Woman buys gun for protection from break-ins....
Plainclothes cops break in....
Tragedy ensues.
Niece Says Woman 'Gunned Down Like Dog
ATLANTA -- A 92-year-old is dead in what her family called a case of mistaken identity.
Was it the right address? Police said yes. But neighbors and relatives of the elderly woman shot to death by police said they believe there must have been a mistake.
More after the jump.
Police said the woman, identified by relatives as Kathryn Johnston, was shot to death after she wounded three plainclothes officers trying to serve a drug warrant at her house.
The woman's niece, Sarah Dozier, said that she bought her elderly aunt a gun to protect herself and that her aunt had a permit for the gun. Relatives said they believe Johnston opened fire because she was frightened by the officers, who were not in uniform, barging into her home.
[zombienote: Again, she bought the gun to protect herself from the frequent break-ins in her area. I was watching this on local news tonight.]
Her relatives said Johnston had lived in the house for about 17 years.
"They kicked her door down talking about drugs, there's no drugs in that house. And they realize now, they've got the wrong house," Dozier said. "I'm mad as hell." Officials said they had the correct house and that the warrant they had was legal.
Dozier said there were never any drugs at the house. She said the woman probably "panicked" when police forced their way into the home. She accused police of shooting her aunt down "like a dog." Dozier said she bought the house for her aunt and installed bars on the window to protect the elderly woman.
Atlanta Police Asst. Chief Alan Dreher said at a news conference Wednesday that an undercover officer made a drug purchase at Johnston's address late Tuesday afternoon from a male suspect. Officers were able to obtain a search warrant after that.
From Huffington Post where they already connect the dots:
This summer the Cato Institute released a disturbing report entitled Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America. The report found that,
"These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongfully targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they're sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary unites dressed not as police officers, but as solders. These raids bring unnecessary violence and provocation to nonviolent drug offenders, many of who were guilty of only misdemeanors. The raids terrorize innocents when police mistakenly target the wrong residence. And they have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries, not only of drug offenders, but also of police officers, children, bystanders, and innocent suspects."
When will law enforcement put an end to brutal police tactics that result in wrongful deaths and the perversion of justice? Join the Drug Policy Alliance and help us find an exit strategy for this violent and unwinnable war.
The war on drugs is an unmitigated disaster.
Let us no longer hear this pathetic excuse "now is not the time for drug policy reform".
Dems who continue to resist reform aid and abett this bullshit through their inaction.
[ON EDIT: Here's an excellent diary pre-dating mine. Some good stuff there, too.
In January I will start a project to ram cannabis and drug war reform language into the mainstream blogoshpere discourse. Writers, activists, and others who might be interested, please e-mail me: xxdr_zombiexx@yahoo.com. Thanks!]