After a 20-month investigation, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department simultaneously served search warrants at four residences of people who were suspected of possessing items used to distribute and sell illegal drugs.
One of the residences was the home of Jose and Vanessa Guerena. Jose bled to death on the floor of his home, in front of his wife and 4-year-old son, after being shot by law-enforcement officers. No drug equipment was found, nor was anything else illegal located.
I’m sorry, I should not have mentioned that nothing was found, because that fact is irrelevant. Much has been made of the fact that Jose Guerena was an honorably discharged U.S. Marine combat veteran, and much has been made of the fact that his relatives appear to be drug dealers. An American’s rights are not enhanced by military service, nor can they be erased by suspicions of illegal activity. We all have the same rights under the law, until they do that “due process” thing.
Of course, it’s useful for law enforcement to know beforehand whether or not the people living at a residence have a history of criminal violence before they serve a warrant. Fortunately, Jose Guerena was a family man who had a job and a past free of crime and violence … so they sent a SWAT team.
The “War on Drugs” has ramped up the use of these SWAT (special weapons and tactics) teams. What makes the weapons and tactics “special” is that they are normally associated with military operations rather than law enforcement.
This is a problem, the seriousness of which cannot be overstated. The mission of the police is to help people defend themselves against force and fraud. The mission of the military is to kill people and break things abroad. Take a look at the video released by the PCSD. Does it look more like a police action in Tucson or a military operation in Faluja?
Brian Miller, chairman of the Pima County Republican Party, understood the implications of this raid, and he began calling for a discussion and review of PCSD policy regarding the use of SWAT. He received support from Ken Rineer of the Pima County Republican Liberty Caucus, but few others.
Republican District 26 state Rep. Terri Proud actually sent out an e-mail in which she called for Brian Miller’s resignation. Five Republican members of the state Legislature from Pima County sent a letter to precinct committeemen disavowing Miller and his work on this issue. Finally, in a recent emergency meeting of the Pima County Republican Central Committee, Miller was stripped of virtually all of his responsibilities as chairman.
The anti-Millerites may be justified in their disappointment in Miller as a county chairman, but why attack him when he steps up to the plate? Why aren’t Frank Antenori, Al Melvin, et al., all over the media making the point that Raul Grijalva, Isabel Garcia and their fellow travelers aren’t front-and-center on this? The only ones who seem to care about the questionable police killing of a man with a Spanish surname is a couple of Anglo Republicans.
Sheriff Clarence Dupnik did little to allay the concerns of Brian Miller. In an interview with KGUN Channel 9, he declined to speculate whether or not Guerena was involved in his relative’s home-invasion murder, saying it would be “unprofessional.” Moments later, he made the wild speculation that the only reason Guerena did not fire his rifle was that he “forgot” the safety was on—an unlikely scenario for a Marine combat veteran. Dupnik also engaged in some unprofessional mind-reading when he stated that Guerena thought they were there to arrest him. I suppose that if they had any evidence of his active involvement in criminal activity, it would have been an arrest warrant, not merely a search warrant.
The questions remain: Did Jose Guerena have to die? Was a military-style assault the best way to serve a search warrant? Should militarized units be used for routine police work?
Brian Miller was correct in drawing attention to these issues as Pima County Republican Party chairman. His fellow Republicans should have made a priority of helping our community, our law-enforcement agencies and their own party by dealing with Miller’s shortcomings separately.
This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2011.
I am standing for Brian Miller! I protested in 108 heat! this is the FB page we set up! ” Brian Miller stands for liberty – we stand with him” I hope you will all take a stand with us! and for the rights and freedoms of ALL!
I’ve been all over this, too. Fantastic presentation! I have tried to point your assertions over and over to tone deaf EC members. Helloooo, we have a problem and Brian Miller is leading the charge to stop it. All members of the community should be outraged at Jose Guerena’s killing. Moreover, they ought to be vocally supporting Brian Miller’s efforts to end this tyranical practice.
I stand with Brian. The Actions of the Pima GOP Central Committee are totally disgusting.
They have limited freedom of speech by removing PCs and other registered Republicans from the Facebook page. This only happened after the public starting talking about some of the people on the Central Committee (Walt Stephenson) who were telling donors to withhold donations to the Republican party for as long as Brian is the Chairman. This is so Walt Stephenson and people like him can claim that fundraising is down under Brian’s leadership.
This is not about Brian, this is about the McCain faction of the party that wants to be able to control the Chairman, so that they will be able to give you more of the same… You get the tyranny while they get to kick back, and drink cool-aid in their good old boys club.
What, you want to change things? Oh no… We better ask Terri Proud or Frank Antenori
before we say anything. Goodness knows that the party as it sits now is “just following orders.” In the Pima County Republican Party the tail wags the dog.
What has the Pima GOP done in the last 10 years? How have they furthered the cause of the Republican Party? They are a complete failure and deserve to loose every election in Pima County.
I am one of the 2 Executive Committee members that strongly supports our fine Chairman, Brian Miller. I am disgusted by my fellow Executive Committee members’ witch hunt against Brian. All Pima County residents need to help us take a stand for freedom from oppression! The fight for freedom is on… stay tuned!
Jeff Bales
Pima County GOP Executive Committee
Member-at-Large
Miller and his not-so-merry band of stooges are a disgrace to the Republican Party. They have shown themselves to be nothing more than incompetent. I have enjoyed watching them go down in flames. Good riddance.
Brian did the right thing and I stand behind him all the way. We must change SWAT policy. NEVER use SWAT to serve a Search Warrant. The War on Drugs MUST END. It’s a no brainer.
