(MN) Grand Rapids teacher files suit claiming attack by SWAT team
- Thread starter Oatka
- Start date
Well I might just have to visit that part of Grand Rapids and look for myself. I do find it hard to understand in a town like Grand Rapids that the LEO's wouldn't KNOW which building was the school.
It isn't like a big city or anything...I would think at least some of the team memebers had probably gone to school there.
Yes this is a town of under 10 thousand people...trying to find population for the town...but based on the map legend it is between 5 and 10 k people.
[This message has been edited by Glamdring (edited August 30, 2000).]
It isn't like a big city or anything...I would think at least some of the team memebers had probably gone to school there.
Yes this is a town of under 10 thousand people...trying to find population for the town...but based on the map legend it is between 5 and 10 k people.
[This message has been edited by Glamdring (edited August 30, 2000).]
Okay Grand Rapids is a town of just under 8,000 people. So I doubt they have more than one high school in the town.
This is really scary when you think about it. Unless the HS is real new you would have to have at least some of the LEO involved that had gone to that school. Not many people are going to move to Grand Rapids as a career move.
This is really scary when you think about it. Unless the HS is real new you would have to have at least some of the LEO involved that had gone to that school. Not many people are going to move to Grand Rapids as a career move.
"Miskovich claims officers pointed guns at her, held her on the floor, stepped on her back and refused to identify themselves during the raid....officers thought she was an actor."
An actor (Black's Law Dictionary) is "... a person whose conduct is in question as subjecting him to liability toward another..."
The actors (or "perps") here were the SWAT members who assaulted an innocent person.
Unless she had been told to be out of that area, SWAT screwed up. If someone does that to my wife or daughters, they will have (mucho grande) problems. I'll see to it. And I don't care where the "right" building was.
An actor (Black's Law Dictionary) is "... a person whose conduct is in question as subjecting him to liability toward another..."
The actors (or "perps") here were the SWAT members who assaulted an innocent person.
Unless she had been told to be out of that area, SWAT screwed up. If someone does that to my wife or daughters, they will have (mucho grande) problems. I'll see to it. And I don't care where the "right" building was.
I've jammed my feet into my fair share of keyboards.Okay, so the buildings were similar and closely located.(I wonder if it said " Art Center" over the door?)This still points out a serious deficit in the pre-mission brief and exercise planning. As an aside, why does a town of 8,000 need a SWAT team? Heck. The three biggest local Colleges in Austin each have a student population of over 25,000, (UT over 50,000) and I don't see any SWAT teams running around. Even if they did stage an exercise, they're darn sure going to clear the building first and put their own actors in place. I've done building walk thrus with campus police in the two high schools in my patrol area, as well as the colleges. Having everyone do this would be a much better training opportunity than letting the Yahoo factor take over. After all, in the very unlikely event of another Columbine, it isn't your SWAT officers that are going to get there first.
Well here in MN I don't know if there are many well trained SWAT teams or not. I agree with you that they aren't really needed in most of this state.
When I lived in Winona, MN a few years ago the ERT over there was going to do a no knock warrent on a guy in a trailer court. Pulled the pin on a flash bang and then dropped it...then he, the SWAT/ERT guy picked it up again. He only lost one or two fingers I believe.
Never mind the fact that they didn't need to do a no knock in the first place.
I could tell another story or two about Winona PD since I worked security when I was there.
When I lived in Winona, MN a few years ago the ERT over there was going to do a no knock warrent on a guy in a trailer court. Pulled the pin on a flash bang and then dropped it...then he, the SWAT/ERT guy picked it up again. He only lost one or two fingers I believe.
Never mind the fact that they didn't need to do a no knock in the first place.
I could tell another story or two about Winona PD since I worked security when I was there.
The SWAT team may have had permission to be exactly where this woman was, but it's not her responsibility to check with the local SWAT team to make sure that they won't be there pointing guns at anything that moves when she comes to class.
It was the SWAT teams duty to make sure they knew who was involved and who wasn't. Would a little $0.50 button that says "SWAT Participant" been too difficult to put on everyone involved?
