The Captain's Journal

Operation Something Bruin

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 3 months ago

By Linda Crisp-In recent news, it has been reported that six U.S. Forest Service (USFS) employees from Western North Carolina were awarded “Law Enforcement and Investigations Awards” by the USFS for their roles in “Operation Something Bruin”, a four-year, multi-agency investigation targeting “bear poachers” in WNC and surrounding states, resulting in arrests in February 2013.

Also, in October, the National Wildlife Federation bestowed “prestigious conservation honors” on Sgt. Chad Arnold, an officer from Charlotte with the Special Investigations Unit of the N.C. Wildlife Commission. Arnold was named “Wildlife Enforcement Officer of the Year”, and the Commission was named the “Natural Resources Agency of the Year”, according to a press release from the N.C. Wildlife Commission.

After state and federal wildlife officials arrested these “so-called” poachers in February, 2013, the state dismissed all charges on some of them in April, 2013. Some hunters were arrested again in June, 2013 by United States Forest Service officials.

The Wildlife Federation, United States Forest Service, state and federal officials have been too hasty in handing out awards and congratulating themselves.

In 2009, Arnold (undercover alias “Chad Ryan”), and Davey Webb (alias Davey Williams), a wildlife agent from Georgia, visited a gun shop in Bryson City, N.C. According to the shop owner, they stated that they wanted to get involved in bear hunting and asked for recommendations of hunting guides in the area. However, according to subsequent reports, they were supposed to be infiltrating “known poaching circles”. The gun shop owner told them about some hunters he knew in Graham County, N.C. These agents hunted with men in Graham, Swain, Jackson, and Haywood from 2009-2012.

In late 2010 through 2011, under time constraints, and possibly due to not finding any illegal activity, Arnold and Webb resorted to various schemes to try to entice the hunters to break laws.

During one hunter’s trial in Haywood County, agents admitted to buying illegal bait for bears in Tennessee, and placing it in a hunter’s yard in Graham County. Hunters witnessed the officers killing at least four of the ten bears that were taken. These agents, against the advice of hunters, removed the bears’ gallbladders and called hunters from surrounding counties to try to get them to participate in the illegal selling of bear parts. The hunters refused to take part in this illegal activity. These are only two of the many tactics used in attempts to entrap hunters of Western North Carolina.

According to one attorney, Arnold admitted in court to violating 39 wildlife laws.

So far what is being discussed is very serious: illegalities, violations of civil rights, waste of taxpayer money, and corruption. But it gets worse still.

Additionally, state and federal agents employed “Gestapo-like” techniques in search and seizure of so-called “evidence”, including improper service of search-warrants.

Men in bullet-proof vests, with M-16 rifles came into homes where women were alone.

In one house, more than 20 agents with guns drawn, terrorized screaming toddlers and left them unsupervised while the parents were roughed up, searched, handcuffed, and taken outside the home. To this day, these children display post-traumatic stress symptoms.

They left homes in disarray and removed items unrelated to bear hunting: a laptop computer, hunting picture of deceased family member, legally killed mounted deer and boar heads, duck and turkey calls belonging to a four-year-old boy, a boat and boat titles, a front-end loader, personal vehicles, and many other items, which have not been returned.

To date, hunters who have had jury trials have not been convicted. In one case in Graham County, agents could not produce video “evidence”. Enticements were made by prosecutors including an offer to drop some charges if the hunter involved would plead guilty. The hunter refused and requested a jury trial. In this case, all charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

Various new releases by state and federal agencies, as well as the media, have already labeled all the hunters as “poachers”; however, most of these men have not had their “day in court”. Whatever happened to due process of law and “innocent until proven guilty”?

To add insult to injury, some hunters who have not been convicted of anything have been assigned federal probation officers who visit monthly.

“Something IS Brewing” in WNC; that “SOMETHING” would be tempers. The hunters involved are tired of being falsely accused, their rights ignored, and their reputations ruined.

