Chicago SWAT Raid Gone Terribly Wrong
BY Herschel Smith
11 years, 8 months ago
Chicago police terrorized six children in the wrong apartment, demanding at gunpoint that an 11-month-old show his hands, and telling one child, “This is what happens when your grandma sells crack,” the family claims in court.
Lead plaintiffs Charlene and Samuel Holly sued Chicago, police Officer Patrick Kinney and eight John Does in Federal Court, on their own behalves and for their children and children.
The six children were 11 months to 13 years old at the time. Plaintiffs Connie and Michelle Robinson are Charlene Holly’s daughters.
The complaint states: “On November 29, 2012 in the early evening hours Charlene Holly was in the first floor apartment at 10640 S. Prairie in the front room helping minor Child #1, Child #2, Child #4, and Child #5 rehearse songs for their church choir. Charlene was also caring for Child #3, who was 11 months old. Child #6 was in the upstairs apartment alone.
“Charlene and the children heard a loud boom outside and a voice cry out ‘Across the street!’
“Defendant Officers John Doe 1-8 burst through the door to the first floor apartment dressed in army fatigues and pointing guns at Charlene and the children. The officers yelled at Charlene and the children to ‘Get on the ground!’ The officers referred to Charlene and the children as ‘m—f—ers’ numerous times.
“Afraid of the guns being pointed at them, Children #1, 2, 4, and 5 ran to a back bedroom in fear of the officers. In response to the defendants’ order to ‘Get on the ground!,’ Charlene got down on the floor. A defendant Officer told Charlene to ‘Put the baby down’ so Charlene set Child #3 down beside her. The officers yelled at Charlene to get Child #3’s hands where they could see them.
“After attempting to show the officers that the eleven-month-old’s hands were empty, Charlene asked the officers ‘What is this about?’ To which they replied ‘Shut the f— up.'”
Samuel Holly says he asked the police what they were doing, and called the 111th Street police station asking for a “white shirt” to come explain the situation, but no supervisor ever came to the house.
“Charlene continually asked what the purpose of the detention was,” the complaint states. “Finally, an officer produced a warrant and handed it to Charlene. The warrant was for an individual named ‘Sedgwick M. Reavers’ and the premises listed was ‘The second floor apartment located at 10640 S. Prairie Ave. A yellow brick two flat building with the numbers 10640 on the front of the building.’ In other words, the warrant clearly identified the proper location as the second floor apartment. Charlene, Samuel, and the children were in the first floor apartment.
“As the officers were detaining Charlene, Samuel, and Children #1-5 in the first floor apartment, they also proceeded to the second floor apartment, where Child #6 was home alone. Child #6 was 13 years old at the time of the incident.
“The officers approached Child #6 in a bedroom and turned out the lights. They began flashing red lights at the child, calling him ‘m-f—er,’ placing him in plastic handcuffs and telling him ‘I started to Tase your grandmother and cousins’ and ‘This is what happens when your grandma sells crack.’ Child #6 begged the police not to hurt his family in the apartment below and stated that his grandmother did not sell crack.”
The man named in the warrant, Sedgwick Reavers, “was sitting in a squad car outside of 10640 S. Prairie throughout the entire incident,” according to the complaint.
The family claims that “the following day Charlene discovered the family dog, Samson, not in the basement where the family kept him, but in an upstairs laundry room. Samson could not have reached the laundry room without human assistance. On information and belief, defendant Officers dragged and choked Samson from the basement with the dog pole and left him in the upstairs laundry room unattended, where he died.”
Let’s deal with this in two phases. First, the training and tactics. As shooters, remember our rules for safety, trigger discipline being among the top rules. This is true for police and SWAT team members as well. It’s true because of sympathetic muscle reflexes. An example of this kind of bumbling stupidity is the death of Mr. Eurie Stamps, where the police officer stumbled over the top of his prone body (Mr. Stamps had done what he had been told to do and gone to the floor), and in so stumbling, the officer – whose finger was on the trigger of his rifle – squeezed the trigger and killed Mr. Stamps. Mr. Stamps was innocent of all wrong-doing. The name of the officer is Paul Duncan. His first thought when he killed Stamps was, Jesus, was that my rifle?” And it was, and Mr. Stamps is dead.
Now. Let’s discuss something that most people don’t know about Marine Corps training. My son was a SAW gunner in the 2/6 infantry, Golf Company, 3rd Platoon, during the 2007 combat tour of Fallujah and the pre-deployment workup. The senior Marines had experienced a tour of Iraq, and wanted their SAW gunners to have a round in the chamber, bolt open (the SAW is an open bolt weapon anyway), and finger on the trigger. They had seen combat and they wanted their SAW gunners with zero steps to shooting. Their lives depended on it. They also did CQB drills with live rounds, along with squad rushes.
