Category: Law & Order

Wyoming’s Second Amendment Preservation Act Passes Despite Law Enforcement Opposition

While the current threat to our gun rights from the federal government is minimal, it was just a couple of years ago when we had to worry about all sorts of things. President Autopen was a big fan of gun control, and if he’d gotten his way, we’d just be left with nothing but double-barreled shotguns to shoot at bad guys through the door.

As a result, some pro-gun states started looking at ways to protect the gun rights of the people who live there. Missouri led the charge, and while that law ran into some judicial issues, the sentiment remains.

Wyoming, however, just passed a law that is essentially the same thing, but with a couple of tweaks, and law enforcement isn’t thrilled with this.

After a lively debate on the Wyoming House floor Thursday, a bill aimed at keeping federal agents from seizing Wyoming residents’ guns passed its final vote.

Having previously passed the Senate, Senate File 101, the Second Amendment Protection Act (SAPA), passed the House on third reading by a vote 40 to 21.

It must pass concurrence with both chambers before heading to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk. Gordon vetoed a similar bill during the 2025 legislative session.

If it becomes law, SAPA will forbid Wyoming law enforcement officers from assisting federal agents in seizing residents’ firearms, ammunition or firearms accessories.

It would also allow residents whose guns have been unjustly seized to seek civil damages.

‘Sword Of Damocles’

Law enforcement officials say SAPA would undermine their joint operations with federal agents on drug busts, tracking illegal immigrants and similar cases.

During debate leading up to the vote on Thursday, dissenting lawmakers reiterated law enforcement’s concerns.

Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, a retired peace officer, said the bill rests on a false premise.

“A false premise that the only way we can keep our Wyoming peace officers from violating your constitutional rights and your next-door neighbor’s constitutional rights is to hang the sword of Damocles over their heads with a $50,000 civil judgment on it,” he said.

Now, I get some of why law enforcement organizations dislike this bill. One argument against it is that an officer could well be sued for an action that was, at the time he carried it out, presumed to be constitutional, only for it to be ruled later as unconstitutional. That’s a fair concern, in my book, though I also think that maybe people need to understand that any gun control law should be presumed as unconstitutional until proven otherwise, but that’s just me.

However, Rep. Washut has a lot more faith in some of his former colleagues than I do.

I’m not anti-cop. I was raised by a police officer and around police officers. I know that most are good people who are trying to do a difficult job in a very difficult time.

But I also know that a lot of them are also likely to just keep their heads down and do what they’re told in way too many instances. That’s just human nature, and to think that every police officer in the state will do otherwise is naive, at best.

Others argued that this is a bill trying to solve an issue that simply doesn’t exist.

My response is that it may not exist at the moment, but it will exist sooner or later unless we’re very careful.

Of course, those who say this isn’t solving a real issue are the very same people who support making this a very real issue, so take that as you will.

Change in Ohio law makes murder convictions tougher when self-defense claims used

DAYTON — A 2021 change to Ohio law is making it more difficult for prosecutors to secure murder convictions when a defendant claims self-defense.

As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the law shifted the burden of proof to the state, requiring prosecutors to prove a defendant did not act in self-defense rather than requiring the defense to prove they did.

The impact of the legal update was recently seen in two Montgomery County murder trials that ended in acquittals for William Pointer and Anthony Perkins.

These cases come as police and prosecutors continue to navigate a system where defendants are now presumed to have acted in self-defense once the claim is raised.

Under the current Ohio statute, a defendant can claim self-defense as long as they were not the initial aggressor.

While the core definition of self-defense remains, the 2021 update changed the legal requirements during a trial.

Previously, defense attorneys carried the burden of proving that their client acted in self-defense, but the law now presumes the defendant acted in self-defense unless the state can prove otherwise.

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Indianapolis Police Get It Right on First, Second Amendments

I’ve never been one to make a big deal out of Valentine’s Day, but I can think of about a million things more romantic than going out and protesting ICE with my sweetheart. I can’t imagine that an anti-ICE protest in downtown Indianapolis on Valentine’s Day is going to draw a huge crowd, but its organizers are hoping for a big turnout, include armed demonstrators.

If anyone is hoping that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will be cracking skulls and arresting those who dare exercise their First and Second Amendment rights at the same time, they’re going to be sorely disappointed.

A group called Strong Neighbor is hosting the protest at the Abraham Lincoln statue in University Park, at least partly in response to the comments by President Donald Trump and other administration officials suggesting there’s no such thing as peaceably carrying a gun at a protest after the killing of anti-ICE activist Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month.

Strong Neighbor calls those statements “an attack and dismissal of our constitutional rights,” though the group’s broader disagreement seems to be with the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. The following Monday, for instance, the group will be taking part in a “Gen Z Against ICE” protest. For those not interested in protesting, though, next weekend they’ll be hosting a “Potting Party” where attendees can “plant seeds you can take home, learn about hydroponics, and build community”. No word on whether lawfully possessed firearms will be welcome at either of those events.

In response to the planned protest, the IMPD put out a statement making it clear that there’s no conflict between the First and Second Amendment, at least from the agency’s perspective and that of state and federal law.

The presence of guns at a protest is both not a crime nor a reason for law to intervene, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department statement said.

Our team recognizes that the visible presence of firearms can make some community members uncomfortable or concerned,” the statement reads. “The IMPD recognizes and respects the constitutional rights of all members of the community to peacefully assemble and exercise free speech.”

That’s all that needs to be said, really. And so long as the “strong neighbors” who show up for the protest aren’t violent, I wish them well.

If, on the other hand, there are protesters who cross the line, as we’ve seen at another anti-ICE protest in Indiana, I suspect the IMPD is going to quickly move to take that individual into custody. Just pointing a gun at someone who’s not threatening you is a serious offense, as Ryan D. Hughes has learned. The anti-ICE demonstrator’s been charged with a felony and a misdemeanor for allegedly pointing a loaded shotgun at the driver of a van passing by the protest, as well as purportedly pepper-spraying several of his fellow protesters.

I sincerely hope that nothing like that happens in Indianapolis tomorrow, but as we’ve seen with other protests and counter-protests about ICE, they don’t just bring out the passionate. They have a tendency to bring out the nutballs as well.

Personal Defense Tip: The Castle Doctrine Isn’t Absolute.

As part of January’s general grab-bag of weirdness, a Texas man is being charged with murder after he shot an armed home intruder. I know what you’re thinking: What about the castle doctrine? Not to mention it’s Texas. So what’s going on?

The comment section on the rather vague news reports are filled with opinionated social media experts claiming this guy will be out in no time and that he should totally sue local law enforcement for wrongful imprisonment. So, what’s the truth?

The truth is the castle doctrine isn’t absolute. That means you can’t do whatever the heck you feel like in your own home. Rules, people…there are rules.

Disclaimer: As always, please remember that I’m not an attorney and this isn’t legal advice. It’s simply information (and a dose of supposition) based on experience.

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Don’t do what Mr. Griffin did.

Criminal defense attorney explains manslaughter charges after suspected burglar killed

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – A man has been charged with voluntary manslaughter after admitting to police that he shot a burglary suspect.

This happened on Robin Hood Lane in Memphis this Thursday. Marques Griffin, 30, told police he heard a noise in his apartment and found a man in his living room.

According to MPD, Griffin followed the intruder outside and fired three shots as the man ran away.

The suspected burglar died at the hospital.

Phil Harvey, the owner of Harvey Criminal Defense Lawyers, said that based on Griffin’s charges, MPD and the DA’s office decided he did not have a legitimate self-defense claim.

“If it’s true that Mr. Griffin shot someone outside of the home, then there’s a question of whether or not that self-defense statute applies,” said Harvey.

Harvey said Tennessee does not have a “Stand Your Ground” law.

He said the self-defense statute is written to apply when the victim is in their home and responding to a threat who is also inside or actively coming in.

“The standard ‘no duty to retreat’ part of that statute simply says you have to have a reasonable fear of what they call ‘imminent danger,’” said Harvey.

Harvey said that means that for deadly force to be considered self-defense, the victim has to be under an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury.

Harvey said there is established case law on this type of incident.

“Tennessee v. Garner… It’s a 1985 case. A U.S. Supreme Court case that came out of Tennessee that actually dealt with whether or not police can shoot a fleeing felon. And in that case, it dealt with a burglary suspect who was running away and was shot by the police. And the federal courts decided that it is a violation of the Fourth Amendment,” said Harvey.

Griffin remains behind bars on a $50,000 bond and is slated to reappear in court on Monday.

Police Search for TWO Persons of Interest in Brown University Shooting

As the search for the Brown University shooter who killed two students and injured multiple others drags on, police are now searching for a second person of interest in connection with the shooting.

Fox News reported Wednesday that the “mystery deepens” as police continue to insist they have no identity for a potential suspect. Now, Providence Police are asking for help with an individual “in proximity of the person of interest,” as seen below.

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FBI stops planned New Year’s Eve Los Angeles bombing by ‘anti-capitalist,’ anti-ICE terror cell

WASHINGTON — The FBI arrested five members of an “anti-capitalist, anti-government” extremist group on Friday and charged them with an alleged plot to carry out coordinated bombings in and around Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, according to officials and a criminal complaint.

The “credible, imminent terrorist threat” to five unidentified companies’ logistics centers in Southern California came from radical members of an offshoot of the left-wing Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), FBI Director Kash Patel and other law enforcement officials revealed Monday.

The splinter group called themselves the Order of the Black Lotus and passed along an “eight-page, handwritten document titled ‘OPERATION MIDNIGHT SUN’” that laid out the bombing plot to a confidential FBI source, according to a criminal complaint filed Saturday in Los Angeles federal court.

Four of the suspects were collared in Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert, where they were captured on video attempting to test improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Los Angeles first assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli told reporters at a news conference.
The quartet — Audrey Ilene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41 — have been charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device. A fifth unidentified suspect was arrested in New Orleans while planning a separate attack.

Carroll and Page led the group and convened a private Signal chat where they used codenames, with Carroll identified as “Asiginaak,” Page identified as “Ash Kerrigan” or “cthulu’s daughter,” Gaffield as “Nomad” and Lai as “Kickwhere.”

The group had begun assembling the “complex pipe bombs” with “homemade gunpowder” in the desert when FBI agents arrested them on Dec. 12.

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When Seconds Counted, St. Louis Police Were Hours Away

A St. Louis woman was held at gunpoint and assaulted in her apartment for several hours this past weekend, and though a neighbor heard her cries for help and called 911, police didn’t respond until after the victim was able to get to a phone hours later.

25-year-old Miles Faris is facing charges of first-degree kidnapping, second- and third-degree domestic assault, unlawful use of a weapon, and multiple drug charges, but police have not been able to take him into custody because he fled the apartment before officers arrived on scene.

In court documents, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department acknowledged there was a call reporting a woman screaming in the apartment where the incident happened, but “due to a high level of calls that night, police were not able to respond to that call.”

The victim said he then told the woman he would kill her, her family and her friends, and told her to Facetime her mother to say goodbye. He chambered a round and held the gun to her head, reiterating that he was going to kill her, police said.

The victim recorded some of the incident on her phone, including video that showed Faris pointing the gun at her multiple times while appearing “heavily intoxicated.” Faris also said he wanted to bash the woman’s skull in, and that if she didn’t wake up in the morning, he would be the No. 1 suspect, according to charging documents.

According to a police spokesperson, police officers in the area had 27 separate calls for service between 5 and 8 p.m. last Saturday, with one of them involving shots fired. The spokesman told KSDK-TV that the original 911 call from the neighbor didn’t include any information about weapons being involved or a potentially life-threatening situation taking place, so it was essentially put on the back burner in favor of calls that were deemed more important.

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That smartphone, in fact any cell phone, in your pocket, doesn’t have to have the GPS activated for it, and thus you, to be tracked. That also applies to all these modern cars with any sort of ‘connectivity’ even if a subscription for some of the services has been paid for.
Just saying.
That’s how they tracked down this guy and also one of the ways they tracked down the murderer of the college students in Idaho 3 years ago.

Brown University shooting: What to know about person in custody

A person of interest is in custody after a gunman opened fire at Brown University over the weekend, killing at least two people and wounding nine others, officials announced.

Providence Police Department Chief Col. Oscar Perez said Sunday that the individual detained is a man in his 20s. Authorities are not currently searching for anyone else in the case.

The attack took place one day earlier at the Providence, Rhode Island, school at about 4 p.m., law enforcement said, prompting a shelter-in-place order that forced students and faculty to spend the night on campus.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley later told reporters that of the nine people shot, one has been discharged, one remained in critical condition and the other seven victims were in stable condition.

Officials have not yet released the names of those who were killed. Smiley also said that not all of the victims’ families have been notified as of early Sunday afternoon.

Law enforcement was still reviewing surveillance footage, coordinating with prosecutors, collecting evidence and speaking to witnesses on Sunday to gather more information about the suspected shooter, Perez explained.

Here’s what we know so far about the person in custody in connection to the Brown shooting, including where he was reportedly detained:

Who is person of interest in Brown University shooting?

Police have released few details about the person of interest, aside from confirming the man is in his 20s. Authorities initially described the shooting suspect as a man who wore all black.

No charges had been announced in connection to the case as of Sunday afternoon, and Perez told reporters the person detained has not yet been named a suspect in the shooting.

“It takes time, we have to make sure we have all the right evidence to prosecute,” Perez said during an afternoon press conference.

Gov. Daniel James McKee asked the nation to pray for the victims, their families and all those involved.

“The community is suffering and in pain,” McKee said during the press conference. “We stand with you.”

Where was the person taken into custody?

The person detained was taken into custody early in the morning at a hotel in Coventry, according to an update from the FBI. Coventry is located in Kent County, about 16 miles southwest of Brown,

FBI Director Kash Patel said law enforcement used cellular data to track the person of interest to a hotel room where he was detained by US Marshals and Providence police, based off a tip from the Coverntry Police Department.

The person, local  WJAR-TV reported, was apprehended at the Hampton Inn there.

@FBIBoston established a command post to intake, develop and analyze leads, and run them to ground.

We activated the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, to provide critical geolocation capabilities.

As a result, early this morning, FBI Boston’s Safe Streets Task Force, with assistance from the @USMarshalsHQ & the @Coventry_RI_PD, detained a person of interest in a hotel room in Coventry, RI, based off a lead by the @ProvidenceRIPD .

We have deployed local and national resources to process and reconstruct the shooting scene – providing HQ and Lab elements on scene.

We set up a digital media intake portal to ingest images and video from the public related to this incident.

And the FBI’s victim specialists are fully integrating with our partners to provide resources to victims and survivors of this horrific violence.

This FBI will continue an all out 24/7 campaign until justice is fully served.

Thanks to the men and women of the FBI and our partners for their continued teamwork. Please continue praying for the victims and their families – as well as all those at Brown University.

A follow-up to an earlier post.

Charges filed against man shot by manager during Murray jewelry store robbery

MURRAY — Criminal charges were filed Thursday against an Oregon man who police say attempted to rob a jewelry store in Murray and ended up being shot by a store manager.

Beyker Villegas, 22, of Redmond, Oregon, is charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated kidnapping, first-degree felonies.

On Nov. 25, two men walked into Sierra-West Jewelers, 6190 S. State. One man “was wearing a long black wig, and the other had a scruffy brown wig, fake mustache and beard,” according to charging documents. Both were wearing dark jackets and matching black and red plaid pants.

As the assistant manager asked if he could help, Villegas “pulled a gun,” the charges state. The manager attempted to press the silent alarm, but Villegas pulled him to the middle of the floor.

“(The assistant manager) was unable to understand the suspects because they were yelling in Spanish. Villegas kicked him in the leg and gestured to the ground,” according to the charging documents.

As the men attempted to duct tape a woman also working at the store, the assistant manager grabbed his concealed firearm and fired a round into the ground. That prompted both Villegas and his partner to try and get the gun away from him, the charges say.

“(The assistant manager) shot another round toward Villegas. As the suspects ran outside, (he) hit Villegas in the head several times with his firearm. (The assistant manager) attempted to stop the suspects from leaving, but they were able to get in their vehicle and dragged (him) with the car as they backed up,” according to the charges.

Not long after the men drove away, a man with a gunshot wound to his abdomen was dropped off at an urgent care center in Sandy. Employees at the clinic called the police. Villegas was transferred to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray for further treatment. He was released over the weekend and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.

Prosecutors say police are still working to identify the second man in the robbery who was able to get away.

Villegas has family in Oregon, but prosecutors say he “is also a citizen of Venezuela. He currently has a federal detainer, and if not held, he could be deported or transferred to other custodial facilities.” They are requesting that he be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.

 Alleged yuppie jihadis, 19, from Montclair, NJ, plotted Boston bombing-style attack, planned to join ISIS: feds

Two upper-crust student athletes from tony Montclair, New Jersey, are accused of participating in an ISIS-inspired terror ring — with one of the suspects allegedly plotting a Boston bombing-style attack, the feds said Wednesday.

Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzel and Milo Sedarat, both 19, were arrested on Tuesday, with both teens living in $1 million-plus Victorian houses in the manicured New York City suburb.

The accused yuppie jihadis both grew up in privilege before allegedly turning to ISIS.

Milo Sedarat holding up a red, white, and black Air Jordan sneaker.
Tomas Kaan Jimenez-Guzal and Milo Sedarat (above), both 19, were arrested Tuesday and charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist group.

Jimenez-Guzel’s mother, Meral Guzel, serves as head of the United Nation’s Women’s Entrepreneurship program, and Sedarat’s father, Roger Sedarat, is an award-winning Iranian American poet and a professor at Queens College in New York City.

Guzel has been with the UN for more than a decade working on women empowerment projects, according to her LinkedIn account, with the mother previously working in the finance sector.

Roger Sedarat, who teaches poetry and literary translation for Queens College’s MFA program, is best known for his works celebrating the written history of his father’s native Iran and Persian poetry.

Neither parent could be reached for comment on Wednesday.

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My latest Substack essay: The Insurrection Act: A short guide to President Trump’s options.

With resistance to ICE in many blue cities, there’s been a lot of talk about Trump invoking the Insurrection Act. There are other, lesser statutes that he can employ, but this is the big gun. It intentionally gives the President enormous freedom and power to put down resistance to the law.

This is the relevant part of the Insurrection Act:

§252. Use of militia and armed forces to enforce Federal authority

Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.

So first, it’s discretionary to employ: “Whenever the President considers.” This language leaves no room for judicial review, by design; it’s up to the President to determine when the predicates for invoking the Act apply. Second, this phrase, “unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings,” seems to fit perfectly with what’s going on in places like Portland or Chicago.

Third, discretionary language again: “as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.”

It’s entirely up to the President under the statute. You may think it’s a bad idea — I’m not so sure it is, because I don’t think it’s a good idea for state and local governments to have a veto on federal law enforcement actions — but it’s entirely lawful. And, properly understood, not subject to judicial review. (The Insurrection Act, once triggered, also overrides the Posse Comitatus Act’s prohibition on using the military for law enforcement purposes.)

Invoking the Insurrection Act wouldn’t be unprecedented — it’s been done thirty times in the history of the Republic, or a bit less than once every 8 years. A state actively resisting federal authority could be met with the full power of the U.S. military — and the President could even recognize a competing, alternative state government. There’s no meaningful opportunity for judicial review under the Insurrection Act as its invocation is a “political question” and hence non-justiciable. (The same is true, as the Supreme Court held almost 200 years ago, in the case of Luther v. Borden, of recognizing one of two competing state governments as the legitimate government of a state).

“Political question” just means that the decision is left to one or both of the political branches of the government, leaving no room for judicial resolution. There is discipline, just not judicial discipline; instead it comes ultimately from voters.

And invocation of the Insurrection Act carries a special political resonance, though how much of one depends on how it is used. Using it to send troops to Portland to control a mob isn’t likely to be too controversial. Using it to replace the government of California, or to support a breakaway state of “New California,” would be more so.

Unless pushed, I don’t think Trump will go very far with this. Politically, it suits him to have Democrats, who yammered about “insurrection” for the past several years, acting loudly insurrectionary. And he seems to be able to accomplish a lot with threats — a threat to send the National Guard in to Chicago produced a sudden flurry of action from the Illinois State Police.

As Clay Whitehead used to say, the value of the Sword of Damocles is that it hangs, not that it falls. That may be the case here, too. But if the sword of the Insurrection Act falls, it can fall very heavy indeed.

13 arrested, four police officers injured in violent Boston Common protest: ‘Completely despicable.’

Thirteen people were arrested Tuesday night in connection with a pro-Palestinian protest that turned violent on the Boston Common and left four police officers injured, including some with broken bones, according to officials.

Protesters “turned on police” at approximately 6:50 p.m. when they began to move from the Common to the area of Tremont and Winter streets, Boston Police said.

“At that time, protesters turned on police, kicking a marked cruiser, assaulting officers, blocking traffic, and setting off devices causing red smoke in the air,” Boston Police spokesman Sgt. Det. John Boyle said in a Tuesday night statement.

Protesters scuffle with officers at Chicago anti-ICE demonstration

Eight men and five women were placed under arrest. No one had been booked as of shortly before 9 p.m.

Four police officers were injured in connection with the incident. Two officers were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Police have preliminary reports of officers with broken bones, but all injuries are considered non-life-threatening, Boyle said.

“Another night of violence against police officers in Boston tonight,” said Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.

“Our officers were attacked, assaulted and sent to the hospital with injuries. Completely despicable and totally unacceptable. We were outnumbered and understaffed for the event,” he continued.

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10 US Code Chapter §252  (the Insurrection Act)

“Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress the rebellion.”