The citizens of WNC and Northern Georgia are now organizing to get some answers from these agencies on why their constitutional rights have been ignored and proper due process of law not given.

A public hearing is currently being planned for mid-January 2014. Organizers are asking for Governor Pat McCrory, Congressman Mark Meadows and all elected officials to initiate investigations of all officers and agencies involved in “Operation Something Bruin”. If you have information to share, or would like to participate, please send an e-mail to SomethingBrewing2013@yahoo.com , or letter to P.O. Box 948, Bryson City, N.C., 28713.

The moment they pointed weapons at people it left the category of mere corruption and became dangerous. The good folk of Western North Carolina don’t have the L.A. Times to which they can turn. They are doing the best they can do to bring attention to this outrageous abuse of power and authority.

I too call on Governor Pat McCrory to intervene and investigate these abuses and illegalities. This kind of thing will go on as long as we allow it to.

22 Comments

Police Tags: Operation Something Bruin —

Endangerment By Cop

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 3 months ago

Guns.com:

Dash cam footage recently obtained by M Live shows the 14-minute confrontation in March between Grand Rapids Police Officers and 28-year-old Johann Deffert over a legally possessed firearm. An incident which has resulted in a federal lawsuit against the city and the officers involved.

Deffert was simply taking a walk down the street on a Sunday morning after he had finished enjoying breakfast at a nearby restaurant when he was stopped and detained by police because he was openly carrying a holstered handgun, which is legal in the state of Michigan.

Officer William Moe was the first to confront Deffert after a woman called 911 to report that she had seen a man walking on the sidewalk with a gun “strapped to his leg.” The woman was surprised when the 911 operator informed her that open carry was legal in the state.

After asking several questions about what is and is not legal when it comes to carrying firearms in the state, the woman insisted that the man looked “scary” because he was wearing camo and carrying a gun.

I see “scary” looking people every day and I don’t call the police to investigate them. There is no law against looking scary.

The dispatcher sent an officer out to investigate the report of a “suspicious person.”

As Moe pulled his patrol car to the area where Deffert was walking, he told the dispatcher that the man did appear to have a holstered weapon and claimed that the man was “talking to nobody.”

As Moe exited the car, with his service pistol drawn and trained on Deffert, he ordered the man to get down on the ground and put his hands up. “Do not move,” he instructed Deffert, asking, “Why do you have a handgun on you?”

Deffert remained calm, cooperative and respectful and replied, “It’s my constitutional right to defend myself.”

But apparently that answer was not sufficient for Moe, who continued to probe the man about why he would be walking down the street openly carrying a firearm and eventually said, “I gotta make sure you’re not a felon, right?” Deffert informed the officer that he actually did not have to check on that and even offered to show him the penal code.

I’ve got a big, big problem here. First of all not only is Michigan an open carry state, it has no stop and identify statute. As far as the police officer is concerned, the person could have been Mutt or Jeff. It doesn’t matter. The officer violated the law by stopping him for the purpose of identifying who he is. Here is the video.

And of course the second and biggest problem is that he unholstered his weapon and aimed it at Deffert. This is an obvious lack of muzzle discipline and highly irresponsible and dangerous. If we do things like that we get arrested on felony charges and go to prison, which is exactly what should happen to this officer.

Deffert has filed a lawsuit against the city. I hope he wins, but more than that, I hope that God visits his wrath on the police department. As for their police department response, they have requested that the case be thrown out. Of course they have. They should mind their manners a little more. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department was rebuked by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for this very thing.

3 Comments

Guns,Police

Family Calls For Help, Police Show Up And Kill Mentally Ill Eighteen Year Old

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 3 months ago

A North Carolina family is demanding answers.

North Carolina prosecutors promised Monday to get to the truth — “wherever the truth leads”— in the death of a mentally ill teenager whose family claims police shot him in cold blood over the weekend.

