The Nice Men in Black Ski Masks.....

[Justin Moore]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_995654,00.html

Family sues over raid

Authorities arrested sons without reason, Pueblo parents say

By Karen Abbott and Dick Foster, News Staff Writers

A Pueblo family has accused law enforcement officers of bursting into their home with guns, wearing black masks and all-black clothes, kicking the family dog and arresting their two college-age sons without reason or explanation.
The sons, 19 and 22, spent two days in jail and were released without being charged, according to the family's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Denver U.S. District Court.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed the suit on behalf of Dan and Rosa Unis and their sons against the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

Steve Karkos of the Denver DEA office said he knew nothing of the lawsuit and could not comment on pending litigation.

A CBI official did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

The raid on the Unis home occurred Aug. 19, 2000, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that "black-masked, black-helmeted men brandishing automatic weapons and wearing all-black uniforms with no insignias suddenly burst into the house unannounced, kicked the family's dog across the floor, ordered the entire family to 'get on the (expletive) floor,' held them at gunpoint, searched the house, found no drugs or contraband, but nevertheless carted off the family's two sons, Dave and Marcos, and imprisoned them illegally and without charges."

Unis, in an interview from Pueblo said, "The next thing we knew there were five or six police with masks and automatic weapons and stuff yelling at us. It wasn't the nicest language in the world. I see my dog go flying across the room because one of them kicked it."

Unis is a social worker for Pueblo County. His wife, Rosa, a public school teacher who suffers a heart condition, became sick during the ordeal.

"I asked them for a warrant and they couldn't produce one," Unis said. "They basically didn't say anything."

In a statement, ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said, "Once again the war on drugs misses the target and instead scores a direct hit on the Constitution.

"These government agents had no search warrant, no arrest warrant, and no lawful authority whatsoever.

"They carried out this armed home invasion in flagrant disregard of the Fourth Amendment, which forbids unreasonable searches and arrests without probable cause," Silverstein said.

The ACLU alleges that the raid was carried out by the Southern Colorado Drug Task Force, composed of officers from several law enforcement agencies, including the CBI and the DEA.

Unis said he was upset by the way his sons were treated. "They threatened them with jail unless they told what they knew. My sons said that they didn't know anything because they didn't know what it was all about.

"I think it was a bunch of cowboys out having a good time," said Unis. "It was totally unnecessary."

Brought to you by the War on Some Drugs/US Constitution

No warrants eh? Hrm, I'm shocked

 

[Navy joe]

Of course when this is done to a gun owner the ACLU is dead silent. Apparently there are only 9 amendents in the BOR and only 2 that the ACLU care about. 1 & 4

 

[Tamara]

Of course when this is done to a gun owner the ACLU is dead silent. Apparently there are only 9 amendents in the BOR and only 2 that the ACLU care about. 1 & 4

Conversely, when this is done to a non-gun owner, plenty of 2nd Amendment activists react as if the pinko/commie/hippie/liberals had it coming. The only amendment worth defending is the 2nd. And aren't those MP5's cool?

 

[Destructo6]

Naw, I think a lot of 2nd A types get worked up about JBT's kicking down doors for no particular reason.

I hope the ACLU pins them to the wall for this. Of course, those responsible will hide behind the bureaucracy and will likely escape any sort of punishment.

 

[gorlitsa]

What would happen in a case like this if you assume the intruders are just that and shoot them? Are you held responsible?

Actually, you're probably out-numbered and quite dead before you know it. But would they be held responsible, or you, or what?

 

[OF]

One day these scumbags are going to kick in the wrong door and get more than they bargained for.



- Gabe

 

[Jhp147]

hmmmm....

So far, I only see ONE side of the story. The side offered by the money grubbing, bottom feeding, scumbag lawyer and the alleged victims.
It is always a good idea to hear both sides before deciding, and you will never get both sides from the media, you may not even get both sides in court.
I'm not saying that LE is incapable of wrong-doing, I'm saying that there is not enough reliable info offered to get fired up and start hanging folks.
Your comments do little to prove your case and much to prove your prejudices, guys.

 

[legalhack]

I think JHP147 is on to something, as honked up as police can be at times; this borders on the ridiculous. I think another shoe will drop soon showing a valid warrant and circumstances justifying a no-knock entry. I wouldn't listen to the ACLU if they told me the sky was blue.

Of course, if I'm wrong, I'll need some ketchup to put on the print-out of this so I can eat my words

 

[MuzzleBlast]

But until such evidence comes to light, I'm going to assume this was another case of jack-booted government thugs with acute testosterone poisoning flexing their perceived muscles.

