7-Year-Old Girl Killed in Detroit Police Raid (Get yer cop hating here!)

[Ralph Wiggum]

The facts:

Flaneur (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 04:31 PM
Original message
7-Year-Old Girl Killed in Detroit Police Raid
 
Source: CNN

CNN) -- Police in Detroit, Michigan, on Sunday expressed "profound sorrow" at the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl in a police raid.

Aiyana Jones was shot and killed by police executing a search warrant as part of a homicide investigation, Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said in a statement.

"This is any parent's worst nightmare," Godbee said. "It also is any police officer's worst nightmare. And today, it is all too real."

The warrant was executed about 12:40 a.m. ET Sunday at a home on the city's east side, Godbee said. Authorities believed the suspect in the Friday shooting death of 17-year-old high school student Jarean Blake was hiding out at the home. Blake was gunned down in front of a store as his girlfriend watched, Godbee said.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/16/michigan.police.chi... /


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These forcible entry raids are dangerous--much more so for residents than police.

Why don't the cops just wait for the guy to go to the 7-11?

Flaneur (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 04:32 PM
Response to Original message
1. More detail:
 From the CNN story:

Preliminary information indicates that members of the Detroit Police Special Response Team approached the house and announced themselves as police, Godbee said, citing the officers and at least one independent witness.

"As is common in these types of situations, the officers deployed a distractionary device commonly known as a flash bang," he said in the statement. "The purpose of the device is to temporarily disorient occupants of the house to make it easier for officers to safely gain control of anyone inside and secure the premise."

Upon entering the home, the officer encountered a 46-year-old female inside the front room, Godbee said. "Exactly what happened next is a matter still under investigation, but it appears the officer and the woman had some level of physical contact.

"At about this time, the officer's weapon discharged one round which, tragically, struck 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones in the neck/head area."

Skip Intro  (1000+ posts)        Sun May-16-10 05:28 PM
Response to Original message
12. Tragic, but in fairness, all info should be considered...
 http://www.freep.com/article/20100516/NEWS01/100516012/...

The 46-year-old grandmother of the girl shot was in the front room of the house and had a physical tussle with the first officer when his gun discharged, hitting Aiyana Stanley Jones in the head and neck area, police said. She was sleeping on a couch in the room.

 
Sounds like a very tragic accident.  But cue the cop haters...

Odin2005  (1000+ posts)        Sun May-16-10 04:49 PM
Response to Original message
4. ****ing PIGS!!!
  

Webster Green  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 06:06 PM
Response to Reply #8
23. Yeah, and the dumb-ass ****ing pigs were at the wrong house.
 The muther****ers do this shit all the time! Raiding the wrong house, and entering with guns drawn, throwing flash grenades, and trashing everything and everyone in sight. They do it for pot just as quickly as they do it for homicide investigations.

I hope this poor family winds up with a huge settlement. The ****ing pigs should be locked up, but they won't ever face justice. They are above the law.

Mike K  (451 posts)       Sun May-16-10 07:34 PM
Response to Reply #16
36. This is not an isolated incident.
 Go here: http://www.cato.org/raidmap /

I am old enough to remember a time in America when the only circumstances that would justify this kind of no-knock raid on a private residence would be the last resort need to apprehend a dangerous threat to society or something equally expedient. The reason for this raid was that of arresting a homicide suspect. A suspect, not a known perpetrator. Not a mass murderer. Not a known terrorist.

A suspect, whom they could have staked out the premises for and arrested when he came out. These commando raids are increasingly common and the likely reason for it is these cowboy cops enjoy the excitement. It beats the hell out of sitting in a parked car all night waiting for someone to come out.

The raid on the MOVE house in Philadelphia ended with the burning down of a whole city block. The raid on the Davidian complex in Waco ended with the incineration of 25 innocent children, some as young as age two. The Ruby Ridge raid ended with the wholly unnecessary killing of an innocent man's wife and son. And on and on. Those are just the ones we hear about because they became too big to suppress. In all too many cases these commando raids are executed on the wrong premises -- and it could happen to any of us.

Regardless of any supposed justification these raids are essentially at odds with what living in America is about. This is the kind of thing we used to read about in reports from the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, South Africa and other totalitarian states. We should not allow it except under the most extreme circumstances.

There is no way this child's death can be justified!  

Skip Intro  (1000+ posts)        Sun May-16-10 08:11 PM
Response to Reply #36
39. Good Lord. You're relating this to Waco and Nazi Germany?

This place sometimes...

