More information:David Hooks and his wife were in their home on September 24 when she looked out the window and saw men in hoods outside their home. Alarmed, she woke her husband who grabbed his firearm (isn't this the American way?) and you can probably guess what happened next:Why were Georgia law enforcement officers there in the first place?"The task force and the SRT members broke down the back door of the family's home and entered, firing an excessive sixteen shots. There is no evidence that David Hooks ever fired a weapon" said Shook.
Because an informant said he found drugs in a vehicle he'd stolen from David Hooks:
For what it's worth, Hooks immediately called the vehicle in as stolen. And who signed off on the warrant based on that information?Rodney Garrett reportedly told investigators that he took a plastic bag from the pickup, believing that there was money inside,and a set of digital scales.
Then he stole another vehicle from Hooks' home, a Lincoln Aviator SUV, the warrant says. After he drove the SUV to Dublin, Garrett said, he realized that the bag contained meth instead of cash.
Garrett told officers that he "became scared for his safety," and turned himself in to Laurens deputies, the warrant says.
The raid took place only an hour later. The Hooks' family attorney says the series of events was totally illegal:…. at 10 p.m. the same day Laurens deputies got a non-attorney deputy magistrate to sign off on a search warrant, according to Mitchell Shook, the attorney representing the Hooks family.And after 44 hours of searching every inch of the property, Georgia law enforcement didn't find a single thing:“The [deputies] broke down the back door of the family’s home and entered, firing an excessive sixteen shots. There is no evidence that David Hooks ever fired a weapon,” said Shook, who also says the warrant did not have a “no-knock” clause and therefore required law enforcement to identify themselves.
According to StopTheDrugWar.org, David Hooks was the 34th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.Shook said the GBI did not find any contraband in the 44 hours they held Hooks’ property after the shooting.
Shook said Hooks was a devoted husband and father, not a drug user or distributor. He had passed multiple background checks to work on military bases and was financially stable.
“This is not a person who needs to be involved in criminal activity for financial gain. He did very well financially,” Shook said.
See the full statement from attorney Mitch Shook, representing the family of David Hooks:
We buried a great man yesterday. Our loss is devastating to our family and to our community. David was a loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather who was a role model to his children, grandchildren, and numerous other friends and relatives.
We respect the Georgia Bureau of Investigations continuing their investigation into this tragic death. At the same time, we continue our own investigation. Our investigation is ongoing and we cannot divulge much at this time. We expect it to be a couple of months before the GBI's investigation is complete. However, we want the public to know the true facts of this tragedy are in stark contrast to the media reports released by law enforcement at this time.
First, David Hooks was a successful businessman who owned two thriving businesses. His construction company worked on military bases, including Hunter Army Airfield and Fort Stewart. As such, he was vetted and underwent background checks by state and federal authorities including the Department of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Based on those background checks, he was granted a security clearance which allowed him to work on these military bases. He was not a drug user or distributor. Second after taking over the scene at around 11:55 p.m. on the 24th of September the GBI conducted a thorough search of the property that lasted until approximately 8:00 p.m. Friday, September 26th. That search of some 44 hours conducted by numerous agents with the GBI resulted in not one item of contraband being found! This has been confirmed to the family by the GBI and is evidenced by the return of the original search warrant which was finally filed in court on September 29th and indicates that nothing was seized pursuant to the search warrant.
At this point here is what the evidence shows and we must stress that we are very early in the investigation. On Monday, September 22nd or the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 23rd, David and Teresa Hooks home was burglarized and several items were taken from the property including a Lincoln Aviator vehicle. The burglary was committed by Rodney Garrett a meth addict. David Hooks reported the burglary and the Laurens County Sheriff's Department began an investigation into the same. After a brief investigation by the Laurens County Sheriff's Department, a warrant was issued for Garrett's arrest at 3:45 p.m. on September 23rd. Approximately 24 hours later at 3:45 p.m., Rodney Garrett was taken into custody and confessed to the burglary and theft of motor vehicle, as well as other offenses.