The SWAT team needs to practice, just as I need to practice Karate, but if I decide to use my neighbor for practice because he looks like my Sensei, I'm going to be charged with assault. So should these bozos.
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There are two types of men: those with guns, and those at their mercy.
It was the SWAT teams duty to make sure they knew who was involved and who wasn't. Would a little $0.50 button that says "SWAT Participant" been too difficult to put on everyone involved?
The SWAT team needs to practice, just as I need to practice Karate, but if I decide to use my neighbor for practice because he looks like my Sensei, I'm going to be charged with assault. So should these bozos.
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There are two types of men: those with guns, and those at their mercy.
I heard an interview of the Ms. Miskovich and her lawyer, John Udem on the radio today. The swat team involved wasn't even from the same county, and IIRC there were something like 19 other agencies involved in the training exercise. The only person that has shown any concern is the local Sheriff who has contacted the lawyer several times asking how Ms. Moskovich was doing. The county d.a. of the swat team wanted to do an interview of Ms. Moskovich about the incident and in return Udem asked to have a meeting where he could interview the swat members. The d.a refused, wouldn't even release the names of the officers involved and since then hasn't tried to contact Udem. As of right now the agencies involved in this have given no apology and are now trying to claim immunity from any lawsuits.
Randy Lehman, et al.
There was a backlash against police state tactics in the aftermath of the siege and murders at the Branch Davidian complex at Waco. Shortly after Waco, in my absence, Lehman and other "law enforcement" officers intentionally intimidated my wife, with our newborn daughter, in an attempt to work them as informants against people she did not know. This is how the Randy Weaver/Ruby Ridge incident began.
There are two kinds of people: Those who want to be left alone and those who can't leave other people alone.
What this same bunch did was make my wife feel forever endangered and cause her to move to Oregon. I came across this site because I keep track of such activity in St. Louis County, Minnesota. A short little Sheriff's Sgt. Charles Burns had a similarly rank attitude, style, and the obvious emotional need to make an impression. Lehman's unmemorable partner, Lehman said-- in an apparent attempt to impress and cause me to warm to him, was his partner in Viet Nam; another local who got the treatment from this bunch said Lehman's partner had a drinking problem. Their pastor said they were a great bunch of guys and there you have a fundamental problem with America. The Hibbing courthouse is one of the Ten Commandments sites the usual suspects are attempting to cleanse.
My initial contact with these comrades ('kâmrads) was because our vehicle registration "papers" were not in order: "The basis of all tyranny is revenue." The DA at the time was reportedly the son of a Russian-Jew immigrant who owned a liquor store; may be the same DA. The adjacent township is known as Balkan. The next town hall is in Cherry, Minnesota, where Communist Party U.S.A. founder Gus Hall operated, has a giant portrait of local hero F.D.R. over the podium.
"Peace" officers in the service of the public are as gone as just about everything else worthwhile that was once the American republic. This running people off. or worse, who won't be gelded and farmed for taxes is becoming more common. Once one gets on the local thug network's list, it is cost-effective to simply set the record, abandon one's holdings, and move away.
There was a backlash against police state tactics in the aftermath of the siege and murders at the Branch Davidian complex at Waco. Shortly after Waco, in my absence, Lehman and other "law enforcement" officers intentionally intimidated my wife, with our newborn daughter, in an attempt to work them as informants against people she did not know. This is how the Randy Weaver/Ruby Ridge incident began.
There are two kinds of people: Those who want to be left alone and those who can't leave other people alone.
What this same bunch did was make my wife feel forever endangered and cause her to move to Oregon. I came across this site because I keep track of such activity in St. Louis County, Minnesota. A short little Sheriff's Sgt. Charles Burns had a similarly rank attitude, style, and the obvious emotional need to make an impression. Lehman's unmemorable partner, Lehman said-- in an apparent attempt to impress and cause me to warm to him, was his partner in Viet Nam; another local who got the treatment from this bunch said Lehman's partner had a drinking problem. Their pastor said they were a great bunch of guys and there you have a fundamental problem with America. The Hibbing courthouse is one of the Ten Commandments sites the usual suspects are attempting to cleanse.
