“I was thinking, is this some kind of nutjob?” Nope. Just a totally tooled-up federal marshall in SWAT gear pointing a rifle and laser at Louise Goldsberry through her kitchen window. Because that’s always the best way to ascertain if the fugitive you’re looking for is inside. Goldsberry did pretty much what you’d expect her to do. She screamed, dropped to the floor and made a bee-line for her .38 revolver. That’s when the pounding at the front door of her apartment started . . .

From heraldtribune.com:

Then, to the couple’s horror — and as Goldsberry huddled in the hallway with gun in hand — the front door they had thought was locked pushed open. A man edged around the corner and pointed a gun and a fiercely bright light at them, and yelled even more.

“Drop the f—— gun or I’ll f—— shoot you,” he shouted, then said it again and again, Goldsberry and (her boyfriend Craig) Dorris say.

Long horrifying story short, after a period of handcuffed confinement and gradually lowering adrenaline, it was finally determined that the fugitive who federal marshals and the Sarasota PD – two dozen or more – were looking for wasn’t in Goldsberry’s apartment.

The militarized marshal who lasered her – literally – through the window, and then was the first through her door was US Marshal Matt Wiggins. When asked by reporter Tom Lyons what brought on the home invasion and Ms. Goldsberry’s near-death experience, he said they’d gotten a tip that a child rapist was in the same complex.

The tip was never about Goldsberry’s apartment, specifically, Wiggins acknowledged. It was about the complex.

But when the people in Goldsberry’s apartment didn’t open up, that told Wiggins he had probably found the right door. No one at other units had reacted that way, he said.

Maybe none of them had a gun pointed at them through the kitchen window, I suggested. But Wiggins didn’t think that was much excuse for the woman’s behavior. He said he acted with restraint and didn’t like having that gun aimed at him.

“I went above and beyond,” Wiggins said. “I have to go home at night.”

Because it takes a Lex Luthor-like criminal mind to concoct a plan to knock on a door claiming to be police in order to get an occupant to open up.

Goldsberry was at home, I said. She had a gun pointed at her, too, and she wasn’t wearing body armor and behind a shield. She had no reason to expect police or think police would ever aim into her kitchen and cuss at her through her door to get in. It seemed crazy. She was panicked.

“We were clearly the police,” Wiggins insisted. “She can’t say she didn’t know.”

She does say so, actually.

“I couldn’t see them. They had a big light in my eyes,” Goldsberry said the next day. And that man she saw aiming a gun through her window had nothing visible that said “cop,” in her mind.

There are so many ways this could have gone wrong, there’s no point in detailing them here. We’re just glad Goldsberry wasn’t also a dog owner.

“I feel bad for her,” Wiggins conceded, finally. “But at the same time, I had to reasonably believe the bad guy was in her house based on what they were doing.”

True. Washing dishes in a sink is usually a surefire tip-off that someone’s harboring a sex criminal.

Goldsberry wasn’t arrested or shot despite pointing a gun at a cop, so Wiggins said, “She sure shouldn’t be going to the press.”

Sure hope her tax returns are in good order.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

150 COMMENTS

  2. There is an appropriate punishment for Marshall Wiggins. 1. Dismissal from the Marshall service; 2. trial and if convicted; 3. the whipping post with a cat-o-nine tails. Followed by a vinegar and black pepper rub into the lashes while still bleeding so that the scars are large and never heal properly.

    • Jeez–what country do YOU live in?! Marshall Wiggins is more likely to receive a letter of commendation, a monetary service award, and a promotion. If he’d shot Ms. Goldsberry, he’d have received, first, psychological assistance for PTSD and then a marksmanship medal before quietly being posted to a training position.

      Lemme just say two words: “Lon Horiuchi.”

      • Yeah, I agree. He will be commended and rewarded. The article never says what Ms. Goldsberry did afterwards. I’d be suing that SOB for everything he owns.