On Wednesday, September 24th at 9:56 p.m., drug task force agent Chris Brewer made application for a search warrant before Faith Snell a non-attorney Deputy Magistrate of the Laurens County Magistrate Court. The facts submitted to Deputy Magistrate Snell to convince her that probable cause existed to issue the warrant consisted of the statement by Rodney Garrett a confessed burglar, thief, and a meth addict who was under the influence at the time of his arrest that the approximately 20 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale, and 2 firearms found on him at the time of arrest had been stolen by him out of another vehicle at the Hooks home. Investigator Brewer also stated information he claimed came from an investigation involving Jeff Frazier. That investigation was in August 2009 over 5 years ago. A search warrant was issued at 9:56 p.m. by Judge Snell. This search warrant is invalid on its face as it does not comport with the requirements of the Constitution of State of Georgia nor the United States Constitution. Armed with an invalid search warrant and with less than an hour of preparation, at approximately 10:55 p.m. several members of the Drug Task Force and the Laurens County Sheriff's Response Team arrived at David and Teresa Hooks home unannounced by emergency lights or sirens. There is no question the Officers were aware the home had been burglarized only two nights earlier.
David and Teresa were under the impression that the burglars were back and that a home invasion was eminent. David armed himself to protect his wife and his home. Despite the fact that the illegal search warrant did not have a "no knock" clause the Drug Task Force and SRT members broke down the back door of the family's home and entered firing in excess of 16 shots. These shots were from multiple firearms and from both 40 caliber handguns and assault rifles. Several shots were fired through a blind wall at David with the shooters not knowing who or what was on the other side of the wall. The trajectory of the shots, coupled with the number of shots infers a clear intent on behalf of the shooters to kill David Hooks.
David was hit multiple times and ultimately died from the gunshot wounds he suffered. There is no evidence whatsoever that David Hooks fired a weapon. I must repeat this happened inside his home. There are other aspects to this case that we are continuing to investigate and search for answers. The family calls upon the District Attorney's office to do its own investigation after receiving the GBI's report regarding this matter and take whatever action the law and justice demands. The family calls on Sheriff W.A. "Bill" Harrell to immediately suspend all the individuals who participated in this tragedy from their law enforcement duties. Said individuals should remain on suspension until such time when the Georgia Bureau of Investigations has completed its investigation in this case, turned its report over to the District Attorney's office, and the District Attorney's office has taken whatever action it deems necessary in the interest of justice.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the- ... -fatality/Phillip Smith at the Drug War Chronicle sums up the news reports detailing the latest casualty in the never-ending U.S. war on drugs.
A Georgia SWAT team shot and killed an armed homeowner during a September 24 drug raid sparked by the word of a self-confessed meth addict and burglar who had robbed the property the previous day. No drugs were found. David Hooks, 59, becomes the 34th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.
According to WMAZ TV 13, Laurens County sheriff’s deputies with the drug task force and special response team (SWAT team) conducted a no-knock search on Hooks’ home in East Dublin on the evening of the 24th. When the raiders burst through the back door of the residence, they encountered Hooks’ carrying a shotgun. Multiple deputies opened fire, shooting [and] killing Hooks.
According to his family, Hooks was not a drug user or seller, but was a successful businessman who ran a construction company that, among other things, did work on US military bases. Hooks had passed background checks and had a security clearance.
The search warrant to raid Hooks’ home came about after a local meth addict named Rodney Garrett came onto the property two nights earlier and stole one of Hooks’ vehicles. Garrett claimed that before he stole the vehicle, he broke into another vehicle on the property and stole a plastic bag. Garrett claimed he thought the bag contained money, but when he later examined it and discovered it contained 20 grams of meth and a digital scale, he “became scared for his safety” and turned himself in to the sheriff’s office.
(Hooks’ family, however, said that Garrett had been identified as the burglar and a warrant issued for his arrest the day after the burglary. He was arrested the following day; the raid happened that same night.)
