Jose Guerena Ortiz was sleeping after an exhausting 12-hour night shift at a copper mine. His wife, Vanessa, had begun breakfast. Their 4-year-old son, Joel, asked to watch cartoons. Full Story »
Posted by Dwight Rousu
This article raises many issues, yet resolves nothing and leaves the reader hanging. The many questions include: 1./ Why did the police arrive at a family's house in an armored vehicle with heavily armed men wearing body armor to execute a search warrant in a marijuana-dealing case? 2../ Why did Jose Guerena not open the door himself instead of assuming, despite the "Police!" announcement, that his family was in danger? 3./ Why did the police immediately escalate by using a battering ram to break down the front door? 4./ Why, after the door was broken down, didn't Jose Guerena surrender with his hands up? 5./ Why does the story lean heavily in the direction of assuming that the police wantonly murdered Jose Guerena by focusing on the number of rounds they fired? 6./ What does Jose Guerena's service in Iraq have to do with anything? I find the obvious bias of the reporter quite disturbing.
That police departments all over America have taken on the appearance of police-state storm troopers is a terrible thing that should be reversed as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, any person who believes he is being mistakenly targeted by police must understand that if he raises a weapon, instead of surrendering, the police are duty-bound to shoot to kill. Without this policy of self-defense, no policeman anywhere in this country could do his job, day in and day out, with any assurance of not being killed by criminals. Police personnel are trained to defend themselves and their associates.