Remember the video from about 8 months ago where the cop in Frankfort, Kentucky, barged into a woman’s home without a warrant and illegally arrested her while she was wearing only a towel? She correctly tells (former) Officer Larry “Gus” Curtis that he can’t do that – that what he was doing was illegal, due to the fact that he was acting without a warrant. Curtis tells her, “if it’s illegal, then file a civil lawsuit.” Well, she did file a civil lawsuit and it just settled. Was it enough?
Two years ago, Darius Lester, a young black man in rural West Virginia, was shot by a West Virginia State Police SWAT team while still in his bed during a botched pre-dawn raid while executing a search warrant at his uncle’s home. Despite the passage of two years, the state police still have not released the findings of their investigation into the shooting. The reason? They were most likely waiting the two years the victim had in which to sue them.
When Mark “Choppa” Manley began to use his social media influence to promote 2nd Amendment activism within the black community, the federal government responded with an ATF swat team raiding his home just before Thanksgiving of 2024. Disaster was narrowly avoided, as Mark and his wife are school teachers, so they get up abnormally early, at a time when the officers thought they would be raiding a home with a sleeping family. What happened was egregious, and every ATF employee involved should be fired immediately.
Five days ago, I told you about the tragic death of Doug Harless, shot by officers from the London (Kentucky) Police Department during a wrong house raid over the county “Judge-Executive’s” stolen weedeater. Since then there have been several updates, including a “Justice for Doug” march/protest, as well as a fiery town council meeting. But, in a “truth is stranger than fiction” style twist, an audio recording has surfaced of a phone call between the county Judge Executive, David Westerfield and London Police Officer Jared Hale, which tells us the real story….
Cops with the Idaho Falls, Idaho Police Department busted in an innocent family’s home, breaking their front door, looking for a third party fugitive. Though the homeowner knew his constitutional rights and demanded a warrant, the cops claimed they didn’t need a warrant because they believe a dangerous fugitive (the girlfriend’s brother) was inside. They did come inside and forced the family outside into the cold for about 30 minutes.
During this time period they handcuffed the dad, even though he was suspected of no crime and there was no search warrant for the home. The problem is, according the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1981 opinion in Steagald v. United States (1981), exigent circumstances to enter a home do not exist merely because the police know the location of a fugitive, even if they possess an arrest warrant for that person. They must also have a search warrant for the residence.
This footage was circulating on X/Twitter, showing police in Longview, Texas arresting this guy just inside the front door of his home. The incident began as a traffic stop for speeding 10 mph over. The stop took place in the driveway of the home. The driver proceeds to be extremely aggressive towards the obviously-rookie officer. After a backup officer arrived, the young officer issues the citation for speeding. Then the man goes to walk inside the house, but the backup officer follows him and an arrest was made.
So it looks like there was an outstanding warrant from 2014 for “ISSUING CERTIFICATE TO VEHICLE MISSING OR WITH NON-COMPLIANT INSPECTION ITEM” that was “executed” on the same date as the body cam recording. According to Gregg County, Texas court records, Trenton Futrell “did not show up” to the May 9, 2024 docket call / court date for that citation, resulting in a $273.00 fine (if I’m reading this correctly).
Then, after the court date on the warrant that Trenton was arrested for on April 18, 2024 (the bodycam incident), they charged him by complaint/information on May 16, 2024 with “RESIST ARREST SEARCH OR TRANSPORT” – presumably for what had occurred during the April 18 incident (though I don’t know for sure without reviewing the charging document). It appears that charge is still pending.
Here’s the text of the Texas statute he’s accused of violating:
Sec. 38.03. RESISTING ARREST, SEARCH, OR TRANSPORTATION. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally prevents or obstructs a person he knows is a peace officer or a person acting in a peace officer's presence and at his direction from effecting an arrest, search, or transportation of the actor or another by using force against the peace officer or another.(b) It is no defense to prosecution under this section that the arrest or search was unlawful.(c) Except as provided in Subsection (d), an offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.(d) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree if the actor uses a deadly weapon to resist the arrest or search.
Remember the video I did on the Broken Arrow Police Department, where the officer really hated this guy Richard, and schemed over a way to take Richard to jail, even though he was safely inside his own home? Well here’s an update, and it involves numerous police officers who no longer have a job.
In Elyria, Ohio, cops encouraged a woman to kick in her ex-boyfriend’s front door, so that she could get her belongings inside. They did not have a warrant. But they followed her inside the man’s house anyways, and proceeded to walk upstairs and surprise him as he got out of the shower. Then they tased him multiple times, arrested him, and charged him with multiple felonies. But then he got a lawyer, and the lawyer reviewed the body cam footage.
By the way, this is the same police department that went viral for the huge SWAT raid where they used the flash bangs against the innocent mom and baby inside. Media report from that here.
On March 10, the West Virginia State Police Special Response Team executed a search warrant in McDowell County, West Virginia and shot 21 year old Darius Lester multiple times. The truth is far from what the state police gave to the news media. Darius had been asleep on the couch in the home’s living room, where he liked to sleep. Darius was unarmed at the time he was shot and was still on his bed, as indicated by the pool of blood on and underneath the couch where he was sleeping. Darius has no criminal record. He was not under arrest. He was not suspected of having committed any crime. He was merely sleeping on the couch in a house where police were executing a search warrant unrelated to him.
Video surfaced from Andalusia, Alabama, showing a police officer entering a woman’s home to arrest her, while her 18 year old son filmed the incident. The footage was subsequently released by the woman’s attorneys, who accused the officer of race-related retaliation. The footage then went viral, prompting the mayor of the town to make a public statement. He apologized, stating that the officer was disciplined for not knowing the law.
Subject to only two exceptions, police officers cannot enter your home and arrest you without a warrant. The exceptions are consent and exigent circumstances. But where an arrest is initiated outside the home, can the officer then follow the person inside the home to complete the arrest?
