THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
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Wednesday, February 5, 2014
POLICE STATE SWAT TEAM RAID IN DES MOINES, IOWA~LOOKING FOR STOLEN CREDIT CARDS
"Armed militarized police in Iowa smashed their way into the home of an innocent family last week and discovered that they were being filmed on home security cameras. The response paints a vivid picture, as one officer ripped a camera from the wall, while another covered up a second camera to prevent the raid being documented."
"The cameras, stationed around the property on the inside and outside, captured the moment that up to a dozen armed police dressed in helmets, ski-masks and riot gear marched up to the home of Sally Prince and prepared to smash her door in over what turned out to be nothing more than unfounded suspicion of minor fraud."
Family Raided - Police Brutality
Caught on Camera:
Published on Feb 5, 2014
A dramatic raid by local police in Ankeny, Iowa, was captured on surveillance video last Thursday — and it has critics warning of the continuing militarization of police departments in America. Police were executing a search warrant at the home of a Des Moines family, where they thought they'd find $1,000 in merchandise purchased with a stolen credit card. Given the nature of the crime, some people, including the family, are asking if the excessive force was necessary. During a tearful interview, Sally Prince told WHO-TV that she has been traumatized to the point that she can't sleep at night. She says if they had only knocked first, she would have consented to a search of her home. Police claim they first knocked on the door, but the surveillance video shows an officer pounding on the side of the house seconds before officers used a battering ram to bust through the front door. Police are also seen destroying a security camera outside the home and covering another with some sort of fabric. A search of the home did not result in the recovery of the items police believe were bought with stolen credit cards. Two people in the house were arrested on unrelated charges, and the family says none of the items listed on the warrant were found, the report adds. Though there were no injuries reported in the incident, things could have easily turned deadly. Prince's son, Justin Ross, has a permit to carry a firearm on his person. When he heard commotion, he says he drew his weapon while in the bathroom and prepared for an intruder to come through the door. Luckily, he heard one of the cops in the other room say police before they kicked in the door, so he re-holstered his weapon, sat back down and placed his hands in his lap away from his gun. If he failed to hear police identify themselves, he could encountered officers with his weapon drawn and could have possibly been shot and killed. This is over property purchased with a stolen credit card, Prince said. It doesn't make any sense to go to such extremes for something that simple. When pressed on the decision to send in a unit similar to a SWAT team, Ankeny police spokeswoman Captain Makai Echer said it came down to the suspects' criminal histories and other factors. Of the three suspects that were present in the home, one has a violent arrest record for two assaults about 13-years ago and a domestic assault, WHO-TV reports. It wasn't clear if the fact that Ross has a legal permit to carry a firearm factored into their decision to conduct the military-style raid. The surveillance video has been making its way across the Internet and has some critics warning of the dangers of police militarization. When critics (like me) warn about the dangers of police militarization, this is what we're talking about. You'll see the raid team, dressed in battle-dress uniforms, helmets and face-covering balaclava hoods take down the family's door with a battering ram, the Washington Post's Radley Balko writes. Help us stop police brutality, join the fight athttp://www.policebrutality.us
