Only in modern America is a charity food co-op run by born again Christians considered such a den of villainy and ill repute that a SWAT unit can be "justified" by the authorities. This comes hot on the heels of the story of the retiring Boston cop who got a SWAT force at her door because they thought that she was mentally unbalanced because she bought a large amount of gifts for needy kids in her precinct.
Here's to the Cleveland-area Sheriff's department for making the public safe from Christian co-ops...
Here's to the Cleveland-area Sheriff's department for making the public safe from Christian co-ops...
Evangelicals have always had a reason to distrust the police. It's just that the fuzz is getting more brazen about it.
Dynamic tactics are supposedly for the protection of those doing the forcible entry. And I suppose to a certain extent it works, albeit at a terrible cost to liberty and respect (of the law).
What was wrong with a uniformed officer simply walking up and asking some questions? Or would he be genuinely afriad of being ventilated? It's Ohio, for crying out loud--the sheeple are everywhere--not BFE Montana.
I think that on some level they have begun to believe their own rhetoric. Even just twenty years ago this would have sparked a widespread controversy because it could have gone so wrong over such a minor incident. Things like this are why I find myself increasingly taking the atitude that most police departments cannot be trusted with a SWAT unit even if they have a seemingly legetimate reason for wanting one. It's damn near like having to trust a small child with a loaded gun when no adults are around.