Lawsuit Can Proceed Over Deaths of Two Dogs in Raid

[Jim Finnel]

Cheye Calvo, the mayor of Berwyn Heights Maryland is cool, calm and collected. But he didn't sit back and do nothing over a Prince George's County SWAT team killing his two black Labradors, Payton and Chase.

Now a judge says the suit he filed regarding the deaths of his dogs can go forward. The judge denied motions by the county and state to put a stop to the lawsuit.

And it was all connected to a drug smuggling deal gone terribly wrong.

It happened last July. What went down was like the scene out of a movie. Drug smugglers sent a package containing 32 pounds of marijuana to the Calvo house. A SWAT team raided his house and bound Calvo and held him at gunpoint. Somewhere in the chaos the SWAT team shot and killed his pet dogs.

Calvo was later totally exonerated of any drug charges. As it turned out he was just randomly sent the marijuana in a drug smuggling scheme. The goods were left outside the house. The scenario the drug smugglers envisioned was that someone would come and pick the package up before the innocent residents got home. Unfortunately the Prince George's County SWAT team got there first.

Calvo has championed laws to mandate more oversight regarding SWAT team activity as well as filing the suit.

He and his wife thougth about moving to put the whole ugly incident behind them. But instead they bought two more pet dogs. They won't replace Payton and Chase. But their new pets keep their lives going forward.




NewsHawk: User: 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: nbcwashington.com
Author: NANCY NORMAN
Copyright: 2010 NBC Universal, Inc.
Contact: NBC Washington
Website: Lawsuit Can Proceed Over Deaths of Two Dogs in Raid | NBC Washington

 

[Warbux]

Good luck to the Calvo's..It is'nt eazy getting cops convicted..

 

[flank]

Nothing is going to happen with this case, cops will be cleared, money will be once again lost over the war on drugs, and Mr.Calvo will get no form of penance for the death of his dogs.

This is a sad world, we need to stand up and change it so things like this don't happen, so the system is changed and finally be "to serve and protect" instead of "to catch and incriminate".

I feel bad for these people, done nothing wrong. I Hope they win.

 

[Warbux]

Yeah, But this guy is the mayor of this little town, Lets be a bit more positive about it, Ok?

Nothing is going to happen with this case, cops will be cleared, money will be once again lost over the war on drugs, and Mr.Calvo will get no form of penance for the death of his dogs.

This is a sad world, we need to stand up and change it so things like this don't happen, so the system is changed and finally be "to serve and protect" instead of "to catch and incriminate".

I feel bad for these people, done nothing wrong. I Hope they win.

 

[flank]

Yeah, But this guy is the mayor of this little town, Lets be a bit more positive about it, Ok?

You know, your right. If there ever was a chance i guess this is it, him being a political figure elected by people. Like i said, i hope he wins.

 

[Warbux]

You know, your right. If there ever was a chance i guess this is it, him being a political figure elected by people. Like i said, i hope he wins.

Theres hope for you yet Flank,,lol

 

[Weed420]

We are going to need more people like this to have the ethics and drive to push these kinds of cases all the way. We need to bring the terrorism in this country to an end.

 

[GanjaAL2]

I just do not see them winning this case. Cops rule the world... not the constitution or the law but cops themselves make the law.

 

[CocoJoe]

Cops rule the world... not the constitution or the law but cops themselves make the law.

They think they run the show! Things will change, time has come today.

 

[Shanty]

I have never met, not to say there is not, in all the Labs I have ever met that are not anything but the sweetest dogs in the world. I am sure any dog can be made to be vicious, I have a Pit Bull that would welcome SWAT or anyone right into the house an the worst she would do is kill you with her love. My Akita mix, I can not be sure, as we had roofers here a few years back and they were here for a full week in our back and front yard with us out there, one morning they tried to come in the back yard, as we were not out there and the Pit was begging them in for kisses and they had to knock on the front door to please ask us to come out, as the Akita did not look like they were going to open the gate. I have never seen that, as once I walked out and they came in, he was just as happy to see them as my pit. I guess that is the kind of dog I want.