      • Non the less, what Mike suggested is what SHOULD happen. Unfortunately, he will suddenly become a personnel matter and garner union protection whereas if it were Joe Q. Public, it would be some serious criminal stuff.

    • How about charging this federal agent with burglary, aggregated assault with a firearm, and kidnapping…depending on the appropriate definition in the state that this occurred. If this had happened as stated, this agent is lucky to be alive. With that attitude and the carelessness he expressed, he will probably be dead soon enough, and unfortunately, he will probably take a real police officer with him

        • Civil rights violations are only when you have been found not guilty by a jury of your peers based on lack of evidence.

      • Well-said Bob7! I have four little fluffy dogs who wldve licked the officer/marshall(whatever his title)& then what? Blood-bath! He should be given time-off,reassessed for his ‘gung-ho’ attitude before he kills an innocent person!

    • ” Followed by a vinegar and black pepper rub”

      Here’s a great opportunity to do something different with the recipe: substitute any good, southern-style barbecue sauce. The hotter the better! There’s already lots of black pepper and vinegar, so no loss!

      • If you’re doing the BBQ rub, it must be followed up with the stake-out next to the fire ant hill

  3. There really should be some accountability for LE for doing things like this. I know they are trying to do their job, but I don’t see how just barging into a house unannounced is a recipe for anything but disaster. I mean really, If the cops are outside and the criminal might be in there, why do they have to rush in so that someone can get killed. He’s gotta come out sometime right? Didn’t that work just fine up until the 80’s when this whole SWAT thing started?

    • At a very minimum, in all situations like this they need to lose their jobs and pensions. In some cases, they need to face prison time. Only when they have consequences will they learn to act responsibly.

    • This just in: Apparently Federal Marshals have to rush in because they use secure encrypted radios to coordinate their barely-knock breakins. But they’ve lost 2000 of those very expensive new radios. Since criminals may now be listening in, speed and no communication have a certain urgency. Really, they’ve lost millions of dollars of encrypted radios, per the WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323664204578609720405017446.html?mod=WSJ_hpsMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

    • It gets pretty tiresome hearing over and over the justification for LEOs over-reacting, “I have to go home at night.”

      They are all volunteers. If they feel they cannot do the job legally and still “Go home at night” without terrorizing and/or shooting innocent “civilians” then perhaps they should find another line of work.

      Their job is to put themselves in harms way, when necessary, to uphold the laws of their jurisdiction. If their motivation instead is just to collect a paycheck and go home, they are NOT doing the job they were hired to do and took an oath to do.

  5. I am certain that the reason behind 85-90% of these raids is that they are just wicked fun to do.

    • I am reminded of a story that came out several months/years ago. The SWAT team illegally entered the wrong house. The woman was asleep in her bed when they burst into the room. She grabbed her pistol and was promptly murdered. They shot her 9 times. Oh, and by the way, she happened to be black. So it might be “wicked fun” in your eyes (you some sort of SWAT groupie?) but to the rest of us it’s part and parcel of Obama’s plan to enslave us all.

      • That was my point. It’s a bunch of douche bags screwing around at our expense with the toys we bought them.

      • This has been going on for decades, so how did this become Obama’s fault? Not defending Obama, there’s enough other stuff to blame him for, but to equate this to him is just your bias/hatred showing through.

        • Did you forget the campaign speech where he proclaimed that there needed to be a civilian force as well equipped and trained as the army? Yes, I hate Obama and yes, I blame the SOB for all the horror that HE is inflicting on our once great nation. You need to re-think your support of him.

        • M.C. Don’t support him, just using facts not an agenda. This had nothing to do with Obama, the militarization of our police forces started decades ago.

        • Sh1t like this make me realize that “The Shield” while entertaining TV is all too close to reality for some cops.

          I know there are plenty of good cops, and I know they are for the most part doing a job many wouldn’t do. But it is scary to think about the fact that the bad ones out there(the criminally evil AND the stupid douchebag types) can really fvck peoples lives up.

    • Roger that. And add to the adrenaline some steroids, and you’ve got a day you can tell the rookies about forever.

