Anti Federalist
11-13-2010, 04:24 PM
Follow along with this for a chuckle...
Cheye Calvo, you’ll remember, is the Berwyn Heights, Maryland mayor whose home was mistakenly raided by Prince George’s County, Maryland police. Calvo’s two black labs were shot and killed, and he and his mother-in-law were bound at gunpoint for hours, even after it was clear that the police had made a mistake. The raid came after police intercepted a package of marijuana sent to Calvo’s address through a delivery service. Police conducted no additional investigation before sweeping in with the SWAT team.
When asked about Calvo’s case in an interview a local newspaper last month, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson offered up a truly bewildering response:
Johnson said he didn’t think an apology was necessary and said he has not spoken with Calvo about the incident.
“Well, I think in America that is the apology, when we’re cleared,” he said. “The authorities have to be able to follow evidence. Sometimes we realize that people are victimized. … At the end of the day, the investigation showed he was not involved. And that’s, you know, a pat on the back for everybody involved, I think.”
He expressed condolences for Calvo’s pets but said he understood the actions of law enforcement.
“I try putting myself in the situation of the sheriff who entered the house,” he said. “They had one set of information at the time. … The thing we have to do is make sure those incidents don’t happen again.”
I’m having a hard time comprehending what sort of mindset you’d need to have to come to the conclusion that Calvo’s innocence equates to “a pat on the back for everybody involved.” As for making sure incidents like what happened to Calvo “don’t happen again,” the utter cluelessness of politicians like Jack Johnson is precisely why they do keep happening. Over and over. It also likely factors into why Johnson presides over the county with one of the worst police misconduct records in the country.
I last wrote about Calvo’s case in response to a Milwaukee police detective who had defended the raid in a letter to the editor of National Review.
http://www.theagitator.com/2008/11/05/more-aftermath-bumbling-in-the-cheye-calvo-case/
Look what just happened to Johnson.
Karma's a bitch, ain't it Jack?
Jack Johnson, Prince George's county executive, and his wife, Leslie, arrested
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/11/12/ST2010111204006.html
Two FBI agents were at the front door of their two-story brick colonial in Mitchellville.
"Don't answer it," the county executive said, unaware that more agents were listening in.
Johnson ordered his wife to find and destroy a $100,000 check from a real estate developer that was hidden in a box of liquor.
"Do you want me to put it down the toilet?" Leslie Johnson asked.
"Yes, flush that," the county executive said.
But what about the cash? she asked - $79,600.
Put it in your underwear, the county executive told his wife.
She replied, "I have it in my bra" - which is where agents discovered the money after she answered the door.
That conversation, as documented in an FBI affidavit, led to the arrest Friday of Jack Johnson and his wife. Each was charged with evidence tampering and destroying evidence in a case the U.S. attorney called the "tip of the iceberg" in a broader corruption investigation in Prince George's.
"We don't go on fishing expeditions," U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said at a news conference. "We expect additional defendants and additional charges."
Appearing Friday night outside the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Johnson vowed to fight.
Cheye Calvo, you’ll remember, is the Berwyn Heights, Maryland mayor whose home was mistakenly raided by Prince George’s County, Maryland police. Calvo’s two black labs were shot and killed, and he and his mother-in-law were bound at gunpoint for hours, even after it was clear that the police had made a mistake. The raid came after police intercepted a package of marijuana sent to Calvo’s address through a delivery service. Police conducted no additional investigation before sweeping in with the SWAT team.
When asked about Calvo’s case in an interview a local newspaper last month, Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson offered up a truly bewildering response:
Johnson said he didn’t think an apology was necessary and said he has not spoken with Calvo about the incident.
“Well, I think in America that is the apology, when we’re cleared,” he said. “The authorities have to be able to follow evidence. Sometimes we realize that people are victimized. … At the end of the day, the investigation showed he was not involved. And that’s, you know, a pat on the back for everybody involved, I think.”
He expressed condolences for Calvo’s pets but said he understood the actions of law enforcement.
“I try putting myself in the situation of the sheriff who entered the house,” he said. “They had one set of information at the time. … The thing we have to do is make sure those incidents don’t happen again.”
I’m having a hard time comprehending what sort of mindset you’d need to have to come to the conclusion that Calvo’s innocence equates to “a pat on the back for everybody involved.” As for making sure incidents like what happened to Calvo “don’t happen again,” the utter cluelessness of politicians like Jack Johnson is precisely why they do keep happening. Over and over. It also likely factors into why Johnson presides over the county with one of the worst police misconduct records in the country.
I last wrote about Calvo’s case in response to a Milwaukee police detective who had defended the raid in a letter to the editor of National Review.
http://www.theagitator.com/2008/11/05/more-aftermath-bumbling-in-the-cheye-calvo-case/
Look what just happened to Johnson.
Karma's a bitch, ain't it Jack?
Jack Johnson, Prince George's county executive, and his wife, Leslie, arrested
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/11/12/ST2010111204006.html
Two FBI agents were at the front door of their two-story brick colonial in Mitchellville.
"Don't answer it," the county executive said, unaware that more agents were listening in.
Johnson ordered his wife to find and destroy a $100,000 check from a real estate developer that was hidden in a box of liquor.
"Do you want me to put it down the toilet?" Leslie Johnson asked.
"Yes, flush that," the county executive said.
But what about the cash? she asked - $79,600.
Put it in your underwear, the county executive told his wife.
She replied, "I have it in my bra" - which is where agents discovered the money after she answered the door.
That conversation, as documented in an FBI affidavit, led to the arrest Friday of Jack Johnson and his wife. Each was charged with evidence tampering and destroying evidence in a case the U.S. attorney called the "tip of the iceberg" in a broader corruption investigation in Prince George's.
"We don't go on fishing expeditions," U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said at a news conference. "We expect additional defendants and additional charges."
Appearing Friday night outside the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Johnson vowed to fight.