http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=244749

20 police surround, slam, arrest unarmed man
Neighbor's claim of crossbow shot sparks bloody front-porch melee


Posted: December 27, 2010
9:32 pm Eastern


By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily



Image of crossbow from Nebraska website blog
Twenty police officers surged into a mobile home neighborhood in Lincoln, Neb., and slammed an unarmed man to the ground because a neighbor reported he was shooting a crossbow, and the resulting melee left two officers hurt, the man's wife and 4-year-old tossed out of their home and the Internet forum pages aglow with the flames of argument over weapons rights.

"Why the need for 20 cops? What's with America and overcompensation through excessive force?" wrote one participant at Fark.

Countered another writer, "I grew up in a place where this sort of activity (using weapons in technically illegal areas) is fairly normal, and I think once the cops are called it's because you've crossed the line from neighbor to weirdo/potentially dangerous person. There are so many ways out before police violence starts I have little mercy for this person."

Find out how the court system originally worked in the U.S., in "Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, & Religion."

The situation developed just days before Christmas, and it started collecting attention because of a video of the encounter between the man's wife and officers who had been summoned by the neighbor.

As the case now stands, the suspect, Gary Grana, 32, is being held behind bars on suspicion of assault on an officer, unlawful discharge of a weapon and refusing to comply with officers' orders.

(Story continues below)




Police agency spokeswoman Katie Flood told WND he has a court hearing scheduled on Jan. 11.

The video, from the perspective of the man's wife, Stephanie, originally was posted online, then withdrawn, and is available because others captured the file and have reposted it:

Warning: Obscene language throughout the videos





The woman repeatedly demands from police to be told why her husband was taken to the ground on their porch, handcuffed and hauled to jail, and officers attempt to explain it is because of a neighbor's call about him shooting a "firearm," which apparently actually is a crossbow.

The city's regulations note that a firearm is a handgun, pistol, rifle or shotgun, but another section of the city regulations, called "Discharge of Weapons and Other Instruments Unlawful," indicates that just about anything could be determined illegal.

It states, "It shall be unlawful for any person, except as provided in this chapter, to fire or discharge, within the corporate limits, or on any property of the City of Lincoln outside of the corporate limits, any air rifle, toy pistol, toy gun, slingshot, or any other air, gas, or spring operated gun, weapon, apparatus, or instrument for the purpose of throwing or projecting missiles of any kind by any means whatsoever in such a manner as to endanger the safety of persons or property, whether the instrument is called by any name set forth above or by any other name."

The rules also make it unlawful for anyone to carry "any toy pistol, toy gun, or other toy arm or arms, or slingshot, out of or by which any leaden or other dangerous missiles may be discharged." It was not clear whether an "leaden" missile could be thrown by hand.

But the Nebraska state government notes on its website that crossbow hunting is legal in the state

Flood, who reviewed the police reports to respond to questions, said that when officers responded, Grana was outside the home and they ultimately found no weapon there.

The only crossbow they found was inside his home, a discovery made after officers ejected his wife and a 4-year-old child from the home for most of a day while they obtained and executed a search warrant, she said.

Flood said she did not know why Grana was tackled by officers, but speculated he might have run away from them.

She also accused him of being "argumentative" and said he wouldn't produce an ID for officers.

But Flood confirmed that Grana had had no prior encounters with the Lincoln police department.

She also could not speculate why police officers "blocked" his wife inside their home while they were doing their investigation. But authorities said one officer suffered a minor cut on his hand and was treated at a hospital and a second officer had a minor injury.

A commentary from Martin Hill described how police "piled on top of [Grana] on the family's front porch [as] the woman repeatedly asked why they were doing this, pleading with police that her husband wasn't doing anything wrong."

He said the woman's original video, later taken down, said "This is a video that I took of my husband being wrongfully accused and detained. They originally came because someone wrongfully accused my husband of firing a crossbow in our yard (crossbows are legal in our state). He told them he was not firing a crossbow and there was not a crossbow outside or any evidence of one being outside. The police asked him for ID and he refused on grounds that he wasn't doing anything to facilitate them asking for ID. Next thing he knew the police jumped him, then the police tripped over our steps and crashed through a wooden fence which injured the officers hand. They slammed my husbands head against my front door, breaking my door (I can't even shut it properly now and have to replace it) and sprayed him with mace and started beating the crap out of him. All of a sudden my husband is being charged with assault on an officer?! SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE!!!!!"

