Cops raid an organic farm

[Greenday]

Nevermind the case where cops served a warrant on the wrong house and killed the woman who lived there. She must have deserved to die because, hey, they're the authorities and they can't possibly have made a mistake.

Which case was this? I don't want to threadjack, but I'd actually like to see the circumstances of the shooting (Or whatever they did).

I love your logic of "Well cops have screwed up before" as your factual evidence to disprove mine. It's not like that's a small minority of police or anything, right?

[Nekojin]

I love your logic of "Well cops have screwed up before" as your factual evidence to disprove mine. It's not like that's a small minority of police or anything, right?

There's a difference here. She's not asserting that the cops did anything wrong, she's asking what the procedures are that require the destruction of the plants, and wondering if the police overreacted (since there's already evidence of friction between the farm owner and the authorities). You're asserting that it was proper... without evidence. You're essentially saying that because the police took an action, the person that they took an action against must have done something wrong, as though it's axiomatic and universal.

Which, of course, it isn't. When the police action seems to be disproportional, it's perfectly valid to question whether the actions taken were proper.

[Greenday]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/tarra...219713541.html

10 code violations they've been charged with.

You can go on defending this farm, but the fact is, this place has been breaking rules for a while now (http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Arl...219520531.html).

2011, two code officers went to the farm over some reported violations and instead of correcting the issues, the owner refused to do anything about them.

Multiple violations in 2012.

2013 - The owner was notified of multiple violations in February...again. No legal permits had been filed at the time for the farm. Documented issues in May, documented issues in July. Most issues documented August 1st.

Seems like the owner had plenty of chances but just didn't give a crap then got what she had coming.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't have the link handy, but here's another one where cops decided they wanted to ... I don't know what they wanted, but they ended up killing a woman and injuring several of their own people based on a web of lies.

Article at Wikipedia

This sort of thing is a big deal, and just because things got cleaned up doesn't mean this sort of abuse of authority doesn't still happen all over the world. The faun raid was one such example, and it remains to be seen whether this case is or not.

[edit to add]
That they were in violation is not in question. The question is whether or not being in violation allowed the authorities to destroy and/or confiscate the plants and quite a large amount of materials. Your links do nothing to address that integral question.

[Greenday]

I don't have the link handy, but here's another one where cops decided they wanted to ... I don't know what they wanted, but they ended up killing a woman and injuring several of their own people based on a web of lies.

Article at Wikipedia

Sucks they got the wrong place, but when you shoot at cops, getting shot to death shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

[Nekojin]

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/tarra...219713541.html

10 code violations they've been charged with.

You can go on defending this farm, but the fact is, this place has been breaking rules for a while now (http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Arl...219520531.html).

2011, two code officers went to the farm over some reported violations and instead of correcting the issues, the owner refused to do anything about them.

Multiple violations in 2012.

2013 - The owner was notified of multiple violations in February...again. No legal permits had been filed at the time for the farm. Documented issues in May, documented issues in July. Most issues documented August 1st.

Seems like the owner had plenty of chances but just didn't give a crap then got what she had coming.

Okay, that's good information to have... which is why you should have brought it up in the first place, rather than asserting that they were completely in the right, without backing it up.

The question still remains whether razing the crops is, in fact, the right course of action for the infractions and code violations. As I said before, I'm willing to assume that it was. But that doesn't mean that others shouldn't question it.

[Andara Bledin]

Sucks they got the wrong place, but when you shoot at cops, getting shot to death shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Wow. Just wow. So, because she shot at the people who broke into her home without announcing who they were with the intent to assault her, she deserves to have been killed?

Note: It pays to actually read the article, since in that case, they not only didn't have the wrong address but quite specifically targeted that woman for their attack.

[Greenday]

Wow. Just wow. So, because she shot at the people who broke into her home without announcing who they were with the intent to assault her, she deserves to have been killed?

Note: It pays to actually read the article, since in that case, they not only didn't have the wrong address but quite specifically targeted that woman for their attack.

