A graphic video is now going viral after it captured a Maryland deputy stop traffic, get out of his car, and kill a groundhog for "acting oddly."
The post WATCH: Witnesses Watch in Horror as Cop Kills Tiny Groundhog for ‘Acting Oddly’ appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Police are now threatening the public, claiming they may have to euthanize drug dogs if marijuana becomes legal because they were trained to be anti-social.
The post Illinois Police Just Claimed if Marijuana is Legalized, They’ll Have to Kill Their Police Dogs appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A family has filed a lawsuit after Georgia cops came onto their property, killed their beloved dog and forced the father to cut off its head.
The post Family Sues After Cops Killed Their Dog, Forced the Dad to Cut Off Its Head On Video appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A Witchita cop"s actions were so disturbing as he shot at a dog inside a room full of children and hitting a little girl in the process, that he was actually fired.
The post Cop Fired for Shooting 9yo Girl in the Head As He Tried to Kill Her Dog in a Room Full of Kids appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Police officers wrongly trespassed onto an innocent family"s property—ignoring beware of dog signs—and killed their family pet, now the family is suing.
A cop"s fear of a mid-sized dog inside a family"s home resulted in the cop firing a bullet which missed the dog and struck a 9-year-old girl in the head.
After Georgia cops entered a family"s property and killed their dog in front of the kids, they then forced the father to cut the dog"s head off.
A police officer who shot two dogs multiple times blamed the neighbors who questioned his actions when police stood there and watched the dog suffer.
The family claims an off-duty officer shot and killed their dog for barking at his Pitt Bull, endangering several children who were riding bikes nearby.
A family has filed a complaint after an officer with the Stow police department shot their cat in the head and tossed it in the trash.
Jersey City, NJ – An NYPD officer executing a search in the hunt for a robbery suspect accidentally shot a U.S. marshal in the foot when he fired at a dog that he said was attacking the federal agent, according to police sources.
The officer that shot the federal agent is believed to be a member of the U.S. Marshals Service’s New York/New Jersey Fugitive Task Force, according to the New York Post.
The incident occurred as the task force was searching for a 25-year-old robbery suspect who they believed was hiding out in a residence.
The dog is alleged to have charged the officers on the scene, biting a U.S. marshal. However, as TFTP has reported on countless occasions, officers often claim dogs charge them when the reality is quite to the contrary.
It’s at this point that the NYPD officer opened fire, striking and killing the dog, and in the process shot the agent in the foot.
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The U.S. marshal was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
The robbery suspect, who was wanted for a robbery in New York City, was apprehended successfully.
Police are currently investigating the shooting.
As The Free Thought Project has reported, the phenomenon of police opening fire on dogs in neighborhoods where residents are susceptible to being shot is nothing new.
Many of these incidents are caught on Body Cam, such as when an Ohio officer called out to a dog to come to him and then shot and killed him in July, or when a Texas officer entered a family’s backyard and shot and killed their dog in front of them in August.
READ MORE: Police Discover Lug Nuts Missing From NYPD Officers" Cars
Ironically, the U.S. marshal is also fortunate to only have been shot in the foot as the NYPD officer opened fire on the dog, especially when compared to others in similar situations.
Take for example the tragic case of Autumn Steele.
Court records indicate that Steele was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic abuse. After being released from jail, she was informed that she could not return to her residence to gather her belongings without a police escort.
After returning to her home with a required police escort, her husband, Gabriel Steele was loading their 4-year-old son into a vehicle. Autumn Steele left the residence, followed by the family dog, and got into an altercation with her husband.
Upon seeing the disturbance, the police escort attempted to intervene.
Witnesses claim the family dog was being playful—but the officer apparently felt threatened, which prompted him to pull his firearm and begin shooting at the dog.
One of those shots struck Steele in the chest.
“The dog startled the officer. The officer began shooting at the dog. The officer was still shooting when he fell down in the snow,” one witness told The Hawk Eye Newspaper.
“It appeared he was shooting at the dog when (the officer) fell to the ground. It’s my belief the woman was shot accidentally,” said another witness.
Subsequently, Steele was taken to an area hospital where she died of her gunshot wound.
While the U.S. marshal was fortunate to only have been shot in the foot, both cases highlight gross police incompetence. When officers aren’t properly trained to deal with situations such as these, tragedy is often the outcome.
READ MORE: NYPD Cop Caught on Video in Gangstyle Beatdown that Nearly Killed a Man
While tasked with the authority to carry a deadly weapon in all situations, this heavy responsibility is often disregarded, with innocent civilians — as well as other officers — becoming victims in the process.
For many years now, The Free Thought Project has been bringing you story after story of police killings of citizens’ pets. Many times when an owner’s dog is killed it is because they have called police for an unrelated incident. On other occasions, the police simply show up at someone’s property, and shoot the dog when they begin to feel uncomfortable with the dog’s behavior or barking. So, we felt it would be appropriate to remind our readers of one occasion where the shooting of an owner’s animal ended up costing taxpayers millions of dollars.