The video clips also reveal police objecting to being recorded and explaining repeatedly they don't know what went on.

"It's obvious from the 20-minute video that the woman knows her rights and is familiar with the Constitution. At several points she refuses to answer inappropriate questions such as when one officer repeatedly demands that she has to tell him how old her child is," Hill writes.

She ultimately objects to police plans to search her home, since no part of the confrontation happened there. Officers tell her she and her daughter will have to leave.

"We're gonna seize the house," an officer tells her.

"Well that's fine then you guys can bring a search warrant. You can't seize my house without a search warrant," Stephanie states.

"Yes. yes we can," said the officer. "We cannot search your house without a search warrant. We can seize your house while we're trying to get ..."

"You can seize something I own?" Stephanie asks.

"Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely," says the officer.

The officers also photograph bloody spots left on the mobile home following the ruckus with Grana, and publicly criticize the woman for asking questions and demanding answers.

Fark commenters clearly had strong opinions:


"For a man living in a trailer park, there is a real risk of him missing his target and ... harming someone 100 yards away even inside their own trailer."


"Had enough government yet?"


"Personally, I hope one or more of the cops ends up in prison."


"The law seems to be a wee bit flawed."


"If they show up because someone claimed to see you firing a weapon, just answer their questions. Does it really hurt you to tell them your name? My God. Is your name a secret or something? Does someone need special super secret security clearance to know your name? If the guy had told them his name and if he wasn't actually shooting a crossbow and there was no crossbow to be found the cops would have simply left and gone back to their donuts."


"You don't have to talk to police or answer any of their questions. And you shouldn't. Ever."


"Trailer park does set a certain tone. Tornadoes choose trailer parks for a reason."


"It's about understanding that you have rights, and no one can take them from you -- for any reason, and that includes if you were reported to be doing something illegal."


It is a shame that police officers are trained more and more not in situation management but in psychological manipulation in order to justify actions."


"I am sure this guy acted like a jackass with a persecution complex, but 20 cops is a bit of a stretch."


"He made no threats, he wasn't acting erratic, they just said they thought they saw him shoot an arrow in his back yard. That does not provide rationalization for a 20-man beat down and arrest."


"Even if you disagree with an officer, be polite. You can get stuff sorted out later and bring in a lawyer if necessary."


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http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2010-12-30/Greg_Bean's_Column/Readers_surprised_that_many_of_us_are_criminals_in.html

Readers surprised that many of us are criminals in N.J.
CODA
GREG BEAN Apparently, I wasn’t the only one surprised, and outraged, by the fact that it’s basically illegal to carry a pocketknife in New Jersey — and that doing so might get you charged with a felony or a misdemeanor fine of nearly $1,000, if the local prosecutor is in a good mood. Two weeks ago, I wrote about a young man who was arrested in Deal last month in one of those “random” municipal-revenueenhancing DUI stops late in the evening on his way home from work. He’d been remodeling all day, and although he hadn’t been drinking, the fact that he was carrying this tool was enough to get him placed in handcuffs and taken to the station. A couple of weeks later, even though the cop who arrested him came to court to plead his case and assure that he hadn’t caused a problem and had been cooperative, the local prosecutor took a hard line.
After informing the young man that he could be charged with a felony, the prosecutor said he’d deal down to a misdemeanor and an $800 disorderly persons fine. The young man, who just wanted it to go away, reluctantly agreed. But afterward, he tried to get someone to explain to him why his knife was illegal — in other words, how big is too big?
Nobody could tell him. And they couldn’t tell me either, when I tried to find out for myself. The problem is that the laws about carrying a pocketknife in New Jersey are so vague that cops and courts can pretty much do anything they want. Under state criminal code, which outlaws some knifes like switchblades outright, the law only says that it’s illegal for a person under 18 to own knife with a blade longer than 5 inches, and that the law can’t be used to prevent a person transporting a knife for hunting or fishing.
But it doesn’t say what kind of pocketknife can be carried legally, only that anyone carrying a knife for “unlawful purposes” is guilty of a crime in the third degree. Since lots of local municipalities and state law enforcement people seem to think there are few legitimate explainable purposes, however, the only way you can really fight is to plead innocent, go to court, and spend gazillion dollars on attorney fees.
As one cop told me, the state laws are so enigmatic you’re probably better off not carrying a pocketknife at all, even a Swiss Army knife like MacGyver used.
That news came as a surprise to lots of readers who responded (the responses are still coming in). Here’s a sampling:
Tom said: “Your article of December 8, 2010 is quite disturbing … I have carried pen knife all my life and I am 68 right now. It is more evidence that New Jersey and the U.S. in total is becoming a police state. . As a citizen who sees the value of a small knife in everyday life, this does concern me. I also have very small knives on the fobs of pocket watches. I guess one should not carry those as well.”
Steve said: “Thanks for fascinating Sentinel article; compelled me to reread Second Amendment, which (particularly in light of recent Supreme Court rulings) strongly suggests that prosecutions you describe are unconstitutional.”
Kevin, who noted that he carries lots of potentially lethal tools, like axes and hammers for his construction work, said: “carry a Leatherman on my belt, a folding knife in my pocket. In the trunk of my car carry an ax, a machete, bolt cutters, a small shovel, and a fixed-blade Bowie knife. If got stopped by a cop who decides he does not like my face, all of these items could be perceived as weapons. But I use them in the course of, not just my job, but in dealing with roadside emergencies, and odd jobs away from home. I have no criminal record.



