Metro DC SWAT’s rampage on vet’s home
Snafudude sends us a link from Emily Miller, my new crush at the Washington Times, who writes about gun issues. She describes the scene at Matthew Corrigan’s apartment in February 2010. We discussed Corrigan here, here and here when he mistakenly called a suicide hotline and got the DC Metro SWAT crowd instead of the help he was seeking. But here’s some of Emily Miller’s report on what we haven’t heard yet;
“The cops said we needed to leave our house because Matt was going to shoot through the ceiling,” Ms. Sommons [Corrigan’s neighbor] said. “They painted this picture like Rambo was downstairs and ready to blow up the place.”
Suddenly a police commander jumped in the truck and demanded to know where Sgt. Corrigan put his house key. He refused.
“I’m not giving you the key. I’m not giving consent to enter my house,” Sgt. Corrigan recalled saying in an interview with me last week at D.C. Superior Court after the city dropped all 10 charges against him.
“Then the cop said to me, ‘I don’t have time to play this constitutional bullshit with you. We’re going to break your door in, and you’re going to have to pay for a new door.’”
“‘Looks like I’m buying a new door,’” Sgt. Corrigan responded.
See, this is what I don’t understand; I know the woman from the hotline made it sound like Corrigan was dangerous and got their adrenaline flowing, but once Corrigan was outside and unarmed, not at all aggressive, what is their justification for treating him like a criminal with no evidence of a crime? I guess more succinctly; who do they think they are?
Yeah, I almost understand their behavior in the early moments of their raid because they had faulty information, but once he was in custody, why all the angry cop stuff?
But you should read the whole article and catch the pieces I left out.
Category: Veterans Issues
In a word: Guns.
The powers that be in DC are all rabid anti-gun zealots. The mere thought that Mr. Corrigan might have had weapon let alone an unregistered one is enough to cause them to a) wet themselves and b) toss the 4th amendment under the bus in an effort to grab someones guns.
These asshats took four hours to get in motion? Without a search warrant? Tells me they either thought they’d get away with cowboying it, sans warrant, or they applied for a search warrant and the Federal Judge/Magistrate turned them down. In which case, again, cowboy your way in.
“I don’t have time to play this constitutional bullshit with you.”
That attitude-in and of itself-should get you fired from law enforcement.
“…once Corrigan was outside and unarmed, not at all aggressive, what is their justification for treating him like a criminal with no evidence of a crime?”
It really does seem like the police are more aggressive with citizens than they were in the past. Maybe that is just perception, but it might also be that police training has changed in some way that promotes aggressive behavior on the part of the cops. Anyone in law enforcement who can offer any insight?
Why all the tough guy Cop stuff? Well those who support the police blindly will not like this statement but the reason the Cops act like this is because they look at the world as Cop vs. the rest of the world. Police could care less that this man is a Sgt in the military. I live in the suburbs outside of Detroit. While Detroit is hell the Suburbs are somewhat nice. I went to a friends house one night. There was a party across the street. I parked my 1972 Dodge Charger that my Father passed down to me when he died of cancer 3 months earlier. I parked out on the street totally legally. Well some morons at the party got hold of a BB gun and wanted to start shooting out street lights. My car was under a street light and one of the party goers told me to move my car unless I wanted it damaged. I told the guy that if he shot anything I would call the Cops, and if my car was damaged I would Sue his A*@ and kick his a@* to boot. My friend and I were on the front porch of his house watching these guys. Next thing we know 4 Cop cars pull up and draw guns on my friend and I. We fully cooperated with all the Cops demands. We were thrown on the ground, knees in our back. My back was broken in Iraq just 2 years prior and I told the Cop that. He responded “I don’t give a F*#k” We were then asked where our guns were. We told them the truth that at the party across the street there were some idiots with a BB gun who were going to start shooting out street lights until we argued with them about it. We let the Cops search my car and my friend even consented to let them search the house. Well nothing was found obviously. While we were against a car in handcuffs I told who looked to be the Cop in charge that… Read more »
Einsamkeit: You may already know the term, but what you ran into is called “SWATting.” Anonymous call to the police, that results in a hostile police encounter. It’s used for revenge.
Having been a civilain cop for 32 years, a firearms instructor and a Life NRA memeber…I can tell you many cops are afraid of guns. About half I’ve seen suck at shooting and have no idea how to clear anything “wierd” that they are not used to. In CA if a citizen has more than 2 guns, they think he’s a gun nut.
I am a gun nut by that definition.
The police are acting like an occupying army.
At some point, they’re going to get treated as one.
I don’t want to sound like one of those old hippie war protesters that always accuse the Police of being Jack booted thugs or abusive, but I have to admit over the years I have seen a growing number of Cops that are way to aggressive and thinking they are our bosses and above the law.
Gone are the days when I could tell my kids that a Cop was a protector of ones rights or a good person to go to when you have problems. now I tell my kids to stay as a far away from them as they can and never trust them.
My first experience with Police abuse happened last year in Missouri when I was driving down the road in my truck. I was doing 25 in a 25 zone and was pulled over, surrounded by Cops with Guns drawn and with a PA yelling at me to get out with my hands up and my kids were with me and it scared the hell out of them. Well they handcuffed me, hauled me to jail, took my picture than released me. I later asked why they arrested me and they said it was over a stupid bumper sticker someone gave me as a gift that meant nothing. It was a little 3 x 5 flag that said ” Don’t Tread on Me” and they said it was a gang sign that meant I was a possible Militia Terrorist.