Keith Vidal, 18, of Boiling Springs Lakes, was shot and killed Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

At least three law enforcement agencies responded after the family called for help just after noon, saying Vidal was in the midst of a schizophrenic episode.

Vidal was declared dead of a gunshot wound at a hospital.

Jerry Dove, chief of the Southport police, one of the responding agencies, said at a news conference that Detective Byron Vassey, a nine-year veteran of the department, had been placed on administrative leave. He wouldn’t say whether Vassey was believed to be the officer who fired the shot.

[ … ]

Mark Wilsey, the young man’s stepfather, told reporters that the family called police to help subdue Vidal because he was holding a small screwdriver and threatening to fight his mother during a schizophrenic episode.

But the situation appeared to be under control, with two officers restraining the 90-pound Vidal, when the third officer arrived and shot Vidal point-blank, Wilsey contended.

“Then all of a sudden, this Southport cop came, walked in the house [and said]: ‘I don’t have time for this. Tase him. Let’s get him out of here,'” Wilsey said.

An officer used a stun gun on Vidal, “he hit the ground [and] this guy shot him,” Wilsey said.

Wilsey said that when he demanded to know why his stepson had been shot, the officer replied, “‘Well, I’m protecting my officers.'”

According to a report at The Daily Caller, Vidal was pinned on the ground by two officers when the third said “we don’t have time for this,” and shot him. There was never any report to dispatchers of a problem.

The first unit on scene reported a confrontation in the hallway, but told Brunswick County Dispatchers several times that everything was OK. Unit 104 from Southport arrived on the scene at 12:48:41, fourteen minutes after the first officer had already been on scene. Seventy seconds later, Unit 104 radioed out that he had to fire shots at the subject in order to defend himself.

The event report mirrors what family members told the media. Wilsey said his family called the police to help with his schizophrenic son Keith Vidal who had a small screwdriver in his hand. Officers used at Taser on Vidal and then shot him, according to Wilsey.

Wilsey said officers came into their home after they called for backup help when Vidal was having a schizophrenic incident.

Wilsey said officers had his son down on the ground after the teen was tased a few times and an officer said, “we don’t have time for this.” That’s when Wilsey says the officer shot in between the officers holding the teen down, killing his son.

This report is even more detailed. Two officers had him down on the floor, and the third officer, despite his claiming to think of the safety of “his” officers, shot in between the two officers who were holding Vidal down. And just as a reminder, Vidal was a mere 90 pounds, only ten more than my dog. The only person I ever knew who was 90 pounds had anorexia.

This has all the marks of cold blooded murder (at least second degree murder). Yet I expect the blue wall to close in behind the officer who fired the shot, the flow of information to dry up, and no charges ever filed even if the officers lose their jobs.

We’ll see and I will continue to track this. But this is the sort of thing people are coming to expect from police. We already know never to talk to the police. People generally learn the hard way, but learn they will. Do not call the police even when you need help. You just might die or get some innocent person shot.

At least, that’s the message being sent by law enforcement all over America.

9 Comments

Police

NYPD Tangles With Vicious Killer Parakeet

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 4 months ago

DNAinfo New York:

ST. GEORGE — A Staten Island woman has sued the city claiming police entered her St. George home without a warrant, beat her family and killed her beloved pet parakeet, according to court documents.Last year, Evelyn Lugo’s bird, Tito, was thrown from his cage after it was knocked off a dresser as cops came into her Corson Avenue home, the Daily News first reported.

The officers then stepped on the bird intentionally, killing it, court documents say.

Officers also beat two of Lugo’s sons, her daughter and a family friend, the lawsuit claims.

According to court documents, police entered Lugo’s home on Sept. 2, 2012, as her family was celebrating Labor Day.

Police stopped and questioned her son Edwin Avellanet as he was outside throwing out garbage and asked for identification, the lawsuit says. When he refused to show any, officers allegedly grabbed his right arm and Avellanet broke free and ran into the building.