Quantess  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 06:22 PM
Response to Original message
28. A 7 year old black girl. Am I right about that?
 Edited on Sun May-16-10 06:25 PM by Quantess
Now I'll click on the link....

Upon edit: Yes, a very pretty little black girl.  

Jester Messiah  (775 posts)      Sun May-16-10 07:27 PM
Response to Reply #28
34. I don't give a shit if she's ugly as sin. She didn't deserve to die. [nt]

demigoddess (1000+ posts)     Sun May-16-10 07:50 PM
Response to Reply #34
37. he or she is pointing out that they never seem to shoot little white children
 during these raids. And she was pretty. I wonder why they never seem to pick any time other than night. like maybe when the kids are in school. When the suspect leaves the house?? They always seem to attack at night. we have had a number of times when they have hit the wrong house, when they were mistaken for invaders not police, and a number of times when the police shot someone other than the criminal they were looking for.

Psephos  (1000+ posts)      Mon May-17-10 01:55 AM
Response to Reply #37
59. Detroit's population is 82% black. Not very many little white children to shoot.  
 Edited on Mon May-17-10 02:03 AM by Psephos
Two-thirds of the police dept. is black. The mayor is black. The chief of police is black. The head of the Special Response Team team is black. From what I saw of the SRT on the A&E TV show "SWAT," the majority of the SRT is black.

The murder suspect the cops were chasing is black. Everyone in the house in which he was hiding, and where the little girl was on the sofa, was black.

Call it a wild guess, but I'm thinking that race was not a factor here.

PWNED.

Boudica the Lyoness  (791 posts)      Sun May-16-10 06:45 PM
Response to Original message
30. I hate American Police
 Ignorant dishonest pigs!

I don't believe for one moment that the grandmother tried to disarm the child killing cop. It takes a video to get these ****ers to tell the truth.

I notice they always video tape prison cell extractions to prove they are not abusing convicted prisoners, now how about showing the same respect to the innocent until proven guilty crowd.

How about video taping every time they have a search warrant or enter a persons home for any reason, that way we can see if they are doing the job we pay them to do any not having a bit of fun shooting peoples pets and little black girls

.  

Webster Green  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 07:31 PM
Response to Reply #30
35. I hate them too.
 The next one that ****s with me is going to have shitload of paperwork to deal with. (One way or the other)

 

Supply Side Jesus  (1000+ posts)       Sun May-16-10 09:08 PM
Response to Reply #35
45. Big talk behind a computer monitor
 big talk...

Webster Green  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 09:37 PM
Response to Reply #45
48. Not really.
 I'm not scared of them. I just hate them.

I've been into it with them a couple of times. Didn't work out that great for me actually, but I'll do it again if they **** with me.

There was lots of paperwork. They hate that.

PM Martin  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 07:25 PM
Response to Original message
33. Post #27, the one union that needs to be broken.

billyoc (1000+ posts)        Sun May-16-10 09:44 PM
Response to Original message
49. Detroit still has cops?

provis99  (1000+ posts)      Mon May-17-10 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #49
51. Detroit still has people?

Romulox  (1000+ posts)        Mon May-17-10 12:40 AM
Response to Reply #51
54. DU still has assholes. nt

[ROCKURWORLD]

Jones claimed the officers had the wrong house, but Godbee said in the statement the 34-year-old suspect in Blake's death was found and arrested at the home. In addition, a vehicle and a moped matching the descriptions of those involved in Blake's shooting were also found, he said.

I guess they forgot this part. When you allow a murderer into your home and then an innocent child gets hurt then I don't think the father has anyone to blame but himself.

[jinxmchue]

Who calls cops "pigs" anymore other than people who regularly commit crimes?  (Though in the case of DUmmies, it's probably just smoking pot.)

[DefiantSix]

Webster Green  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 07:31 PM
Response to Reply #30
35. I hate them too.
 The next one that ****s with me is going to have shitload of paperwork to deal with. (One way or the other)

Supply Side Jesus  (1000+ posts)       Sun May-16-10 09:08 PM
Response to Reply #35
45. Big talk behind a computer monitor
 big talk...

Webster Green  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 09:37 PM
Response to Reply #45
48. Not really.
 I'm not scared of them. I just hate them.

I've been into it with them a couple of times. Didn't work out that great for me actually, but I'll do it again if they **** with me.

There was lots of paperwork. They hate that.

DUmbass, the only paperwork that'll be involved in your next - in a looooong line of - encounter with John Law, will be the fist full of toilet paper they'll hand you to clean yourself up with after they taze the **** outa you for resisting arrest.  Again.

Edit: because my fat fingered self hit post before I'd done more than copy the DUmbass posts in question.

