Sheriff's Dogs, Piolin Por La Manana, ICE Raids,
Trip Start
Jun 09, 2007
1
17
Trip End
Jun 12, 2007
Hot Springs,
Arkansas,
United States
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Let me tell you about the Otero County Sheriff, then I will talk about Eduardo Sotelo el Piolin Por La Manana, Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity
The Otero County sheriff's department near alamogordo, New Mexico delivers pizza. When they are not hard at work delivering pizza, they work for animal control. Have to corral those animals, ya know. Finally, in their spare time they work as sheriff's deputies. At least that is what they allegedly said they did according to the El Paso County Times.
Our public servants, charged with serving and protecting the public, were performing 'normal policing activities" when they banged on the door of a supposed illegal immigrant at 4:30 in the morning. Based upon police abuse throughout the U.S. a knock on the door in the middle of the night in the Fatherland, oops, Homeland is getting to be normal.
According to the allegations, when the deputies roused the people living in the home, they demanded to be let in saying they worked for "Mia's Pizza".
Word is getting out to our immigrant population. You should not open the door to pizza delivery boys and other weird people who knock on your door at 4:30 in the morning. The frightened people in the house must have heard the news because they did not open the door.
Next, the allegations say, the honest sheriff's deputies claimed they worked for animal control. They demanded the residents open the door because their dog bit someone. Maybe our residents were wondering how their cat could have been confused for a dog. Maybe the only animals around were the unprofessional fools claiming to be pizza delivery boys. The frightened residents did not open the door.
Meanwhile, one of the deputies decided to climb in a window like real police do in the movies. He could not get in so he climbed back out. You can imagine an immensely over weight full time pizza delivery boy who is a part time sheriff's deputy trying to pull his fat belly off the ground. Having found his belly stuck beneath the window, he drops to the ground. The Times does not say this and maybe it didn't happen that way. Why else couldn't the deputy get through an open window?
Finally, in frustration, our deputies told the truth, an apparently rare event for them.
"Otero County Sheriff's Department, come outside."
The people inside opened the door. Sheriff's deputies changed their story again. They first allegedly were investigating a dog bite, but maybe they saw the cat, then they were investigating a refrigerator outside the house. I didn't know refrigerators were dangerous these days. The family says they were taken outside while our law abiding deputies allegedly searched the house. Dangerous refrigerators hide in strange places.
Lucy T., who is only 14 years old, said she asked the deputies if they had a warrant. According to the Times, the police response was "We don't need a warrant because of the refrigerator." Maybe they were afraid the refrigerator had crossed the border illegally.
In the United States of America where I grew up we did not allow police to waltz into houses without an order signed by a judge. We were protected by the 4th amendment to the Constitution preventing searches of private property without a warrant. Maybe they figured a judge was too smart to sign a warrant to search inside a house for an illegal refrigerator sitting outside.
"Other alleged incidents in the lawsuit include deputies telling a woman she had called 911 when she hadn't, and a deputy bursting into a house supposedly looking for "Tony"" according to the Times.
You have to be stupid to lie about a 911 call. Most of them are recorded. But then, they must be desperate for deputies in Otero County. All the good talent has been deported.
As it turned out, the 'huge round up' by our deputies posing as animal control netted several citizens and legal residents. They also found some undocumented workers.
That is the problem. One solution to abusive police activity is to file a law suit. When the county pays lots of money for violating the law they are sworn to uphold, the illegal activity by the police will stop. In the alternative, they are going to have to write a lot of traffic tickets.
The problem for our undocumented workers, they have already been deported. It is hard to win a lawsuit when you can't be present for the trial.
Many legal experts agree, don't open the door for strangers. Ask them for a warrant to search. Don't sign anything. Ask for an attorney if they question you. Don't lie. If you say you are a U.S. citizen and you are not, you are permanently barred from the U.S. Try to remember names and badge numbers. If you are a witness, take pictures.
This especially applies if you are a U.S. Citizen or Legal Resident, unless you like getting hauled down to the dog pound in the middle of the night until ICE or the police or the guys in the movies figure which breed you really are.
You have to wonder why the sheriff's department brazenly breaks the law, assuming the allegations are correct. Is it a complete lack of supervision? Is the guy in charge arrogant, or is he dumb? Or is it a failure of the judiciary to insist the sheriff's department follow the law or suffer consequences, which usually amount to dismissed cases?
What ever the problem is, if the allegations are true, the Department made a mockery of the law and the constitution and gave a black eye to every honest police department in the (father) land. Worse, they have placed an entire community in fear. Victims of crime will have to think twice before calling the dog pound for help.http://www.co.otero.nm.us/Sheriff/Sheriffs%20Site/ItsLa w.htm
Here is a message from your local sheriff:http:
//www.co.otero.nm.us/Sheriff/Sheriffs%20Site/ItsLaw.htm
About Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage, do you think they will stand up for the Otero County Sheriff's deputies? I guess they might on grounds of fair and balanced reporting. We are begining to learn what fair and balanced means by the way these fellows carry on. Someone forgot the 911 terrorists were not Mexicans.
Now about Eduardo Sotelo, Mr. Piolin Por La Manana. It is my opinion these kinds of police abuses are going to continue until we pass fair immigration reform. That won't happen until the Latino community unites with other oppressed communities. The last proposed immigration reform was not fair. We need a united village to force our congress into fair laws.
Those who are really interested in immigration reform should look for unity. That gives Eduardo Sotelo some pretty good reasons to correct the horrific error he and his team committed with me when his security team booted me off Piolin's caravan for freedom after using some hateful words, and after the Piolin bunch roasted me on the radio show the next day.
I recently found myself in an odd position of defending the great radio show host whose team treated me like garbage. Many people are angry at Piolin Por La Manana because immigration reform did not pass. I explained to them one person cannot do it all, even if he thinks he can. This is a process. There are many parts to it. One part is for Eduardo Sotelo to invite little guys like me into the immigration battle. You do that by treating us fairly. Another part is for guys like me to start talking about the immigration abuses going on in the country. I am doing my part.
Tim Paynter is an attorney and human rights activist who is in hiding from dangerous refrigerators. He calls Mia's Pizza when he needs help from law enforcement because he gets a quicker response than when he calls 911. He is thinking about getting some dangerous dogs so he can prevent animals from getting stuck in the window.
