Cops Steal Innocent Musician’s Entire Life Savings, Claiming He Gave It To Them

A Wyoming musician had his entire life savings stolen from him in a civil asset forfeiture scheme involving the state and the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

VIDEO: Undercover Cop Handcuffs Innocent Man, Steals All of His Cash, Then Tells Him to Get Lost

San Diego, CA — A man is saying San Diego Police robbed him of nearly $800 after they stopped, handcuffed and frisked him outside of a local bar early Saturday morning. However, police claim that they have no idea what happened to his money.

Bret Checketts detailed the incident in a Facebook post:

“They put their hands on me and grappled me, took my wallet and went through it, of which $780 of cash was taken from my wallet. I’m unable to pay my rent and have no idea when it will be returned to me if it will be. I was put in hand cuffs for over 20 minutes with no reason given, once they went through my whole wallet , felt me up one side and down the other, went through my pockets and wrote down my drivers license info on a police report, they released me and would not tell me what the Fuck just happened.”

Checketts had the wherewithal to record the incident, at least until his phone’s memory maxed out and stopped recording. But the interaction was long enough to reveal the officers were less than forthcoming with their reasoning for detaining Checketts.

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One by one, Checketts took photos of all of the officers involved. They said they could not comment on their reasons for stopping him but told his friends he “matched the description” of a suspect they were looking for at the time.

Checketts identified the officers and described what he was doing in the moments leading up to what many of his friends are now calling legalized theft:

“San Diego Police Officer Daniel Riis, badge #6474, and Officer Robert Stinson felt it acceptable to detain me for no reason this morning. I had 2 Officers ask to talk to me while I was talking to 2 girls, friends of mine in town from sacramento, while minding my own business and doing nothing wrong.”

The young man told The Free Thought Project that he is innocent of any wrongdoing and added that he was never charged. He claimed he was simply stopped, detained, handcuffed, and had the cash taken from his wallet.

“No law broken. No reason for handcuffing me. No explanation whatsoever. This is asanine. Unacceptable. Untolerable. I want answers! I want an apology. The officers involved need to be suspended. Other parties took video of the whole incident. I will be launching an investigation and lawsuit. This will be made right!”

Checketts also questioned how what happened to him was legal if he had not been guilty of any wrongdoing.

“If I have done absolutely nothing wrong, how can police handcuff me, go through my person, take my money and give me no explanation. I called PD and was told by a supervisor sitting at his desk with his computer that he had no information to offer me and he hung up on me.”

He said his friends explained that what happened to him is called “civil asset forfeiture,” and is essentially legal theft by police of citizens’ property. As TFTP has reported, civil asset forfeiture is now responsible for stealing more possessions belonging to citizens than all US robberies combined.

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Still, Checketts said he does not understand how a police force can get away with it. We spoke to Checketts by phone, and he said he did not receive any paperwork from the officers following his encounter with them. Even after being released from handcuffs, he said “they still wouldn’t give me any information.”

He said he did speak with one of the plainclothes officers who detained him. “I should have received a call from the Lieutenant or someone who was over him not one of the detaining officers,” he said, noting that he found it completely inappropriate.

Checketts said he is going to file an official complaint soon. He told TFTP he doubts he fits any description of a “suspect” police were looking for that night. “If you look at me, you can know I wasn’t that person,” he insisted. “I have no criminal record whatsoever so they have no reason to put me in detainment.”

“I only have one eye. You probably don’t come in contact with someone who only has one eye. So, I’m sure if you had an accurate description, you’d know if it were me or not.”

Checketts says he doesn’t have enough money to even pay his rent now. His roommate had given him the money to pay the rent and said he forgot to deposit the money after work. That is why he says he had so much money with him when police contacted him. He does not know how he could possibly sue them, even though he would like to.

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“I didn’t have an eye on what they were doing. I tried turning around a couple of times to find out what was going on and no one would give me any information,” Checketts said.

He also said the police department called him and asked, “Which officer took your money?” to which he responded, “I’d really like to know that but I was detained and could not tell you which one did it.”

“I hope these officers get training or possibly suspension because they simply had no reason to put me in handcuffs,” Checketts concluded.

Chicago’s Insane Soda Tax Shows What Happens When Crooked Govts Collapse—They Rob the People

When Chicago implemented a new tax on soft drinks, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association responded with a lawsuit arguing that the tax should be overturned because it would hurt sales. While the lawsuit failed, the county is now reportedly retaliating against IRMA to the tune of $17 million.