Randall C. Weaver was a green beret. Weaver reportedly became restless with city life and sought to build himself a homestead. He and his family purchased property in Northern Idaho, in the middle of what some would consider nowhere, and began to live the homesteading lifestyle.
Motivated by their deep Christian faith, the family of six built a cabin, and began to cultivate the land, even harvesting deer to eat from time to time. Being somewhat isolated from society, the family would sometimes venture out and mingle with others in the community.
Inside one of those communities, the government had planted an informant. He was there to monitor the actions of so-called White supremacists. On one occasion, it was learned Mr. Weaver had sawed off one of his shotguns. This was reported to the Feds whose Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agency (ATF) opened a case against Weaver, even requiring him to appear in court, something he did not comply with.
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READ MORE: 24 Years Ago Today the Federal Govt Changed its Rules to Launch a Sniper Attack on Off-Grid Family
After being a no-show in court, Federal Marshalls were sent to his property to “monitor” his activities. They dressed in camouflage, carried firearms, and were an imposing presence. They may have gone unnoticed, one day in 1992, if it weren’t for the Weaver’s dog.
The canine began to bark. Being located so far away from civilization, Randall Weaver took his son Samuel to investigate. They found what the dog was barking at, and it was one of the federal Marshalls, who reportedly opened fire, killing the dog to silence it.
Does this story sound a lot like what is happening in the suburbs today? So far at least it does…but here’s where things took a turn towards tragedy. Weaver’s son, apparently so attached to the dog, cussed at the agent, who reportedly shot the boy in the back. ATF agent, William Degan, was also killed in the exchange of gunfire which occurred.
Randall “Randy,” as he’s known to his friends, ran back to the house and told his family Sam had been killed by a stranger in the woods. But the unknown person had friends, fellow agents, who considered the killing of one of their agents an action punishable by death and the order was given to shoot any adult on sight.
The next person to die was Weaver’s wife, Vicki, who was shot as she stood in the doorway to their home. Vicki opened the cabin door and stood behind it, holding her 10-month-old baby in her arms. Just then, a sniper’s bullet struck her in the head, killing her.
READ MORE: Body Cam Shows Cop Walk into Backyard and Shoot and Kill a Family"s Small Dog
A family friend named Kevin Harris was critically wounded in that second exchange of gunfire. Randy was shot too, but not as bad. What happened next stunned the nation and opened up a much larger discussion of individual freedoms versus governmental intrusions.
For the next five days, the Weaver family was holed up in their Idaho cabin, the same one they had built to escape what they perceived to be the downfall of society. By all accounts, the Weavers were very similar to modern-day preppers. They just wanted to be left alone.
The standstill with the authorities was only ended when a onetime presidential candidate James “Bo” Gritz (also a Green Beret and someone who Weaver respected) was able to retrieve Vicki’s body and extricate Harris from the cabin for medical treatment. Gritz went back again and finally came down with Randy Weaver and his remaining four children.
Weaver and Harris were both tried for the murder of the fallen ATF agent but were acquitted by a jury of their peers. They then sued the federal government for the wrongful deaths of their mother/wife and son/brother.
The Weavers settled out of court with the Justice Department who feared they’d win upwards of 200 million if the trial were held in Idaho. One hundred thousand dollars was given to Mr. Weaver and one million each to the surviving children; Rachel Marie, Elisheba Ann and Sara Lyn.
Gerry Spence, Weaver’s lawyer, said of the settlement, “The issue never was money…It was restoring confidence in our police. We cannot restore confidence until the F.B.I. comes forward and acknowledges what it has done. Money doesn’t buy justice. Justice is not a commodity for sale.”
READ MORE: Sadistic Cop Charged for Slashing Throat of Missing Dog After She Was Found
Law enforcement officials need to understand that certain truths are valid now, just as they were back then on Ruby Ridge, the mountain where the Weavers made their homestead. You just don’t kill a man’s dog. Period. The entire incident could have been avoided without confrontation had the government’s agents not killed the Weavers’ best friend.
The shooting of the dog touched off the killings of three innocent people, the lifelong wounds of seeing one’s mother be killed by the government, and the fortune invested in attempting to apprehend Randy Weaver. He could have been apprehended in a better way, in a setting that didn’t threaten the lives of everyone involved.
Detroit, MI – Nikita Smith filed a lawsuit against the Detroit Police Department after they killed her three dogs during a raid of her home in search of pot last year. On Wednesday, a judge absurdly ruled the dogs were considered “contraband,” noting that Smith had no legal basis to sue the police department for shooting and killing her dogs, due to the canines not having been properly licensed.
Subsequently, the federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Smith after a raid of her home by the Detroit police was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh.
According to a report by Reason:
The ruling is the first time a federal court has considered the question of whether an unlicensed pet—in violation of city or state code—is protected property under the Fourth Amendment. Federal courts have established that pets are protected from unreasonable seizures (read: killing) by police, but the city of Detroit argued in a motion in March that Smith’s dogs, because they were unlicensed, were “contraband” for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment, meaning she had no legitimate property interest in them and therefore no basis to sue the officers or department.
Sadly, Judge Steeh agreed with the city’s ridiculous assertion that since the dogs were not licensed, they were not a legitimate property interest, thus giving Smith no legal basis to sue either the department or the individual officer/s that killed her dogs.
