In Stockton, California, Kenneth Wright was at home with his three young children ages 3, 7, and 11 when a SWAT team burst into his home at 6 a.m., dragged him out on the lawn, threw him to the ground, and put the family (including the kids) in squad cars. His alleged crime: default on student loans. On top of the overkill in using SWAT teams to target defaulting students, the city got it wrong. They were looking for Wright’s estranged wife. The D.O.E. now insists that it was not just about loans but part of a criminal investigation that it was carrying out.
There has been an expansion of SWAT teams with the infusion of federal funds, often connected to anti-terror programs. Departments appear to be searching for ways to use them, including as http://jonathanturley.org/2011/03/25/under-siege-steven-seagal-attacks-home-in-arizona-with-armored-cars-and-swat-members-to-arrest-man-accused-of-cockfighting/.
In this case, Apocalypse Now was unleashed by the Department of Education as it called in the police for a defaulted student. The Office of the Inspector General has a law enforcement branch of federal agents that carry out search warrants and investigations. However the Stockton Police Department said that it only provided one officer and one patrol car and did not participate in breaking Wright’s door, handcuffing him, or searching his home.
Does this mean that the Department of Education now has shock troops? The Department admitted that it issued the search warrant. That is pretty disturbing that the Department of Education now has authority to issue search warrants and trigger raids on homes.
Recently when the Education Department bought 27 shotguns it released the following statement:
Here’s a statement from the office in response to a question about why need 27 shotguns with a 14-inch barrels:
“The Office of Inspector General is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Education and is responsible for the detection of waste, fraud, abuse, and other criminal activity involving Federal education funds, programs, and operations. As such, OIG operates with full statutory law enforcement authority, which includes conducting search warrants, making arrests, and carrying firearms. The acquisition of these firearms is necessary to replace older and mechanically malfunctioning firearms, and in compliance with Federal procurement requirements. For more information on OIG’s law enforcement authority, please visit their Web site at : http://www.ed.gov/oig”
The D.O.E. issued the following statement in saying that it was carrying out its own raid but not over student loans. Here is the statements as found on Reason:
Yesterday, the Depart of Education’s office of inspector general executed a search warrant at Stockton California residence with the presence of local law enforcement authorities.
While it was reported in local media that the search was related to a defaulted student loan, that is incorrect. This is related to a criminal investigation. The Inspector General’s Office does not execute search warrants for late loan payments.
Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, we can’t comment on the specifics of the case. We can say that the OIG’s office conducts about 30-35 search warrants a year on issues such as bribery, fraud, and embezzlement of federal student aid funds.
All further questions on this issue should be directed to the Department of Education’s Inspector General’s Office.
Source: NEWS 10 as first seen on Reddit.
Jonathan Turley
Kudos to Elaine for shotgun story.
“Today we are seeing just a small glimpse of our future. It will be truly horrific unless government is constrained at every turn. I see no sign of that happening.” -puzzling
Yep. Some unbelievable things goin’ on out there.
This is a not about rogue cops or lack of training. To call for the heads of the officers involved is to miss the problem entirely. SWAT tactics by all levels of law enforcement is multiplying rapidly, government agencies desire to use tremendous force against individuals where no imminent threat exists, and accountability for abuses and even summary executions is virtually non-existent. The dangerousness of interacting with government is going parabolic.
Today we are seeing just a small glimpse of our future. It will be truly horrific unless government is constrained at every turn. I see no sign of that happening.
This appears to be one of those stories whose details will have to be dragged out of people over the course of several days.
The News 10 link above now goes to page not found. News 10 has rewritten the story to include statement from OIG that “the search (RAID) was not related to student loans in default.” Sill crazy though!
http://www.news10.net/news/article/141108/2/Questions-surround-feds-raid-of-Stockton-home
Ms. EM,
No amount of money or recognition that would tempt me to rejoin LE—especially engagement in SWAT Ops. I trained in SWAT-type tactics, although I never participated in any such ‘real-life’ actions.
Above, Tim Hill hit on part of the problem. I also think, that with adrenalin pumping, SWAT officers resort to primal herd/mob mentalities and simply do not think through their actions and respond to whatever are their cohorts’ heated reactions.
Furthermore, as long as LEOs view even the most benign misdemeanants as scum/ dirt bags—instead of innocent-until-proven-guilty fellow citizens—then the abuses we observed in this incident will continue to occur and intensify.
U S Dept of Ed Regional Office for Califirnia is IX … page 27 in the following link lists the personnel:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/or/org_directory.pdf
I guess we should be happy this guy didn’t end up in Gitmo…..at least not yet!
