Originally published February 18 2015
Police destroy 90-year-old woman's home in drug raid, find nothing
by Daniel Barker
(NaturalNews) Another example of overzealous police trampling on the rights of ordinary citizens has surfaced, this time involving a 90-year-old Florida woman whose home was ransacked in a drug raid that turned up nothing.
In December 2014, officers from the Riviera Beach Police Department conducted a raid on the elderly woman's home based on the mistaken belief that drugs were being sold there.
According to the woman, who asked not to be identified, the police targeted the wrong home. "I don't know how the cops got in here," she recalls. "The noise woke me up when something said, 'Boom!' Like a bomb or something."
Apparently, the police broke down the senior citizen's door and used a flash bang device during the raid, which shattered windows in the front of her home.
The police obtained a warrant for the raid after allegedly witnessing illegal drug sales at the address, but the drug-sniffing dogs were unable to find anything in the elderly woman's home.
The lady told CBS Miami that the police were asking where the drugs were, to which she replied that there weren't any around. Shocked by the entire situation, the woman told reporters, "I've never been arrested, never been in jail." She's lived in Riviera Beach for 25 years.
Police refuse to admit mistake, hesitate to fix destroyed property
Although the drug-sniffing dogs didn't find any evidence of drugs, and despite the fact that the woman was obviously shaken up by the terrifying experience, the police won't admit that they made a mistake. In fact, CBS Miami reports that "Riviera Beach Police said the search warrant was executed at the correct address and while the resident may not have had any knowledge of drugs being sold from her home, it doesn't mean it didn't happen."
Even though police refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing on their part, they did provide some temporary repairs. They also promised to pay for a new door and said that they plan to replace her broken windows. However, two months after the raid, the new door and windows were still not installed, but were scheduled to be replaced within days. As of this writing, it is assumed that the repairs were finally performed.
Disturbing police acts rampant in society
If this had been an isolated incident, it could perhaps be forgiven, but the sad truth is that botched raids that terrorize innocent citizens and destroy private property have become commonplace in America in recent years.
The over-militarization of police forces and the rise of what has been termed, "killer cops," have begun to change perceptions of the police -- and not for the better. It used to be that they were considered people who helped "serve and protect," but situations similar to this raid have made citizens fear and avoid the police at all costs.
For example, the increase in police killings of innocent citizens -- often unarmed teens -- are high-profile news stories. But every day in America, people are harassed, their homes invaded for no reason.
Elderly woman shot five times and killed for no reason, police get a slap on the wrist
There was another case of a woman being victimized by the police -- even more shocking than the aforementioned one -- which occurred in 2006. Then, an innocent 92-year-old Georgia woman was shot to death in yet another botched raid.
In that instance, Atlanta resident Kathryn Johnston died after being shot five times during a "no-knock" raid which also furnished no evidence of wrongdoing. However, in that case, police attempted to cover up their mistake by planting marijuana in her house after the fact.
Fortunately, the police officers involved were caught, tried, convicted and subsequently put in jail. They were also ordered to split her funeral costs and will be supervised after their prison release. Still, that is a small consolation in light of the fact that an innocent woman was shot dead by corrupt cops.
It's time we begin to realize that America is spiraling downward into an authoritarian police state. We must take the necessary steps to regain our rights and freedoms before we all become the helpless victims of a fascist regime.
Sources for this article include:
http://miami.cbslocal.com
http://www.nydailynews.com
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/24/atlanta.police/index.html
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