My initial contact with these comrades ('kâmrads) was because our vehicle registration "papers" were not in order: "The basis of all tyranny is revenue." The DA at the time was reportedly the son of a Russian-Jew immigrant who owned a liquor store; may be the same DA. The adjacent township is known as Balkan. The next town hall is in Cherry, Minnesota, where Communist Party U.S.A. founder Gus Hall operated, has a giant portrait of local hero F.D.R. over the podium.
"Peace" officers in the service of the public are as gone as just about everything else worthwhile that was once the American republic. This running people off. or worse, who won't be gelded and farmed for taxes is becoming more common. Once one gets on the local thug network's list, it is cost-effective to simply set the record, abandon one's holdings, and move away.
Whether they had permission to use the building, or more specifically, the part of the facility in which they found Ms. Miskovich, it doesn't excuse their treatment of her. Permision to use the facilities is one thing - holding an innocent civilian at gunpoint without provocation or reasonable suspicion is quite another. For example, if I invite you into my home for cocktails, it does not mean you also have consent to pull a gun on my wife and hold her on the floor with your boot on her neck.
Sure, I know people make mistakes, but there were apparently a lot of people involved in the planning of this exercise. At a minimum, someone should have had the foresight to sweep the building before the exercise to make sure there was no one in the building who could get accidently caught up in their "game". But alas, it appears they didn't give this "game" any more forethought than a game of hopscotch. FWIW, if Ms. Miskovitch had a legal CCW, and fearing for her life shot and killed Officer Smith as he burst through the door with an unloaded MP5, does anyone think the police and DA would have laughed it off as "just a f*&*%#g game"?
(edited to add...)
Geez - just realized this one is almost 6 years stale. How did this get brought back to life?
Sure, I know people make mistakes, but there were apparently a lot of people involved in the planning of this exercise. At a minimum, someone should have had the foresight to sweep the building before the exercise to make sure there was no one in the building who could get accidently caught up in their "game". But alas, it appears they didn't give this "game" any more forethought than a game of hopscotch. FWIW, if Ms. Miskovitch had a legal CCW, and fearing for her life shot and killed Officer Smith as he burst through the door with an unloaded MP5, does anyone think the police and DA would have laughed it off as "just a f*&*%#g game"?
(edited to add...)
Geez - just realized this one is almost 6 years stale. How did this get brought back to life?
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SWAT training lawsuit
$30,000 settlement is OK'd
By PAT FAHERTY
Mesabi Daily News
Tuesday, March 18th, 2003 11:10:05 PM
Murphy McGinnis Newspapers
DULUTH — St. Louis County will pay $30,000 to settle its share of a lawsuit resulting from a police and sheriff training exercise in Grand Rapids.
The incident took place July 14,1999, as some sheriff department personnel took part in SWAT training at Grand Rapids High School. The scenario was modeled after the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
Story Continues Below
Grand Rapids Police Department planned the event and was in charge of notifying students and other people who would be at the school, setting up barricades and taking care of other details.
More than 90 men and women took part in the training to prepare area law enforcement agencies for a crisis in a school.
However, three people — Ellen Schafroth, Beverly Wilson and Nikki Miskovich — working near the school, got caught up in the exercise, were accosted by officers and required to lie prone on the floor.
At the time, Miskovich of Coleraine, was a dance instructor at the Reif Center which is located adjacent to the high school. She claimed the SWAT team members entered the wrong building, pointed guns at her and held her on the floor.
The plaintiffs alleged they were pushed down, sworn at, and that the officers assaulted them.
The result was a lawsuit against Grand Rapids, St. Louis County the individual county officers and other parties. The other two plaintiffs — Robert Zuehlke Jr. and David Wilson — are husbands of two of the women.
The case ended up in federal court before Magistrate Judge Raymond L Erickson. He eventually dismissed some of the claims and a jury trial was set for April 28 in Duluth, with a settlement conference March 7.
