More On Local Police Raids

[snurri]

"In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant. They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs."

Hard to believe this shit is going down right here. The raid on Friday night was just across the river, in the area where I grew up. I wasn't planning to demonstrate myself, but I am tempted to follow the demonstrators around and document any bullshit that happens.

Not that there weren't troubling things going on in Denver as well. From Wednesday:

"Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel."

Makes you proud to be an American, don't it? Democracy through intimidation!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Wah

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

I just love anonymous cowards. They are SOOOO FUCKING HOT.

[jocelina.livejournal.com]

And so eloquent! This particular coward's words word really made me think. I mean, "Wah." That's powerful.

[mythusmage.livejournal.com]

They treat everybody like that on a raid. They are supposed to announce the warrant first thing, but other than that detail they did everything per procedure.

Step one is to get control of the situation. Get everybody on scene secured and secure possible evidence. The police literally don't have time to explain things, and people are usually too upset to listen anyway. There's time to straighten things out after the raid.

Then you have the us vs. them thinking.

Errors occur most often because of lies by an informant. Followed by failures of observation, and failure to properly assess the situation. The militarization of the police caused by the drug war plays a big part of this. When you think of everyone as potentially being as heavily armed as the typical drug gang, your thinking gets warped.

That said, when you and your buddies are talking about being bad ass revolutionaries, don't be surprised when the authorities treat you like bad ass revolutionaries.

When You Get Raided by the Police

Stop what you're doing.

Don't resist.

Don't protest, they won't listen. You can register any protests through your lawyer.

Keep your yap shut, demand a lawyer or contact with your lawyer.

Keep your cool, be courteous, and above all else, don't act defensive when you have no reason to be. Neither should you be aggressive or belligerent.

Nothing makes you immune from a police raid, so be prepared to have the cops drop in with a ton of friends. If you are planning on doing something other people are not going to like, and the police find out about it, expect to get raided.

And if you really must engage in protest actions of an especial vigor, learn all you can of the subject of operational security. As we've just learned from recent events, lacking operational security will put you in a world of pain.

Anybody asks, I will give my recommendations for how the police can make their lives better.