By Is this another example of the militarization of America’s police force?
Steven Seagal is being threatened with a lawsuit over his part in a police raid that was taped for his A&E reality show, TMZ reported.
The actor, who has served as a reserve deputy sheriff since the mid-’80s, was part of a team that arrived at Jesus Sanchez Llovera’s Arizona house in March with a tank and armed in full riot gear, Llovera alleges in his legal documents.
Llovera claims that the raid, carried out by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, was “unfounded” because they believed Llovera was raising roosters for illegal cockfighting. But he says the roosters are only “for show.”
Llovera — who served both Seagal and Sheriff Joe Arpaio with an official notice of claim, the first step toward a lawsuit — says his 11-month-old puppy was shot and killed during the raid and that police also killed more than 100 of his roosters. [Hollywood Reporter]
You can read more at the link, which also has a local news video of the incident you can watch. In the video you can see that Steven Seagal is dressed in the US Army’s multi-cam uniform. He looks like he is decked out to go to war in Afghanistan instead of busting a cock fighter.
9:51 am on September 1st, 2011 1
This is actually the next step beyond the militarization of America’s police force.
This is the militarization of America’s police force as brutal for-profit public entertainment.
…which is loads of fun as long as it is happening to someone else.
The TV show COPS centered around the entertaining aspect of stupid and dysfunctional people doing stupid and dysfunctional things while the cops were reserved, well-behaved, and seemed sincerely interested in public safety.
Now, life imitates art as viewers cheer on excessive force for the sake of entertainment in real life… treating it as having no more consequences on society than a movie.
Since the 9/11 domestic war mentality and the Homeland Security expansion started, the people who have gravitated to becoming cops are much different than the generation before.
Many of these cops are attracted to the power, violence, and potential sadism the War on Terror promises. Since there are few terrorists, these urges are taken out on normal citizens for minor or manufactured crimes.
Talk to 20+ year cops and they have many unhappy stories to tell about the current recruits.
9:59 am on September 1st, 2011 2
Yeah, baby boomers could never have that type of mentality…
2:25 pm on September 1st, 2011 3
#2 Kangaji, he was born in 1948. Right? Baby boomers were born from 1947 — 1966.
SO, he IS a baby boomer, as am I.
What is it with you and baby boomers anyway?
2:53 pm on September 1st, 2011 4
lol….strong against weak , weak against strong..
3:28 pm on September 1st, 2011 5
ChickenHead 1, you’ve noted one of the most unfavorable trends in the development of our republic. Have you also noted the growing concentration of wealth? How about the turn away from science? If the idea of being a cousin of a chimpanzee creeps you out, you just deny evolution. If measures against global warming might be inconvenient, you can just deny that fossils drive it. And so our republic goes banana.
5:06 pm on September 1st, 2011 6
#3 Well, in this case, with CH, when baby boomers talk about how they have better values than the younger generations, I kind of want to hear what they were doing in their twenties…
5:42 pm on September 1st, 2011 7
Mostly kudos to Chickenhead and I can make a few suggestions to calm Glans:
1). No problem with the wealth: its being redistributed. It’ll speed up in 2013 if we’re not lucky though.
2). No problem with global warming: if the Chinese, burning more coal, can’t bring temps down even further than they are now the space aliens will just destroy the Earth anyway.
3). We now have the most cerebral and pro-science President in the history of the US. He has visited all 57 States to help promote science.
6:54 pm on September 1st, 2011 8
Thanks, Expat 7. Your wise and insightful comment led me to reread Glans 5. I can correct a typo; where I said “fossils” I meant “fossil fuels”.
4:31 pm on September 2nd, 2011 9
aren’t this illegal fight’s usually done with armed gangster’s and drug dealers .
( I think you guys are overreacting)
7:25 pm on September 15th, 2011 10
A sensible article on the militarization of America’s police.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/police-militarization-9-11-september-11_n_955508.html
7:56 pm on September 15th, 2011 11
ChickehHead 10, that’s a significant link. I’d like to have some context for the Clayton County GA sheriff’s purported statement that the drug war should be fought more like the invasion of Normandy. The case of the SWAT team and the student loan program has been discussed on this blog. Where does it stand?
12:51 am on October 6th, 2011 12
Wait?! He busted some poor fighters what?! LOL