SWAT Team Kills Family Dog with Child Present

If you needed something else to push you toward accepting marijuana legalization, here you go.

A SWAT team in Columbia, MO executed a narcotics search warrant in mid February. It was your typical smash the door down in the middle of the night and kill the family pets while the house is ransacked for a few grams of marijuana drug raid. When 100-150 of these raids occur every single day, incidents like the one that happened at Jonathan Witworth's home in Missouri mostly go unnoticed.

Unless they're caught on tape.

The whole raid took place in front of a 7 year old boy and according to a police spokesperson the police discovered a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of marijuana. They then charged the father with child endangerment because, clearly, marijuana possession has the potential to cause a child more physical and mental harm then ramming down the front door in the middle of the night, firing 4 gun shots inside the house and killing the little boy's puppy.

What's even more typical about these raids is the lack of responsibility the police take. Here is the police chief's explanation of what happened: 

The chief, who is personally conducting the internal investigation, walked reporters through his understanding of the incident. Three officers shot at the pit bull, and the first missed completely, which is when the corgi is believed to have been shot in the paw, he said. The pit bull acted aggressively toward a SWAT member again as they pushed into the home, which resulted in the animal being shot, he said. After being shot, it moved to attack a SWAT member, which is when the dog was killed.

That sounds like a little kid lying to his mom about how that antique china collection ended up smashed on the floor. "Uhh, well. I was trying to sweep the floor for you mommy but I missed the floor completely and killed your dog instead."

Before I watched the video I already knew what was going to happen. I was aware that a dog dies. But that still doesn't prepare you to listen to this man's agony when he realizes that the officers have shot and killed his pet.

Amidst the screaming and yelling of orders by the officers, the confused suspect asks "What is happening?"

SEARCH WARRANT! NARCOTICS SEARCH WARRANT!

"Ok. Search. I don't care. Why does it have to be like this? Please don't hurt my dogs. They're nice dogs."

Just Doing Their Jobs...

That's what Prince George's County Sheriff Michael Jackson had to say about last summer's botched drug raid at the home of Berwyn Heights, MD Mayor Cheye Calvo. The drug raid, which turned up no drugs, resulted in the mayor being handcuffed to a table in his underwear and guns being pointed at his mother in law while they watched the deputies shoot the family dogs. And no, these weren't rottweilers or pitbulls - these were black labs.

The findings of the internal review "are consistent with what I've felt all along: My deputies did their job to the fullest extent of their abilities," Sheriff Michael Jackson said at a news conference.

The drug war has disillusioned American citizens, politicians, and the criminal justice system so much that when a drug raid on the wrong house, the mayor's house none the less, results in no confiscation of drugs and the killing of two family dogs - we commend the police officers that planned and carried out the raid.

Truly outrageous.

I'm glad to see that the Mayor isn't taking this laying down - he's suing the the state of Maryland and officials at the county sheriff's office and police department.