“The Court is aware that this conclusion may not sit well with dog owners and animal lovers in general,” the judge Steeh wrote in his opinion. “The reason for any unease stems from the fact that while pet owners consider their pets to be family members, the law considers pets to be property.”
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“The requirements of the Michigan Dog Law and the Detroit City Code, including that all dogs be current with their rabies vaccines, exist to safeguard the public from dangerous animals,” he continued. “When a person owns a dog that is unlicensed, in the eyes of the law it is no different than owning any other type of illegal property or contraband. Without any legitimate possessory interest in the dogs, there can be no violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
Think about that for a moment, the judge is legally equating owning an unlicensed dog, with “illegal property or contraband.”
So, does someone owning an unlicensed car give you no Fourth Amendment protections over it, and does it constitute illegal property or contraband simply because it isn’t licensed with the city/state?
Federal judge rules that unlicensed pets are "contraband." Cops can kill them with (legal) impunity. https://t.co/PZ0T0WX42Q
— Biased Cosmopolitan (@radleybalko) August 3, 2017
Steeh’s opinion went on to reason that since there was no Fourth Amendment violation, then there is no legal basis for a civil rights claim against the city. Additionally, Steeh ruled that even if the dogs had been recognized as her property, the animals presented an imminent threat to police, thus the suit would have been dismissed anyway.
READ MORE: Cops Caught on Video Breaking into Family"s Backyard and Killing Dog in Front of 2-Year-Old Girl
Much in line with the brutal reality that a massive number of dogs across America are being executed, Smith’s suit labeled the police officers’ actions in her home akin to a “dog death squad.” She noted that officers shot one of the dogs through a closed bathroom door. Gruesome photos from the raid revealed a blood-drenched bathroom with Smith’s dog lying in a pool of blood.
In only the past two years, numerous lawsuits have been filed against the Detroit Police Department for executing dogs. Once incident ended with the city paying out $100,000 to settle a suit after police dash cam footage revealed a dog being killed by an officer while still chained up and no threat to officers. The case was one of three lawsuits filed against the DPD for killing dogs during raids in search of cannabis. In another case, filed in June, officers are alleged to have killed a couple’s dogs while they were behind a backyard fence.
The absurdity of raiding people’s homes in an assaultive and violent manner in search of a medicinal plant reeks of government overreach and waste.
The report by Reason noted extremely brutal nature :
A Reason investigation last year found the DPD’s Major Violators Unit, which conducts drug raids in the city, has a track record of leaving dead dogs in its wake. One officer had shot 39 dogs over the course of his career before the raid on Smith’s house, according to public records.
That officer is now up to 73 kills, according to the most recent records obtained by Reason.
Two other officers involved in the Smith raid testified during the trial that they had shot “fewer than 20” and “at least 19” dogs over the course of their careers…
Reason’s review of “destruction of animal” reports filed by Detroit police officers did not find a single instance where a supervisor found that a dog shooting was unjustified.
Does anyone really believe that the officer with 73 dog killings is doing it to protect themselves and other officers from imminent danger? The wanton disregard for life is astonishing and speaks to the extreme levels of brutality we see taking place on American streets on a daily basis.
READ MORE: Court Rules Cops Don"t Need to Know the Laws they Enforce -- THEIR Ignorance Can Be Used Against YOU
Once again highlighting the lack of proper training police receive, Judge Steeh’s opinion noted that the “police officers conducting the search had not received any specific training on how to handle animal encounters during raids.”
The court opinion also recognized that Detroit police supervisors found the shooting of Smith’s three dogs all to be justified, but curiously noting:
“However, as in many other cases, the ratifying officers did so without speaking to the officers about what had transpired,” the court wrote.
The search warrant for Smith’s residence came after police received a tip that marijuana was being sold out of the home. The raid, which killed her three dogs, netted a total of 25 grams of marijuana – not even an ounce. Since recent polling support for legalizing cannabis has reached upwards of 80%, perhaps giving police a license to kick down doors, with weapons drawn, in search of a plant, is a recipe for disaster.
Ironically, after the police killed her three dogs, the case against Smith was dismissed due to officers failing to show up for her court hearing. Three murdered dogs, smashed house, no charges, and endless pain and suffering — all for an illegal plant — and this is called justice.
Missouri City, TX — A family is heartbroken and now frustrated after learning that the officer who entered their backyard during a family gathering and shot their beloved dog will not face any charges. After it was announced that the officer would not be charged, the graphic body cam footage was released showing just how unnecessary it was for this cop to murder a family pet.
On Friday, the Missouri City Police department announced that after they investigated themselves, they found that they did nothing wrong when their officer entered the backyard of Lizzethe Pedregon and killed their dog Chapo.
The incident happened just after midnight on July 15, when the Missouri city police officer was responding to a noise complaint at the family’s home. Instead of knocking on the door — like an officer who respects the 4th Amendment to the Constitution — the officer simply went around the house, opened the gate, and walked on to the property.