According to St. Louis County Attorney Alan Mitchell, the plaintiffs wanted to settle for $225,000, while the defendants began negotiations at $18,000. Eventually Grand Rapids and the county made one last offer of $45,000, which the plaintiffs accepted.
The county will pay $30,000 with Grand Rapids putting in $15,000. On Tuesday, Mitchell recommended the county board accept the figure as a "reasonable settlement of a complicated case involving five separate plaintiffs.
“This is a case which St. Louis County might well win after an extensive trial and lengthy appeals; however, if lost the damages could be substantial,” wrote Mitchell in a letter to the board.
Commissioners voted unanimously without discussion, to accept the settlement.
o
Pat Faherty covers the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior for Murphy McGinnis Newspapers.
Personally I think that neutering the officers involved would not be too harsh.
$30,000 settlement is OK'd
By PAT FAHERTY
Mesabi Daily News
Tuesday, March 18th, 2003 11:10:05 PM
Murphy McGinnis Newspapers
DULUTH — St. Louis County will pay $30,000 to settle its share of a lawsuit resulting from a police and sheriff training exercise in Grand Rapids.
The incident took place July 14,1999, as some sheriff department personnel took part in SWAT training at Grand Rapids High School. The scenario was modeled after the April 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
Story Continues Below
Grand Rapids Police Department planned the event and was in charge of notifying students and other people who would be at the school, setting up barricades and taking care of other details.
More than 90 men and women took part in the training to prepare area law enforcement agencies for a crisis in a school.
However, three people — Ellen Schafroth, Beverly Wilson and Nikki Miskovich — working near the school, got caught up in the exercise, were accosted by officers and required to lie prone on the floor.
At the time, Miskovich of Coleraine, was a dance instructor at the Reif Center which is located adjacent to the high school. She claimed the SWAT team members entered the wrong building, pointed guns at her and held her on the floor.
The plaintiffs alleged they were pushed down, sworn at, and that the officers assaulted them.
The result was a lawsuit against Grand Rapids, St. Louis County the individual county officers and other parties. The other two plaintiffs — Robert Zuehlke Jr. and David Wilson — are husbands of two of the women.
The case ended up in federal court before Magistrate Judge Raymond L Erickson. He eventually dismissed some of the claims and a jury trial was set for April 28 in Duluth, with a settlement conference March 7.
According to St. Louis County Attorney Alan Mitchell, the plaintiffs wanted to settle for $225,000, while the defendants began negotiations at $18,000. Eventually Grand Rapids and the county made one last offer of $45,000, which the plaintiffs accepted.
The county will pay $30,000 with Grand Rapids putting in $15,000. On Tuesday, Mitchell recommended the county board accept the figure as a "reasonable settlement of a complicated case involving five separate plaintiffs.
“This is a case which St. Louis County might well win after an extensive trial and lengthy appeals; however, if lost the damages could be substantial,” wrote Mitchell in a letter to the board.
Commissioners voted unanimously without discussion, to accept the settlement.
o
Pat Faherty covers the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior for Murphy McGinnis Newspapers.
Personally I think that neutering the officers involved would not be too harsh.
Wildalaska
Moderator
In legalese, $45,000 is called nuisance value.
WilditswahtthegungrabbersdoAlaska
WilditswahtthegungrabbersdoAlaska
"poor, traumatized teacher"
Cute.
Lawdog's first post perfectly illustratrates a carefully calculated tactic of attempting to marginalize that person into some sort of commie-wimp-leftist grasping at straws to try to attack the inn-er-cent 'SQUAT' team that was only following orders and doing their gute aufgabe.
Thin blue line as usual, eh?
Cute.
Lawdog's first post perfectly illustratrates a carefully calculated tactic of attempting to marginalize that person into some sort of commie-wimp-leftist grasping at straws to try to attack the inn-er-cent 'SQUAT' team that was only following orders and doing their gute aufgabe.
Thin blue line as usual, eh?
