The Tucson Star reports on the autopsy of Jose Guerena,the 26-year-old Marine vet executed in his own home by the Pima County Regional SWAT team on May 5. No traces of illegal drugs were found in his system and a minimal residue of the legal product alcohol was detected. Perhaps most interestingly, while a total of 71 shots were fired at Guerena by SWAT members, only 22 struck him. The majority of the shots missed him and some went through the walls of the house and struck other nearby buildings. What does this say about marksmanship and concern for the safety of others demonstrated by Pima County law enforcement?
There are other questions as well. Is it a good thing that law enforcement in the US continues to look more and more like military activity? Does the response to alleged criminality, like at the Branch Davidian "compound" or at Ruby Ridge, and now in Tucson, need to be conducted like a military raid? Are US occupational forces in the Middle East returning to America and bringing the law enforcement techniques used to subjugate the Iraqis and Afghanis to places like Tucson? A Pima County spokesman brought up the issue that the approaching SWAT team turned on its sirens for a few moments before arriving at the Guerena home. Do you, if you live in an urban environment, react to the sound of a siren by preparing to surrender to police? If that were the case, shouldn't all of the Guerena neighbors have emerged from their homes with their hands in the air?
The video shows a paid volunteer group of government-sponsored thugs engaged in the most depraved form of behavior. The idea that these individuals are following "procedures" or "obeying orders" hardly relieves them of personal responsibility. They're not heroes. They are all guilty of murder.
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