20 police surround, slam, arrest unarmed man

[Twisted Titan]

Twenty police officers surged into a mobile home neighborhood in Lincoln, Neb., and slammed an unarmed man to the ground because a neighbor reported he was shooting a crossbow, and the resulting melee left two officers hurt, the man's wife and 4-year-old tossed out of their home and the Internet forum pages aglow with the flames of argument over weapons rights.

December 21, 2010

Local Lincoln, Nebraska police seize a families house after responding to Gary Grana, a 32 year old man playing with a crossbow in his backyard. A neighbor had called local police, to report this incident. Local police then told his wife that they would seize their house after she refused to let them search her home.

She stated police officers would need a search warrant to enter her home when they asked to come inside premises. One officer then told her that they could and would seize their home. Her husband was arrested after an alleged altercation with two officers.

Police claimed her husband may have assaulted two officers. His wife claimed he did nothing wrong. Police initially responded to her neighbor's call, as it is allegedly illegal to shoot a bow and arrow within Lincoln city limits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkixwnfgxRY&feature=player_embedded




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqTo5t-9qvM&feature=player_embedded

[Twisted Titan]

Local police then told his wife that they would seize their house after she refused to let them search her home.


Remember boys and Girls The Police can lie to you.........buts its a Felony if you lie to them

[chad]

it always makes me sad when these people have closed cases against the cops for lying, doing illegal shit, and then they go and ruin it by "having an altercation" with the cops and get arrested.

[Gaillo]

Local police then told his wife that they would seize their house after she refused to let them search her home.


Remember boys and Girls The Police can lie to you.........buts its a Felony if you lie to them


Simple solution: DO NOT TALK TO THE POLICE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

[gunDriller]

if only the police would learn to ally themselves with their true allies - the citizens - to arrest the primary criminals.

where the primary criminals are guys like Bernanke, Blankfein, Dimon, Geithner, Obama ... not to forget the women criminals ... Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein.

[cedarchopper]

You never escalate a situation with cops by resisting or getting all shrill. Keep your mouth shut and let them play their hand, afterward, you make your defense. If talking to them politely doesn't stop them from arresting you, getting worked up will only get them more excited.

Cops are lazy...they don't like work, but they love adrenalin rushes. Don't give them what they want.

[willie pete]

Never argue with cops, present your "side" politely and only Once...depending on the situation, it may not help you from taking a ride, but if you resist, it will only make it worst...ie- stacked charges or worst, you could potentially get shot and killed...if your arrested, don't say anything, let the lawyer do the talking

[Book]

You never escalate a situation with cops by resisting or getting all shrill.



http://popwife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/disrespect.relationship.mil_.jpg

It worked on their husband so it should work on the police officer.

:dunno

[Twisted Titan]

32 year old man playing with a crossbow in his backyard. A neighbor had called local police, to report this incident.

Where was the incident???

Man was on his property minding his own business.

T

[mick silver]

dam i am SO glad i am not in a city no more . i have the right to set on my front or back porch an shot my guns . a country boy can survive

[Twisted Titan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg

[muffin]

:conf: :conf: :conf:

So what happened?? Did they seize her house and child?? Did they get the warrant? Is there a link to the rest of the story? Seems there are alot of missing parts to this... I think both sides were stupid...

[mick silver]

i have seen him play a few times . he loves to get a good bottle of jim bean an pick a few good tones

[Ponce]

The same way the you should not talk to the cops the cops should not talk to you, on the 11 I have to go to court for a speeding ticket but lucky for me the sheriff talked to much and if he recorded the conversation, like every sheriff around here, I will be able to prove that he gave a ticket to the wrong guy......one mistake that he made was to asked me "Did you stop back there to take a piss" the reason for this is that he flew by me at 100 mph with all his lights on when I was parked on private property.......the next day I went and timed myself and it took me 8.16 minutes to "take a piss" and get back in my car............I don't believe that a law enforcer agent would let you get ahead 8:16 minutes and then chase you down.

[RJB]

:conf: :conf: :conf:

So what happened?? Did they seize her house and child?? Did they get the warrant? Is there a link to the rest of the story? Seems there are alot of missing parts to this... I think both sides were stupid...
Here's a follow up on the story that answers some of your questions
http://www.examiner.com/la-county-libertarian-in-los-angeles/wife-who-filmed-arrest-targeted-by-police-after-crossbow-melee


A woman who gained international attention for videotaping her husband's arrest has now found herself being targeted by Lincoln, Nebraska police. Stephanie Shaw, who recorded the December 21st arrest of her husband by police officers outside the couple's mobile home following an alleged crossbow incident, has been charged with "child neglect".

