In perhaps one of the most shocking police brutality videos of recent years, police in Cotati, California respond to a call about “domestic violence” by kicking down the door of a man’s home before tazing him and his wife as they scream in agony.
Link to video
The video begins with the cops standing on the man’s front lawn looking in through the window having responded to a report of a noise disturbance called in by neighbors. Despite the fact that the couple are obviously not at loggerheads and no harm is coming to anybody, the police announce that they are going to break into the house without a warrant.
“Why are you guys not coming out?,” asks one of the officers, bemused at the fact that someone wouldn’t follow orders.
“Because we don’t live in a police state, sir. Martial law has not been established in this country,” responds the homeowner.
The officer then orders the couple to get down on the ground and put their hands behind their backs, adding, “We’re gonna kick in the door.”
The cops kick down the door and enter the home with guns drawn as the homeowner exclaims, “You have no right to be in here!”
Despite the fact that the woman clearly has her hands in the air, a cop tazes her as she screams out in pain. The man is then also tazed.
The video clip has caused shockwaves across the Internet and has already gone viral along with an outpouring of support for the family.
However, others have expressed support for the police, claiming that the cops couldn’t see the children at the home and therefore didn’t know that they weren’t in danger. Under this scenario, the 4th amendment and probable cause are non-existent and the police can just break into your house and attack you in the name of “protecting the children” at any time.
“The police are allowed to kick in your door when they request you come outside to talk and you refuse and they were called to the residence because of domestic abuse,” wrote one respondent.
In reality, under Florida v. J.L. (March 28, 2000), “the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that anonymous tips are not sufficient grounds to constitute probable cause for a search. Judge Ginsburg, writing for the Supreme Court, stated, “Such an exception would enable any person seeking to harass another to set in motion an intrusive, embarrassing police search of the targeted person simply by placing an anonymous call.…”
“Who is the victim in this case? It’s not the children, who were peacefully playing in the front yard and in the home. And neither homeowner had raised a hand to the other,” writes Mac Slavo.
“In fact, the victims were the residents of the home, whose private property had been violated. The individual recording the video was reportedly tazed, detained and then arrested by police. For what?”
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