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Swalwell Guilty Charge Unintentionally Exposes Absurdity of Red Flag Laws

U.S.A. -(Ammoland.com)-We can only conclude that youre guilty, Rep. Eric Swalwell told CNNs Wolf Blitzer Tuesday, Fox News reports. He was trying to exploit President Donald Trumps refusal to buckle to Democrat demands on impeachment documents and witnesses.

In America, innocent men do not hide and conceal evidence, Swalwell pressed on. They are forthcoming and they want to cooperate and the president is acting like a very guilty person right now.

I believe the Fifth Amendment was just repealed on live television, Ben Williamson, communications director for Rep. Mark Meadows, tweeted in response.

Innocent men dont serve themselves up to ruthless prosecutors as a matter of basic justice. We dont give them or the police ammunition to use against us, and to detour for a moment, if you have not seen Dont Talk to the Police, featuring Professor James Duane, reserve 45 minutes to watch it soon.

Evidently Swalwell would repeal the Fourth Amendment as well if he had his druthers. Otherwise, why would innocent men require a warrant for police to search their homes?

Our entire adversarial legal system is based on the burden of proof being on the state and defendants having a presumption of innocence. Up until Opposite Day progressives started insanely turning things on their heads, the American standard was Innocent until proven guilty.

And Swalwells major league baseball player refusing a drug test analogy also falls flat. Most jobs these days, to the discredit of Americans for allowing things to devolve this way, require peeing in the cup and other surrendered invasions of privacy and dignity. Still, those are private contractual agreements either party is free to walk away from without fear of self-incrimination and prosecution by the government.

It figures Swalwell, a power freak with contempt for the Second Amendment, would view other Bill of Rights protections as impediments to getting the control he hungers for. Then again, were talking about a monster who advocated the government deploy against American gun owners with nuclear weaponsuntil he backtracked and claimed he was just making a point.

Thats some point, especially when you consider how many innocents would become collateral damage in an act of monstrous evil that only a genocidal maniac would suggest. Hence, we retain the right to keep and bear arms as the ultimate last resort safeguard of the people against tyrannical madmen. And knowing we will not surrender that power drives them howling nuts.

Still, concluding someone is guilty before they have been proven so beyond a reasonable doubt is the shaky foundation upon which the whole red flag law house of cards has been erected. And President Trump himself should be having a hoist on his own petard moment when his own words about that are thrown back at him:

Take the guns first, go through due process second.

Lewis Carrolls classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland said it best:

No, no! said the Queen. Sentence first verdict afterwards.

Once upon a time, even a child understood the evil absurdity of that. Seeing the enactment of such edicts now being touted as commonsense by Mad Hatters with political power shows us we truly have gone down the rabbit hole and through the looking-glass.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance, is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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Swalwell 'Guilty' Charge Unintentionally Exposes Absurdity of Red Flag Laws - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

TEMPE, Ariz. Body camera video shows a man, Ivaughn Oakry, with his 1-year-old child in his arms being tased by multiple Tempe Police officers.

Oakry's attorneys sent a notice of claim seeking $5.5 million dollars for excessive use of force, trauma and a violation of Oakry's constitutional rights.

PREVIOUSLY: Video shows Tempe officers tasing domestic violence suspect while he holds 1-year-old

Tempe police were responding to a domestic violence call in June of this year.

Stop touching me, A woman can be heard saying on the 911 call. She would be outside the apartment when police arrived.

Officers went into the apartment when Oakry opened the door.

As the officer attempted to detain Oakry, he backed into his residence, telling the officer he did not want him there.

This officer didnt have a warrant to enter that home. He had no reason to be in that home," said Heather Hamel, Oakry's attorney.

Hamel said the officer was violating Oakry's Fourth Amendment rights by entering the building. Hamel pointed to an analysis by an outside police expert which said the entrance was unlawful.

Hamel further said the use of force against Oakry was unreasonable.

It is never acceptable to tase someone holding a 1-year-old child," Hamel said.

The notice of claim alleges officers did not need to tase at all, let alone three tasers at once. The notice of claim points to a training slide show they allege Tempe has used in the past, telling officers to be "predators not prey."

We brought the video to retired Phoenix Police officer Andy Anderson, who now serves as a police expert. He did not see things the same as Oakry's attorney.