I think he will win, because one thing we have no idea of is the facts of the case.

Then Again, no one has ever left 32lbs of anything on my door as a mistake, so I guess SWAT will only make this mistake by getting the address wrong.

 

[Tiger Balm]

We are going to need more people like this to have the ethics and drive to push these kinds of cases all the way. We need to bring the terrorism in this country to an end.

AMEN, Brother John, (as they say)
Is there anything the 420 community can do, like sign petitions? I'm good at that.

 

[Tiger Balm]

They think they run the show! Things will change, time has come today.

and another thing i hate is the whole SWAT business. What happened to knocking on the door and handing over a warrant?

 

[astroastro]

Maybe when the govt. steps on one of their own something will change. I doubt it.

 

[Warbux]

Maybe when the govt. steps on one of their own something will change. I doubt it.

They kinda did...This guy is the Mayor of that little town...

 

[Brinna]

The facts of this case are even more horrendous than depicted in this article. First, the local sheriff set the whole thing up. The 32 lb package of cannabis was discovered, in transit, at FEDEX. The local police, themselves, delivered the package. They waited until the mayor came outside and saw the package and brought it in. The SWAT team waited a while longer, ostensibly to let the "criminals" inside open the package and get down to their dirty business; then they smashed down the front door (no knocking). When they got inside the mayor was upstairs changing. The package was unopened, sitting on a table (it's unopened nature suggesting just how important it wasn't to the mayor, who later stated he just saw it on the porch, figured it was something his wife bought, and brought it inside).

The mayor's wife and his mother-in-law were sitting and talking in the living room, when the cops literally burst through the door. They forced the wife and mother to lie face down on the floor, and shot the dogs, but it gets worse. Normally, the police would say the dog was attacking so they had to shoot, but in fact, they chased one of the dogs into a back room in order to kill it.

The mayor, hearing the commotion, ran downstairs, half-dressed, only to find his wife and mother-in-law on the floor, and his dog lying dead in a pool of blood. He was also forced to the floor, and they all had to remain that way while the police ransacked his home.

What a horrifying experience for anybody! This, by any standards, is totally outrageous behavior on the part of civil servants (the police) who are sworn to serve and protect, and I have no compunction in saying that the War on Drugs is the greatest threat to our civil liberties since the witch-hunt era of McCarthyism. Machiavelli could have learned a lot from the fabricators of our nation's drug policies, in terms of the draconian strategies they have erected for keeping cannabis prohibition in place.

 

[GanjaAL2]

By deffinition the police in this instance are terrorist by definition:

An individual or individuals who uses violence, terror, and intimidation to achieve a result.


How long is this going to happen where we the people stand by and be terrorized by our government? We send thousands of our own men and woman to die protecting us from this shit... and here it happens every day in our own back yard.

I still say that nothing... I repeat nothing will come of this. These domestic terrorists will get off scott free. They make and inforce their own law, not the constitution or state imposed laws. Watch it happen!

 

[Jim Finnel]

The facts of this case are even more horrendous than depicted in this article.

some background articles on this story:

Mayor's Dogs Killed In Drug Raid
The Day the SWAT Team Came Crashing Through My Door
Follow-up: No Police Work in This Botched Action
Mayor Sues Over Dog-killing Raid
The Death of DC Suburban Mayor's Dogs Should Matter to Every American
None Of Us Are Safe From Police Raids

 

[Brinna]

Thanks, User, for that great collection of articles. I really appreciate the links.

 

[owneranddog]

This is an utterly deplorable situation. To think that even a town's mayor can be caught up in today's war(?) on drugs or drug that is natural. And to kill 2 family pets, I thought Hitler was dead. In all reality, I own a VA prescribed service dog and I would dare any officer of the law to even think of pulling a gun on him. I will very honestly say that a gunfight would quickly ensue. I truly hope the mayor is responsible for the firing of a few of the proper law enforcement officials and replace them with some people who have a bit more level heads.

 

[GanjaAL2]

Terrorists is what they are. No more not less. They are sworn to serve and protect... but who are they serving and protecting?