[Watch the video filmed by Stephanie Shaw here]

32 year old Gary Grana, Shaw's husband, was confronted by Lincoln police in the couple's yard after a neighbor had called alleging that Grana was shooting a bow and arrow. Upwards of twenty police officers and fire trucks responded to the scene after Grana tried to enter his home. Grana is still in jail accused of assaulting officers, and is awaiting a January 11th hearing in Lancaster County Court.

Mrs. Shaw told me that she has retained an attorney and is filing a complaint against the police department. "My name and my husbands name is being slandered in our local newspaper and even on some of the comments on my video. This is a hard thing to go through knowing that your family is innocent," Shaw said. She added "the police here have put a lot of slanderous information about me in the newspaper. Trying to say that the only food in my house was a bowl of rice, some dried beans and some chicken bones. And that I only heat my house with 2 space heaters. This is all untrue. I even had a CPS worker come to my house and talk to me and he didn't understand why he was there. And really if that was the truth the police would've taken my daughter from me right then and there. They still aren't telling people that they took my computer and digital camera when they did their search."

Stephanie has set up a defense fund for her husband, who remains behind bars. You can donate to the Gary Grana defense fund via paypal, here. [Note: I understand times are tough and the economy is faltering. However, if everyone who supports this family's cause only donates a single dollar, that would be more than enough to pay their legal defense fund. Donate what you can, if you see fit. Stephanie and Gary thank you from the bottom of their hearts.]

The 20 minute video, which Grana's wife recorded and then posted on youtube, garnered international attention after being featured in the Examiner article Twenty police respond to man playing with crossbow in his backyard, seize house. The issue of police intrusion into a family's life has obviously struck a cord with the public. The article has recieved nearly a quarter of a million views on Examiner alone, as well as being featured on WhatReallyHappened, FreedomsPhoenix, WorldNetDaily, Reddit, and many others. It recieved 23,000 views via Fark, with 433 comments. A local reporter for the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper is linking to it, noting Libertarians fired up over Lincoln crossbow incident; and it's even a linked on the Lincoln Police Chief's own blog. A poster who apparently knows the Lincoln Police chief asked the chief to respond to the crossbow story, writing "I didn't mean to start anything with that link... I was floored when I read it, and hoping like Hell, that none of it true. I hold LPD in fair high regards, and Casady has my deepest respect as a law enforcement officer and the chief of LPD." Another poster on the Police Chief's blog wrote "Lincoln's weapons laws could use a little revamping and clarification, though. I've heard of people shooting BB guns being charged with discharging a firearm in the city. Yet, the city's own definition of a firearm requires the projectile to be propelled by an explosive... And, carrying a toy gun against the law. Ridiculous."

On December 23, 1011Now.com featured a press conference of the incident in which police spokesperson Katie Flood admitted that the officer's injuries were the result of a screw on the front porch: "Flood says the cut probably occurred from a screw sticking out on the porch. A female officer sustained swelling and an abrasion to her hand."

The video which Shaw recorded cut off after 20 minutes because the camera's battery went dead. Shaw has reposted her original video after briefly removing it from youtube and now explains what happened after the footage ended. Shaw and her four year old daughter were kicked out of their home and forced to wait several hours while police scoured the home. She says that police refused to show her the actual search warrant before entering. Despite being there purportedly to investigate a crossbow incident, police took several unrelated items. In a clearly Constitutionally questionable seizure, police seized Shaw's computer, digital camera and memory card. Shaw said they have still not returned them.

Police in Lincoln admitted they recieved "a ton of e-mails" about the incident, yet Assistant Police Chief Jim Peschong insists police did nothing wrong. The Lincoln Journal Star ran an article Police: Lincoln officers handled crossbow incident properly and noted "After watching the footage, he said he didn't see any problems with the way officers handled the situation."

A police officer forum discussed the issue in a thread titled TrailerTrash + crossbow + Youtube =Madness, noting "Of course, the anarchy/"libertarian" crowd is upset...I always hate how people (especially the media) try to reduce an event to a easily digestable sound bite. The one going around about this incident is 'Twenty police respond to man playing with crossbow in his backyard'. I wanna scream at idiots like this that..." One officer immediately asserted that the couple's daughter should be taken from her parents, oddly relishing the prospect of the state seizing the child: "Rednecks with no food for the kid, no furnishings, no proper heat...but they have the money for a crossbow and beer. Typical. I hope they get the kid out of there."