Officers broke windows of the home, and when Lugo opened the front door she was thrown outside by police, court papers say.

When inside, police allegedly struck Avellanet two or three times with a hard object, struck their friend in the face and threw a woman into the dresser with the bird cage on it, court documents say.

Police then allegedly pepper sprayed Lugo’s daughter and son, according to the documents.

Lugo’s son, daughter and family friend were arrested and all three were taken to Staten Island University Hospital in custody.

They were treated for multiple facial lacerations and lacerations to the head. Lugo’s daughter was also treated for an asthma attack, the court papers say.

All charges were eventually dropped and sealed by Richmond County Supreme Court, the lawsuit says.

Lugo could not be reached for comment on the story.

The city’s Law Department did not say why police entered the home last year, or what charges were lodged against the family, but said they’re reviewing the case.

“We will review the allegations in the complaint, which at this point are merely allegations,” a spokeswoman for the department said.

But what isn’t “merely allegations” is that the family was beaten up, as we can ascertain from the lacerations. And apparently there is a dead parakeet.

Look, I know what you’re thinking, but here is the scoop on the event. That parakeet could have been concealing a weapon, or worse, it could have gotten into a pecker fight (um, excuse me, I guess we would call it a bill fight) with the cops. This could have been worse than a bull terrier going after the cops. And as it stands now, at least they got to go home safely at the end of their shift.

That’s what really matters, after all. As for the parakeet, perhaps he shouldn’t have resisted arrest. All dogs and parakeets involved in police raids reflexively get shot by cops unless they roll over or run away.

4 Comments

Police,SWAT Raids Tags: Police Raids —

New Legal Controls On Toy Guns

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 5 months ago

We covered the case of the thirteen year old boy who was gunned down by thuggish police for carrying a toy gun. And I told you at the time:

… tell me if a single cop tells the truth or holds anyone accountable. Tell me if a judge or jury finds these men guilty of anything? No, the strongest response will be from totalitarian lawmakers who want to make it illegal to have or sell toy guns.

And then the blue wall closed in like I said it would, and now this:

Andy Lopez was walking to a friend’s home on the outskirts of Santa Rosa when a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed him, mistaking the eighth-grader’s plastic BB gun for an assault weapon.

The afternoon killing of the bright, popular 13-year-old has spurred almost daily protests and nightly candlelight vigils in Santa Rosa, a community known as a gateway to the wine country, with stately Victorians on quiet, tree-shaded streets and edgier enclaves pockmarked with gang graffiti.

As the FBI and Santa Rosa police investigate the Oct. 22 killing, some community leaders are talking to lawmakers about finding ways to deter such shootings, which occur with disturbing frequency across the country when police mistake plastic guns for lethal weapons.

“There are so many kids running around with these things that it is almost inevitable there will be additional shootings in the future,” said Dan Reeves, chief of staff to state Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).

De León carried a bill in 2011 at the behest of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck to require BB guns be painted bright colors. It followed an LAPD officer’s shooting of a teenager who had an airsoft pistol, a replica of a Beretta handgun.

The 13-year-old Los Angeles boy, who was shot while playing with friends in Glassell Park, was left a paraplegic. A jury last year ordered the city to pay him $24 million in damages.

I’m neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I told you so. And take note of how utterly stupid this law is. Now all criminals have to do is paint their weapons bright colors to convince the police that they are obeying the law. Or not, in which case the bright colors mean nothing.

I have a better idea. Cops can walk up to folks carrying what appears to be a weapon, and then ask the person, “Sir, I notice that you’re carrying a weapon. This isn’t an open carry state. May I ask why you’re doing that?” Of course, in open carry states that don’t have stop and identify statutes, this would be illegal and the cops shouldn’t do it. And of course, the law wouldn’t stop the cops from doing it, because the cops are above the law since they can perform anal rape of motorists for rolling stops.

