Drug Raid - Watch how fast police shoot man with golf club

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV6Bq8xeQrU&feature=player_embedded

Utah police shot and killed a man within seconds of storming his parents' home, video of the raid shows. The police had a warrant to search for drugs, but found only a small amount of pot and an empty vial that had apparently contained meth.

Local media report that Todd Blair, 45, was a drug addict rather than a dealer, according to friends and family.

In the video, Blair can be seen holding a golf club above his head as police smash through his door. Within seconds, without demanding Blair drop the iron or lay down, Weber-Morgan Strike Force Sgt. Troy Burnett fires three shots into him. The local prosecutor has deemed the killing justified, but his family is planning a federal lawsuit, arguing that police had plenty of alternatives.

Blair's death raises the question of why multiple heavily-armed officers were sent to raid a drug addict -- and why Weber and Morgan counties in Utah would even need a "Narcotics Strike Force." Local police forces are able to keep to property they seize in drug raids, often without the necessity of a conviction, creating a perverse incentive to reinvest in military equipment and carry out additional raids.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/utah-video-police-kill-man-drug-raid_n_810420.html

Family planning lawsuit to prevent repeat of drug raid shooting death

OGDEN -- The family of Todd Blair, who was shot and killed while brandishing a golf club at agents during a drug raid, is planning a lawsuit against local authorities over his death.

"It just doesn't take a genius to see there might have been another way to resolve the situation," said Tauna Blair Doesberg, Blair's younger sister who has acted as family spokeswoman.

She said the family has met with two lawyers and been advised their's is a federal case.

The family has been instructed to gather up all reports around the situation, including video from helmet-cams officers wore the night of the shooting, Doesberg said.

http://www.standard.net/topics/drugs/2010/10/29/family-planning-lawsuit-prevent-repeat-drug-raid-shooting-death

The guy who picked up the shooter's gun in Tucson may be lucky it was a CCW holder who saw him holding the shooter's handgun not a police officer rolling up on the scene.

I'm not disparaging police, IMHO most handle the situation well and chances are the guy who picked up the gun would not have been shot by police, but I'm also damn sick of a few here who weren't in Tucson and did a damn if he did damn if he didn't on the CCW holder who IMHO handled the situation well.

My thoughts on the drug raid - the police have body armor and helmets on - they IMHO are in little danger from the guy with the golf club. IMHO they should've challenged him first to drop the weapon or gone to tasers.

I went out and tried to shoot some crows with my 5-iron but to no avail.

They said they had a call from a neighbor. I have heart failure, and was dying. My coughing bothered a neighbor, and he had said he wanted to trump up something to get me booted. Said to next door neighbor. So, I got four guns in face. I chewed them all a new one for four hours. They were likely there, cuz I took down a corrupt judge/cop conspiracy just a month before. They didnt like that. And I'm sure they were ready to unload into my chest. You have no rights, and they will do as they please. But, I made them miserable. And made them feel like nazi's.

Just as there is a huge Military Industrial Complex that supports our military endeavors, the War on Drugs, which has spawned militarization of our police forces, has now likewise spawned a Military Industrial Complex to support them.

There's lots of money to be made supporting the War on Drugs, and for police forces, there are lots of cool toys to be bought for their midnight no-knock raids.

Unless someone is thought to be in imminent danger of dying, police should not be allowed to bust into places like this. Certainly not over something as victimless as drugs.

Who the hell wouldn't pick up a five-iron, or lamp, or whatever they had at hand if people came smashing into your home in the middle of the night.