Two newspaper articles state that the couple has been charged with child abuse. A December 29th Omaha World Herald article Crossbow practice gets ugly reported that Grana and Shaw "also were ticketed on suspicion of child neglect, after police served a search warrant and reported finding multiple knives, crossbows and stun guns in proximity to the child. Flood said the sparsely furnished trailer’s furnace had been shut off, and two space heaters were the only source of warmth. Police found almost no food inside the home — only a can of beans, a cup of uncooked rice and some leftover chicken bones." The Journal Star reported "Police also cited Grana and Shaw on suspicion of misdemeanor child abuse. A 4-year-old girl was home at the time of the incident, Flood said, and the house was heated only by two space heaters. The only food inside, she said, was an uncooked bowl of rice, dried beans and leftover chicken bones. Police temporarily seized the mobile home as a crime scene, Peschong said. It since has been returned."

In reality, the family had plenty of food in their home. Stephanie told the Examiner " the food I did have in my house was 2 - 25 lb bags of rice, 2 - 10 lb bags of beans, carton of eggs, flour and yeast for making bread, peanut butter, 2 containers of oats, 2 packages of chicken legs (not just bones) in the freezer, fresh oranges, and cucumbers. Anyone could look at my daughter and know she is NOT malnourished. My house was so warm that when CPS came they didn't even ask about my heating arrangement."

Jonathan Turley, nationally recognized legal scholar and professor of law at The George Washington University Law School, also discussed the Examiner article on his website, noting the incident "raises a lot of unanswered questions."

On her youtube channel Stephanie Shaw wrote "This is a video of my local police abusing my husband and his rights. They came because one of our neighbors called and said my husband was using his crossbow in our yard. NEVER HAPPENED. (I didn't know that at the time though) Crossbows are not illegal here. He was outside exercising when they came and he very obviously did not have a crossbow or any other weapons with him. He told them the accusation was false. They asked for ID. He refused on grounds that he wasn't doing anything wrong or suspicious. He asked then if he was being detained or arrested. They said no and so he started to walk away. The male cop jumped at him then and chased my husband up the porch and proceeded to slam my husbands head so hard into the door that I can't even close it now. Not only that but then they sprayed him with mace and beat the crap out of him. Then they called over the radio and said they were the ones being hit. MY HUSBAND NEVER HIT EITHER ONE OF THOSE COPS. Then they took him away and at the end of this video it cuts off because unfortunately my video recorder ran out of battery charge. They ended up illegally seizing my house and making me and my 4 year old daughter leave my house that I own. Then they would NOT show me the search warrant before they went into my house to search it. Here's the thing, NOTHING HAPPENED IN MY HOUSE. They take out our crossbows and our other LEGAL hunting and protection items. And they take my computer and my digital camera. What does that have to do with a crossbow? My husband was originally charged with resisting arrest, firing a projectile, failure to comply, and 3rd degree assault on a police officer. Now he is only being charged with the assault. He was never being arrested in the first place so how could they have a right to search my house and slander my husband who did not assault either of the officers? I'm in the process of finding a lawyer so my INNOCENT husband can be with his family again."

While Mr. Grana's reaction to police that day has been criticized by some even whom are sympathetic to his cause, this entire incident underscores a lot of what is wrong with this country. It started with the paranoid busibody neighbor who couldn't even go talk over an issue with his neighbor, opting to call the police instead. It then involves the state forcefully immersing itself into the entire family's lives. In the youtube video, a creepy police officer became enraged when Mrs. Shaw refused to disclose the age of her daughter, since it was completely unrelated to the alleged crossbow incident. A sergeant then aggressively asserted that he could seize the family home prior to getting a search warrant, which they did. The family had a large yellow Gadsden "Don't Tread On Me" flag hanging on their living room wall. They appreciate the clasical American way of life and understand we are a free people with a servant government, not vice versa. Stephanie refused to answer many of the officer's questions, asserting her 5th Amendment rights. She also filmed the officers, which undoubtedly displeased them. The public response to the Lincoln police action has been largely negative. Taking the family computer and digital camera shows that police want to know much more than 'what weapons are around'. They are targeting the family in general, perhaps searching for a 'thought crime', scouring their personal internet habits and private family photgraphs. The first officer's initial obsession on the couple's daughter is indicative of the way police are trained today: The sick mindset that 'your children belong to the state', that the state is god, and if you dare 'cross us' and stand up for your liberties, you will indeed be relentlessly targeted. As usual, the despotic state seeks to destroy the family altogether. The notion that Lincon police can claim "children are endangered" simply because their father owns weapons is anti-American and anti-Christian at it's very core.

A legal fund has been set up for the Grana family. You can donate to the Gary Grana Defense Fund via paypal, here.

[RJB]

What bothers me about these videos is the demeanor of the officers. Do they act like honest men? All of them are shifty, avoiding questions, asking irrelevant questions to discombobulate the woman, they block the door to keep out of the watchful eye of the camera, they all claim ignorance, yet they are poking around for a specific agenda (to load up as many BS charges as possible). In short I would trust a crack dealer over any of those "officers."