      SON OF A BITCH!! These bastids NEED killin’, and hopefully someone will oblige.

    • A few decades ago, I had been on an EST team while an USAF SP. It is fun. If you train enough, you learn that the fun stops when training stops. I cannot tell you how many times I “died” in training. Barging into a building with no backup, without identifying yourself, without having some clue who might be behind the door, without giving the suspect even the slightest chance to disarm and come out peacefully is nothing short of amateur hour. Oh, and barging into a random apartment…don’t let me get started on that one. If I understand the scenario correctly, this agent is lucky to be alive, and frankly, I am shocked at the lack of training and professionalism. I think this lady has a fairly good case that any lawyer would jump at.

  6. We citizens need to organize and protest against this police state. Public outcry is what needs to happen to bring about changes to how law enforcement interact with citizens. We all know that public outcry is what lead to GZ trial. If we can come together in large enough numbers and get behind cases such as this one and demand accountability then we may see some change.

    • The funny thing is that in the GZ case the police all behaved exactly as they should. They didn’t overreact to GZ being armed and having just shot someone. They tried to help TM. They placed GZ under arrest until things got cleared up. They then went out and found the truth eventually refusing to arrest GZ for anything.

      I think this is how most encounters with police go, but when things go wrong with police they can go fatally wrong and thats scary.

      • Cops and gun owners have a lot in common in America. We only hear about the bad ones. This wiggins ass hat represents cops in the way that the joker represents gun owners. The sad truth is that all media, including the webz, follows the same formula to drum up business.

        • +1.

          Still, the Marshall needs to have a lesson in manners. Alternatively, he could have his door pushed in, be handcuffed at gun point, and led out of his own home. I imagine that would greatly increase his compassion in future situations.

        • The Marshal is an ass hat and at the least he needs to be fired. Searching random apartments in hopes of finding a suspect and doing it without warrants sounds to me like a great way to add fuel to the fire. I’m glad no one was hurt.

  7. “She sure shouldn’t be going to the press.”

    No, she should be going to a lawyer. And I hope they each get a million of my tax dollars (we are borrowing from China) and the marshal’s pension to boot.

    This article appeared in the Wall Street Journal yesterday and I caught a link off of Drudge, so hopefully it will get about a billion page views – “Rise of the Warrior Cop” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323848804578608040780519904.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

    • BTW, guy with the Beretta kills one and wounds 6 with 31 shots while cops fire 250 rounds and score 2 hits. No mention of where the other 248 bullets landed.

    • +1 for the Bradley Balko plug. Rise of the warrior cop is probably one of the most important books written this decade.

  8. Are we completely sure its Wiggins and not Wiggum? Enough of your borax, poindexter!

  9. Let’s see, his pointing a weapon at her constitutes assault. Entering the house without a warrant is a civil rights violation and breaking and entering, threat of deadly force by the yelling and aggrivated assault with a deadly weapon, yet another civil rights violation by yelling drop the gun. I’d say the Marshall is lucky he didn’t die that day by a law abiding homeowner who I would never vote to convict based on those circumstances. You don’t get to knock and enter without a warrant or probable cause no matter who the EFF you think you are

    • Weren’t you paying attention during the Boston bomber manhunt? It seems these days that a criminal within a mile or two of your home is considered probable cause for a warrantless search nowadays.

      These kinds of raids will soon be obsolete, anyway. In a few more years, when the police get a call about a suspected rapist in an apartment complex, they’ll just turn the whole thing to rubble with Hellfire missiles from drones. After all, that cop has to go home at night, right?

    • If you read the WSJ article, you coulsd add that when they took her anD her BF outside in handcuffs, they added kidnapping to the other charges [they were NEVER under arrest].
      SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE, SUE…

  10. “She sure shouldn’t be going to the press.”

    Arguments for and against his actions
    that day could be made, but this is clearly
    intimidation.

    • Sorry there are NO arguments “for” his actions. What he did was inexcusable and criminal.

