The Rule of Law - Florida edition

[Cain]

Just another day in America's Banana Republic:

On December 10, more than two dozen police officers from across Miami Dade County converged on a blue Volvo that had crashed in the backyard of a townhouse on 65th Street just off 27th Avenue.

As the car was wedged helplessly between a light pole and a tree, nearly a minute passed before officers opened up – firing approximately 50 bullets at the car and the two unarmed men inside the vehicle.

The two men inside the car survived that initial volley of gunfire, according to witnesses, who said they could see the men moving inside the Volvo. Everything went quiet for nearly two minutes before the officers opened up a second time – unleashing an unrelenting torrent of bullets that lasted almost 25 seconds. By the time it was over, the two men inside the car were dead.

CBS4 News has learned a total of 23 officers fired a total of at least 377 rounds.

Bullets were sprayed everywhere. They hit the Volvo, other cars in the lot, fence posts and neighboring businesses. They blasted holes in a townhouse where a 12-year-old dove to the ground for cover and a four month old slept in his crib.

"It was like the Wild Wild West, man, crazy," said Anthony Vandiver, who barely made it through the back door of his home before the gunfire erupted. "Shooting just wild; shooting all over the place. Bullets could have come through the window. Anything could have happened man. They weren't thinking, they weren't thinking at all."

Earlier that night, the driver of the Volvo, Adrian Montesano, robbed a Walgreens at gunpoint, and then later shot Miami Dade Police Officer Saul Rodriguez in a nearby trailer park.

Montesano escaped in the officer's patrol car eventually dumping it at his grandmother's house in Hialeah – before fleeing in her blue Volvo
By 5 am every cop in South Florida was looking for that blue Volvo – intent on catching the man who had shot one of their own.

But what police didn't realize before they started shooting at the Volvo is there was a second man in the car – Corsini Valdes – who had committed no crime.

And in fact, as CBS4 News was the first to report, both men inside the Volvo were unarmed at the time police caught up with them. All of the gunfire came from police.

Montesano and Valdes were killed by the dozens of rounds that tore through their bodies.

But Montesano and Valdes weren't the only ones struck – two Miami Dade police officers were hit as well – caught in the crossfire. One officer was shot in the arm and the second was hit in the arm and grazed in the head. If the bullet had struck just a half an inch to the side the officer would have been killed.

The sound of the gunfire was deafening – literally deafening. Two Miami police officers sustained ruptured ear drums from the cacophony of shots.

I don't often credit major American media outlets, but CBS did good here.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Jesus fucking fuck.

You know what? I think we need to just fucking disarm the police. Enough is enough. These aren't officers, they're power-hungry violent lunatics with guns.

[Cain]

Does anyone know what kind of guns the Florida police normally carry?  A quick and dirty division suggests each officer fired at least 16 rounds.  I would imagine, depending on the kind of gun, that would necessitate at least one reload.

I know this is obvious, but I'm interested in making the point this was a death squad in action.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Does anyone know what kind of guns the Florida police normally carry?  A quick and dirty division suggests each officer fired at least 16 rounds.  I would imagine, depending on the kind of gun, that would necessitate at least one reload.

I know this is obvious, but I'm interested in making the point this was a death squad in action.

For issue magazines one reload gets you a total of 16-18 rounds, depending on the magazine being used.

[Cain]

OK, thank you.  Still, it suggests they basically emptied their clips trying to kill two unarmed guys.  23 police officers.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

OK, thank you.  Still, it suggests they basically emptied their clips trying to kill two unarmed guys.  23 police officers.

Twice.  One load, one reload.

[LMNO]

Fucking hell.  That two minutes of down time was them reloading.


I'm staying in the Northeast.  Oh, wait.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Fucking hell.  That two minutes of down time was them reloading.


I'm staying in the Northeast.  Oh, wait.

Nope.  Takes about 3 seconds to change magazines.  5 if you're stressed.

So they chatted for a minute or two.

"So, whattaya thing, Charley?"

"Meh, fuck it.  Go for broke."

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

In Portland, police fairly routinely shoot unarmed civilians who aren't doing anything particularly wrong, but they don't do it Florida-style. I think even Aaron Campbell only got 15 bullets.

[Junkenstein]

What the fuck.

It's going to be stunning to see them walk from this, but I can't see 23 cops going to jail.

The finishing touch would have been killing that kid. Hell, they did pretty well by shooting two of their own. For a death squad, it's hardly efficient, subtle or even capable of not literally shooting its-self.

[Junkenstein]

In Portland, police fairly routinely shoot unarmed civilians who aren't doing anything particularly wrong, but they don't do it Florida-style. I think even Aaron Campbell only got 15 bullets.

WHAT THE FUCK.

Just how fucking sure do your cops have to be before stopping? "There's no torso left Jim. I think we might be safe now"

[The Good Reverend Roger]

In Portland, police fairly routinely shoot unarmed civilians who aren't doing anything particularly wrong, but they don't do it Florida-style. I think even Aaron Campbell only got 15 bullets.

WHAT THE FUCK.

Just how fucking sure do your cops have to be before stopping? "There's no torso left Jim. I think we might be safe now"

Tucson:

http://news.yahoo.com/swat-teams-shooting-marine-causes-outrage-184928360.html

And 10 seconds later, Guerena lay dying in a hallway 20-feet from the front door. The SWAT team fired 71 rounds, riddling his body 22 times, while his wife and child cowered in a closet.

That means that 49 non-frangible rounds went zinging around the barrio, looking for someone else to be pals with.  By some miracle, nobody else was hurt.

[Ben Shapiro]

HOLY FUCK!
23 fucking officers!

[trix]

I am currently stuck living in a neighborhood where gang violence and shootings are surprisingly common, for a non-ghetto area.  However, even though I do not partake in illegal activities, or even drink alcohol, I am far more afraid of the local Police than any of the gangbangers and crackheads in my neighborhood.

I once had a crackhead walk into my house by mistake, thinking it was his friend's house.  Once he figured out he was in the wrong place, even while obviously fucked up on something, he APOLOGIZED AND LEFT.

I once had two police officers walk into my house by mistake, thinking we were the downstairs neighbors (up/down duplex).  Once they figured out they were in the wrong place, they became belligerent, made me spend 10 minutes finding my ID, ran my name, found a two-year-old parking ticket (for $10), and arrested me.  Even though they could plainly see they had interrupted me in the middle of an active GeekSquad call, remotely fixing a customer's computer.  Fuckers wouldn't even let me sign off with the customer properly, or notify another GeekSquad Agent that I could not finish my shift.  Handcuffs and everything.

Then again, my mother is probably right.  It's my fault, since I have long hair and a giant unkept beard.  I'm just asking for it.

Anyway, I'm just glad none of the police-involved shootings that have happened here in the past couple of years have gotten anyone I know killed.

[P3nT4gR4m]

But Montesano and Valdes weren't the only ones struck – two Miami Dade police officers were hit as well – caught in the crossfire. One officer was shot in the arm and the second was hit in the arm and grazed in the head. If the bullet had struck just a half an inch to the side the officer would have been killed.

Kill crazed cops too dumb to understand basic ballistics attack strategy - don't all stand in a circle, one or more of you might miss! Realisticly, it wouldn't be too difficult to set up a couple of dummys, one of them looking like a decapitated cop, call in an armed incident and sit back with a bucket of popcorn, watching the entire PD blowing the piss out of themselves