While there is certainly a gray area surrounding an officer entering a latched fence in regards to legality, none of the exigent circumstances for him to do so were present. He could not see underage drinking, did not hear anyone in distress, did not witness a crime in progress, and never even tried the front door.
As the officer enters the gate — entirely unannounced — the music is only slightly audible until the officer begins to round the corner of the house. At that point, Chapo walked up to the officer.
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“Can you get your dog? Can you get your dog?” asked the officer. Instead of simply stepping back out of the gate he walked through in the first place, the cop resorted to deadly force and killed Chapo, the two-and-a-half-year-old American Bully breed – which is a mix of pit bull, bull dog and terrier.
READ MORE: Graphic Video Shows SWAT Team Kill a Small Dog as it Walked Away From Them
Naturally, the family was shocked. Within just ten seconds, their gathering went from cheerful fun to bloody doom.
“You shot the dog!” the distraught voice screams as this family tries to wrap their heads around what just happened. When confronted by the party goers, the cop then tells them all to get back and, at this point, he does what he should’ve done in the first place — walk back out of the gate.
After the shooting, the cop is heard telling his fellow officers that he had no choice other than putting a bullet through the innocent dog’s skull.
“I see this big pit bull coming through the crowd so at first he sniffed and then he just started growling and coming at me,” the officer said. “He’s huge! I just, ‘pow!’ right in the head.”
“He stopped, he smelled at me first, and then he just, ‘Grrrrr!’ He came at me, and I (said), ‘Can you get him? Can you get him?” And by that time just, ‘POW!"” he said.
Chapo, just like the family members who watched him die was likely scared of this trespasser who was sneaking into the backyard, and so he barked.
“I just opened the gate, walked right in here,” he said. “I was going to ask to speak to the homeowner … I regret it, but he was coming at me. I didn’t have any choice, man. He was coming at me big time.”
The officer, who conveniently remains unnamed, admitted that he never went to the front door, which should have been standard procedure. Instead, like some rogue cop in a movie, he decided to sneak up on a family party and his irresponsible actions proved fatal.
READ MORE: WATCH: Rights Flexing Woman Successfully Stops a Cop from Arresting HER DOG....Seriously
“I’m so hurt, my heart hurts,” Pedregon wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post that went viral after the shooting. “Chapo was not just our dog, he was family!”
When police can walk into a family’s backyard, shoot and kill their pet as they watch in horror, and then face no consequences, something is horribly wrong.
Despite not disciplining their officer for his careless and deadly actions, the Missouri City Police Department announced they will now require police-canine training for all sworn police personnel.
“The Missouri City Police Department remains committed to delivering superior customer service to all members of our diverse community,” the statement read.
Below is an example of that “superior customer service.”
Greenville, SC — The Free Thought Project has provided in-depth coverage of numerous accounts in which police officers have shot and killed dogs—sometimes those dogs were stray animals, and other times they lived at the homes where police were called. But the following story is about a family whose puppy was killed by police because it was in the yard next to the house they were searching.
Greenville County Sheriff’s Deputies were serving a search warrant at the home next to the residence of Marissa Gilliland. But instead of focusing on their targeted address, deputies entered Gilliland’s yard.
According to family friend Heather-Perez Escobar, the family’s 10-month-old dog “was outside and started barking at them.” The officer who entered the yard responded by opening fire and killing the dog.
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“Chico” as he is known, was hit by the first bullet. Escobar said that even though “the dog then turned around and ran towards the house,” the officer then “shot him two more times for NO REASON. This dog was on NO WAY aggressive, he was barking to protect his home.”
Showing no signs of remorse, police left the dog in Gilliland’s front yard. She witnessed the encounter and is now devastated by the cruel and inhumane treatment that led to the loss of her pet.
Gilliland told WYFF 4 News that their dog was friendly and the only thing it would have done to the deputy when it ran toward him was lick him or play “paw” with him. She said he was in no way aggressive with the officers and would never hurt anyone. Describing what happened when he was hit, Gilliland said the first shot the deputy fired broke his leg, and then the next few killed him.
READ MORE: Dozens of Congressmen Speak Out Against Tyranny -- Tell DEA Not to Ban Kratom
The family has organized a GoFundMe page to pay for legal counsel in a lawsuit against the city, the sheriff’s department, and the officers. The fund raising page’s description reads:
“On July 24th 2017 my precious baby Chico was murdered by a Greenville County Sheriffs officer. We will not stop until we get justice for Chico. We have found legal counsel and we are trying to raise the funds necessary to have this killer fired and prosecuted as well as file a lawsuit for the wrongful death of my Chico and pain and suffering. We know this will not bring Chico back but if this will save other familes from going through this kind of pain and suffering then Chico will have some kind of justice. Greenville County needs to know that this kind of behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Thank you to all my friends and supporters. Please keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers.”
In a statement from the Sheriff’s Office, Master Deputy Drew Pinciaro said, “It is not our intent or practice to use deadly force on animals. In this situation, the dog came at the deputy in an aggressive manner while he was serving a search warrant and that is why he shot the dog. Due to the dog being aggressive and unrestrained, that is why he used the level of force he did.”