      • I didn’t say they were defensible, only that they could
        be made. And they probably will be if (hopefully when)
        this goes to court. What’s the likely-hood of any court
        action against the officer based on actions during the
        raid? About zero. But the intimidation by stating she
        (Goldsberry) should not talk to the press may be the opening needed to get this guy fired.

    • Probably intimidation. We don’t have a context.

      It could be a case of, “DAMN, I wish she hadn’t gone to the press; now I might have to face those pansies on the Civilian (sic) Review Board!”

  11. I don’t like cop bashing.

    That’s why this guy should not be a cop. He needs to be bashed. A good sound bashing in every sense of the word.

  13. …I can’t wait for the public to begin to entice these SWAT Teams into an enclosed building at some point….and then lock them down against heir will…set off a sprinkler alarm connected to barrels of gasoline-oil mix….drench..and ignite…but since that would be illegal, I would not recommend it….however…once we start convicting these pigs of treason…kill em’ any old’ way you like eh?

    Regards,

    RJ O’Guillory
    Author-
    Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family

    • And the above statement proves your moral superiority? Sir you need to meet with a mental health professional pronto

      • Who said anything about “moral superiority”? Oh yeah, you were criticizing HIM from one. I get it.

        It was funny. Here’s a little thing I learned that might help you out: THE WORD IS NOT THE GODDAMN THING!! What Groves said is NO DIFFERENT from what a novelist might do. And last I heard, no one ever told Stephen King he needed to “see a mental health professional”. Unless it was you.

    • Insane family says it all. Burning a man alive for pointing a gun and breaking into an apartment seems a bit harsh.

      • It seems less harsh when the pointer does so under the color of law with the backing of the entire federal government.

        • A lot of jihadis responded to this post. Burn them alive. Cat o nine tails. Very graphic and active scenarios from the “Sit on the sidelines and encourage others to do it” crowd.

      • The problem is that most of you think in the “moment” and you do not associate any of these “dis-connected events” to one another…well boys I was a “federally protected whistle-blower” for US DoD for almost 25 years..they are evil..they have evil intentions and you people do not have the vision, the balls or the mind to see it…that is why they are hiding their money-production in the form of inflation…through the repackaging or your everyday products….have you not noticed the smaller packaging but the same prices at the retail level? By maintaining the retail price somewhere near “comfortable”…they keep you people unaware…I mean do you idiots not see the building of WW3 as China, Russia & the US battle for control of the remaining minerals, oil and other commodities? You people would rather make fun of someone who spent a quarter century trying to stop the abuse, the corruption… and now that you have to deal with a government that completely disregards the Constitution… Federal Law..and any sense of morality…and you want to question my sanity or POV? You abusive idiots are all effing’ losers….good luck when the dollar collapses…the point is…you are all fighting for your liberty and freedom…and it has nothing to do with these abusive “symptoms”…get to the core illness…your government is corrupt to it’s core…and you people have been doing nothing about it…because you can buy a beer for a buck and still get 3 tacos for four bucks..at Taco Bell….good luck when all that falls apart…..idiots…

        Regards,

        RJ O’Guillory
        Author-
        Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family

        • Yes everbody’s an idiot but RJ. What am I gonna do when the dollar collapses? What I have been doing. My house is paid for and I’m debt free. I don’t pay for cable and most of my purchases are used. I have supplies and real money put away. I have a network of people I can count on.

          Other than being a protected snitch with a superiority complex, what have you done?

        • Well…JWM…..let us see what “else” I have done? First of all…I only called the people insulting me an “idiot”…perhaps if you had learned to pay attention in school…you might have noticed that…secondly… in spite of receiving a poorly produced “public education” and only graduating from High-School…I managed to live and work in Japan, Germany, Bosnia, Hungary, Croatia, Korea…all across the US & Europe…at the pay-grade of a Lt. Colonel…I learned how to manage 20 different types of businesses and then went on to teach people how to manage and develop businesses on military installations around the world…I was a Federal Diversity Instructor and a Federal EEO Investigator…and in my role as an NSF Sanitation Inspector & Instructor…I prevented the US Government from selling millions of dollars worth of out-of-date Burger King Whopper meat to the unsuspecting Japanese people…who would have suffered from terrible food-poisoning…something I think I’ll tolerate the handle “snitch” for….