No, I read it. And it's beyond wrong what they tried to do to her (Planting evidence, falsifying paperwork, etc.). But no matter what the circumstances are, if you shoot at cops, they are going to shoot back at you. It sounds like only some of the cops involved in the bust actually were dirty. Do the non-dirty cops not have a right to shoot back at what they honestly believe is a suspected drug dealer who is shooting at them?

[Andara Bledin]

Three cops. Two dirty. Shot over 35 rounds, 5-6 of which hit the woman. The non-dirty cop didn't fire a shot. The details given don't even establish who opened fire first.

That you make the assumption that she shot is telling more about you than the case. Just like your ready assumption that because the authorities in the case of the OP did what they did, that they must have been authorized to do so.

The evidence continues to fail to provide any support (or contradiction) for that assumption.

[Greenday]

Three cops. Two dirty. Shot over 35 rounds, 5-6 of which hit the woman. The non-dirty cop didn't fire a shot. The details given don't even establish who opened fire first.

That you make the assumption that she shot is telling more about you than the case. Just like your ready assumption that because the authorities in the case of the OP did what they did, that they must have been authorized to do so.

The evidence continues to fail to provide any support (or contradiction) for that assumption.

It said right in the wiki article you posted that she fired a shot and then the cops fired in response to that.

[Ginger Tea]

The first paragraph says undercover cops ie no uniform, perhaps dressed more ghetto to blend in with the area they are trying to deal with.

A cop in Uniform storms into your house there is a cop in uniform, under cover he is a guy in your house and as it was a no knock warrant the fact they just busted down the door would make it seem to an outsider that it was a burglary or abduction happening.

So the "you don't shoot at cops" line holds little water.

Edit:
at the time of writing this post I had only read the header paragraph which stated undercover cops, I had a brief scan and they did say at one point that they did announce that they were police officers, but as 2 of them have been listed as dirty and the only other person who could say if they did or not is dead, it's basically their word and that needs a lot of salt.

[s_stabeler]

to get back on topic briefly: Thanks for the extra info Greenday. If the farm had outright refused to correct code violations, then it IS justified to shut the farm down.

Though I'm not entirely sure the violations were, in fact, actual violations. Pallets- were probably being taken apart to reuse the wood. Not, as far as I know, a violation.Boards- same, probably for reuse. debris- depends n what the debris IS.

2012- plastic barrels collecting rainwater- is probably a rainwater collection system. Again, not actually a violation. Broken Pianos- probably they wanted to reuse the wood.

so in short, if the code violations were accurate, then they justify shutting the farm down. However, the code violations look a little close to a pattern of harassment to me.

[Andara Bledin]

so in short, if the code violations were accurate, then they justify shutting the farm down. However, the code violations look a little close to a pattern of harassment to me.

I also didn't see anything in the reported violations that would seem out of place for a "green" co-op farm. Except maybe the pianos, and that would depend greatly on their condition and how they were stored. Also, there's a slippery line between the definition of "weeds" and "herbs" and it wouldn't be the first time the authorities had taken it upon themselves to destroy farm plants because they didn't know or care about the difference.

So, still, not nearly enough information to know whether they were justified in destroying the farm.

[s_stabeler]

Indeed, some weeds are also useful herbs ( Dandelions, for example, are boht edible, and have medicinal properties. Clover helps the soil.

Indeed, there is a rather basic reason why there might be a section of the farm overrun by weeds. They might be leaving a plot fallow (i.e. crop rotation.)

[wolfie]

Sucks they got the wrong place, but when you shoot at cops, getting shot to death shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

No, I read it. And it's beyond wrong what they tried to do to her (Planting evidence, falsifying paperwork, etc.). But no matter what the circumstances are, if you shoot at cops, they are going to shoot back at you. It sounds like only some of the cops involved in the bust actually were dirty. Do the non-dirty cops not have a right to shoot back at what they honestly believe is a suspected drug dealer who is shooting at them?

So because some cops will execute a "no-knock" warrant in plain clothes, people have no right to defend themselves if armed men break into their home in the middle of the night? Do citizens not have the right to shoot at what they honestly believe is a burglar?