17 Comments

Police

This Is What Totalitarianism Looks Like

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 5 months ago

First, from Communist China. The Reuters caption reads: “A policeman (2nd L) of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) controls a mock rioter during a SWAT police performance drill at a training base in Xi’an, Shaanxi province October 30, 2013.”

Next, from Communist America (via Instapundit):

David Eckert, a resident of Deming, NM, was pulled over by police officers after failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign. For whatever reason, the officers decided Eckert was hiding something, or perhaps they were unsatisfied that a routine stop hadn’t blown up into something bigger.

They asked him to step out of the car and then searched his vehicle (without his consent). Another officer brought in a drug dog which reacted (a relatively worthless indication of anything — drug dogs can easily be “alerted” by their controlling officers) to the driver’s seat. (Eckert’s lawyer calls into question this dog’s training, presenting documents that claim to show it hadn’t received the proper field training and recertification. See exhibits listed under docket item 27.) Then the officer “observed” that Eckert was standing “erect with his legs together” and his “buttocks clenched.” This was all the justification the Deming police needed to subject Eckert to the following horrific chain of events at a hospital in neighboring Silver City.

1. Eckert’s abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.
2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
4. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
5. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
6. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.
8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert’s anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.At no time did Eckert give his consent to these searches.

The faces are different, but the wicked heart that enforces totalitarianism is the same the world over.

32 Comments

Police Tags: Police and Totalitarianism —

Update On Shooting Thirteen Year Old Boy With Toy Gun

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 5 months ago

We covered it here. You know the drill. Sonoma deputies shot and killed a boy holding a toy gun. First, let’s cover some details about the man.

The Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy who killed a 13-year-old boy after mistaking his toy AK-47 for a real rifle was identified Monday as a firearms instructor, hunter and war veteran who in the past has warned other officers that they may need to use lethal force to survive an encounter.

Deputy Erick Gelhaus, 48, had broad experience with guns – even relative to others in his profession – before he fatally shot Andy Lopez Cruz last Tuesday just outside Santa Rosa, an incident that has prompted community outrage.

Gelhaus is a frequent contributor to law enforcement magazines and online forums in which he promotes officer safety. He served as an infantry squad leader in Iraq, according to his online profiles, and he describes himself as an avid hunter in North America as well as Africa.

He once accidentally shot himself in the leg in 1995 while on duty with the Sheriff’s Office – reportedly while holstering a gun. However, officials said he has not fired upon a suspect in 24 years with the agency, where he serves as a field training officer for new recruits and trains colleagues to shoot at the department’s gun range.

This is just too good. He is an expert on firearms – and he shot himself in the leg. So let’s cover some details on the shooting itself. Here is the one you really need to know.

Ethan Oliver, who lives across the street from where the shooting occurred, said he heard two gunshots, and while Lopez was on the ground the deputies “went at it again and unloaded like six to seven shots,” KTVU.com reported.

Like I said in the initial article. The blue wall will close in and you will never hear the story. Watch it happen, I said. It’s happening. The cop who did it is an “expert,” even though he shot himself. The cops who fired were under threat, or had to assume so. But they continued to shoot after the boy had gone down.

You’ll never hear the truth from the LEOs. But you’ll hear enough of it to assist you in developing an understanding of how LEOs see the world today. Be very careful and circumspect. Watch your six. The LEOs think they are in Iraq (and most of them only know what they saw on television). The LEOs think we are Sunni or Shi’ite insurgents. The LEOs think they are in the infantry. The LEOs will kill you. And the blue wall will close in to protect them.

14 Comments

Police Tags: Sonoma Sheriff's Deputies —

What Is Muzzle Discipline?

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 5 months ago

Not this:

Four law-enforcement officers were wounded Friday in a suburb of Sacramento, Calif., during an attempt to take a wanted gang member into custody.

The shooting occurred in Roseville, a suburb about 20 miles northeast of the state capital.