          So…other than writing a memoir that is in front of a major film producer right now and is being considered for production….one of the only other things I’ve done… is receive a personal tour of Air Force One…other than that…not much…how about you? Let us know about your great accomplishments …and congrats on being ready for the collapse…
          I hope you are helping others prepare.

          Regards,

          RJ O’Guillory
          Author-
          Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family

        • RJO, I’ll believe the movie when i see a review of it on TTAG. Til then, this is the interwebz, lotsa people making lotsa claims. And in my own humble little way i’m trying to prepare people for all of lifes little setbacks. So even if the buck don’t collapse they can live a better life not chained to debt.

        • JWM…my book is being considered for film but I’ve made a commitment that the review be confidential. I never said it was a done deal….but I am told by WGA members that my memoir has 4-6 hours of “film-ready-material”…so if that turns out to be true…my film project will come to life… perhaps you should read the e-book version of my memoir…then you will understand my relationship with corrupt police and government…as my Dad & Brother were both violent, corrupt cops and my Mom was the corrupt Court Clerk…who embezzled thousands from the ticket fund…

          Regards,

          RJ O’Guillory
          Author-
          Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family

    • I like your style. Too bad the people will never do that and the scumbag cops will continue their reign of terror.

  14. I don’t know why people like Wiggins don’t understand that his actions weren’t effective in making sure he went home at night but quite the opposite. His actions greatly increased the chance that he would not be going home that night solely because of a hero complex based on some tip? Your job as LE is to protect and serve, not violate and aggrivate. The moment you stop protecting and serving and start putting innocent lives at risk, you should be immediately removed from your position

    • Noone, I will soon retire with 30 years as a Peace Officer . Sadly, the number of Peace Officers’ is diminishing while the numbers of LEOs is increasing. One cares about the Peace and its maintenance, the others are all about enforcing the law without regard ,their view is we are US and everyone else is them. LEOs don’t generally acknowledge the inherent, constitutionally guaranteed equality of citizens, they are by virtue of their organic mindset, training and relationship with the state assumed to be somehow better, different and behave accordingly. Their personal safety is more important than everyone else’s. What did DUSM Wiggins say about going home at night? We can be confident DUSM Wiggins didn’t give a fiddlers hoot for anyone’s wellbeing but his own. Bottom line, we are either being served and protected or we are in fact being occupied by an increasingly militarized, standing quasi army. Armies don’t need warrants and are not bound by due process. Keep your powder dry.

  16. If you live in a nice, crime-free area, are you more likely to have your home invaded by pigs or by rats? And if people came into your home hot, would you like to get off the first shots or would you wait for incoming?

    This sh1t will not stop until a lot of SWAT boys are sent home in body bags.

    • +10,000, Ralph. The gun-snatchers like to sob, “enough is enough!”

      Well, it’s high time WE did the same thing about these maniacs with licenses to kill…

      • I’m not advocating executing cops. But I am advocating self-defense.

        If cops were to come to my door reasonably (the way they should have in this case), I’ll make them coffee and sandwiches. Hell, we can set a spell and swap stories about our favorite donuts. But anyone who comes through my door hot will leave immediately. Upright or feet first, it’s up to them.

  17. I’ll try NOT to defame/inflame …… our neighborhood is close to large NC university, with predictable mix of people living here. We have had a light mix of criminal activity over the years, one of which was a sex deviant, who my wife caught trying to peep in the bathroom window, with flashlight. Large dog dissuaded his activity. Think about that for a minute Marshal Wiggins. Put yourself in the place of a homeowner, who also want to be at home in peace.

