Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Florida Bartender Killed By Police over 16 Grams of Marijuana

I saw an article about a  2005 SWAT team raid in Florida that caused the death of a man named Anthony Diotaiuto. He was 23 years old, working as a night shift bartender to pay his bills while he was going to college.

He only had one criminal conviction in his lifetime, a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge when he was 16, the state of Florida didn't think it was anything major, in fact, it didn't stop him from getting a state concealed carry gun licence.

He did still smoke marijuana, however, and officers had an informant buy an ounce of marijuana from him before they applied for a warrant to carry out a raid.



The officers entered the house before 7 am, while Mr. Diotaiuto was asleep after working a shift, they storm in, setting off a flash grenade, and when everything was over, he was dead.He was dead as the result of 10 gunshot wounds in his head, chest, arms, legs, and abdomen. The Sunrise Florida police department kept changing their story as to what happened, why the shot him. At first, a police spokesman said that he had a gun and pointed it at the officers while hiding in a closet.

Later the story changed, with the spokesman saying: "In all likelihood, that's what happened. I know there was a weapon found next to the body." The raid ended with a young man dead, all over only 16 grams of marijuana found in the house, a misdemeanor under Florida state laws. 

Why did this have to happen in the first place? It's clear he wasn't a gang leader, or a cartel hit man, so why the military style raid complete with automatic rifles and flash grenades? 

Better yet, why is recreational  marijuana use still illegal in 48 US states?

It's time to end the Drug War. How many more people will die unnecessarily because of it before we decide as a nation that we have had enough?  

4 comments:

  1. The Drug War hands gangs a black market in a commodity that most people want, while funneling a huge amount of cash into the government. It's disgusting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wth? BTW, I still gotta email you.

    ReplyDelete

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