Franklin Case cover up, that goes back nearly thirty years, whence Rusty Nelson testified Hunter S Thompson paid him $100,000 a time, to film snuff killings to the tune of around fifty dead
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Now, they could have rang the doorbell [sic]
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Completely Unprofessional
I also find it hard to believe the response would be the same if the aleged "troll" had targeted a civilian house.
Finally, if this article quotes the police accurately, their response is ridiculous. They should apologize profusely and an internal investigation should result in policy changes that puts a safety mechanism on the SWAT team. Their actions were VERY unprofessional and it will take years to restore the damage they've done.
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Re: Completely Unprofessional
“Disquiet builds nationwide over police flash-bang use” by Corey Mitchell, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dec 13, 2011:
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Re:
No, that was Peru, Indiana.
“Peru police Tase Alzheimer patient” by Carson Gerber, Kokomo Tribune, June 20, 2012:
According to Google Maps, Peru is about a five-hour drive from Evansville. Looks like Peru is up north of Indianapolis, sort of towards Ft. Wayne.
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Re: Re:
Take another look at the date on that incident...June 20, 2012. Just two days ago.
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The cyber-police dun goofed
THIS is why it should be important for law enforcement to have at least some of them with high IQs.
And yea: Oh Noes!!!1-11 (One-eleven)
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Re: The cyber-police dun goofed
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And what about..
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Re: And what about..
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Re: And what about..
From the article:
The city mayor knows the cops fucked up. That's why the city's paying for the storm door and window.
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Re: Re: And what about..
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Life is dangerous. Freedom is dangerous. That's why the land of the free was also the home of the brave.
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Christ.
Internet. That shit strikes back in mysterious ways fuckos. Get a grip.
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4th amendment violation, sounds like:
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/jun/22/swat-team-enters-home-people-inside-arent/
Q uote:
"Police were executing a search warrant approved by a judge. Such warrants are routinely filed in the Vanderburgh County Clerks Office, but officials in the clerks office said Friday afternoon they had no record of a warrant served on that address.
When asked by the Courier & Press for access to the document that allowed them to force entry to the home, Bolin refused. He said it might contain information that would compromise their investigation. However, he said the document didn’t contain names of any suspects."
...
"Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann also refused to release the warrant.
The Courier & Press filed Freedom of Information requests Friday afternoon seeking the document from the police department, clerk’s office and prosecutor’s office."
/Quote
Kinda makes me want to go all "If you've done nothing wrong then you have nothing to hide" on the cops.
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Re: 4th amendment violation, sounds like:
Compare with the Supreme Court's holding in Wilson v Arkansas (1995):
It is not reasonable to break windows and throw a flashbang at innocent people without warning in order to create a TV spectacle. You don't just throw flashbangs at people—unless you're trying to cause collateral damage.
They wouldn't have hauled the TV news crew along if they were expecting a real firefight.
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Re: Re: 4th amendment violation, sounds like:
It's weird that the people inside the house didn't simply see the cops and TV crew preparing outside their living room window. Guess they were too innocent to be constantly looking out their large window. Cops could have waited until after dark, but the sunset being so late as it is this time of year, I doubt it.
This reeks of the police overreacting to a threat that was made only against the police chief, who unfortunately had the power to raise a lot of alarms and call in his SWAT team, because again, unfortunately he has that authority, and did all of this under the doubtless assumption that regardless of his complete lack of investigation, because its "THE INTERNET" (cue the scary music), that means they would 100% Definitely find a threat there and could work with the DA and judge to come up with a post-dated warrant later, to make it all legal in the end. Good thing that asshat cop instead made a major fool of himself and his people, with video evidence!
Now, hopefully the family will sue, or the ACLU will get involved and sue. People like that are clearly unfit for law enforcement since "due process of law" is thrown out the window the moment an anonymous threat gets made on a random internet site that doesn't actually even list anything besides an officers name and general area of town they live in. Speaking of which, if cops were really afraid of people knowing where they live, then maybe, just maybe, those idiots shouldn't park their cop cars in the drive way every day and instead drive normal civilian vehicles like the rest of us when we're off the clock at work. Maybe the cops should hire people with basic common sense to consult on stuff like this.
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http://www.14news.com/story/18854572/epd-swat-team-flashbangs-house-related -to-threats-against-epd-families
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I hope
And the cops wonder why no one trusts them. sheesh
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We should ban flash-bang grenades.
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Re: We should ban flash-bang grenades.
We should disband local police SWAT teams.
Instead, urban para-military units should be under the national guard. While those guard units could be stationed in big cities, they should not used without the authorization of the state's governor or his deputy.
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6 months in prison and they repair the house
That's the absolute minimum they should get.
Idiot f-tards...
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So we sent in the SWAT team, pure gold.
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"I've got to admit it - they flamingoed up. It's like a cockup only much, much bigger."
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whaaaaaaat?
woohoo!!!!
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I love this.
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Re: I love this.
“Your ideas intrigue me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.”
Yeah, I've heard the theory before, of course. And —I'll give you this— it even sounds superficially plausible.
But is there any real evidence that it works out in the real world?
Take the cops up Peru who just tazed the Alzheimer's patient. Why did they do that? Were they just evil, sadistic monsters? No, probably not. Instead, their over-arching goal was to control the situation. So, they used force in an utterly inappropriate fashion. It was so outrageous it got a cop put on administrative leave. But will the police learn?
Look. The cops know that innocent civilians are getting SWAT'ed because phreakers are trying to social-engineer them into police reform.
So will the police change? They will continue to attempt to control the situation.
And the fucking pigs just don't care how many houses they break into —how many civilians they assault— —how many folks they kill— because they intend to win at all costs. If you want them to change, then they will stay rigidly fixed in their responses. No matter how crazy that is.
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Also, if they tracked said house via IP then it is yet another proof that IP does not equal a person. I wonder what was the problem there: open/hacked wireless router or hacked/zombie computer =)
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cops acting as judge , jury , hit squad.
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