So about that "drug house" raid in Houston...

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Glocktogo

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I'm sure most of you saw it on the news about 2 1/2 weeks ago. HPD narcotics unit served a search warrant on a home where the residents were suspected of selling heroin.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...alers-killed-shootout-Houston-drug-house.html

After a 911 call that residents were selling heroin there, HPD narcotics conducted controlled buys of heroin at the residence, utilizing a confidential informant. Then they obtained a "no knock" warrant and conducted the raid. The raid resulted in 4 officers shot, one officer injured not by gunfire and both occupants of the home killed. The after action report disclosed that weapons and drugs were recovered in the raid. HPD Chief Art Acevedo had this to say after the raid:

Acevedo said the drug raid on the southeast Houston home stemmed from numerous complaints from neighbors. He said undercover officers had previously made two purchases of black tar heroin from drug dealers at the house.

“We know that we live in a society where there’s a proliferation of firearms, where you can assume there will be firearms at just about every location that you hit,” Acevedo said. “Unfortunately, some people just don’t have respect for the sanctity of life.”

Acevedo also stated that the drug house had surveillance equipment, was fortified and the occupants opened fire first. After the raid, Acevedo stated that the local residents thanked the officer because it was a drug house.

HPD Union President Joe Grimaldi had this to say the day after the raid:

“We are sick and tired of having dirtbags trying to take our lives when all we’re trying to do is protect this community and protect our families,” “If you’re the ones that are out there spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy, just know we’ve all got your number now, we’re going to be keeping track of all of y’all, and we’re going to make sure that we hold you accountable every time you stir the pot on our police officers,” Gamaldi said. “We’ve had enough, folks. We’re out there doing our jobs every day, putting our lives on the line for our families.”

http://krvn.com/abc_national/two-su...t-that-left-5-officers-injured-abcid36152982/

Just one problem though. It was all a lie. There never was a drug buy conducted at the home. Not one. The narc in charge of the operation lied on the affidavit. PC was never developed, it was fabricated. There never were any neighbors saying it was a drug house. The 911 call came from the deceased woman's mother, whose daughter was not communicating with her for an undisclosed reason. As a matter of fact, all the neighbors said the occupants of the home, who had no prior criminal history beyond traffic violations, were nice people. They thought perhaps the police got the wrong address and were actually supposed to raid another home on the block, which was a known drug house.

Rather than discovering distribution quantities of heroin, HPD claims they recovered an unspecified amount of marijuana and a white powder they thought might be cocaine or fentanyl. Also recovered were two shotguns and a rifle (unspecified type). Yet all four wounded officers were allegedly shot by the homeowner with a .357 revolver, after they shot and killed his dog upon entering the home.

Oh, and about that surveillance equipment and "hardening". Turns out that wasn't true either. And those neighbors who thanked the officers? Nope.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...nce-death-destruction/?utm_term=.aef1b8c5e928

https://reason.com/blog/2019/01/31/no-knock-warrant-for-deadly-houston-drug

https://abc13.com/5140341/

https://www.12newsnow.com/article/n...says/285-54ca0bb4-ba03-4e9d-ab6e-7d40bab2b356

So two and a half weeks after the botched raid, it turns out that almost NONE of what the Houston Police Dept. said was true. There have been so many lies that we should rightly question whether the "unspecified amount of marijuana and a white powder they thought might be cocaine or fentanyl" were planted to cover the botched raid. We should also rightly question whether the homeowner actually shot all four of the officers with a revolver, or whether some of the wounds were friendly fire.

Either way, HPD framed law abiding citizens, lied to raid their home, murdered them, and then slandered them in an attempt to elicit sympathy for their murderers. Turns out there are some people who don't respect the sanctity of life. They're called Houston Police Department narcotics officers. They weren't trying to protect the community and families, they were terrorizing and murdering them.

I've long been an opponent of no-knock raids for drugs. I've also been outspoken about "knock and announce" raids where the announcement is immediately followed by a breaching tool smashing down the door. If you search "no knock raid" on this forum, you'll find numerous threads where tragedies occurred as a result which were entirely preventable.

If you happen to speak to a lawmaker for any reason, please ask them to outlaw no knock warrants for drugs and "knock and announce" warrants for misdemeanor quantities of drugs. The collateral damage is too great in exchange for the dubious benefits they provide. After all, with the way the country is headed with gun restrictions and the advent of so-called "Extreme Risk Prevention Orders", this could just as easily be law abiding gun owners in the near future (one killed so far in Maryland). :(
 

Glocktogo

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And why are none of these officers facing charges??

Well the raid coordinator, Officer Gerald Goines very well may be. At least he's still recovering from a well deserved gunshot wound received during the raid. If it were me in charge, his qualified immunity would be nullified and he'd stand trial for felony murder. I'd also like to point out that he's a 30+ year veteran of the department, which means there's no telling how many times he's done this. Defense attorneys in Houston will be lining up to have cases overturned that he was involved in. :(

https://www.foxnews.com/us/chief-officer-lied-in-affidavit-before-deadly-houston-raid.amp
 

Glocktogo

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The supervisor of this rogue group needs to lose his/her job...as an example.

Just like rabidly anti-gun former sheriff Israel in Coward County, FL, I lay the blame on rabidly anti-gun chief Art Acevedo. A debacle this epic deserves the head of the agency AND everyone in the chain of command down to Ofc. Goines.

Whoever lied on the PC affidavit to obtain the warrant should be charged with perjury :angry3:

And once convicted of perjury, capital murder. That's the fruit of this particular poison tree. :(

Since no-knock warrants will most likely continue, maybe the vetting process should be expanded to include conclusive hard and fast evidence. Affidavits in a time no one seems to be honest can't be trusted.

Immediately after lawless POS "officers" like Goines, the next biggest problem is the malfeasance of judges who rubber stamp warrants. Officers should be required to SHOW probable cause before getting a signature on a warrant of this type.
 

TerryMiller

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The reference in that one story about the deceased couple's address being on "Harding" and not being hardened, in comparison with a home on "Hardy" that was hardened and had security cameras is an important distinction. Both houses having the same house number indicates that some ignoramus needs a LOT more education and training.

I was watching a video the other day by some "average joe" out looking at the two houses. Even in his video, it was obvious that the one on Hardy was more likely to be a drug house than the one on Harding.
 

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