He opens the doorthey have reasonable suspicion to believe he is the individual she has described and her three children are in that home, Anderson said. This isnt something officers train for with an individual who picked up a child while someone is pointing a taser at them.

Earlier this year, the Tempe Police Department said they did not believe its officers used excessive force. The officers involved were only sent to additional training.

Instead, Tempe Police chief Sylvia Moir pointed the finger at the father who picked up his 1-year-old child.

"He made a choice to bring violence into that home," Moir said

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Man tased with 1-year old in arms set to sue for $5.5 million - 12news.com KPNX

IOWA CITY A former University of Iowa police officer and Air National Guard member who said he was wrongfully fired just before his deployment is back on the job after being officially reinstated earlier this month.

Nearly 20 months after being fired in May 2018 for what the UI characterized as an illegal dorm search, Jeff Williams, 32, is listed in the UI directory as a police officer III, the highest-earning police rank behind sergeant and lieutenant.

His attorney, Skylar Limkemann, said Williams was officially reinstated Dec. 1, although his first day back was Dec. 2. Before his termination, he had been working since July 2016.

Jeff is a dedicated public servant, Limkemann said in a statement. He is happy to be serving the community again.

UI officials confirmed Williams reinstatement at the same level as when he was terminated, reporting his salary of $50,404 also remains the same.

The university and Williams attorney provided The Gazette with differing takes on his reinstatement, with Limkemann saying an arbitrator found no just cause to terminate his employment and UI officials saying the arbitrator found Williams did in fact conduct an illegal search.

But, according to the university, the arbitrator determined termination for a first-time offense was too severe and instead ordered Williams suspended without pay for six months. Having been off the job for a year-and-a-half, Williams was reinstated.

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The University of Iowa terminated Jeff Williams following an investigation that resulted in a founded complaint of an improper search and seizure and additional violations of departmental standards of conduct, UI spokeswoman Anne Bassett said in a statement. It was not related to his deployment.

Following his termination, Williams filed a grievance with the union which proceeded to arbitration along with a court action accusing the UI of violating his veterans preference rights, which Johnson County District Court Judge Andrew Chappell still is considering.

Williams in his action filed in May 2018 against UI Public Safety Director Scott Beckner and Capt. Mark Bullock accused them of denying his rights as a U.S. military veteran by, among other things, terminating him without due notice, a statement of charges or facts, or a full and complete hearing.

In addition to wanting his job back, Williams is seeking back pay, seniority and benefits, attorney costs and fees, and to have the discipline expunged from his record.

Chappell is expected to decide the case in the new year, after hearing most of the testimony on Williams suit Oct. 31.

UI police Chief Lucy Wiederholt completed the cases trial testimony last week.

Although Williams complaint focused on allegations UI officials violated his veterans rights and due process, he testified at length during his trial about the universitys counter punch that he acted inconsistent with UI Police Department policies and philosophy and intentionally violated students Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless searches and seizures.

Officer Williams had no intention of obtaining the necessary search warrant because it would require too much work, according to a university summary of its decision to terminate him, referencing a comment captured by Williams body camera in which he said, I just dont want to have to come back.

Williams conceded he had no plans to seek a warrant but offered an alternative explanation. As part of his abbreviated field training as a new UI officer in 2016, Williams said he was told officers cant pursue charges if a residence hall staffer already entered a dorm room and found paraphernalia.

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The explanation, according to Williams, was that a judge had previously found hall staff to be agents of the state meaning their entrance into a room without consent constituted an illegal search.

Essentially, they tainted the scene, and I could not charge for any drug charges once they entered the room and found that stuff, Williams said.

UI officials declined to answer questions from The Gazette about whether its police have cut down on drug-related charges in dorms or provided new guidance to officers.

On-campus drug arrests, though, have plummeted in recent years, according to annual UI public safety reports, dropping from 59 drug arrests on campus in 2015 including 34 in on-campus housing to eight on-campus arrests in 2017, including just one in campus housing.

In 2018, UI police made 12 on-campus drug abuse arrests including three in campus housing.

When Williams on April 14, 2018, responded to Catlett Residence Hall for a smell of marijuana and learned hall staff already had entered and found contraband in the suspect dorm room which was locked and empty at the time he testified that he assumed he couldnt press charges.

