Tag: police state

It started as a noise complaint. It ended in another fatal Phoenix police shooting

Ryan Whitaker had heard a stranger knock on his Ahwatukee apartment door in the middle of the night earlier in May. So when he heard a similar knock on a Thursday after 10 p.m. later that same week, he answered the door holding his 9 mm gun.

Holding the gun in his right hand, he was confronted by two Phoenix police officers standing on either side of the door. They appeared surprised by the sight of the firearm, body camera footage shows.

Three seconds after Whitaker opened the door, Phoenix Officer Jeff Cooke shot Whitaker in the back at least two times, killing the 40-year-old man. 

The deadly episode, which happened on May 21, is part of a string of Phoenix police shootings this year that has, yet again, reinvigorated criticism from advocates who say officers are too quick to use deadly force to resolve incidents.

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Police Confiscate Man’s Firearm After Anonymous “Antifa” Members Accuse Him of Being a “Racist”

A California man had his registered firearm seized by local police after “antifa” members on social media accused him of being racist on the internet — the first case of its kind.

On July 7th/8th, left-wing extremist twitter user @anonymouscommie doxed a Sacramento resident named Andrew Casarez. The anonymous account accused him of being a “neo-Nazi troll.”

On the very same day, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office opened up an investigation into him. During a background check, they found that Casarez was a registered gun owner. On July 13th, 2020, Sergeant Nate Grgich executed a search warrant for his home and car.

Nothing illegal or of a criminal nature was found during the search, but Sgt. Grgich was able to get a judge’s permission to seize Casarez’s handgun, a pair of pants and a “racist” t-shirt using a new law enforcement tool called a “gun restraining order,” which was signed by Judge Jaime R. Roman.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office is bragging about being the first in the country to seize a firearm using primarily the owner’s political ideology as the excuse.

On the case, spokesperson Lacey Nelson was quoted as saying “This search warrant it’s the first of its kind at least in the country. As far as how we obtained it and were able to serve it […] He was posting enough racist rhetoric and propaganda on Facebook that it was concerning that his behaviors could become violent in retaliation.”

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ICE Agents Complain About Nazi Comparisons, Say They’re Only Enforcing the Laws

Another agent complained of being seen as “the bad guys” in society.

“We constantly look like we’re the bad guys, when all we’re doing is enforcing the laws and doing our job,” the agent says.

“It gets to me sometimes, it does,” she says. “Cause, I just feel like, you know, we have no respect.”

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