Occasionally the ACLU says something I agree with: "Once again the drug war misses its target and scores a direct hit on the constitution."

 

[Shin-Tao]

I'm not ready to believe all this on face value, but I do know that the DEA has been known to trample the Fourth with ATF style gusto.

Oh. This reminds me. Anyone ever heard of the Tenth?

 

[David Scott]

The ACLU guy says they had no warrant. Warrants are a matter of public record, so unless he was dumb enough to make this statement without checking, it's likely that they did not have a warrant.

Of course, maybe the Unis family lives at 123 Maple Street, and the warrant was for 321 Maypole Street, and the DEA agent lost a contact lens. Quien sabe?

In any case, this seems yet another unwanted consequence of the phony "war on drugs".

 

[TheBluesMan]

gorlitsa - Most of the time, police identify themselves prior to knocking down your door. If you happen to be near your door, and you happen to be listening, you'll probably hear them and then cooperate with them. If you this, and it's actually the police, you'll most likely survive. If it turns out that they are violent criminals who have also been known to shout, "Police!" as they enter a house, you'll be dead if you don't fight back immediately.

Not much of a choice is there?

I remember a news story about a man in California who retrieved a pistol when men in black broke into his bedroom in the middle of the night. They dragged his wife from the bed and he rolled off the other side. He came up from the floor with a pistol and might have even fired a shot before they riddled his body with bullets, killing him.

The men in black were police officers who had identified themselves as they entered his house (while he was sound asleep). They injured his wife and killed him.

Oh... What were they doing there?

The person who lived in the house previously had been a "known drug dealer" and the police were raiding him. Unfortunately, they hadn't done surveilance in a while and didn't know that the druggie had moved.

BTW, they did apologize to the wife for killing her husband. :barf:

 

[Quartus]

Yes, we need to hear the other side of the story.

BUT!


The fact remains that there is enough of a track record of this kind of thing that we don't have trouble believing this is possible.


That fact alone is enough to establish that law enforcement in this country is seriously out of control. We have a major problem, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Dave B]

Oh, please!

So far, I only see ONE side of the story. The side offered by the money grubbing, bottom feeding, scumbag lawyer and the alleged victims.


Has it occurred to you that without these 'scumbags', we (you) would be defenseless against the police.

Mistakes, stupidity, corruption, etc; they all are possible explanations, but which one will help you if you (or your wife, son, mother...) are shot dead. If you are shot dead.

Yes, there are two sides to this, and every story. It's been ~1.5 years since this happened. Anybody got more curent info?

db

 

[striderteen]

If you are attacked in your home by a SWAT team in unmarked vehicles and uniforms, and they fail to indicate that they are police, what is the legal situtation?

I would probably assume they are run-of-the-mill intruders and open fire on them. Presuming I survived the ensuing firefight, what are my chances of not getting a murder conviction?

 

[legalhack]

Therein lays the rub with no knock warrants and entering without "raid-jackets". Black ninja **** and masks may look cool on TV but will get cops killed. Assuming you live through the hail of gunfire, you will most probably be charged, but I cannot see a conviction coming out of it unless you are in Massachusetts where you must flee your residence if invaded. In most "normal" states, you would merely be defending your home.

Tough stuff. A lot of decisive points and conditions must be met before you launsh a no-knock raid covertly.

 

[Oleg Volk]

Probablitly of surviving such an attack are pretty low, unless you have hardened your home. However, it surprises me that everyone involved doesn't get eliminated in the following few days by the surviving family members of the victim.

I can very well see the logic behind no-knocking a person who escaped from prison while serving time for a violent crime. Hard to justify doing it to someone who has not been convicted and who is suspected of a non-violent crime.

 

[KSFreeman]

Ah, yes, the War on Drugs. There will always be collateral damage--dogs, doors, your freedom. Oh, well.

The more laws, the less justice, the more money for me!

 

[Master Blaster]

Last year in DE when a dangerous criminal named Johnston
(see movie with Sean Penn Called Live to Tell) broke out of Graterford. The FBI had a tip that he was at a house of a friend so they got a warrant. They found no one at home at the house So they decided on the spot to raid a neighbor who they had no reaason to suspect even knew Johnston.

They did a no knock raid with no warrant on a house they knew to be the wrong one. Dragged the homeowners out of bed handcuffed them at Gunpoint held them hostage for 2 hours and interrogated them as to Johnston's whereabouts(of course they had no idea) and took away the 20 something yearold to jail for further interrogation.

The FBI just settled with the family for $25,000, no admission of wrongdoing of course.

 

[fed168]

We are not being told something in this story, except a sensationalized account bodering on yellow journalism. I would like to hear the rest of the story from all sides.