Police who apprehended Iowan at checkpoint with guns drawn "acted appropriately," man charged with assault with a deadly weapon, faces 5 years behind bars
Cops who arrested a man at gunpoint for attempting to re-enter his flood-wrecked home in Cedar Rapids Iowa will not be disciplined and were in fact praised for acting "appropriately" as the man they apprehended was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and faces five years behind bars.
As we reported yesterday, "strike teams" consisting of police, firemen and government employees have been breaking into houses of flood victims and threatening anyone who questions their actions in complete violation of the 4th amendment right that protects against unlawful search and seizure.
No-knock home invasions are being carried out under the flimsy pretext of "checking for structural damage" and residents are being prevented from returning to their own homes whether they want to or not.
Police checkpoints have been set up in the affected areas to block access to streets and homes.
It was at one such checkpoint that Trooper Scott Devereaux and Trooper Paul Gardner were photographed arresting Ricky Blazek, 53, at gunpoint after smashing his window and hauling him out of his pick-up truck.
Blazek had dared to try and return to his home to check the damage without it first being properly inspected by the government's friendly "strike teams".
"The Iowa State Patrol said Wednesday that two state troopers were justified in arresting a Cedar Rapids man who tried to run a checkpoint Monday in an effort to return to his flood-damaged home," reports the Des Moines Register.
"The State Patrol will not conduct an internal affairs investigation of the incident, state officials said."
For his trouble, Blazek has now been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon on a peace officer, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
A similar incident almost boiled over into a confrontation when one resident dared question why the "strike teams" were breaking down doors and climbing through windows of homes without even knocking first.
Police Officer Josh Bell threatened the man with arrest if he didn't shut his mouth.
This occurred after Cedar Rapids police chief Greg Graham promised residents over the weekend that "Law enforcement officers are not entering homes."
Poster Comment:
Five years behind bars and he didn't even get to run over one of the SOBs? What a waste.
No jury is going to convict him, charges will be dropped, and he'll get a bagful of money.
You are naive. He will be convicted. American criminal courts are Star Chambers that would have made Stalin proud. The courts and the prosecutors are just two sides of the same coin. They preselect the jury pool, eliminating anyone that may not go along with a police state. Anyone good person that somehow gets on the jury pool will be excluded during jury selection. Then the court will only allow evidence that the prosecutor wants.
In all fairness to our effed-up system, it will have to go to a GrandJury first. I realize that they can indict a ham sandwich, but there is still hope at this level with the tape...which I hope will be played for the jurors.
In Connecticut (the Constitution State), many moons ago, it was decided by our wise legislators that a Grand Jury was too expensive. So, the Grand Jury was whittled-down to the Grand Jury Judge.
Also, sometime in the early 1960's, county government was too expensive; so that was abolished.
So, what happened with the Sheriffs, you might ask. They were reduced to process servers and prisoner transfer agents. Yet, they still upheld the tradition of graft.
When all this happened I was in high school; it mystified me. No one could give me an answer as to why this was happening.
I do recall that a few years back that there was a complaint that the Fed List of jurors for Connecticut didn't include enough Latinos; so, there is a Fed list.
Don't stay there, if you have a choice; and right now, I cannot recommend Texas as a relocation destination. We're fairly screwed-up ourselves, but not as badly as are you guys.