  19. My question, was the sex offender known to be armed and dangerous? If not, why the swat style raid? Also, no warrant? Law suit gonna be pricey.

    • The person they were looking for was a black homeless man. The local homeless population turned him in. I had the misfortune to be driving nearby shortly after the original incident where the man had lured a 5 your old female child with promises of candy and had then beaten and raped her.
      I had turned this in several days ago and I’m glad someone else also had noticed it so it gets more than local views.

  20. I was nonplussed to read the officer quoted as saying “I went above and beyond. I have to get home at night.” “Above and beyond” used to mean assuming extra risk and extending extra effort to do your job well. Now, to this Marshall, it apparently using extra weapons, aggression, and sans-warrant intrusion at night, foul language, cuffing of citizens, because he had a “tip” that there was a fugitive somewhere in the complex? Would he make the same assumptions if the tip were about someone in the Watergate residential complex? Didn’t think so.

    Has it dawned on anyone in federal LE that it would be much cheaper and safer to put two LEO pairs on stakeout and a pair to do quiet inquiries, and take their time? If not, why not?

  22. “I went above and beyond,” Wiggins said. “I have to go home at night.”

    And there, people, is the nut of the issue. The cop’s life is oh so very much more important than yours. He believes (and indeed, has been told – repeatedly – by politicians, his “leadership,” and his union hacks) that his existence is paramount to the continuance of American civilization.

    The rest of you “civilians” can FOAD. You’re just so much dog feces on the bottom of his boot.

    There in that one quote is why I increasingly hold LEO’s in contempt.

    If you cops don’t like the risk of the job, go get a different one – eg, where the greatest threat of injury or death is from bleeding out of a paper cut. Otherwise, grow a pair and start giving the taxpayers some evidence that you’re the “professionals” you claim to be.

  24. I hope her multi-million dollar settlement consoles her experience enough.

    She’ll have enough money to move away from those f***tards and never work a day again.

    • That settlement should not come from taxpayer funds. It should come from the wage garnishment or assets of the thugs involved.

      This behavior by uniformed thugs will not stop until they suffer personal loss (of assets, property or lives) from doing these things. Giving the plaintiffs tax monies provides no accountability or feedback to the thugs involved – they’re still able to go through their day, eating donuts and indebting the taxpayer with their unfunded pensions.

      • Problem with that is his salary is paid for with tax payer dollars, so no matter how you go after him financially, we the people are paying for it 🙁

      • I like this! If the LEOs at all levels are allowed to seize the assets of criminals they apprehend, isn’t it a reasonable response to jackbooted thuggery that the assets of the department/personnel involved are seized by the innocent victims? Might motivate a bit more caution.

  25. Stories like this make me yearn for the good old days of Boston–at least they were polite about it.

  27. I guess the 4th amendment is dead when the lolice can enter any home “in the general area” of a suspect. The thing is there wasnt even hot pursuit, they didn’t have eyeballs on the guy. So instead of just covering the unit and sending some guys to calmly knock on her door they kick it in. I hope she sues the marshalls and any other LE agency on the scene for millions, this is america we have the right to not be terrorized by our own police forces.

    • General area. A house, street, neighborhood, city, county, or state. What exactly is general?

    • Actually, if you read the entire account, they “knocked” – POUNDED and cursed- and she said Wig-Out “opened” it, though she thought it was locked. No need to make the story worse than it is.

  28. Just goes to show, if you don’t have a gun you’re safe from the police. That’s the message they want heard. You’re safe from the police but defenseless from the criminals, including police that don’t want to follow the law. They know there is nothing we can do against this kind of abuse, they hold all the power and are considered innocent until proven guilty, we “civs” are always considered guilty until proven innocent, and the officer gets to be judge, jury, and executioner if they decide.

    Our reasonable response to what we perceive as a break in is to defend ourselves, the reasonable response for police to having a gun pointed at them is force. We don’t know if they are legal or illegal break ins, but my response would probably be the same for either.