My head still spins when I think about it because today you see the same sticker all over the place.
@8 When I got my current car, I wanted some bumper stickers. In going through a bunch of them, I ended up eliminating three major catagories: anything to do with being mentally ill (“Some days it just doesn’t pay to gnaw through the straps”); anything to do with guns (“body piercings by .45 ACP”); and anything to do with politics, in either direction. So much for our 1A rights, but I didn’t want my car vandalized, and I didn’t want to get stopped every time a cop came up behind me.
And, if any of our law enforcement types could answer this, I would be interested. If you experience the type of police abuse indicated above, how do you address it? Do you try to talk to that department? Hire a lawyer? Go to the media? Where would you start with something like that?
Having had a car totaled, with just an Army bumper sticker, and amazingly no police action, I agree with PN’s strategy for flying under the radar.
Metro DC has no excuse, and again – given the highest court in the land has ruled on the matter (2d Amendment, Search and Seizure [another Amendment!], Due Process [Again with the Constitution!]), the best thing for America is to disassemble DC’s government and its pseudo-American agencies.
I drive around with a M240B Sticker on my car, and a VETERAN OF OEF AND OIF sticker right above it, and have OIF Veteran plates… I have never been pulled over for that sticker, but the Police are more and more acting as someone above said, an occupying Army. Especially in DC. @Low: They thought you were a Sovereign Citizen, its an actual thing, and taken very seriously by LE. This case, is the reason why, as a Reserve Platoon SGT in the DC area, I tell my Soldiers that if they are having certain thoughts or tendencies, call an NCO, call Army One Source, the HHC Commander, or the VA, just DON’T call the national suicide hotlines!
PN, in answer to your questions, first, if you can afford it, get a lawyer. Second, inquire of the department how to file a complaint against the officers, then follow through. Then, when they tell you the complaint is “unfounded”, go over their heads to the Chief or deputy chief. Then go to the governing authority, county commission, city commission. Let the lawyer tell them that it will cost them money. Get the media involved. Then, if the facts support you, sue them.
Lowglow, how much did you make when you sued them for false arrest and won? I mean, it was plainly a false arrest, I assume your vehicle was impounded, and you, or the cops, had to make arrangements for your kids, which would involve a witness to your (false)arrest. I take it you never went to court over this arrest?
““‘Looks like I’m buying a new door,’” Sgt. Corrigan responded.”
I wouldn’t have been so diplomatic. My response would have been, “It’ll come out of your salary once your department is done settling out of court.”
Eh – I was a cop for 10 years – I loved the job, but after Afghanistan, I wanted a change of scenery (and salary). I don’t know where all of you live that you keep having all of these problems with police officers. There are some morons who wear the badge. There is no doubt about that. But most cops love vets and actually believe in protecting and serving. I at least never wrote a servicemember a citation (unless it was unavoidable – like an OWI), and all of the officers I worked with were the same. I think law enforcement is getting a little more aggressive, but the reason for that, IMHO, is the case law coming out in favor of the criminals of the world. Officers are getting sued at a feverish rate which would cause anyone to be extremely careful. In law enforcement, this translates to caution that seemingly borders on paranoia. The old phrase “No good deed goes unpunished” is incredibly accurate in law enforcement. No longer can you allow two individuals having a loud disagreement to go their separate ways – if one comes back and assaults the other later in the evening, the officer will get sued for not arresting on the first call. This doesn’t excuse the allegations made elsewhere in the thread, if they are accurately reported. But cops are getting harder because the job is getting harder, plain and simple.
I’ve said since August 2008, that this country is a mob-rule dictatorship (Rule Of Law — no more) .
Pintonag, the only satisfactory way to deal with fascist cops is with a 7.62mm sniper rifle. They aren’t going to do shit for you, and until someone hands them their asses, they will not quit. Multiple cases come to mind, such as the former Army major murdered in full view of over a hundred people in Las Vegas. Ver two dozen eyewitnesses clearly told the story the same way, wherein a cop previously cleared by the department for another murder, and two of his friends, shot the man when he was not resisting, then pumped several more rounds into his body while he was lying on the deck bleeding out. That sort of bullshit makes me not only carry a weapon in the car, but if a cop stops me it is coming out. I may be wrong but I will still be alive. and I don’t give a shit if they were “mistaken” or not, I will not be manhandled by substandard assholes who could often as not make the grade in the real military, so they became cops to bully real people. Fuck that shit.
Well, that’s refreshing. While on the subject, we could remember that 50% of LEO’s finished the academy in the bottom half of their class. Just like 50% of the doctors out there, the lawyers out there, the Officers who graduated from the service academies and OCS and the NCO’s who went to the NCO academies.
I assume Steve is talking about cops like this? http://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=26211
#17 UpNorth,
No, of course USMC Steve isn’t talking about that guy. He may be talking about the cop who executed that Marine Sgt in LA a while back. And the SWAT who executed that former Marine in Arizona.
#16 USMC Steve,
Threatening to assassinate a cop isn’t how you’ve rolled in the past. WTF?
Here’s a link to what I think USMC Steve is talking about-http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bf9_1281026858
Reading what was testified to in the coroner’s inquest doesn’t quite seem to paint a picture of a cold-blooded murder. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/25/erik-scott-inquest-day4/
That said, there is mountains of conflicting testimony, he had a gun out, he didn’t. He was “in a shooting stance”, he wasn’t. He looked “angry”, he was just “staring”. It would seem that there is a different story with each “witness”.