They tried to make contact with anyone in the room, and no one answered the door, so they keyed in to the room and found items of paraphernalia and alcohol and things like that and they took those items and moved them to the center of the room, he testified.

Even with charges off the table, Williams said he had safety concerns.

Honestly, it was rather concerning to me that the entire floor of a brand-new dorm building reeked of marijuana, he said, adding his subsequent search uncovered a butane canister and lighter. I dont know if theyre bound to start fire or anything like that. There are thousands of kids who live in that building, and it was just a huge safety concern to me.

Williams testified he confiscated items that concerned him under a community caretaker exception to the Fourth Amendment although he didnt mention that justification during the search, according to court documents of evidence captured by his body camera.

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That camera audio, according to court documents, indicated Williams mentioned his coming deployment in justifying the search.

I leave for deployment in a few days so if they want to throw a fit over me, then they have to wait a while to deal with it, he said, according to court records.

Although UI officials declined to answer questions about whether the Department of Public Safety tells officers they cant pursue charges if a hall staffer has entered a room and found drugs, officials pointed to a policy mandating residence advisers knock, ask to enter and not touch anything when responding to a smell of marijuana.

In all caps, that policy states, If a resident is not present, you cannot check their personal belongings.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

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University of Iowa officer fired over 'improper search' gets his job back - The Gazette

The House of Representatives voted 385 to 41 in favor of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade, which the Senate is expected to act on in the new year, according to the Washington Post.

U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was tapped by Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation, has requested emails and other documents to examine the role of former C.I.A. Director John Brennan in assessing Russias election interference in 2016, reports the New York Times.

The Post reports that multiple former officials believe President Trumps views on Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election might have been influenced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Friday, the Suffolk County district attorneys office in New York is expected to announce criminal charges against 96 individuals involved with the MS-13 street gang, according to the Times. The charges include seven murder conspiracies and widespread drug trafficking and weapons sales.

In the United Kingdom, members of parliament voted 358 to 234 in favor of Boris Johnsons bill to leave the European Union on Jan. 31, reports the BBC. The bill will be debated further in early January.

Lebanons president appointed Hassan Diab, a professor and former education minister, as the new prime minister in the midst of ongoing protests and a financial crisis in the country, reports the Times.

An unidentified gunman killed one officer and wounded five others outside of the Federal Security Service building in Moscow on Thursday, reports NBC News.

The Times reports that companies are tracking and storing the movements of tens of millions of smartphone users through apps that share locations.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Torey L. McMurdo discussed the significant gaps in legal protections for service members in academia.

Stewart Baker shared a special edition of the Cyberlaw Podcast in which Bob Litt, David Kris and Bobby Chesney discuss the recent Justice Department inspector generals report.

Jeff Kosseff explained why Congress passed Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in the first place since Congress is now considering changes.

Jen Patja Howell shared the latest episode in the Arbiters of Truth podcast series, in which Alina Polyakova and Quinta Jurecic spoke to Peter Pomerantsev, an author and research fellow at Johns Hopkins University, about the origins of Russian disinformation.

Gordon Ahl posted an appellate ruling on FISA Section 702 surveillance that considered the possibility of a fourth amendment claim for certain database queries.

Email the Roundup Team noteworthy law and security-related articles to include, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for additional commentary on these issues. Sign up to receive Lawfare in your inbox. Visit our Events Calendar to learn about upcoming national security events, and check out relevant job opening on our Job Board.

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Today's Headlines and Commentary - Lawfare

Surprise, anger, parenting and Lizzo: That's one way to sum up NPR's list of our most engaging stories in 2019, as those themes drew a huge amount of interest from our readers this year. Other big topics included consumerism and climate change and officials behaving badly.

People often linger for several minutes on these popular pages. Collectively, NPR's readers spent the equivalent of more than 35 years' worth of time reading our top five stories. The top draw was a story about how to help kids handle anger; altogether, readers spent nearly 16 years' worth of time reading that report.

1. How Inuit Parents Teach Kids To Control Their Anger

At the top of the world, the Inuit culture has developed a sophisticated way to sculpt kids' behavior without yelling or scolding. Could discipline actually be playful?

