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Drug War Victim - Jarrod Shivers

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Although Radley Balko's been on top of this one, I haven't talked about it yet. I've been waiting for a little more information, and it's coming painfully slow. That, in itself, can lead one to suspect that there is some fishiness in the case. Regardless, it appears certain to me that police officer Jarrod Shivers is a Drug War Victim. Shivers was shot and killed (shot once in the chest) while serving a drug warrant at the home of Ryan Frederick. Frederick has been charged with first-degree murder. Here are some details that are surfacing to date:

• Frederick claims to have been defending his home, having had a break-in the previous week (and says the police told him they knew he had a break-in and knew who did it).
• The warrant, based on information from an informant (it's looking a lot like the informant was the one who broke into Frederick's house), was for a large sophisticated marijuana grow operation in a detached garage. The police, after a very long delay and a second search, claim to have seized some lights and some marijuana (but no indication of seizing any quantity -- a sure sign that they only found some smokables).
• Frederick is into gardening and landscaping and was growing both tomatoes and young Japanese Maple trees (which look like this).
• Frederick has no record, and admits to being a recreational pot smoker and having a small amount (3 joints) in his home. This is in general supported by statements of family and neighbors.
• Police say that they announced before their forced entrance. Neighbors never heard it.
• The city manager today will apparently announce that the police department "will undergo a top-to-bottom examination including looking into procedures, policies and equipment used by the force."

This one is looking really ugly. So in Lima, Ohio, we have a mother shot to death by a cop. In Chesapeake, Virginia, we have a cop shot to death by a homeowner. Both of these are cases of drug war victims. Quite frankly, I'm not qualified to judge whether Frederick was in the right or not, in the context of the situation, when he shot and killed Jarrod Shivers. I'm also not qualified to judge whether Sgt. Joseph Chavalia was in the right or not, in the context of the situation, when he shot and killed Tarika Wilson. I wasn't there, and I don't have all the facts. However, I am qualified to judge that a major, despicable crime occurred. In both cases, the system of justice and the social contract was twisted, perverted and subverted in ways that predictably caused the deaths of innocent people. We need to root out those criminals, those organized criminals who prey upon our country by creating laws where none should exist and then enforcing them with military tactics against their own people with no accountability.

Drug WarRant @ January 29, 2008