My son had an ID (if I’m not mistaken it was during training at Mohave Viper). He tripped and had a sympathetic muscle reflex, squeezing the trigger of his SAW. He spent an extended period of time in the “room of pain.” They wanted him trained to overcome that sympathetic muscle reflex (which can be done, but it takes hundreds or thousands of hours of drills). He spent the time learning to overcome that reflex, and performed well during his tour. He also tried to teach his “boot” Marines the same way he was trained, but the Marines had begun to change and focus more on cultural sensitivity training and other COIN tools. He got out of the Marine Corps.
Why am I discussing this? Because no matter who you are, no matter how much time you spend, no matter how earnestly you wish it, no matter how many directives you write, if you are a SWAT team member, you will never be trained in such a manner. Never. You will never be trained like a U.S. Marine who has spent every day for a year and a half in pre-deployment workup to do a combat tour of Iraq. Because you will never be trained in this manner, your tactics are dangerous, all of the time, and in all situations. I don’t care how many times you have inexperienced Soldiers spend a week with you doing CQB drills. With the standdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, they oftentimes know as little as you. These tactics place people in danger when there are better alternatives.
Now for the next step. Nor should you be trained like my son. It isn’t within your province to do this. The militarization of the police and police tactics in America is an effort to sidestep Posse Comitatus. It’s a way to have a standing army police Americans rather than have the existing standing army do the policing of Americans. It’s a typical progressive, statist trick.
The tactics used by the Chicago police are thuggish, brutish, and stupid. These tactics are stupid when we can revert to old school detective work. These tactics are dangerous for the people upon whom they are perpetrated. The officers involved do not have the skills necessary to do the job, and never will. These tactics should be reserved for only the most extreme situations like in situ armed resistance by known criminals such as Mexican drug gangs. Finally, these tactics comport with a communist ideology, where the state reigns supreme over every aspect of the life of a nation, and the rights of citizens are trampled underfoot.
The officers who perpetrated this raid should be ashamed. Chicago should be ashamed, and America should be ashamed to have such teams who perpetrate this wickedness on its citizens. Extreme violations of rights like this call for extreme measures to stop the violations. These men have even suppressed the God-given sense of duty to protect and defend women and children. Rather, they point rifles at them and call them motherfucker.
What would John Adams say if he were here today?
UPDATE: Thanks to Mike for the attention. Also see comments there.
UPDATE #2: Thanks to David for the attention.
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On March 7, 2013 at 1:55 am, Will said:
“Nor should you be trained like my son”
This.
All the Marines that I knew that had the most over the top, tough guy attitudes were always cowards in combat, wouldn’t get out of the trucks, sweep for IEDs etc. That’s what this is, a manifestation of fear. If you’re too scared to be an effective cop, get a different job.
I always wonder if these “operators” as they like to be called feel good after a day like this. I’m afraid that they do. You want to be a tough guy? Join the Marine Corps.
On March 7, 2013 at 10:48 am, SWIFT said:
No one should live in a police state. Second, Chicago likes paying out money in lawsuits. So sock it to them! If they didn’t, they wouldn’t, “get it wrong”, so many times. So, go for millions.
On March 7, 2013 at 11:09 am, Crustyrusty said:
The Chicago police were thuggish, brutish and stupid many decades before SWAT teams ever existed. The fruits of democrat leadership and corruption (I know, redundant).
On March 7, 2013 at 11:43 am, FishOrMan said:
This was a warrant service for a man already in custody??!! If so, everything about it becomes illegal. If the warrant suspect hadn’t already been in custody, this incident not only becomes “legal” but commonplace.
On March 7, 2013 at 11:57 am, rolf said:
The “officers” that perpetrated this raid should be in jail. Or the hospital. Or the morgue.
On March 7, 2013 at 12:58 pm, jdkchem said:
These are the same people who would prefer you weren’t armed.
On March 7, 2013 at 2:40 pm, cjmartel said:
The increased reliance on swat teams bodes ill for ALL Americans. I have been in law enforcement for over thirty years and I still go by the adage, “if you’re wearing a mask, then you’re up to no good”, and most of these teams are masked. There is absolutely no excuse for this type of behavior on the part of police, as Herschel pointed out, there is no way anyone, outside of a dedicated military breach team, is qualified to do this type of raid. I remember reading about the murder of Jose Guillermo in Tuscon Arizona in May of 2011, haven’t heard a word since. Those officers should all be doing life. More and more police are over reacting, when you use words like motherfucker in front of children, you should not be wearing a badge. An excellent article, thank you.
