Congratulations, @Smokin Joe
You were the first one on this thread almost two years ago to the day that whiffed something was amiss on this raid.
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,349531.msg1904192.html#msg1904192
Some times it sucks to be right, but best the bad elements are cleaned from those who are supposed to uphold the law.
At the time there was speculation that the correct address was on
Hardy St., not
Harding St., which may have been the case.
It is a pity that those on scene didn't do a little looking around for the common signs of a major drug operation (cameras, increased security, fences, limited access and view rather than an open yard), as opposed to the lack of some or all of that for small time dealers or end users. Someone on the raid team should have wondered about that, but such is difficult to come by in an adrenaline charged moment. Then there is the 'just following orders' aspect as well.
To be candid, I am all for getting the hard drugs off the street (lost one grandson to them, and nearly another), but like any other situation that involves lethal force and possibly lethal results, the details must be right, checked and rechecked to make damned sure that isn't aimed at the wrong people.
Just from making food deliveries in this past year, it takes little in the way of an error to place the people on the ground across town from where they were supposed to be. Someone types Ave. instead of St., a transposed digit, an extra one added to or one dropped from an address, and you are in the wrong place.
For that type of operation, though, it's more than inconvenience or embarrassment or delay, their mistakes are often written in blood, both their own and in that of innocents.
The scary part of all that is that we are entering an era where those who might have a grudge, a profit motive ($ for tips
will happen, in some ways, it's already here), or any number of petty personal offenses could well be the justification for Federal raids and possibly bloodshed. ANTIFA black bloc looks a lot like raid team garb, and you would be foolish not to defend against someone breaking into your home. Considering those of totalitarian ilk often get their facts wrong, there could be even more grim days ahead.