Garrett’s claims were the primary basis for the search warrant. But investigators also claimed they were familiar with the address from a 2009 investigation in which a suspect claimed he had supplied ounces of meth to Hooks, who resold it. Nothing apparently ever came of that investigation, but the five-year-old uncorroborated tip made it into the search warrant application.
And it was enough to get a search warrant from a compliant magistrate. Hooks family attorney Mitchell Shook said that even though the warrant was not a no-knock warrant, the Laurens County SWAT team did not announce its presence, but just broke down the back door of the residence.
Mitchell Shook, an attorney for Hooks’s family, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that deputies spent 44 hours searching Hooks’s home for drugs — yet they found nothing. The attorney also told the Macon Telegraph that the shooting didn’t happen the way the police say it did.
According to the family attorney’s account, Hooks was asleep when armed deputies arrived at his house at 1184 Ga. 319 just before 11 p.m. Sept. 24. His wife, Teresa, was upstairs in her craft room when she heard a car drive fast up the driveway, and she looked out the window.
“She saw several men all in black and camo with hoods on,” Shook said. “She ran downstairs, woke David and said, ‘The burglars are back.’ ”
Hooks retrieved a gun and headed out of the bedroom as the officers broke down the back door, Shook said. He said Hooks was not wounded at the door but behind a wall in his house.
“They may have seen him with a weapon, but it appears at that point in time it was chaos,” Shook said. “They were shooting everywhere. There’s a lot more to it than law enforcement has reported.”
He believes deputies fired 16 to 18 shots from multiple guns and assault rifles. Shook also questioned the wisdom of serving the warrant so late at night.
The [Georgia Bureau of Investigation] is investigating the shooting, as is customary when officers are involved in wounding or killing a suspect.
The police are doing what they usually do after one of these raids goes wrong: They’re bunkering down.
Laurens County Sheriff Bill Harrell indicated last week his department would not be releasing any information beyond the initial news release. He also did not immediately return Wednesday’s inquiries concerning the attorney’s allegations.
So add another body to the pile. Four years ago, I described another fatality at the hands of a Georgia anti-drug task force — the death of pastor Jonathan Ayers. Eight years ago, a narcotics team from Atlanta killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a drug raid on her home, then attempted to plant drugs in her basement to cover its mistake. The team had been relying on a tip from an informant and did no corroborating investigation. In 2010, a Polk County, Ga., drug raid team put a 76-year-old woman in intensive care with congestive heart failure after raiding the wrong house. In 2008, a Gwinnett County tactical team terrified a couple and a baby when they raided the wrong home. In 2000, a Georgia police raid team shot and killed Lynette Gayle Jackson when she held up a gun as they broke into her home. Jackson had recently been robbed. In 2006, Deputy Joseph Whitehead was shot and killed during a surprise raid on a suspected drug house. The men who shot him, Antron Fair and Damon Jolly, argued that they thought they were being robbed by a gang. They later pleaded guilty to murder to avoid the death penalty. And, of course, last May, 19-month-old Bounkham Phonesavanh was critically wounded when officers deployed a flash grenade in his crib during a drug raid on his home. That raid, too, lacked much in the way of investigation.
Meanwhile, last week, a heavily armed team of Bartow County, Ga., cops and the Georgia governor’s anti-drug task force raided a man’s home after mistaking the okra in his garden for marijuana. No one was harmed, but the gardener, Dwayne Perry, described the cops as “armed to the gills” and told the Journal-Constitution, “The more I thought about it, what could have happened? Anything could have happened.” He’s right. Just ask the family of David Hooks.
That’s all just Georgia. Other things that have triggered raids after police mistook them for pot: tomatoes (many times), loose leaf tea, sunflowers, fish, elderberry bushes, kenaf plants, hibiscus, ragweed, yellow bell peppers, daisies, the scent of a skunk, the scent of guinea pigs and a plastic plant purchased for a pet lizard’s terrarium.
And, of course, people are dying outside of Georgia, too. Like Jason Westcott in May. In fact, by my count, 11 people have been killed in drug raids this year — nine civilians and two cops.
Posted outside the general police abuse thread because this isn't "general" police abuse, this one is really, really bad.