Heartbroken and choking back tears Gilliland said, “I have never been this hurt in my life…Other people say, ‘He is just a dog,’ but he wasn’t. He was my best friend. My everything. He was family.”
READ MORE: 200+ DEA Agents Use Drugs, Steal Guns, Drive Drunk & Keep Jobs
She and her husband do not have any kids and she said she treated “Chico” like he was her own son. Distraught, she told reporters, “I can’t take this pain anymore…I am hurting so bad. My heart is broken.”
For years, TFTP has been reporting on the disturbing practice of police shooting people’s pets and claiming they ‘feared for their lives.’ However, the following account may be the worst we’ve ever seen. Not only did the cop shoot the dog, but called him close enough so that he wouldn’t waste his bullets, presumably, when he dispatched the dog.
Alliance Ohio Police Officer Josh Tenney’s body camera captured all the moments leading up to the dog’s killing. For over 2 minutes, Tenney called out to the dogs who were not on their leashes. He appeared to be trying to get them to come to him. “Come here puppy!” he said quite affectionately.
But what happened next should give pause to any pet owner who’s even considering calling 911 to get police to help corral their pet. Tenney approached a car wash, still calling out for the dogs to come to him. When, all of a sudden, one of the dogs ran to him.
It’s unclear if the dog was responding to Tenney’s calls or if he was charging him. At any rate, Tenney shot the dog, which got up, and continued running towards him. The officer then fired several more rounds, killing the dog. In all, Tenney may have fired five rounds at the dog he initially called to come to him.
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Tenney radioed in “shots fired” to which the dispatcher responded “the owner is en route”, but it was already too late. In fairness to the officer, he could have shot all three dogs, and his shot placement was apparently on target. But, the entire incident leaves us scratching our heads and asking serious questions.
READ MORE: Man Calls 9-1-1 After Finding Girlfriend Stabbed, Cops Show Up, Kill Him and His 3-Legged Dog
Why did Officer Tenney call the dog if he was only going to kill him when he came running at him? Why didn’t the officer at least extend a hand to see if the do was going to sniff or lick him, instead of going straight to the firearm to end the perceived threat to his safety?
According to PINAC, the dog’s name is “China”;
This behavior is normal for this breed as well many others and is by no means a display of aggression towards a human, it is simply dog play.
Not knowing this or simply not caring Tenney can then be seen raising his pistol and killing China, for coming when he called her and for no other reason…This is simply another case of a scared cop killing a friendly dog because he was SCARED.
Morgan Furry, the dogs’ owner, is also asking for answers. She said her dogs were “playful” and weren’t aggressive. She said the two pit bulls and a rottweiler had crawled under her fence and she asked Mark, her husband, to go get the dogs.
I don’t understand why the police officer got out of the car and approached three dogs he didn’t know…They would have been fine until Mark got there.
Now she says she has to explain to her kids why “China” won’t be coming home.
How do you explain to your three-year-old that your dog is not coming home?
Sergeant Michael Yarian said, “he did not have any other choice,” and that he was acting “within policy” when Tenney chose to shoot the older pit bull.
READ MORE: Coward Cop Caught on Dashcam Walking Up to a Leashed Dog and Killing Him for No Reason
“I didn’t want to have to shoot it,” Tenney told his superiors in the aftermath of the dog’s killing. As he recounted the situation, he forgot or failed to mention he shot at the dog once while standing in the car wash parking lot.
He said the smaller dogs tried to protect him, and that he only started shooting once he’d backed down the small hill into the grass where the fatal shots were fired.
“Oh he was definitely trying,” to bite him he told his fellow officers. “This one charged at me pretty good….I backed away…Mama Bear came at me pretty hard,” he said.
For Officer Tenney, we have the following advice. If you don’t want a dog to come to you, then do all of us living creatures a favor and stop calling them to come to you, unless of course all you want to do is fire your weapon in the line of duty. You could’ve waited the extra two minutes for animal control to arrive. At least that way you don’t become part of a larger national discussion on the epidemic of cops killing people’s pets.
Minneapolis, MN — A new perspective has come forth from a gruesome dog shooting by a Minneapolis police officer earlier this month. While the surveillance footage of the shooting was graphic enough, the newly released body camera footage shows this officer shooting a happy, submissive, and docile dog for absolutely no reason — other than irrational fear.
The LeMay family were camping in Wisconsin when two of the children, both teenage girls, 13 and 18, wanted to come home early because the elder had to get back to work at a local fast food restaurant. They arrived home at around 8:50 pm Saturday, but when they did, they accidentally triggered their own security alarm.
The security company was notified that it was a false alarm, and the alarm was canceled at 8:54. But police were already on their way to the LeMay residence. One of the two responding officers stayed in the front yard while another officer scaled the 7ft high fence in the back.
As the officer trespassed on to the family’s property — despite the alarm call being canceled — he met Cisco and Rocko. From the video, the officer can be seen drawing his weapon as the dogs slowly approached while Cisco, one of the family’s two Staffordshire Terriers, is seen wagging his tail.
The officer didn’t kneel or offer an extended hand for Cisco to smell him, he cowardly pointed his gun at the dog and fired. Cisco wasn’t even charging at the officer when he was shot. Rocko came just as quickly, and he, too, was hit with the officer’s spray of bullets.
