Circling the wagons

and throwing shit on a dead mans memory to see if they can find anything that might stick, just to cover their asses. The Blue Wall continues to shield the officers who murdered a man who had the temerity to defend his home from invaders who covered their faces and stormed his domicile, claiming to be police.

How many times must they change their story? How many things will they find (or claim to find) that will cast doubt on the innocence of Jose Guerena?First he was a drug dealer who worked shifts (and midnights at that) at a copper mine......Then he was a drug runner who worked shifts at a copper mine....

Wait,... a copper mine? Why would a drug dealer work that hard?

Now, weeks later, they "think that he may be connected to a home invasion case". Or something...Next thing, he'll be a compatriot of Osama Bin Laden.

So they entered a house after knocking.....45 seconds after knocking. Not much time. And how loud did they knock?Ever check out the tactics of those folks who do the SWAT raids? They really don't do much to announce themselves or give any reasonable time to answer the door. Control of the situation IS important, IF THERE IS A REASON TO EMPLOY SWAT. Most of the time, there isn't. Serving a warrant to a guy who has NO record, or has a bunch of parking tickets doesn't need SWAT.

Lets not forget that their explanation as to why they made the ambulance crew wait is not borne out by the evidence. Lets not forget that they likely had bad information, or chose the wrong house in the right neighborhood. Lets not forget that they have covered up information and obfuscated every enquiry as to the circumstances of the death of Mr. Guerena. Lets not forget that the sheriff has asked why the news media would DARE to question the legality of the shooting. Dare.

And lets not forget that even if some of the accusations are true (likely not, but just for the sake of argument, let's give the Pima County folks the benefit of the doubt), doesn't every citizen have the right to trial before being executed? Without any trial, without any evidence being presented, they executed a man who chose to try to defend his home against what he thought were armed invaders.

I understand that some areas need a SWAT team. And I acknowledge that there are folks who are not terribly nice, and might well not cooperate with police. But having a SWAT team doesn't mean that they need to be used all the time, only when  circumstances warrant them.

And thus far, the Pima County Sherriff's office has declined to show the warrants, or explain the circumstances which required that a group of armed men invade a man's house....

Much less explain the details of the shooting, or the subsequent misuse of power which led to leaving a man to bleed to death while withholding medical assistance for over an hour. All while lying about the circumstances as to why they chose to let him bleed to death.

As Tam points out, the troops in Iraq had tighter rules of engagement when entering houses in a war zone.

Where are the folks who decried the deaths in Iraq? Where are the death penalty objectors? WHERE IS THE PRESS? Why aren't there murder indictments (or at least outside investigations) taking place in this case? Anyone involved in either the raid or the chain of command who ordered this clusterfuck should be under investigation.

This would serve as a warning to the police in our country that there is a line that cannot be crossed. We spent more time investigating the death of known criminals caused by border patrol agents...and convicted the agents. This wasn't some illegal alien drug smuggler, this was an Iraqi war vat and a US citizen.

This is a cover up, plain and simple. A raid gone wrong. A mistake by trigger happy "professionals" who ended up killing a man because they acted like criminals.

But enough is enough.

I have a friend who states that "the police are just a different gang...one with a more distinctive uniform and the blessing of society". Incidents like this make that statement hard to refute. Especially when there is such a concerted coverup.