"The Militarization Of American Police"-The Day the SWAT Team Came Crashing Through My Door [View All]

[kpete]

The Day the SWAT Team Came Crashing Through My Door

By Cheye M. Calvo
Berwyn Heights
Sunday, September 20, 2009

I remember thinking, as I kneeled at gunpoint with my hands bound on my living room floor, that there had been a terrible, terrible mistake.

An errant Prince George's County SWAT team had just forced its way into our home, shot dead our two black Labradors, Payton and Chase, and started ransacking our belongings as part of what would become a four-hour ordeal.

The police found nothing, of course, to connect my family and me to a box of drugs that they had been tracking and had delivered to our front door. The community -- of which I am mayor -- rallied to our side. A FedEx driver and accomplice were arrested in a drug trafficking scheme. Ultimately, we were cleared of any wrongdoing, but not before the incident drew international outrage.

This was 14 months ago. We have since filed suit, and I am confident that we will find justice more quickly than most.

more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091701680.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
via:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091701680.html?hpid=opinionsbox1