On March 7, 2013 at 3:05 pm, Dan said:
I agree with you completely. These raids are beyond stupid.
On a side note, yy son was in the 2/6 Marines in Fallujah in 2007 where he received the Purple Heart. He talked highly of his SAW gunner.
On March 7, 2013 at 3:11 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Write me a note Dan and tell me your son’s name. I’ll mention it to Daniel and see if he remembers (I’m sure he will – they never seem to forget).
On March 7, 2013 at 3:55 pm, Kurt Hofmann said:
But, but . . . Josh Horwitz, of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, says that we should “not pile too much on the militarization of law enforcement” (last few seconds of a 37-second video clip).
On March 7, 2013 at 7:19 pm, Daniel Morseth said:
The unintended consequence is that the actions of such pigs as these cowardly bastards also paints a target on the GOOD cops – maybe ten per cent of the national total – so that in any time of a serious event, citizens who see ALL cops as murdering scum, will be likely to see them as targets of opportunity. You can’t tell from looking at a cop which one might, against all odds, be a decent guy, and which one might have just murdered your grandma, tased and pistol whipped your kid or is willing to shoot you dead just for kicks.
It is possible that some of the SS might have been men who really loved their mothers and their dogs, but when anyone saw the SS uniform, there was no time to ask polite questions. It is the same now with any cop who puts on ‘battle rattle’ and carries an M4 or a shotgun. All will be presumed to be a death squad. If cops wanted to eliminate the targets being painted on their backs, they would ostracize these punks and stop covering for them, lying for them and making excuses for them.
On March 7, 2013 at 7:53 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Great point Mr. Morseth. One I wish I had made. Why do the good cops cover for these bastards?
On March 7, 2013 at 10:04 pm, Mark Matis said:
Because, Herschel Smith, there ARE NO “good cops”. Or rather, those who ARE good are few and far between, and only in the smallest of departments who do NOT have any toys from the FedPigs. The rest of them are just lying swill like the REST of the Blue Wall.
The stench is overwhelming. And it smells like pig.
On March 7, 2013 at 11:42 pm, ebola131 said:
On March 7, 2013 at 11:57 am, rolf said:
The “officers” that perpetrated this raid should be in jail. Or the hospital. Or the morgue.
Until the Oathkeepers do vengence on these “swat snots”, this behavior will continue. These people are civilians, just like you and me.
Publish their names, faces, addresses, auto license tags and family members info…then put a bounty on their heads with the Chicago gangs….hell any gang.
Make it clear that this behavior will end….or they will.
On March 8, 2013 at 10:15 am, Longbow said:
“The officers who perpetrated this raid should be ashamed.”
There is no shame. There is no shame because there is no concept of being wrong, or the possibility of being wrong. They have a super hero costume and a magic shield, how could they possibly be wrong?
Why don’ the “good cops” take bad cops like these back to the station and beat the snot out of them, thus encouraging them to find another way to make a living?
I will tell you why. What we think of as “good cops” are in the distinct minority. They are the ones who keep a low profile. They are the ones who go along to get along, thus keeping their jobs and security. They are the ones who put paycheck above principle. The bad cops have no principles except the ideal of wielding power over their neighbors. If the “good cops” were in the vast majority, as we keep hearing, then incidents such as these and a smorgasbord of abuses on video you can observe on youtube, should be as rare as hen’s teeth. But they are not rare. They are common. They are common because we as a society have allowed them to become so. We have believed the lie that the State is there to help you, instead of sticking to the principle that the State is there to wield power and exert force.
“Good cops”, you, be your inaction and silence, are defining yourselves.
On March 8, 2013 at 11:12 am, Mark Matis said:
Well said, Longbow!
On March 8, 2013 at 1:48 pm, BikerDad said:
“Defendant Officers John Doe 1-8”?!?!! WTF?
Bust a FOIA on them and publicize their names. “John Doe” my ass, the police reports of the event will identify every single one of them, and they should be identified.
Since when did the USA adopt Secret f’ing Police?
On March 8, 2013 at 3:10 pm, Mark Matis said:
Quite some time ago, BikerDad. Quite some time ago. Try doing a search to find names and addresses of your local “Law Enforcement”. Or a home address for your local prosecutor. Or judiciary. Overall, they are VERY much into “Secret Police” status for themselves.
On March 8, 2013 at 3:12 pm, Herschel Smith said:
BikerDad and Mark,
Just completed Freedom of Information Request, will send this evening. We’ll see what comes of it.
On March 8, 2013 at 4:50 pm, Mark Matis said:
Good luck with that, Herschel Smith! Wanna know how the smart money bets on their response to that request? Although there are indeed some few times when the smart money loses…
On March 8, 2013 at 4:55 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I’ll post the form on Sunday night, and then when I get the CPD response in I’ll post that as well.