Helicopters circled overhead and armored vehicles and other police cars flocked to the area following an initial report that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent had been shot.

A sporadic gun battle lasted into the night and the commotion snarled traffic for hours. Police responded by setting up a checkpoint and pointing guns at motorists, as this Associated Press photo shows.

I have sent a note to the California Highway Patrol demanding to know why this officer hasn’t been arrested and charged with endangerment and assault with a deadly weapon (which includes perceived threat as well as potential danger). I asked that they not respond that “the officer is observing trigger discipline,” because that’s not a good enough excuse for me. I would have been arrested and charged with a crime.

I’ll let you know if I get a response, but I’m not holding my breath. The CHP apparently allows criminals to work in their ranks. I wonder how this guy would feel if he received a Christmas card in the mail of his picture shown through a high powered scope, cross hairs centered on him?

9 Comments

Police

Sonoma Deputies Kill Thirteen Year Old Boy Carrying Toy Gun

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 6 months ago

CBS News:

California sheriff’s officials and family members say deputies shot and killed a 13-year-old boy who was carrying a replica assault weapon.

Two Sonoma County deputies saw the boy walking with the replica weapon at about 3 p.m. local time Tuesday in Santa Rosa. Lt. Dennis O’Leary says they repeatedly ordered him to drop what appeared to be a rifle before firing several rounds.

The boy fell to the ground. Deputies handcuffed him and began administering first aid, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Deputies then discovered that the gun the man had been carrying was a replica, and he also had a plastic gun in his waistband, CBS San Francisco reports. O’Leary said the teen is believed to live in the area where he was killed.

The deputies involved have been placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted by police from Santa Rosa and Petaluma and the district attorney’s office, CBS San Francisco reports.

This is wicked behavior. In Colonial times men were expected to carry their weapons to church worship services and practice afterwards with the rest of the community. Today, LEOs will, at the slightest provocation, properly interpreted or not, gun down little boys where they stand for carrying toys. The important thing of course is that the LEOs got to “go home at the end of their shift.”

The mother asks, “Why did they kill him? Why?” Because they can. Grieve for your lost little boy, Mrs. Cazarez, and we will grieve for the loss of our country to agents of Satan. Now watch the blue wall close in behind these cops, these child murderers. Watch it happen, and tell me if a single cop tells the truth or holds anyone accountable. Tell me if a judge or jury finds these men guilty of anything? No, the strongest response will be from totalitarian lawmakers who want to make it illegal to have or sell toy guns.

Watch it happen.

24 Comments

Police

Notes From HPS

BY Herschel Smith

11 years, 6 months ago

David Codrea:

“So, this is a way to inch things forward on the gun control issue,” she observed. “You go to one of Vermont’s most liberal municipalities and you get a tiny bit, then maybe you inch forward.”

Death by a thousand cuts. And what have I told you about gun politics being local?

Kurt Hofmann:

Isolate the Insurrectionists by embracing the self-defenders and the sporting gun owners.

Another incremental strategy, similar to the collectivists in Vermont?

John Jay is wondering why anyone associated with the government in Montana (or the feds) would need armored personnel carriers or grenade launchers?

Darryl Cannady in Charlotte, N.C., was pulled by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police because his car matched a profile description of one they were searching for. The officer unholstered his weapon and held it pointed at Darryl for quite some time. What’s really interesting about this case is the reaction in the comments, which seem to be on the side of telling this kid that racial profiling had nothing to do with it. Get over it, kid. It happens every day. In reality, the officer had no right to unholster his weapon and point it at anyone unless his life was in danger. I can’t do that, you can’t do that, and it would be called brandishing a weapon if we did. Additionally, we would be charged with felony assault for such behavior. But hey, even if the kid was in danger that day, at least the cop got to go home at the end of his shift, right?

1 Comment

Gun Control,Guns,Police Tags: Notes From HPS —

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