Missouri Police Kill Dog, Terrorize Family

The video is dark and blurry. As the lens focuses, a single family home, illuminated only by its porch light, comes into view. A gaggle of men in black body armor converge near the front door. Their guns are at the ready as one yells, “Columbia Police, search warrant.” The officer repeats himself, and then the door is down.

Once inside, the police yell. A shot is fired, then four more. A woman emerges from a back room crying. Her son, 7, walks in front of her slowly, his head bowed. He's so frightened he moves like a geriatric. The camera focuses on Jonathon Whitworth, the man the police are searching for. He's lying face down on the ground. “What is happening?" he asks. “Narcotics search warrant” is the only answer he receives.

That scene took place in Columbia, Missouri, on February 11, 2010. The Columbia Daily Tribune has been covering the story comprehensively since it broke. On April 27, the paper filed a records request for material related to the raid and received a video shot by a SWAT officer. On May 3, they released the video, and since then it has been viewed on YouTube more than 700,000 times.

By the time the police left the Whitworth home, two of the family's dogs had been shot, one fatally. A small amount of marijuana was found. And Whitworth was charged with drug possession and child endangerment. The last charge, seemingly, was just leverage. Whitworth eventually plead guilty to possessing drug paraphernalia. A $300 fine was assessed, and the other charges were dropped.

The Internet has been awash with comments since the video was released. Many are upset about the seemingly senseless killing of the dog. Some are worried that the amount of drugs found doesn't seem to justify a raid. Others have pointed to the uselessness of the War on Drugs, and the corresponding militarization of the police. Many are upset that a child was present throughout the terrifying scene. The Columbia Police Department recently announced that they have received hate mail from all over the planet. One such missive accused the department of being a group of “fat donut munching aholes.”

Me? I take an all-of-the-above perspective. Local police should not be acting like paramilitary gangs. They should not terrorize young children with automatic rifles, or shoot family pets. As a country, we should not be arresting 1.5 million people a year on drug charges.

In a way, I'm saddened that it takes an event so packed with emotion to create sympathy for the victims of the War on Drugs. The video raises some questions we all need to be asking ourselves. For example: Would the raid have been acceptable if there was no child present? If the police had kicked the dogs and not shot them? If they found the supply of marijuana they were expecting to find?

Of course not.

Photo Credit: StArHaCkT