Blogging for Freedom

Whenever anyone points a loaded weapon at any one of our children, you better believe this is a war. 

This happened in front of our house in a residential block, north-central neighborhood. Wednesday, Nov 22, 2006 12:45 pm.

A young man in his 20’s riding a bicycle. Patrol car with two police officers pull him over and order him off his bike. He was not wearing a helmet and apparently that alone gives the officers probable cause. They immediately searched his backpack. As they ordered him to sit on the curb, they said something like this, “If you do anything stupid we can shoot you.” At another point, as he was still sitting quietly, they again referred to shooting him, by saying “If we find any knives or dirty syringes in here, we can shoot you.”

We do not claim to know anything about what happened before the incident, and we did not hear the entire conversation. It would not be fair to say that the headline should read “Spokane police threaten to shoot bicyclist as he sits quietly on curb” but the way they treated this young man should be investigated.

By the way, he had long hair and’ looked’ like the type to have drugs in his backpack. He didn’t. After 10 minutes and another police cruiser on scene, they let him go – with a $50 ticket for not wearing a helmet.

This incident is particularly disturbing because I am reminded of this:

In July, 2005, Spokane County Sheriff drug SWAT team swept through a residential neighborhood with weapons drawn, descending upon the home of our friends, ordering them to the ground to be handcuffed.

Grandfather was holding their 14-month old child in his arms. I’m sure Baby will never forget this vision: men in black masks and jack-boots pointing loaded automatic weapons at her. Mother crying, Grandfather shaking in terror, strange men screaming obscenities while trashing her home. Threatening to throw her parents in prison and take away everything they own. 

What were the police looking for? Marijuana. My friend has thyroid cancer, she is a legitimate medical marijuana patient with a doctor’s recommendation. What did they find after busting down the locked basement door? Nine marijuana plants. Three in flower, three in vegetative state and three clones.

They spent the weekend in jail. Went to court 9 months later. Baby was kept in the foster care system for a month before the parents could prove to the courts they were fit.

The charges were dropped. Thanks be to Frank Cikutovich, Spokane's own MMJ hero who does a tremendous amount of pro bono work for us. Our community couldn't stay out of jail without him and Pat Stiley. Bless them.

The damage is done, this family will always remember, the neighbors know what happened. But, the larger community does not know what the police are doing to us. They have no idea how many people they draw their weapons on. How many peace-loving hippie families they’re terrorizing as they ransack their homes in military-style raids, or how many Americans they’re throwing in prison for marijuana.

This is a war against us. Whenever anyone points a loaded weapon at any one of our children, you better believe this is a war.