The problem of “SWAT-ting” (phony 911 calls to trigger groundless raids on political enemies) is continuing, and bloggers are being warned to contact local law enforcement before writing posts about controversial topics:
Akbar and others are urging troops of conservative bloggers to protect themselves by contacting their local law enforcement before they post about a “controversial” topic.
“Notify law enforcement,” he said. “It’s uncomfortable to talk to your local police about this, but it’s absolutely important because getting SWAT-ted is not a joking matter. They come to your house with their guns drawn. They’ll kick in your door.”
Such was the case for conservative Patrick Frey of Patterico’s Pontifications, who reportedly had a SWAT team –with guns drawn — descend on his California home in July 2011 and handcuff him.
Those orchestrating the hoax make the calls appear as though they are originating from the victim’s home by using sophisticated methods, like “voiceover IP” on a computer that makes it untraceable.
There is now a growing call to track down those responsible for the calls.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who headlined the two-day RightOnline conference, declared that “those responsible for this SWAT-ing must be held accountable by the law.”
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., as well as 85 other members of Congress, is calling on the Justice Department to a launch a federal probe into the matter.
I think there ought to be a federal probe into SWAT teams in general. Sure, those who engage in SWAT-ting should go to prison, but the greater crime is the existence of such a mechanism in a once-free country. No one should be able to trigger a SWAT team raid with a phone call. I don’t care who the caller is or what he says; there needs to be verification before deadly force is used against someone’s home.
From a First Amendment standpoint, this is a grotesque example of prior restraint. If you know that by reciting certain facts (in this case, that lefty activist Brett Kimberlin was convicted of a terrorist bombing) you may find armed police at your door, you will be hesitant to say anything about it. I understand that anyone can abuse any system, and things like the filing of groundless libel lawsuits are the sort of thing to be expected. But calling in a SWAT team goes beyond abuse of the system, for we are talking about a system that should not be there in the first place. It should not be possible to generate a SWAT team raid on the basis of a phone call. Once again, the founders would be horrified. This is so far from probable cause for a search warrant under the Fourth Amendment that it is a reminder that the amendment has been so whittled away that it doesn’t mean anything.
The fact that I could pick up the telephone and do this to anyone is the problem. Such a system should not exist. Reports to the police should require verification before any home entry is even contemplated. SWAT teams are not an investigative tactic but should only be a last resort — when it is verified and established that violence is underway inside and that people are in danger of being killed.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a blogger, it’s that anyone can say anything about anyone. Unverified allegations at most might mean a little investigation is in order. But raiding people’s houses?
What the hell is wrong with this country?
Comments
6 responses to “Before you write a controversial post, be sure to contact law enforcement!”
Eric Kelly has some very informative posts at The Smallest Minority that show how mostly deliberate miseducation has helped lead us to this sorry pass; passages by John Taylor Gatto certainly support my own observations in that regard. So now our leaders think the brainwashed and brain-dead are a large enough mass (a majority?) to expect the sheeple to acquiesce without protest to having their rights sheared off.
You don’t have to answer this, but given that you mentioned BK accurately above, did you take your own advice about notifying the local constabulary? I wouldn’t want any harm to come to you or Coco! (But you know I am a shy little tortoise, maybe I worry too much.)
Being raided by a SWAT team for no good reason has become one of the risks of life, and it shouldn’t be. It reflects very poorly on this country that the founding documents have been shredded.
But I’d like to know why Wikipedia hasn’t been SWATted:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Kimberlin
While the militarization of police and SWAT abuses are serious problems, this is a bad example. Willing to bet that it was patrol officers and not SWAT that responded due to time constraints. I don’t think you would want police not to respond to calls like this. Problem is that the reports were false. Proper solution is to hammer the perps with attempted murder charges. More training for officers on this problem is indicated as well.
I don’t think you would want police not to respond to calls like this.
Responding means following up to verify whether the report was accurate, NOT behaving like this:
http://patterico.com/2012/05/25/convicted-bomber-brett-kimberlin-neal-rauhauser-ron-brynaert-and-their-campaign-of-political-terrorism/
***QUOTE***
THE NIGHT I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED BECAUSE OF MY BLOGGING
At 12:35 a.m. on July 1, 2011, sheriff’s deputies pounded on my front door and rang my doorbell. They shouted for me to open the door and come out with my hands up.
When I opened the door, deputies pointed guns at me and ordered me to put my hands in the air. I had a cell phone in my hand. Fortunately, they did not mistake it for a gun.
They ordered me to turn around and put my hands behind my back. They handcuffed me. They shouted questions at me: IS THERE ANYONE ELSE IN THE HOUSE? and WHERE ARE THEY? and ARE THEY ALIVE?
I told them: Yes, my wife and my children are in the house. They’re upstairs in their bedrooms, sleeping. Of course they’re alive.
Deputies led me down the street to a patrol car parked about 2-3 houses away. At least one neighbor was watching out of her window as I was placed, handcuffed, in the back of the patrol car. I saw numerous patrol cars on my quiet street. There was a police helicopter flying overhead, shining a spotlight down on us as I walked towards the patrol car. Several neighbors later told us the helicopter woke them up. I saw a fire engine and an ambulance. A neighbor later told me they had a HazMat vehicle out on the street as well.
Meanwhile, police rushed into my home. They woke up my wife, led her downstairs and to the front porch, frisked her, and asked her where the children were. Then police ordered her to stand on the front porch with her hands against the wall while they entered my children’s bedrooms to make sure they were alive.
***END QUOTE***
I disagree that this is a bad example. Rather, I think it is a perfect example of what has gone wrong. The problem is not evil leftist hackers, but the fact that anyone can make a crank call and trigger such police conduct.
The founders got it right. The police have a right to ask a homeowner — politely — whether their information is correct. If they are not satisfied, they should have to get a search warrant before any entry.
BTW, the 4th Amendment does not say “except in cases of emergency or 911 calls.”
OK, so what should the police have done. Walked up to the front door unprepared for the violence they had been told was within? (If I was required to walk into a reported murder scene, damn straight I would have my gun drawn.) Bashed the door in and done a forced entry? What they did was a reasonable approach in a dangerous situation. They were clearly identified as police by the street full of red and blues. They got the writer outside and secured him safely. The operative word in the cell phone sentence is “not”. The bad guys here are not the cops but the leftist terrorists. If you want to blame someone in authority, how about whoever let Kimberlin out of prison or the foundations that funded his activities.
I read this site because I am opposed to the war on drugs and want to keep up on the news. If you want to talk about ending the war on drugs or restricting or eliminating no-knock raids or preventing SWAT teams from serving routine warrants, I am with you. But conflating those issues with this incident does not help the cause.
what should the police have done?
At a bare minimum, call the guy at his home to verify that the call in fact came from him and from that address. (Police have reverse directories linking addresses and phone numbers)
A phony anonymous phone call is simply not an emergency and does not supply probable cause for a search warrant. As it does not supply cause, the guy would have perfectly within his rights in refusing them entry, and telling them to go get a warrant. A man’s home is his castle — even if his enemy makes up lies.
This is in no way a defense of whoever made the phony call. He ought to go to prison. But if a phony call which would not justify a search warrant can generate a warrantless raid, the Fourth Amendment means nothing.
Furthermore, if an anonymous call can trigger a raid, then what’s to stop the cops themselves from placing anonymous calls that trigger raids? Once we scrap the Fourth Amendment, what controls are there over this?