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READ MORE: Cops Go to Innocent Woman"s Home, Shoot Her Dog for No Reason, Take No Responsibility
The officer then did what he probably should have done — before he shot. As the two dogs were bleeding and badly injured, the officer jumped back over the fence.
After the shooting, Lemay posted the footage from her surveillance cameras to Facebook, which quickly went viral. While it did show Cisco slowly approach the officer, the first video is not as graphic as the body camera footage below as it doesn’t show exactly how submissive and non-threatening the dog actually was.
The 13-year-old saw her dogs get shot by a so-called officer of the peace, and was surely traumatized. The officer who was in the front of the home then did what he should have done in the beginning. He knocked on the front door.
“The reasonable question is why didn’t you just ask her if the alarm was legitimate?” Attorney Mike Padden said, pointing out that all the cop had to do was knock on the door, especially considering the fact that the alarm was canceled.
As WCCO reports, they also pointed to a section of muted video on the body camera. The police report describes the dog growling, though there’s no sound to hear the encounter.
“Ciroc didn’t growl, didn’t bark. He didn’t even curl his lips being a muted video you’d see his teeth,” LeMay said.
The LeMay’s said the officers told them not to transport the dogs to the hospital because animal control would be coming over to get them but they never came.
Later that night, they were able to get the pets the much-needed surgery and medical care they should have gotten immediately following the shooting.
READ MORE: Coward Cop Caught on Dashcam Walking Up to a Leashed Dog and Killing Him for No Reason
The family spent thousands on surgery to save the dogs’ lives and a GoFundMe page raised over $35,000 to help her pay for since the police department did not immediately offer assistance. However, since the first video received so much coverage, the department said they’d be willing to pay some of the vet bills.
“They need to assume responsibility. They need further training,” LeMay said
Below is the unedited entire clip from the officer’s body camera. WARNING: It is graphic.
Exactly what they are teaching officers to fear at the Minneapolis police department is not clear. However, given this body cam and the recent murder of Justine Damond — who was unarmed and in her pajamas when officer Noor, from the same department, shot her — Minneapolis cops would do well to learn some courage.
Hammond, Indiana – The same dog who was featured on the news as the friendly pit bull sitting in the front seat of a police car just two months ago, was featured on the news for an encounter with police once again this week—but this time, it was for a sad and heartbreaking reason.
Her name was Lexi, and she was one of two pit bulls living at Rock the Sky Fireworks in Hammond. When she ran away in May, she was rescued by an Indiana State Trooper. According to a report from the Northwest Indiana Gazette, Trooper Corey Adam “had to block traffic as he coaxed the dog to come up to him. The dog was friendly, but scared, and Adam was able to get the dog out of the roadway.”
Following the rescue, Lexi was photographed sitting in the front seat of Adam’s squad car before she was reunited with her family.
Lexi’s owner and manager at Rock the Sky Fireworks, Jennifer Shannon, told The Free Thought Project that Lexi was used to seeing police officers around the area, and was typically friendly.
On Tuesday at 11 a.m., Hammond Police Officer Daniel Small entered the fireworks shop, while he was in the area inspecting a report of a stolen vehicle. After talking to Shannon’s boyfriend and son, Small went to his car to retrieve something, and then encountered Lexi.
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“My dog was not chained, she was originally in the store and I think the other dog—who was chained up to the physical door—must have pulled the door open, and she was just sitting outside the door sun tanning like she often did,” Shannon said. “The officer came up to the store, walked past the dogs, the dogs didn’t move. He came into store talked to my boyfriend and son and then said he needed to get something from his car. He went back out the dog got up and ran toward him. She was super friendly and used to officers and people because it’s a fireworks store and we have over 15 officers that had been petting and playing with her for three weeks prior to yesterday.”
While Shannon does not have a direct recording of the shooting, she does have video from the store’s surveillance camera, which shows Lexi running out of the store to meet the officer, and then—within seconds—running back to the store.
READ MORE: Disturbing Video Shows Cops Lure Dog Out of Fenced in Backyard and Kill Him
“She ran toward him in the video and literally within seconds runs back with two bullet holes begging to get back in to the store,” Shannon said. “When my boyfriend heard the gunshots, he went out back and found her bleeding everywhere. He asked the officer what happened and he responded that she ran at him.”
Shannon told The Free Thought Project that she learned about the shooting when she received a call from her boyfriend. She said she asked to speak to the officer, and when Officer Small did get on the phone, he simply said, “She ran at me so I shot her.”
When Shannon told Small that Lexi was pregnant, and would need immediate medical attention, she said he responded by saying, “She should’ve been tied up,” and then hanging up the phone.
While Small’s initial explanation for the shooting was simplified by the claim that Lexi ran towards him, the statement released by the Hammond Police Department was much more in-depth, and detailed an encounter in which “the dog lunged at his right calf snapping, barking, growling and attempting to bite him.”
