Prince George County Killers Attempt to Re-Write History
August 07, 2008
Police raided a Maryland mayor's home without a proper warrant, and shot one his black labs as the terrified dog ran away from police. As it turns out, the police raided Mayor Calvo's house for no reason:
Police say the couple appeared to be innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.
The two men under arrest include a FedEx deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.
The police, unsurprisingly, are unapologetic:
Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Wednesday that Calvo and his family were "most likely ... innocent victims," but he would not rule out their involvement, and he defended the way the raid was conducted. He and other officials did not apologize for killing the dogs, saying the officers felt threatened.
Threatened by a black lab that was running away from them? These police officers are cowards in every sense of the word.
Incidentally, police officers raided Calvo's home without first knocking and announcing their presence. At first, they claimed that they had a no-knock warrant. Under the law, police may not break down your door until their first "knock and announce" their presence. When police have a "no-knock warrant," they are not required to knock and announce. They can bust your door down with a battering ram.
It was later revealed that Prince George County police officers lied. They did not have a no-knock warrant. So what did the police do next? They tried to create exigent circumstances after-the-fact:
But officials insisted they acted within the law, saying the operation was compromised when Calvo's mother-in-law saw officers approaching the house and screamed. That could have given someone time to grab a gun or destroy evidence, authorities said.
Funny how that works, isn't it? First they said, "We raided Mayor Calvo's home because we had a no-knock warrant." When that is revealed as a lie, they said, "We raided Mayor Calvo's home because his mother-in-law screamed."