2. American With No Medical Training Ran Center For Malnourished Ugandan Kids. 105 DiedWhen she was 19, Renee Bach founded a charity that went on to care for more than 900 severely malnourished babies and children. Now she is being sued by two of the mothers whose children died.

3. 'The Best Thing You Can Do Is Not Buy More Stuff,' Says 'Secondhand' Expert"Your average thrift store in the United States only sells about one-third of the stuff that ends up on its shelves," Adam Minter says. His book explores what happens to the things that don't sell.

4. U.S. Charges Dozens Of Parents, Coaches In Massive College Admissions ScandalActresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin are among 33 parents who paid large sums of money to cheat admissions standards at prestigious schools, federal prosecutors say.

5. Trump Tweets Sensitive Surveillance Image Of IranThe tweet had experts picking up their jaws from the floor when they saw a photo of an Iranian space facility an image that was almost certainly taken by a classified satellite or drone.

6. The Mysterious Death Of The Hacker Who Turned In Chelsea Manning

Adrian Lamo was a hero in the hacker community for years. Everything changed when he began exchanging messages with U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.

7. FACT CHECK: Trump's State Of The Union AddressNPR reporters provided context and analysis in real time as President Trump delivered the annual speech to Congress: "Remarkably, President Trump did not acknowledge the new power dynamic in Washington."

8. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Releases Green New Deal Outline"Even the solutions that we have considered big and bold are nowhere near the scale of the actual problem that climate change presents to us," Ocasio-Cortez said.

9. 'Game Of Thrones' Season 8, Episode 5: 'Let It Be Fear'In the series' penultimate episode, the quality of mercy gets seriously strained. And stabbed. And set aflame. And razed. And several characters meet their final fates.

10. NPR's Book ConciergeThe end-of-year Book Concierge recommends more than 350 great reads across 30 genres hand-picked by NPR staff and trusted critics.

In terms of page views, a slightly different list emerges. While some of the top stories are the same, here are the top 10 most-viewed stories that didn't also appear in the above list. All of the pages drew more than 1 million views on NPR's website, not including traffic on other platforms, such as Apple News or Facebook.

1. Lizzo: Tiny Desk Concert

Backed by a band assembled just for this occasion, the breakthrough pop icon performs three joyfully showy songs from Cuz I Love You.

2. Patient With 'Tree Man' Syndrome Says He 'Can Finally Live A Normal Life'The man, who lives in Gaza, has undergone a pioneering treatment by Israeli surgeons for a severe case of this rare condition.

3. Speaker Pelosi Revokes Vice President Pence's House Office SpaceRepublicans had given Pence, a former House member, a first-floor bonus office in the House side of the U.S. Capitol shortly after President Trump was inaugurated.

4. Court Says Using Chalk On Tires For Parking Enforcement Violates ConstitutionA federal appeals court in Michigan cited the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures.

5. 'Not One Drop Of Blood': Cattle Mysteriously Mutilated In Oregon

Five young, purebred bulls mysteriously showed up dead on the ranch this past summer, drained of blood and with body parts precisely removed.

6. 3 Indiana Judges Suspended After White Castle Brawl That Left 2 Of Them WoundedA fight apparently started when one of the judges raised a middle finger at two men yelling from a passing SUV. The Indiana Supreme Court found that the three had "gravely undermined public trust."

7. Workers Are Falling Ill, Even Dying, After Making Kitchen CountertopsIrreversible lung disease has started to show up among young workers who cut, grind and polish countertops made of increasingly popular "engineered" stone. The material is more than 90% silica.

8. Taylor Swift: Tiny Desk ConcertAs she settled in for the set at NPR's offices, Taylor Swift looked out over the crowd. "I just decided to take this as an opportunity to show you guys how the songs sounded when I first wrote them."

9. Notre Dame Cathedral Fire Extinguished; Spire Collapsed, Towers Still StandingAs night fell on Paris and the fire continued to burn, people knelt and sang "Ave Maria" as they watched the blaze.

10. Florida Governor Declares State Of Emergency As Hurricane Dorian Gains ForceAs the storm neared, the National Hurricane Center said Dorian's winds could top 115 mph making it a Category 3 storm.

NPR senior manager for digital analytics Christina Macholan contributed to this report.

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The 20 Top Stories On NPR In 2019 - KRWG