This article is a perfect example of how the news media is almost always terribly irresponsible when it comes to questioning the government's actions the way that a self-styled "watchdog" is supposed to. Read the article for yourself to see how sympathetic it is to the cops involved, but notice a few things that are largely buried around a larger sympathetic article:
- The officers involved raided the house at night.
- The police admit that the officers were probably in plain clothes, making it extremely difficult to identify them as legitimate law enforcement officers.
- The man who shot the cops was in bed, probably asleep or at least dozing off, when the raid started.
- The man who shot the cops had just had his house burglarized a few days ago. (Huh, might explain why he had an itchy trigger finger around men who enter his home in street clothes in the middle of the night)
- The man who shot the cops had no prior criminal record that most people don't already have.
Now, look at the pictures that are presented of the two men, the dead cop and the man now being charged for his death. The officer, who participated in a raid of dubious value and got killed in the process, is shown in a picture that makes him look like a pillar of the community. The man who shot him, who could be just like any other typical guy on the street, is given an unflattering picture, that appears to have been taken from jail, that makes him look like a criminal.
Maybe the writer of this article, which appears to be all but a cover-their-ass hit piece on the defendant is privy to information that I am not, but this article as-is is a perfect example of the media's deriliction of duty. It does not ask hard questions like why the man would be reasonably expected to believe that the undercover cops were law enforcement officers, nor does it show any sympathy to the man after it is revealed that his home was burgled not long before the raid took place. They say there are two sides to the story, and that often the police don't get theirs heard, well this article is the exact opposite of that. It is an unquestioning account of the police department's side of the story.
Both men deserve sympathy in this case, and I am not writing this post to criticize the officer. His death is the result of idiotic training and policies that caused him and his team to create a situation where most people would respond with lethal force to defend their home. If anyone is responsible for his death, it is his police department for making him carry out an armed raid in the middle of the night, rather than having a policy of catching the man offguard at a more easily controlled time and place such as when he was driving to work.
Sad but all too true.
I feel bad the cop died, but breaking down a guys door at night while wearing plain clothes doesn't sound like a good idea. The article doesn't even mention the cops found drugs. Maybe it was the wrong house. Too bad the homeowner is being hung out to dry.
I also remember some poor old lady down south that had the cops break into her home, in error. I believe she wounded two of the cops, but she ended getting killed. So sometimes the cops are clearly in error.
Shivers, a 34-year-old father, was shot as was trying to enter at the house in the street’s 900 block around 8:30 p.m. He and several other officers were there with a search warrant as part of a drug investigation, police said.
"After the shooting, detectives on scene retreated for their safety."
If the cops knew they were onto a dangerous drug dealer.... do they do this?
"Police arrested 28-year-old Ryan David Frederick,
who lived at the home, ..."
And just who the hell lives outside home?
Isn't unemployment a problem that govt creates?
"and charged him with first-degree murder "
in self-defense?
"and use of a firearm "
Constitutional right.
"Frederick said in a jailhouse interview Friday he had no idea a police officer was on the other side of the door when he opened fire."
In the middle of night, in a land where everyone has guns and many misuse them frequently, no uniform means a dangerous murderer
“No, sir,†he told WAVY-TV.
That should say a thing or two - "sir"
“I just wish I knew who they were,†he said. “I didn’t want any trouble.â€Â
“I thought it was the person who had broken into my house the other day,†he said.
Frederick said his home had been burglarized two or three days earlier.
"Other than a few misdemeanor traffic violations,"
Movies that show "courageous" heroes zooming away to "heroism", standard food throughout childhood and youth..
"Frederick has not been convicted of any felony crimes in Chesapeake, according to online court records."
And according to whom was he a criminal?
"Chesapeake police spokeswoman Christi Golden said she could not comment on specifics of the incident, including whether the officers who tried to serve the narcotics warrant were in uniform."
How could she comment? Heads would roll in an enquiry.
“They are undercover detectives,†Golden said. As such, they would typically be in street clothes. But, when serving warrants, even undercover officers “usually have something that says 'police,’†she said. “They are identified in some way, shape or form.â€Â
And obviously have sufficient firepower backing them.
Could it be that someone framed Frederick and eliminated Shivers both in one shot?
“Goes to work every day and comes home every night,†she said.
So, he's not unemployed either.
"Frederick made local news in 2005 when he sued Dr. Sidney Loxley for $1.7 million, accusing the Chesapeake physician of medicating his mother to the point that she became addicted and later died of an overdose. Frederick’s mother, a former Chesapeake Sheriff’s Department employee, died in 2003."
There you have someone who could possibly want a revenge - isn't this claim as bad as the following...
"The residents say they are in disbelief after realizing that a 28-year-old neighbor is a suspect."
A *suspect* is worse than a politician!!
If only they would treat politicians they way that they treat suspects these days...
Dear supporters of ryan,
i only stumbled across this article by sheer accident. It seems to me when it comes to the death of a police officer than the accused is "made an example of". they (law enforcers) need to come off there perch and look at the plain and simple facts.
Police are the 1st to cry out that being in the police force is "only a job" (when it suits them). yet when something sinister happens i.e death, they wear there uniforms with pride and take the accused to the cleaners.
A messgage to the police from me would be to wake up, take a look at the whole picture here, accept you put the man in the firing line the shooter didnt put him there. Reading through all evidence it would appear the police are in the wrong. Not only that the most powerful "gang" in the world are painting a picture which in turn will lead to public leaning. The picture is not good for Ryan. The Media are a "gang" and can and do control as much as they want.
This young guy will suffer in jail. For a crime that could have been avoided.