  29. If the cops are outside and the criminal might be in there, why do they have to rush in so that someone can get killed.

    They don’t.

    With a dozen guys they can lock down a perimeter and go methodically door to door. The problem, in part, is a mis-balance of kinetic vs. investigative training. Too many live fire exercises. The training needs to get aligned with the actual mix of encounters.

    Hell, going into a “complex” after one guy, you’re going to be what, 12:1, 20:1, more encounters with people going about their business vs. the bad guy?

    Along with that, liability needs to extend to immediate command – who thought it was a good idea to let that crew go in that way? Base command – what other resources and responses were available, and senior leadership for allowing a bad culture and misallocating resources.

    The solution here is every SWATting where the intended, armed target does not shoot first gets treated like the assault it is.

    • Very good point. They should have sent detectives in. Plus, an alleged fugitive warrant should not give them latitude to violate the 4th Amendment on an entire apartment complex.

      • Only if the detectives are in dress uniforms. “Undercover” and “Plainclothes” needs to end along with SWAT. Government employees should be readily identifiable from a distance of 100 yards.

  31. And they need a 30-man team in SWAT gear to arrest a suspected child-rapist for what reason?

  32. SWAT, all of the aggression and machine guns and dressing up like a ninja of the military but without the crap pay, crap food, oppressive discipline, or bad guys who shoot back.

  33. Chief Wiggum or what ever his name was took some ill actions and kinda failed at defending himself, but at least the lady still has a face.

    Wall St Journal has a good piece on the militarization of cops this weekend… if one should be curious.

  34. This exact reason I have a very good lawyer, and tons and tons of time, in her case I would stfu and then sue sue sue till his ass ends up under a bridge downtown.

  35. The real problem is that the some of the police no longer understand and empathize with the communities that they work in — SWAT just makes things worse – how can we then expect an “elite” police _force_ to?

    That said, if a person goes through their entire life and career seeing probably the worst and scum of society; how can that not have an impact on his mental state.

    • When it has impacted his mental state, get him out of SWAT. He needs to do something until he returns to normal, like play ground duty, without any weapons.

      • Where adults work with dangerous things there is what is called a “Human Reliability Program.” Wiggins would be counting out playing cards between visits to the shrink.

  36. This kinda crap is why my doors have half-inch thick steel locking bars. I wanna see the fat mall ninja SWAT wannabe that can smash that open.

  37. I like that it is pointed out that he lazed her throught the window. In the military all of our lasers are considered weapons and covered by ROE. These pigs are out of control.

  38. Florida needs an Indiana style law so that when punks like this screw up on the 4th Amendment etc. they are paid for. Marshal Wiggins is lucky that this wasn’t the home of some of us that are prepared for a home invasion or he could have been getting a ride in his own body bag. What a punk.

    • Unfortunately you would probably have your own body bag, as well as anyone else in your home.

      • Actually, I don’t keep body bags around. What I meant by that is the one SWAT had with them, in other words the one he planned to use for a perp. Plus, if you read my post in its entirety, I didn’t specifically say “me” I said like many of us here. Plus, there are some guy son here that actually train SWAT teams so reflect on that one a bit.

  39. Been a cop since December of 1972. Over the years I’ve seen what appears to be a slow change in the attitude of folks in law enforcement in general. They seem to be getting a more aggressive attitude. Maybe it’s just me getting older, but I don’t think so.

    At any rate, whoever was the supervisor on this scene should have his ass removed from office. No warrant, no probable cause, no justifiable reason whatsoever to enter the residence with force Glad no innocent people were hurt, but the payout is gonna be huge.

    • They seem to be getting a more aggressive attitude. Maybe it’s just me getting older, but I don’t think so.

      No, it’s not you, although the attitude of the police started to turn in the late 60s during the Vietnam War protests, just a bit before you started wearing the blue. Now cops have become so detached from the communities that they’re supposed to protect that they only protect each other. The communities count for exactly d1ck.

