In Mistaken House Search, SWAT Team Rummages through Iraq Veteran's House and Shoots His Dog [View all]

http://www.alternet.org/mistaken-house-search-swat-team-rummages-through-iraq-veterans-house-and-shoots-his-dog



In Mistaken House Search, SWAT Team Rummages through Iraq Veteran's House and Shoots His Dog
June 7, 2013
By Kristen Gwynne

Another raid on the wrong residence; another dead dog. This time, Iraq War veteran Adam Arroyo says he came home on Monday to find his door busted down, and his beloved pup dead from bullet wounds. The Buffalo, NY police did not seem too concerned with cleaning up blood or anything like that, but nonetheless left behind a note of sorts: a search warrant for the apartment next door.

“They busted the door down, with a battering ram or whatever,” he told the Buffalo News. “They came in, and within a few seconds of entering the apartment, they murdered my dog. They shot her multiple times. They had no reason to do that.” Arroyo says his dog, a two-and-a-half-year-old pit bull named Cindy, was killed while chained up in the kitchen, which he discovered ridden with bullet holes.

~snip~

"I don't do drugs. I'm a United States veteran. I work everyday. I'm just trying to live my life," Arroyo told WKBW. Crazy as this story might sound, raids on the wrong residences happen regularly, and the results can be traumatic, not to mention deadly. Militant SWAT raids are often used in drug busts, and have become increasingly popular over the past couple of decades. They are so prevalent -- and such a significant factor of police militarization -- that the ACLU recently launched an investigation into their use.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda told WIVB that the department is investigating the case, and taking it "very seriously." He added, "If (the dog) was attacking an officer and he was ... stopping the dog from attacking, he'd be justified." Nevermind that they had the WRONG apartment.