What is disturbing to me, is that a few rogue Executive Committeemen at the Pima County Republican Party are intentionally attempting to defame Brian Miller. They have made a lot of allegations with no basis in fact, yet the Precinct Committeemen under their jurisdiction follow them like sheep. I thought we in the Republican Party had values, ethics, morals and principles. However, they have demonstrated anything but on this issue. So they are irritated with Brian Miller for speaking his mind on the Jose Guerena situation, I say get over it and stop fabricating all the other BS! He is the Chairman and the Executive Committee has no authority to relieve him of his duties. All I see the is usurping of his authority by a select few.
I am not a Republican and I am not surprised at anything the Republicans say or do.
However, I am concerned about the SWAT team mentality that has taken hold all over this country.
Is there another way to arrest people who may or may not have committed a crime?
The FBI recently went to Santa Monica to arrest a notorious criminal who had been in hiding for sixteen years. They did not go in with guns blazing. They simply notified him that his storage locker may have been broken into. When he appeared to survey the (nonexistent) damage, they arrested him. No guns, no taser, no violence. The FBI may have compromised their integrity by lying about the storage locker, but no real harm was done,and Whitey Bulger is in jail, awaiting trial.
I was amused when I read about Whitey’s capture. Then I thought about what was done to Jose Guerena and his family. With a little creativity and some deception on the part of the police and the sheriff’s deputies, perhaps the outcome could have been more peaceful for all. There would be no need for us to agonize over the methods used to capture someone who may or may not have committed a crime. We could discuss, instead, the integrity of white lies told by our law enforcement entities.
It can’t be easy for our law enforcement officers to participate in this type of violence, and to know the risks to all who are involved. I wonder what those officers are feeling, knowing they have been required to act as judge, jury, and executioner in this case.
What are we doing to ourselves, and can we change?
One of the problems with that particular warrant service was the use of flashbang distraction devices approx FOUR seconds into the SCOTUS mandated ‘reasonable’ 15-20 second “knock and announce” process. This was not a ‘no knock’ service, they were required to K&A for at least 15 sec so the people in the home could at least attempt to open the door. If that was their goal, then why did they deploy FBs at the beggining of that process on the exact opposite side of the property that they were alledgedly trying to get a resident to peaceably open the door? Those ‘distraction devices’ worked as advertised…
The Guerena family lawyer needs to get ahold of PCSO’s Policies and Procedures for use of FB’s during K&A searches, I think they will find that their use at that point during the service was unwarranted and likely the cause of great confusion for the Guerena family that may have prompted him to react in the manner that he did.
Very good point Karen. Maybe if Guerena would have been white, things would have been different and he would not be dead.
As for the republicans throwing Miller under the bus, what a travesty. Instead of thinking with their brain, they decided to use their kidneys.
This whole escapade by Walt Stephenson and his cronies is nothing but dirty politics and they are just using Brian Miller speaking out and taking a stand about a need to review and change the SWAT Team policies being used by the Sheriff’s Department for a power grab. Yes. The SWAT Team policies should be changed and we should have more people demanding that change like Brian Miller did. Pima County GOP executive Committee this attack on Brian Miller is the last straw and you have received the last dollar you will EVER get from me. Frankly, after recently understanding what McCain and his cronies have been up to working hand in hand with Obama now to set up secret tribunals to arrest Americans indefinitely without trial and all the rest of their NWO crap I’ve been sitting on the fence too long anyway. But, this last episode tipped the scale. Whatever you people are you don’t deserve to be called Republicans and you sure don’t deserve another penny of my money to support your nefarious cause. Brian Miller and his leadership is the only reason I held out this long…he’s gone then so am I. Listen up, “You all disgust me more than words can describe.”
Brian Miller is, with the exception of Ray Carroll, the only decent human being bearing a Republican label I have met, so his defenestration from the corridors of GOP power (such as it is) in Pima County is hardly surprising. He, like others of the Ron Paul wing, understands that is is these depredations to our liberty that destroy the system’s legitimacy. Until police power is reined in and murderers with badges are punished, one dare not call this a free nation.
If you would like to show your support for Brian Miller please consider pledging on the site listed below. You will not be expected to donate unless Brian stays. If we successful in defeating the establishment please make your donations to the Pima County Republican Party.
http://pimalibertypledge.com/
Don’t forget that a significant contribution to the mindset of the SWAT team was DELIBERATE MISINFORMATION and suspicion rather than fact (no criminal convictions) that put the team in “KILL” mode, why else would they fire for the sake of one of their own falling down before ANY shots were fired?
Who remembers that he was once stopped with big rolls of plastic wrap in the car… HMMm was that the same plastic wrap that the furniture was wrapped up in at i think his mothers house? Oh those little details.
Walt Stephenson and his RINO cronies are USING this as an excuse to grab power from Brian Miller because he is for LIBERTY. These RINOs are for BigGovernment-McCain-Type government. Everyone (Republican and Democrat) who values any sort of freedom needs to take a long hard consideration of this type of BLUE REPUBLICAN thinking. Check out or search for the article in the Huffington Post yesterday: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-koerne…
IT is inconceivable that a judge would grant a “no knock” without a prior conviction involving violence with a weapon, or several charges as such. The judge granting the warrant should be investigated as well as the SWAT and SO. This was wrong. Miller is right. Miller needs to be supported. Awareness and support nationwide are growing for Jose Guerena’s JUSTICE. Benefit TShirt available at http://www.radwing.com.
What the Pima GOP Executive Committee is doing to Brian Miller is nothing short of despicable! They are defaming an honorable man who has done nothing but tell the truth in defense of our liberty. Saul Alinsky would proud of his good student Walt Stephenson and his cronies on the Puma GOP Executive Committee!