“On 7/11/17 at approximately 11:15 AM, a Hammond police detective responded to the 7500 block of Calumet Avenue as part of a stolen vehicle investigation. When the detective approached the business at this location, a white pit bull breed canine came running out of the building. The detective attempted to walk away from the dog hoping that it was secure on a leash. The canine continued to run toward the detective. The detective attempted to run away again hoping that the dog was on a leash but quickly realized that the dog was not secure. According to the detective, the dog lunged at his right calf snapping, barking, growling and attempting to bite him. The detective feared for his safety and the safety of anyone near the business who might be passing and fired at the canine twice with his weapon striking the dog. The dog ran back into the business. When asked about the dog, the owner of the business confirmed that the dog was not on a leash or chain. The Hammond police detective was in fear for his safety believing that he was going to be attacked or mauled by the approaching canine and took the necessary steps to prevent an attack to him or anyone else in the area.”
Based on the short span of time captured on the security camera, and the fact that she heard Small telling his bosses that the dog simply ran at him several times, Shannon said she does not believe the accusations from the statement.
READ MORE: Alternative Media Journalist Arrested Trying To Enter Public Police Commission Meeting In LA
“There was no time for what the officer states,” Shannon said. “His released statement is that the dog was biting and nipping at his leg when he shot her. That is impossible. She literally runs there and back in 8 seconds. No time for tugging or anything else.”
By the time Shannon arrived at the scene, she said 40 minutes had passed since the shooting, and Lexi had still not received medical attention, but was “still alive, bleeding everywhere.”
Lexi had two gunshot wounds—in her stomach and lower back. Shannon described a horrific scene in which they traveled to three different vet hospitals, attempting to find a vet who could treat Lexi.
Ultimately, Lexi succumbed to her injuries, and both she and the puppies she was six weeks pregnant with, died.
“I’m just devastated,” Shannon said. “How can he protect the citizens if he’s 6’4” and in ‘fear’ for his life from a 28 lb. dog that literally just wanted him to pet her? If that wasn’t, enough he told my son that he better put the other dog inside before he shot him too.”
Shannon said there were two witnesses who claimed Lexi presented no threat to the officer. In addition to a lack of remorse, and an escalation of the story’s details, Shannon said her latest problems with the Hammond Police Department are nothing new.
“They had the worst attitude in the world, and he literally was the coldest person I have ever met,” Shannon said. “No remorse, just lies. We only have the dogs because Hammond Police have failed miserably at doing their jobs, and we have been robbed 57 times in 10 years, with no arrests to date.”
Minneapolis, MN – Sadly, there’s been another cop versus dog shooting. This time the horrific shooting took place in Minneapolis and didn’t involve just one family pet — but their two dogs.
As TFTP has noted, if citizens kill police dogs, it’s practically considered murder, and the suspects are charged with felonious assault on a police officer (dog). But since police wear a badge, they can kill our pets at will with hardly any ramifications.
Jennifer LeMay did her part to protect her home and property by installing security cameras, and we’re glad she did because the shooting of her two dogs was caught on camera.
The two Staffordshire Terriers, Cisco and Rocko are owned by LeMay and her four children, and have been in the family since they were puppies. They’re therapy dogs, prescribed by a physician to help LeMay’s two sons who struggle with severe anxiety.
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The LeMay family were camping in Wisconsin when two of the children, both teenage girls, 13 and 18, wanted to come home early because the elder had to get back to work at a local fast food restaurant. They arrived home at around 8:50 pm Saturday, but when they did, they accidentally triggered their own security alarm.
The security company was notified that it was a false alarm, and the alarm was canceled at 8:54. But police were already on their way to the LeMay residence. One of the two responding officers stayed in the front yard while another officer scaled the 7ft high fence in the back.
READ MORE: Instead of Shooting a Dog that Just Bit Him, This Cop Soothed It and Set the Bar for Cops Nationwide
That’s when he met Cisco and Rocko. From the video, the officer can be seen drawing his weapon as the dogs slowly approached while one is seen wagging his tail.
The officer didn’t kneel or offer an extended hand for Cisco to smell him, he simply pointed his gun at the dog and fired. Cisco wasn’t even charging at the officer when he was shot. Rocko came just as quickly, and he, too, was hit with the officer’s spray of bullets.
The officer then did what he probably should have done. As the two dogs were laying, bleeding, and badly injured, the officer jumped back over the fence. Why he did not first attempt to retreat is anyone’s guess. Now LeMay is demanding answers and footing the bill from an officer’s assault on her pets.
The 13-year-old saw her dogs get shot by a so-called officer of the peace, and was surely traumatized. The officer who was in the front of the home then did what he should have done in the beginning. He knocked on the front door.
The LeMay’s said the officers told them not to transport the dogs to the hospital because animal control would be coming over to get them but they never came.
Later that night, they were able to get the pets the much-needed surgery and medical care they should have gotten immediately following the shooting. According to the Star Tribune;
Both dogs went to the emergency vet Saturday night. Ciroc was shot in the jaw, Rocko in the side, face and shoulder. So far, LeMay has paid $900 for Ciroc and brought him home; he still needs $5,000 to $7,000 worth of surgery at the University of Minnesota, she said. Rocko came home Sunday night. A GoFundMe page was established to help LeMay pay her vet bills.
