Federal judge: Drinking tea, shopping at a gardening store probable cause for SWAT raid on your home

[chalmers]

If you don't think the USA is a Police state YOU, yes YOU are the problem.

Federal judge: Drinking tea, shopping at a gardening store is probable cause for a SWAT raid on your home

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/12/28/federal-judge-drinking-tea-shopping-at-a-gardening-store-is-probable-cause-for-a-swat-raid-on-your-home/

In April 2012, a Kansas SWAT team raided the home of Robert and Addie Harte, their 7-year-old daughter and their 13-year-old son. The couple, both former CIA analysts, awoke to pounding at the door. When Robert Harte answered, SWAT agents flooded the home. He was told to lie on the floor. When Addie Harte came out to see what was going on, she saw her husband on his stomach as SWAT cop stood over him with a gun. The family was then held at gunpoint for more than two hours while the police searched their home. Though they claimed to be looking for evidence of a major marijuana growing operation, they later stated that they knew within about 20 minutes that they wouldn’t find any such operation. So they switched to search for evidence of “personal use.” They found no evidence of any criminal activity.

The investigation leading to the raid began at least seven months earlier, when Robert Harte and his son went to a gardening store to purchase supplies to grow hydroponic tomatoes for a school project. A state trooper had been positioned in the store parking lot to collect the license plate numbers of customers, compile them into a spreadsheet, then send the spreadsheets to local sheriff’s departments for further investigation. Yes, merely shopping at a gardening store could make you the target of a criminal drug investigation.

More than half a year later, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department began investigating the Hartes as part of “Operation Constant Gardener,” basically a PR stunt in which the agency conducts multiple pot raids on April 20, or “4/20.” On several occasions, the Sheriff’s Department sent deputies out to sort through the family’s garbage. (The police don’t need a warrant to sift through your trash.) The deputies repeatedly found “saturated plant material” that they thought could possibly be marijuana. On two occasions, a drug testing field kit inexplicably indicated the presence of THC, the active drug in marijuana. It was on the basis of those tests and Harte’s patronage of a gardening store that the police obtained the warrant for the SWAT raid.

But, of course, they found nothing. Lab tests would later reveal that the “saturated plant material” was actually loose-leaf tea, which Addie Harte drinks on a regular basis. Why did the field tests come up positive for pot? As I wrote back in February, it’s almost as if these tests come up positive whenever the police need them to. A partial list of substances that the tests have mistaken for illegal drugs would include sage, chocolate chip cookies, motor oil, spearmint, soap, tortilla dough, deodorant, billiard’s chalk, patchouli, flour, eucalyptus, breath mints, Jolly Ranchers and vitamins. Back in 2009, the Marijuana Policy Project demonstrated how easily the tests could be manipulated to generate positive results:

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Congratulations to Kansas for having such a low crime rate...

that it can spend the time on these critical investigations.

[uponit7771]

2. “Operation Constant Gardener" ?!?! wow... sounds like they had a lot of money and where looking to..

...justify having it

[tblue37]

3. THIS:

As I wrote back in February, it’s almost as if these tests come up positive whenever the police need them to.

And drug dogs "alert" when signaled to, even when no drugs are present.

[Jim__]

4. "The couple, both former CIA analysts, awoke to pounding at the door."

I'm surprised they didn't have a no-knock warrant. Kicking in the door is so much easier.

[99th_Monkey]

5. Cops have become US tax-funded Terrorists, with no regard for civil liberties or justice. nt

[lpbk2713]

6. Big Brother is watching and I'm in a world of shit.

I bought some cilantro seeds at Lowe's Saturday. I wasn't looking for a black Suburban with dark windows in the parking lot because I hadn't read this article yet. Now the SWAT Team is gonna break down my door wanting to know what other kind of herbs I might have.

This is getting seriously pathetic when they have the resources to sit in a store's parking lot and make note of all the random shoppers that come and go and then investigate the bacgrounds of all of them. And they better not even get me started on their "what have you got to hide?" bullshit. I heard enough of that during the corrupt and evil BushCo Regime.

[Rafale]

7. Time to cut some budgets

Start with the SWAT teams and the tanks the DoD passed them. Rechannel the money saved to better police training. Quality over quantity and no more wannabe SEAL team movie-style tactics. #feedup

Seriously mj is almost legal. How about going after some banisters, which of course would require real police work (research without gun smoke)?

[SCantiGOP]

8. Cut just happened in Columbia SC

Actually the County. The Feds asked the Sheriff to return a tank they had gotten from military surplus. Sheriff was very sad; he actually used Ferguson MO as a reason that he might NEED a tank, not as an example of why he shouldn't have one.

[L. Coyote]

9. Colorado, it isn't Kansas any more.

Oregon and Washington too.
All the other states are experiencing cool kid drain.

[niyad]

10. damn!! I drink loose-leaf tea, and spend a LOT of time in gardening stores and gardening

sections of stores.

hey, agent mikey, don't you have actual work to do??

[Unknown Beatle]

11. When they have money, they need to show

that they're using it, even if it means fucking up big time.

The police are becoming part of the problem that ails the US of A.

[Fumesucker]

12. Becoming?

Remember that the Democrats happily went along with the Drug War basically forever.

[HeiressofBickworth]

13. Wheeeew, I think I'm safe

I always wash my used tea leaves down the disposal. Haven't been to a garden store in ages.

Oh, hang on, there's someone at the door...........

[PowerToThePeople]

14. Not in my state.

[MFrohike]

15. It's actually a bit more disturbing

Having skimmed through the order, the judge made an effort to exonerate the police at every turn. That wasn't a problem for every issue in this particular case, but there were a few instances where it got ridiculous. The worst part is that the stake out of the parking lot pretty much has no remedy. It was hardly mentioned. I think it was only mentioned in the order because it was part of the factual history. Otherwise, I suspect the judge gave it no thought at all.

[mrdmk]

16. K & R for the information

This needs to be exposed for what it entails, a justification for a continued and a larger budget for a war on everything and everyone.

/