“The point is unless I’m using them in the act of committing a crime, I don’t see the problem. Any item can be used as a weapon. You could kill someone with a sharpened pencil if you stuck them in the right spot. You can kill someone with your bare hands. So where is the logic here?”
He finishes by saying, “But nothing in New Jersey ever makes much sense. I’m here for the work. I hope to leave as soon as I can.”
As part of my own research, I spoke with Doug Ritter, the founder, chairman and CEO of Knife Rights Inc., a national nonprofit that lobbies for more sensible national laws regarding knives, and occasionally defends people who wind up on the wrong side of the law. He said New Jersey’s laws are as bad as they come.
“A knife owner in New Jersey has no clue whether he’s breaking the law by carrying a pocketknife while driving from his house to grandma’s,” he said. “More than 80 percent of the knives sold in this country are to be used as tools, and they’ll be one of the most popular gifts this Christmas. So in New Jersey, and states with similar laws, you see the injustice of people taken to jail for carrying their tools.”
The only recourse, he said, is to get competent counsel (although he said not many lawyers are knowledgeable on the subject) and fight the charge in court. “But if you want to stand up for your rights it’s going to cost you money, and while we encourage people to fight, we recognize few can afford to. The result is honest people being persecuted, not prosecuted, by the law.”
And no, he said, he didn’t expect that to change in New Jersey anytime soon, unless state lawmakers revise the criminal codes to spell out what is and is not legal.
I called for that two weeks ago, but while I’ve heard from lots of readers, I still haven’t heard from any lawmakers. And I probably won’t until one of them gets a Leatherman for Christmas, and winds up in the pokey. Then, I suspect we’ll see some action.
Happy Holidays, by the way. And thanks for reading this year!

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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-marine-attacked-teens-little-focke20101228,0,1968167.story

MANATEE, Fla. — A group of unruly teenagers attacked a 27-year-old Marine and his wife who had asked them to be quiet during a Christmas night showing of "Little Fockers."

The attack happened as the couple left the theater near Bradenton Saturday night. Authorities say the fight attracted about 300 bystanders.

Federico Freire, home on leave from Afghanistan, says they left the theater shortly after the teens were asked to leave.

The couple was kicked and punched in the parking lot before a gun-brandishing witness told the crowd to step back just before deputies arrived.


Five teens were arrested, including a 17-year-old who struck a deputy and was stunned by a Taser.

The fracas caused the theater manager to close early.

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http://tucsoncitizen.com/view-from-baja-arizona/2010/12/26/feds-making-a-big-mistake-in-secrecy-over-death-of-border-patrol-agent-brian-terry/

Feds making a big mistake in secrecy over death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry

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http://tucsoncitizen.com/view-from-baja-arizona/2010/12/29/more-rumors-and-few-facts-regarding-the-death-of-border-patrol-agent-brian-terry/

More rumors and few facts regarding the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry