Judge says no excessive force in artifact looting arrest

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Judge says no excessive force in artifact looting arrest

Published: December 11, 2015



SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge on Friday dismissed an excessive force lawsuit brought by the family of a Utah doctor who killed himself a day after his 2009 arrest in a multistate artifact looting investigation.

James Redd's family did not prove that Bureau of Land Management agents violated the doctor's constitutional rights, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled.

His widow, Jeanne Redd, filed the wrongful-death lawsuit in 2011, arguing that paramilitary agents overwhelmed her husband at gunpoint and subjected him to "inhumane and unjust acts."

But the judge disagreed, clearing BLM Agent Dan Love of any wrongdoing. Love oversaw the execution of search warrants at the Redd house in the small community of Blanding, Utah, on June 10, 2009, capping a two-year undercover operation in the Four Corners area of southern Utah.

Read more: http://www.tbo.com/ap/national/judge-says-no-excessive-force-in-artifact-looting-arrest-ap_national58232845b0f7454caf2572f4cb8ec5f4

[WhiteTara]

1. He thought he had absolute priviledge

and killed himself when he found out he didn't. He took the coward's route.

[pipoman]

2. We will send SWAT to your house for your next speeding ticket..

[WhiteTara]

3. stealing artifacts is somewhat different. nt

[Shrike47]

4. I have to agree.

[WhiteTara]

5. Also, he killed himself

which is also rather different than SWAT killing someone,

[christx30]

6. SWAT teams are vastly overused:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/09/19/federal-appeals-court-stop-using-swat-style-raids-for-regulatory-inspections/

They are just trying to justify their obscene budgets. But if you're looking for artifacts, maybe a normal search warrant would have worked just as well.

[Ned Flanders]

7. Did this affect the Bundy situation?

BLM agents cover a huge territory, so it is no surprise that this same agent was present at the Bundy standoff. But you gotta wonder: did the current lawsuit against Mr. Love affect the BLM's decision not to do anything about Bundy? Are they so terrified of personal liability and accusations of excessive force against them that they were afraid to arrest Bundy and his cronies?

On a tangent: the BLM isn't much liked in the desert regions, often for good reason. They lost me after they burned something like 500+ "attractive nuisance" cabins that were found out in the backcountry, often in violation of the National Antiquities Act. But this was a righteous arrest. Fuck the pothunters, claiming they're not bad people because when they dig up graves they leave the bones in the same location.