On March 11, 2013 at 1:01 am, Mark Gregory,,Koernke said:
War is coming.It is not an if but only a when.This problem will not be fixed and the very nature of where the POLICE STATE mindset is coming from is why we need a good Knock down fight to get rid of the problem.The .270,30-06 and .300 Win Mag will blow the shoulder out of a deer and the groin/hip out of a Black Uniformed Moose.Everyone is tired of this crap and wants to get rid of the problem. I have trained Militia units in the USA for 30 years.We use everything that has been built for the last 100 years and with a very high safety record. We are prepared to fight and it will be soon.Too bad Marines and Army will be given the orders to Kill americans.We, as free men, will have to kill them back harder and with no mercy.I am sure they are bragging up what they will do to us.Piss on em all. Ne Copula Nobiscum!
On March 12, 2013 at 5:20 pm, John Dilligaf said:
I smell bullshit. I sure there are plenty of dirty cops in Chicago but this sotry sounds a little off. First Chicago has been a war zone. There are almost two people killed every day in Chicago. This sounds like a gang banger doing everything possible to beat his case. Lets remeber this is only one side of the story. Why not file a freedom of information act to get this man’s criminal history? Lets not judge until we know all the facts. I have lived in Chicago all my life and have never had my door broken down by the police. Then again I’m not a criminal.
On March 12, 2013 at 5:31 pm, Herschel Smith said:
One question. Did anyone zip tie a child’s hands together? If the answer is yes, then your demurral is what is B.S., not the story. I’ll be able to tell when I see the reports – that is, if they release them. If they don’t? What are they trying to hide?
Oh, and by the way. I don’t really care how many people per day die in Chicago. That doesn’t give SWAt teams the right to bust doors in and terrorize women and children. Police cannot change the heart of man. Only God can do that. SWAT teams cannot change society, and so how bad the crime is in Chicago has nothing to do with anything.
On March 13, 2013 at 7:37 pm, Mark Matis said:
Well at least they did not murder anyone in that house like Lake County Deputy Richard Sylvester did to Andrew Lee Scott in his own home:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/07/18/48483.htm
Pound on the door at 1 AM without announcing that you are “Law Enforcement” and then shoot whoever opens it. And the “Florida Department of Law Enforcement” completed its investigation and decided that Officer Sylvester didn’t do anything wrong. But maybe his survivors will be awarded some taxpayer dollars. Surely that will make everything right…
On March 14, 2013 at 9:06 pm, Dr. Suess said:
While I’m not surprised to be reading a blog post such as this I am appalled supposed military would actually take the word of the “victim” on face value. The “victim’s” version is a nice perversion of the truth. And while that does not surprise me some of the current/former veterans comments on here make me sick. I guess the liberals are right, all you military personnel are just a bunch of baby killers. -sarcasm- It’s too bad Dilligaf was the only one that has a clue.
On March 19, 2013 at 10:35 am, Herschel Smith said:
Well, it had to happen. Someone connected to the failed raid has happened on this article.
The bit about being a “bunch of baby killers” makes no sense given the context. Or another way to say it is if this were all military personnel and we were decrying the methods in use by overbearing SWAT teams, it is nonsensical to charge us with exactly what we are criticizing. You didn’t think that one through.
Therefore, your rant is merely an emotional outburst suited for an elementary school child. It’s what little girls do when someone invades their clique. I will assume then that you are either a member of the SWAT team or have friends on the SWAT team.
This is personal for you. You storm into a home expecting shootouts like you witnessed on TV from Iraq (but without signing up, going through the training, and flying across the pond), and instead you end up putting zip ties on the hands of infants, shouting “motherfucker” in their face, and going home to mommy or wifey and being frustrated that you didn’t do anything that day except shove around women and children. Big tough man, you are. Did you shove around mommy that night too? Listen. Come invade my space like that and see what happens to you. Pick on someone your own size instead of women and children.
And on top of that, you didn’t tell us anything about the raid, except that you’re mad at us. Thanks for visiting. Bye bye.
On July 2, 2013 at 1:43 am, dave said:
SWAT are sadistic maggots. Most of them are gung ho commandos who were trained to kill in war and never got to pull he trigger. They are mentally unstable straight jacket material and the government knows it. If enough INNOCENT people start shooting and fighting back then maybe they will take the time to read a report instead of pumping themselves up with fantasies of killing. They shot the dog because they enjoyed it, They probably watched the animals face in agony as they took his life, just like a serial killer.This is what sick people do they get off on killing and scaring people thats what SWAT is. This is happening in America folks what are you going to do about it??