Originally published October 26 2013
Police shoot and kill father while kidnapping his 3-year-old son after pot tip
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) Just how out-of-control does our "system" have to be to kill a father trying to protect his son from being forcibly removed from his home - all on the word of an anonymous person? Pretty out-of-control, I'd say, and I'm betting you agree.
According to a post on the website OffTheGridNews.com, 32-year-old Michigan father William Reddie was recently shot and killed by police when local Child Protective Services and officers showed up at his house to essentially kidnap his child.
As the website reported:
An anonymous tipster claiming that Reddie had marijuana in the home set off a string of incidents which turned a happy toddler into an orphan - and led a local newspaper to conduct its own investigation and issue its own report.
The report stated that a cop who said he followed up on that anonymous tip claimed to smell pot emanating from Reddie's home. That said, possession of marijuana there, according to reports, is a misdemeanor - that is, unless police find large quantities and the person possessing it has an intent to sell it.
"Michigan Child Protective Services staffers did not have any indication of any type of child abuse or neglect inside the home and felt the drug possession was justification enough to remove the toddler," the website reported.
Why wasn't he tested - before he was killed?
Admittedly, the report says, Reddie's own actions when cops attempted to remove his child most assuredly played a role in his death. But, the whole incident may have been one of tremendous overreaction and could have been avoided if only CPS and the investigators had not freaked out about the potential (and unproven, up to that point) pot-smoking, say Reddie's friends and family.
Here's how it went down:
Grayling Police Officer Alan Somero went over to Reddie's home for an alleged domestic disturbance earlier on the day of the shooting, but he did not make any arrests. Reddie did, however, become somewhat agitated, reports said, when he was accused of smoking pot in front of his son.
Reports said he was in a heated conversation on the phone with a woman when cops and CPS later arrived. Reddie, who was fighting for custody of his son, obviously did not agree with what was happening.
An excerpt from the court order allowing the removal of the child reads:
There are reasonable grounds for this court to remove the child(ren) from the parent... because conditions or surroundings of the child(ren), and is contrary to the welfare of the child(ren) to remain in the home because: It is alleged that the father used marijuana in the home in the presence of the child. In addition, there is concern for the safety of the child due to a domestic disturbance and threats made toward law enforcement by the father.
Wouldn't it make some sense, at this point, to perhaps test the man's blood and see if he had any trace of marijuana in his system - before you take the incredible step of taking a man's son away from him? Apparently not, but that did come later - after it was too late.
War on drugs claims another victim
More from OffTheGridNews:
When the Michigan Child Protective Services workers and law enforcement officers tried to remove the child, Reddie reportedly displayed his 4-inch pocketknife and lunged at the group. The officers had been holding their Taser guns during the altercation, but ultimately holstered their non-lethal weapons and grabbed their firearms. Crawford County Deputy John Klepadlo shot and killed Reddie during the incident.
In the end, of course, police spokesmen justified the killing - despite a state police investigator's call to charge the deputy involved in the shooting.
One odd twist: When cops arrived for the first time, they say Reddie told them he had smoked pot earlier in the day - an admission which set off the deadly chain of events leading to CPS' involvement and the forced removal of Reddie's son.
But a post-mortem blood test revealed that Reddie had no traces of either alcohol or pot in his system. Was he crazy or are the cops lying? What's going on, really?
Ah, who cares, right? What's another orphan growing up without his father, victimized by the insane war on drugs?
Sources:
http://www.offthegridnews.com
http://reason.com
http://www.thedailysheeple.com
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