I've been friends with and worked with a number of good police officers, but I always keep in mind: There is no one-- no one-- who can take my freedom, property, health, family, and life away from me quicker and without any repercussion on a mere whim or roid rage than a police officer.

So alway be very polite, but remember: Anything you say can and WILL be MISCONSTRUED against you.

[Tumbleweed]

There's always some dogooder neighbor that turns in someone who isn't doing anything wrong. Then the cops come and rough them up or kill them. I guess we can expect this sort of thing will be happening more often with homeland securitiy wanting people to be watching for terrorists, patriots or anything suspicious.

I think the community members should tar and feather the snitch, run them out of town and burn their house down so they don't come back.

[willie pete]

There's always some dogooder neighbor that turns in someone who isn't doing anything wrong. Then the cops come and rough them up or kill them. I guess we can expect this sort of thing will be happening more often with homeland securitiy wanting people to be watching for terrorists, patriots or anything suspicious.

I think the community members should tar and feather the snitch, run them out of town and burn their house down so they don't come back.





Hell Yea...... :D

[VX1]

Did you get that?... at 9:05 in the first video, the thug enforcer said he broke the law because "you can't shoot a firearm in the city limits".

I'm sure there's not many here who aren't familiar with the legal definition of a firearm, but let's review it anyway:
"a shot gun or rifle having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length, or any other weapon, except a pistol or revolver, from which a shot is discharged by an explosive if such weapon is capable of being concealed on the person, or a machine gun, and includes a muffler or silencer for any firearm whether or not such firearm is included within the foregoing definition."

Is a ROCK a fire "firearm" now??? A baseball? Frisbee? WTF?!? Hate and disdain are what these thugs deserve, no respect.

I'm reading "Three Felonies A Day" right now, and man does it have me fired up about this crap.

[VX1]

Well, hell, I just watched the rest of the video and see he's not doing it so much in a "backyard", but in an alley just feet from someone else's property. Trailer people with no common sense. That's not your "backyard" Bubba!

[Book]

I guess we can expect this sort of thing will be happening more often with homeland securitiy wanting people to be watching for terrorists, patriots or anything suspicious.



If we don't put a stop to this the next thing we know some American will think he can shoot mice in his own living room with a .22 rifle.

|--0--|

[Tumbleweed]

That was just my mouse shootin gun I've got other ones for other things. Friends can walk into my house anytime but if somebody came to kick my door down and arrest me while I was drinkin beer and shootin mice all hell would probably break loose ;D






I guess we can expect this sort of thing will be happening more often with homeland securitiy wanting people to be watching for terrorists, patriots or anything suspicious.



If we don't put a stop to this the next thing we know some American will think he can shoot mice in his own living room with a .22 rifle.

|--0--|

[Twisted Titan]

There's always some dogooder neighbor that turns in someone who isn't doing anything wrong. Then the cops come and rough them up or kill them. I guess we can expect this sort of thing will be happening more often with homeland securitiy wanting people to be watching for terrorists, patriots or anything suspicious.

I think the community members should tar and feather the snitch, run them out of town and burn their house down so they don't come back.



...........................

[Book]

That was one of the most hilarious short stories ever posted on the internet. You should submit it to Rope and Wire (http://www.ropeandwire.com/MainPages/Bullpen.html).

|--0--|



That was just my mouse shootin gun I've got other ones for other things. Friends can walk into my house anytime but if somebody came to kick my door down and arrest me while I was drinkin beer and shootin mice all hell would probably break loose ;D






I guess we can expect this sort of thing will be happening more often with homeland securitiy wanting people to be watching for terrorists, patriots or anything suspicious.



If we don't put a stop to this the next thing we know some American will think he can shoot mice in his own living room with a .22 rifle.

|--0--|

[midnight rambler]

I'm sure there's not many here who aren't familiar with the legal definition of a firearm, but let's review it anyway:
"a shot gun or rifle having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length, or any other weapon, except a pistol or revolver, from which a shot is discharged by an explosive if such weapon is capable of being concealed on the person, or a machine gun, and includes a muffler or silencer for any firearm whether or not such firearm is included within the foregoing definition."


It is abundantly clear that the legal definition of the term "firearm" (in the US Code) is limited strictly to NFA type weapons.

And yet there is a subforum on GSUS with the heading of "Firearms" - how many people on GSUS have guns with tax stamps??

[PatColo]

Police getting what they deserve for acting like thugs (http://femalefaust.blogspot.com/2011/01/police-getting-what-they-deserve-for.html)

~2 min youtube inside, can anyone figure out how to embed here? No menu button, right-click screen and it offers an url, go there and youtube gives an error.. strange.

[kregener]

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s167/Kregener/Jackboots/Method.jpg