[Mike220]

Webster Green  (1000+ posts)      Sun May-16-10 09:37 PM
Response to Reply #45
48. Not really.
 I'm not scared of them. I just hate them.

I've been into it with them a couple of times. Didn't work out that great for me actually, but I'll do it again if they **** with me.

There was lots of paperwork. They hate that.

Cops hate paper work for penny ante, little bullshit. Cop an attitude and play the bitch like DUmbass Webby says it's going to, they'll enjoy filling it out. DUmbass Webby hasn't realized that yet.

[Tantal]

Cops hate paper work for penny ante, little bullshit. Cop an attitude and play the bitch like DUmbass Webby says it's going to, they'll enjoy filling it out. DUmbass Webby hasn't realized that yet.

Strangely enough, I'm not a big fan of violence and try to avoid it as much as possible. I don't like beatings, but I've pencil-whipped the shit out of some people in my 13 years on the job.

For instance, I catch someone with a dime bag of weed. If they're cool about it and don't give me any trouble, I cut 'em a citation for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (a class C misdemeanor with a $300 fine). If they're slightly an ass I may arrest them, but still only charge them with Paraphernalia. If they're a complete asshole DUmmie that wants to hold court on the side of the road......"why'd you stop me, muther****er?" "What's your PC for searching me, asshole?" "This is bullshit....I'll bet you drink beer and alcohol is more dangerous than weed".
Well, those people get the class B Possession of Marijuana charge and get to take the ride down to County, get an attorney, do jail time or probation, etc. It pays to not be a dick.

[JohnnyReb]

About 10 days ago here, a little 2 1/2 year old girl was shot in the head and killed. The 2 dudes that carried her to the ER have been arrested and charged with nurder... no other details have been released yet....DUmmies are probably crying because they haven't found a new drug source yet.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Another thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8352600

BakedAtAMileHigh (510 posts)      Mon May-17-10 12:13 PM
Response to Original message
2. "the department offers its condolences"
 Mindlessly obedient thugs offer "condolences" (not apologies, of course) for the slaughter of a seven year old girl.

It sure is interesting how often these "perfect storms" seem to occur during these types of raids, isn't it? It's almost as if Law Enforcement KNOWS the technique insures a high civilian casualty but they just simply don't care.

But that could NEVER be true, right?

Right?

leeroysphitz  (1000+ posts)        Mon May-17-10 12:20 PM
Response to Original message
3. These pigs are allowed to treat us like animals, throwing grenades into familiy homes etc...
 Treating us as if our lives and our rights have no value whatsoever.

Once this Special Response Team receives a warrant to enter a home to find a suspect then what? Those living in that home automatically forfeit their right to exist?

Somebody needs to reign in these psychopaths with badges before they can do anymore irrevocable damage to our families and community.

Despicable animals.

[JohnnyReb]

Grabbed this from Wiggums post and fixed it for the DUmmie.

 
 Somebody needs to reign in these psychopaths with badges brain damage before they can do anymore irrevocable damage to our families and community.

Despicable animals DUmmies.

[Ballygrl]

I feel sorry for the little girl of course BUT her FAMILY put her in harm's way, so they need to be blamed more for the killing.

[The Village Idiot]

I don't hate cops. I do think someone messed up royally.

[BlueStateSaint]

I feel sorry for the little girl of course BUT her FAMILY put her in harm's way, so they need to be blamed more for the killing.

 

[Wineslob]

billyoc (1000+ posts)        Sun May-16-10 09:44 PM
Response to Original message
49. Detroit still has cops?



Quote
provis99  (1000+ posts)      Mon May-17-10 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #49
51. Detroit still has people?



Quote
Romulox  (1000+ posts)        Mon May-17-10 12:40 AM
Response to Reply #51
54. DU still has assholes. nt

 

Very, very sad about the little girl DUmbasses, but until I got the whole story............

[soleil]

Cop hating is big at DU. It is the cool thing to do. I was always one of the uncool posters for taking up for cops. It always pissed me off and still does that these people are so biased against cops, but show that bias to someone else and you are prejudiced. Hypocrites. A lot of them over there.

[crockspot]

One of my uncles, who has been dead for thirty years now, used to say "Without the police, your life wouldn't be worth a damn dime." Still just as true now, if not more so, than it was back then.

[Vagabond]

Wait.  Grannie got physical with the cops?   Look, I know exactly what a flashbang feels like, from personal experience.  If it goes off in the room you are in you can't see or hear anything for minutes, and you certainly aren't going to physically engage anyone.  This means Grannie had to hear the officers announce police, hear them break in, at a minimum hear a non-civilian issue offensive grenade go off, and then move into the room with the police.