LeMay is now demanding answers. The police department sent over a supervisor to talk with the family, Lt. Derrick Barnes. And while they say he was as contrite as he could be, the pain is still very real and fresh for the family who now has to watch their dogs as they suffer through a long and painful recovery.
READ MORE: Cop Ignores "Beware of Dog" Signs, Enters Yard, Kills Family Dog — Over a Parking Spot
The pain, anguish, and anger can be sensed in LeMay’s comments when she spoke with reporters.
He was wagging his tail…My dog wasn’t even moving, lunging toward him or anything…My dogs were doing their job on my property…We have a right to be safe in our yard.
As for the attempt of the police department to reach out and express their condolences, LeMay had these words to say to Det. Barnes:
(Barnes was) as genuine and compassionate as he could be, without overstepping his boundaries.
Police spokesman Corey Schmidt issued a one-paragraph statement:
We are aware of the recent incident involving MPD officers responding to an audible residential burglary alarm and while at this call an MPD officer discharged their firearm, striking two dogs belonging to the homeowner. Anytime an officer discharges their firearm in the line of duty there is an investigation. We are in the process of reviewing the video posted online, as well as the officer’s body camera video.
LeMay did not say whether or not she plans to sue, but there have been a few victories in court when police have killed family pets in the line of duty. Hopefully, she’ll file a lawsuit and teach those officers a lesson so they won’t continue to devastate people’s lives by killing their beloved pets.
Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies opened fire on a biting dog after responding to a call of a teen house party early Thursday morning — but a bullet ricocheted and killed a 17-year-old boy, who was trying to save the dog from gunfire.
Reports say the sheriff’s department received calls about the party and arrived on scene at an apartment complex around 3:47 a.m., local time; but a pit bull sprinted from inside the residence — biting one of the responding deputies on the leg.
Officers restrained the animal — but it broke from their grips.
Armando Garcia, in the meantime, attempted to bring the dog under control, when police unleashed a hail of bullets against the offending animal — one round allegedly grazed the pavement and ricocheted upward — killing the teenager who only wanted to protect the animal.
“We believe that when the individual came out from behind the building, which was approximately 40 feet away from where the shooting occurred, he may have been struck by one of the skip rounds. And it is what we’re calling an extremely, extremely unfortunate incident,” asserted Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Captain Chris Bergner in a press conference Thursday.
Unfortunate in that the teen had been trying to do what the deputies apparently couldn’t — get the dog under control. And, after being rushed to the hospital, Garcia lost his life for the effort.
“My nephew was trying to save the dog because the cops started shooting at the dog,” Amber Alcantar, Garcia’s aunt, told CBS Los Angeles. “He put his life on the line for an animal that wasn’t even his.”
ABC 7 reports:
“Deputies at the scene said they initially responded to a report of loud music at a party. As they were conducting an investigation, a 60 to 65 pound pit bull ‘aggressively charged’ at deputies and bit one of them on his left knee. The deputy was not seriously injured.”
Officers then restrained the animal, but it broke loose — authorities say it charged at the deputies — two of whom then fired at the animal from a distance of just five seven feet. According to reports, the pit bull ran to a carport area behind the apartment complex, with deputies in pursuit — determined to hold the animal in a confined space to prevent any other attacks on bystanders.
“When they got to the carport area, deputies found the teen on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest,” ABC 7 notes.
Bergner also said the deputy relatively uninjured by the initial dog bite to the left knee was also treated for a gunshot wound from a ricocheting bullet to the right knee.
“This is an extremely, extremely unfortunate incident,” Bergner continued. “The bullet hit the apron of the driveway, traveled about 30 to 40 feet back, and potentially hit this individual who was coming around the corner.”
Of course, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has not made clear why spraying a dog with enough rounds to incidentally kill a teenager and wound an officer would have been a wise choice in an apartment complex, where — even given the pre-dawn hour of their arrival — shooting rather indiscriminately at an animal would seem feckless, at best.
Ill-fated, in the case of Armando Garcia — who lost his life to gunfire for trying to protect an animal from the cops.
The pit bull will be euthanized.
READ MORE: Inform Yourself Ahead of Time: How do I report police misconduct?
Neighbors told the media pit bulls are particularly common in the area, but the unnamed owner of the dog in question described the animal as “a big dog with a baby’s mind” — and it would never have meant any harm.
“Mando is a good kid,” lamented Garcia’s mother, Roberta Alcantar, of the teen who tried to save an animal from officer gunfire. “He did not deserve to die the way he died. I’m going to get to the bottom of it and it’s going to get handled.”
Armando Garcia will join a shamefully lengthy list of individuals who obviously know and love animals better than police — who should be trained to de-escalate animal situations, no matter the circumstances, given they encounter dogs and cats routinely — but who have had their lives cut short by frightened cops.
It seems the modus operandi for police in the U.S. is to shoot first, say something about being scared for life and limb, and don’t bother asking questions later.
And now another human being had his life untimely snuffed — unironically — for trying to protect a beloved dog, that wasn’t even his, from the police.
This is what it’s like to be an animal lover in a police state.