    • I assure you that it isn’t just you becoming older. I’m becoming older too, and I’ve noticed this change in stance and attitude from cops all over the country, with the possible exception of very rural areas.

  40. This is another case of an asswipe “officer” on an adrenaline rush trying to prove he’s not worthless. Not only should he be canned from the Marshals, he should be prisoned and fined, and while were at it, take his firearm license away, I know the more armed the better, but even we need to have standards of who shouldn’t own a gun, and this moron is a prime example. He’ll probably go brag to his buddies while pointing his Desert Eagle in their face.

  41. “But at the same time, I had to reasonably believe the bad guy was in her house based on what they were doing.”
    They were doing THEIR DISHES for fvck’s sake! How the hell did this tool get to be a cop, and how is he still a cop?
    Also, why were the US Marshals involved?

    • I’d like an answer to that also! SINCE WHEN did U.S. Marshals do armed pursuit of homeless pedophiles?

  42. ” I have to get home at night.”

    That’s it in a nutshell. Police attitudes have gone from “protect and serve” to “protect me and my own.” They have no concern for us.

  43. “I went above and beyond,” Wiggins said. “I have to go home at night.”

    Some people like not to get shout in their homes at night by cops screwing up without warrants and stuff. Wiggins needs a new job.

  44. Holy crap. Stories like this are becoming all too common in the daily news. What ever happened to accountability and professionalism like was demonstrated at Waco…

  45. Marshal Wiggins should be taken out of the field and assigned to the PIO office, given his way with words and eloquent apology.

    There should be a federal law requiring a normally uniformed officer in marked unit
    accompany all tactical operations and be made available for citizens to verify who is at the door.

  46. Wow – What a defensively arrogant SOB. His attitude about not shooting her came across that he only did her the favor, because he didn’t want to ruin his day. I didn’t read that he apologized in any way, because he probably did not.

    • He’s a Fed. They get attitude with their tin. Competence and professionalism, not so much.

      • I would like to see Matt Dillon pistol whip Wiggins and give him some manners. Could you imagine if that was Miss Kitty?

  47. When law enforcement starts policing their own and purging itself of asshats like this, then maybe I’ll start trusting them again. I don’t look for that to happen anytime soon, however.

  49. Until these rogue officers get hit with major civil judgements and they start losing their home, bank accounts and their recreational vehicles. Nothing would be more satisfying than to see Marshal Wiggins lose in civil court, and then have his home and possessions sold at a sheriff`s sale. Even better, him and his family thrown on the bricks. Maybe then you will see behaviors change.

  50. Since when are police or any federal agency allowed to enter your residence without a warrant?

    Slightly hypothetical,… if she had a rifle and put him down when he entered illegally…would she get fried?

  51. I’ve saw this the other day online at a few places. Turns out the police involved didnt have a warrant either, more icing on the cake in this story. That doesn’t suprise me given several of the similar stories popping up recently (ie Nevada domestic violence sting). Still I’d be suing everyone involved, even though I suspect little would come of it

  52. TTAG
    This story brings to mind a topic I’ve thought needs discussion.

    What is the appropriate response for various police actions?

    In this story, SWAT-like techniques were used to pursue a “child rapist”. Were SWAT techniques needed for this offender? Was this person known to be armed and dangerous or just a pervert with no proclivity towards violence against law enforcement? Recently in NC, a group of undercover officers came at a college student, guns drawn, because they suspected the student had purchased alcohol for underage students. The student had purchased no alcohol and posed no threat to the officers. It seemed to me that the appropriate procedure would have been to walk up, show the badge and ask to see what was in the grocery bag.

    These over the top procedures for suspects that don’t typically pose a threat to the officers seem to put a lot of non-police civilians in a great deal of danger. Are these strategies the police using a part of their standard operating procedures or are they just going overboard for the fun of it? Is there a continum of responses or just one or two options that are used?

    I know that the police get hammered if they overreact and also if an officer gets killed by not using a sufficient force needed by the situation. But where is the pendulum now and which way is it swinging?

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