Grannie looks a mite suspicious if you ask me.

[soleil]

One of my uncles, who has been dead for thirty years now, used to say "Without the police, your life wouldn't be worth a damn dime." Still just as true now, if not more so, than it was back then.

I agree. My brother was a cop for a while, then an MBN agent, now a state trooper. I've heard enough of his stories, and I know him well enough to know that most cops are hard working people trying to help keep us safe. Unfortunately, it is often not only a thankless job, but a job that puts you in great danger and that too many people don't appreciate. There are some sucky power hungry people out there, but they don't speak for the majority.

[Alpha Mare]

Detroit -- An attorney representing the family of a 7-year-old girl shot to death during a Sunday morning raid says the family knows the Detroit police officer who fired the fatal shot is "not a monster" but said the police operation was flawed and influenced by TV production concerns.

The police "were excited; they were on TV," said Oak Park attorney Karri Mitchell, who is representing the family of Aiyana Jones. "They didn't have to throw a grenade through the front window when they knew there were children in there."

The attempted arrest of a murder suspect at a two-unit house on Lillibridge on the city's east side was videotaped for an episode of "The First 48," a reality crime show on the Arts & Entertainment Network, said Detroit police spokesman John Roach.

Witnesses say at least 20 officers were on hand for the raid. A "flash grenade" -- an incendiary device that emits a blinding flash and a loud noise in order to disorient suspects -- was thrown through a downstairs window before at least one officer entered the flat.

Family members say the flash grenade landed on Aiyana, who was sleeping on a front-room couch.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100517/METRO/5170371/1409/METRO08#ixzz0oEdPpmDV

[soleil]

It is truly tragic for that poor child. She could've had a whole life in front of her. I can promise you that I would NEVER allow someone in my house that could ever possibly pose a threat to my child. If this man was wanted for murder, why would anyone in their right mind allow that person into their home, especially around a child? IMO, the blame lies with the ones who housed a murderer.They allowed a murderer around their child. And the poor child suffered tragically for it.

[The Village Idiot]

If this is accurate some cops need to go down. Not that Feiger isn't an idiot.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_en_tv/us_police_search_girl_killed

excerpt

DETROIT – Police who carried out a raid on a family home that left a 7-year-old girl dead over the weekend were accompanied by a camera crew for a reality television show, and an attorney says video of the siege contradicts the police account of what happened.

Geoffrey Fieger, an attorney for the family of young Aiyana Jones, said he has seen three or four minutes of video of the raid, although he declined to say whether it was shot by the crew for the A&E series "The First 48," which has been shadowing Detroit homicide detectives for months.

Police have said officers threw a flash grenade through the first-floor window of the two-family home, and that an officer's gun discharged, killing the girl, during a struggle or after colliding with the girl's grandmother inside the home.

But Fieger said the video shows an officer lobbing the grenade and then shooting into the home from the porch.

"There is no question about what happened because it's in the videotape," Fieger said. "It's not an accident. It's not a mistake. There was no altercation."

"Aiyana Jones was shot from outside on the porch. The videotape shows clearly the officer throwing through the window a stun grenade-type explosive and then within milliseconds of throwing that, firing a shot from outside the home," he said.


excerpt

[soleil]

If this is accurate some cops need to go down. Not that Feiger isn't an idiot.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100517/ap_on_en_tv/us_police_search_girl_killed

excerpt

DETROIT – Police who carried out a raid on a family home that left a 7-year-old girl dead over the weekend were accompanied by a camera crew for a reality television show, and an attorney says video of the siege contradicts the police account of what happened.

Geoffrey Fieger, an attorney for the family of young Aiyana Jones, said he has seen three or four minutes of video of the raid, although he declined to say whether it was shot by the crew for the A&E series "The First 48," which has been shadowing Detroit homicide detectives for months.

Police have said officers threw a flash grenade through the first-floor window of the two-family home, and that an officer's gun discharged, killing the girl, during a struggle or after colliding with the girl's grandmother inside the home.

But Fieger said the video shows an officer lobbing the grenade and then shooting into the home from the porch.

"There is no question about what happened because it's in the videotape," Fieger said. "It's not an accident. It's not a mistake. There was no altercation."

"Aiyana Jones was shot from outside on the porch. The videotape shows clearly the officer throwing through the window a stun grenade-type explosive and then within milliseconds of throwing that, firing a shot from outside the home," he said.


excerpt

If that is true, then that cop definitely needs to be dealt with. And harshly.