According to a report from Chicago Tonight, “The county is looking for some payback from those suing to stop the new sweetened beverage tax.” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office confirmed that it is suing IRMA for “damages” brought about by their lawsuit. At issue is the county’s contention the lawsuit delayed the county’s ability to rake in taxes hand over fist from the consumption of soda.

Preckwinkle’s spokesman Frank Shuftan told Crain’s Chicago Business Journal in an email, “The financial damage to the county as a result of this delay is projected at more than $20 million … The county has every right to be made whole as a result of the judge’s ruling upholding the ordinance and removing the TRO (temporary restraining order).” In other words, Cook County wants the money they would have received from the tax, had IRMA not filed a lawsuit in the first place.

The move to sue IRMA admittedly upset County Judge Daniel Kubasiak, who said:

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“I can tell you that I’m troubled by this, the chilling effect of the government saying that you best not challenge us because if you’re proven wrong we will come and get damages from you.”

Preckwinkle’s office responded by saying, “Our motion seeking damages has nothing to do with chilling anyone; it is to capture badly needed revenues to which the county is entitled based on the ordinance.”

The county’s response may be indicative of its budgetary woes. It has been projected that Cook County’s budget shortfall will likely reach $98 million, even with the soda tax factored in. The county even wanted to make the tax applicable to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as “food stamps,” but the courts prohibited the attempt by Cook County to tax its own governmental program.

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Cook County employees will likely be affected by the budget shortfall. Preckwinkle said in June, “We’ve made it clear to our workforce that this is going to be an extremely challenging period, and I don’t think there’s any expectation on either side of the table that those kinds of increases will be repeated in this bargaining session.”

With the lawsuit against IRMA proceeding, it now seems Cook County will stop at nothing to not only overburden its residents with a senseless soda tax, but to also go after its businesses—including the ones that already pay sizeable taxes—if they dare to challenge the county’s revenue generating policies.

For those who may not think the tax is all that big of a deal, and who may drink the Koolaid believing people shouldn’t consume soda in the first place, here is an example of how the tax will affect the consumer. Considering all of the birthday parties that take place daily, the purchase of a simple 24-pack of Sprite will now cost Cook County residents about $10.

Ed Atwell, a resident of Cook County—or as he called it “Crook County”—uploaded a photo on Facebook of a Sprite purchase from Tony’s Finer Foods. The cost of the box of soda was a reasonable $5.99. The new soda tax was $2.88 at $.01 per ounce. Including the sales tax of 10.25% and the additional soft drink tax, the total for 24 cans of soda rose to a staggering $9.66. If that’s not an example of the proverbial highway robbery, we don’t know what is.

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“Crook County! Check out the tax on a $5.99 case of Sprite. I can’t believe my fellow citizens that keep voting these clowns in office.” — Image via Ed Atwell, Facebook

The tax doesn’t just hit soda either. As the Chicago Tribune reports, the tax applies to soda and diet soda, ready-to-drink sweetened coffees and teas, sports and energy drinks, and juice products that aren’t 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, among other beverages. The tax also applies to free refills of lemonade.

Cook County sweetened beverage tax applies to free refills of lemonade. pic.twitter.com/PDztyTDIBl

— ChiTrib Clout Street (@ChiTribCloutSt) August 2, 2017

It appears as though Americans are powerless to change their government’s officials, and even when they do, budget shortfalls are often used as an impetus to discontinue the failed policies of previous administrations. But instead of fighting back, and becoming defendants in egregious lawsuits such as what IRMA now has to endure, consumers are voting with their feet. They are taking their business outside of Cook County, in an effort to save money.

As ABC Chicago 7 reported, residents are now going to neighboring counties to avoid the soda tax that went into effect Wednesday. Shopping outside of Cook County is estimated to cost the county 25 percent of its retail sales. Shopper Marty Dwan told Chicago 7:

“It all adds up, I mean, a little here and a little there. Well worth it to wait five minutes until I’m out of Cook County.”

When will the residents of Cook County finally reach their breaking point? Between the over-taxation of property values to the exorbitant soda tax, Chicagoans are feeling the pinch. Instead of fighting back, however, many are simply leaving, leading to the budget shortfalls the county is now facing. Enough is enough.

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Will there be a new Tea-Party-style revolution take place in Cook County, but with soda? As if the street crime isn’t bad enough, now the county itself is reaching further into the pockets of its residents for a soda tax, shaming them for drinking the sweetened drinks in the process, and suing anyone who gets in their way. That’s not what capitalism looks like. That’s what theft looks like. The framers of The Constitution would be overthrowing the government of Cook County right now!