This is just beyond upsetting. You keep a man in the back of a car, handcuffed and in his underwear for SIX hours?
For the non-lawyer readers, can someone explain what is on that search warrant? I was always under the impression that the warrant had to explain what the purpose of the search was, what areas were covered by the warrant and what the probable cause of the warrant was. Is that incorrect?
Either that warrant says it’s about student loans, or that guy made it up out of whole cloth, and right it seems the former is much more likely, to me.
Wow! I finally get a computer that will stay connected to the “internets” and I read that the Department of Education has a law enforcement agency under their control!! What the hell is going on here?! Great link Elaine.
My favorite part of the whole story is that the warrant was issued for the guy’s estranged wife who has not lived there for quite some time.
She could’ve slaughtered 50 people but the fact an agency with an educational focus can dispatch armed goons across the country without taking 5 minutes to make sure the she lived there really speaks volumes about the two classes (and levels of intelligence) of people in this country (those that fund the government and those that abuse its power).
With court rulings across America saying you have no right to defense for unlawful police entry into your home, thank god he didn’t try to shield his kids from these mongoloids (upon whom I pray for the worst in life) lest they have shot him and then said, “Oops.”
I’d love to be on a jury for someone who opened fire on a moronic SWAT team like this one.
Inspector General’s name is Kathleen S. Tighe. She earned her law degree, with honors, from George Washington University (JD’83). Deputy Inspector General is Mary Mitchelson (Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C). Good enough to start with.
Now it’s on to finding the names of the SWAT thugs and exposing them to the full contempt of their fellow citizens … then throw the book at them and lock ’em up with their brothers in crime in Leavenworth. If there’s a way to throw Tighe and Mitchelson on the pile … do it. None of them should be walking the streets.
Warning! New Age LEOs: Black-suited Thugs with a Penchant for Lawlessness on Steroids.
Coming Soon to a Theater (of SWAT Operations) Near You and Your Peaceful Neighborhood
Thence Trouncing Upon Your Own Family Castle’s Doorsteps…
________
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
The incomparable Thomas Jefferson
A U.S. government official confirmed for News10 this morning federal agents with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), not local S.W.A.T., served the search warrant. The official would not say specifically why the raid took place. He did say the search was not related to student loans in default.
He went on to say OIG is a semi-independent branch of the U.S. Department of Education that executes warrants for criminal offenses such as student aid fraud and embezzlement of federal aid.
1. This might have involved something criminal as opposed to just a default on a loan.
2. Things like this happen and will continue to happen because politicians and officials realize that there will be few consequences for them. Politicians and officials realize that most people who respond to things like this by doing things that are stupid and ineffective or that they’ll forget this 10 minutes from now. For instance, it’s stupid and ineffective to present libertarianism as the alternative (as ReasonMag is) since few Americans want libertarianism. Making this a libertarian cause helps the DOE and friends. The teaparty solution would be to wave loopy signs and throw tantrums. Others just sit in online forums whining and moaning. Meanwhile, for over four years I’ve been promoting a generic plan that would hold pols accountable: have smart people “cross-examine” pols on their ideas at their public appearances on video. Not only have I got almost no help with that, I’ve even gotten some pushback. Ask your leaders why they won’t promote that plan but instead simply provide entertainment to get page views.
This site is so educational! I just learned that, as a liberal, I elected the DOE and SWAT teams! COOL! – I guess I missed that vote but I wanna know when they come up for re-election. Maybe I’ll even run for SWATTER-IN-CHIEF.
DOE was first founded in 1867, then downgraded into an ‘agency’ so us eeeeevvvvviiiilll liberals have been around a long time (I guess we did free the slaves around then so the timing is right). Plus we all know that, once established, no organization ever runs off the rails, particularly when 20 of the last 30 years it has been staffed by people selected by administrations hell bent on proving government is the problem.
Come on troll boy, is that the best your syphilis atrophied brain can come up with to say about this event?
“All I want is an apology for me and my kids and for them to get me a new door,” Wright said. ”
This has the the sweet stinky order of a threat not to pursue it any further.
Be thankful, it could have been much much worse….
“He charged right at me, I feared for my life!” Quote from team member after firing on startled 3 yr old.
“Of course I HAD to use my tazer, they wouldn’t stop crying and screaming!” Quote from another team member who claimed the 3 & 7 yr olds were “assaulting” his hearing…
FF LEO,
Maybe you’d like to come out of retirement and get a job working on a DOE swat team?
Obviously the department of education is trying to educate us.
Perhaps they want us to remember A Tale of Two Cities?
I feel educated but I don’t like it one bit.