Opinion
Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- There are continued repercussions from the no-knock raid that resulted in the death of a middle-aged couple in Houston, and the wounding of four police officers in the gunfight the raid engendered. The strike happened on January 28, 2019. Four officers have retired as of 22 March 2019.
Dennis Tuttle was a Navy veteran. His wife, Rhogena Nicholas, was a supporter of President Trump. They had no criminal records. They were married for 20 years and lived in their modest home in Houston for the same 20 years.
The police broke down their door and shot their dog. That seems to have started the gun battle. Dennis is said to have shot back, wounding the officer that shot his dog. The police claimed he was shooting a .357 magnum revolver, but no revolver was found at the scene. It seems more likely he was shooting one of the two semi-auto hunting shotguns recovered at his home.
Police claim Rhogena attempted to take a shotgun from a wounded officer. She was shot and killed. It is not clear if she ever touched the officer’s shotgun.
The early police reports claimed Dennis continued to fight, wounding three more officers.
The exact timing of events is uncertain because no officers wore body cameras. Surveillance video from the house next door was confiscated by the police.
It has been claimed a small amount of marijuana, and a tiny amount of cocaine was recovered at the house. No heroin was found, or any evidence of drug dealing.
As the investigation has continued, it was discovered the evidence used to justify the raid, had been falsified.
Reports from Houston reveal that four officers have retired in conjunction with the ongoing investigation. From chron.com on March 22, 2019:
Officer Gerald Goines retired Friday afternoon while under investigation following the Jan. 28 shooting deaths of two residents during a “no-knock raid” of a Pecan Park residence in south Houston. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing more than 1,400 criminal cases that Goines worked on over the course of his 34-year career.
Goines was relieved of duty as questions mounted about his actions leading up to the drug raid, in which a team of undercover narcotics officers burst into a residence at 7815 Harding St. after obtaining a no-knock search warrant. A gun battle ensued that left homeowners Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas dead. Goines was shot, as were three other officers, one of whom remains hospitalized.
All of the officers who have retired had more than 20 years with the Houston Police Department (HPD) as narcotics officers.
Officer Steven O. Bryant, was listed in the warrant, HPD narcotics investigator Gerald Goines, was the lead investigator in the case, and two other unnamed HPD narcotics officers are reported to have retired as well.
Here is a reminder of how far the idea of innocent officers being ambushed by drug dealers was spread before it was shown to be false. From ktnv.com in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 28, 2019 (the head of the police union is Gamaldi, not Grimaldi or Grammas) :
The Houston Police Union did not hold back after the ambush-style attack.
“We are sick and tired of having targets on our back, we are sick and tired of having dirt bags trying to take our lives,” said Joe Grimaldi, with the Houston Police Officers Union.
“We need to have stiffer penalties on people committing crime, there’s no doubt about it,” said Grammas.
Grammas said he would like to see mandatory death sentences for cop killers and additional officers on the street to begin to deter the violence facing officers.
There was no ambush. The police fired first. It was a no-knock raid based on false evidence.
There are many unanswered questions about who fired when and who hit who. The missing .357 magnum revolver remains a mystery. No handgun of any kind was recovered at the scene.
I have not heard any more statements from Joe Gamaldi, head of the Houston Police Officers Union, about the raid. Initially, he said this: From abc13.com:
“Enough is enough. If you’re the ones out there spreading the rhetoric that police officers are the enemy, well just know we’ve all got your number now,” Gamaldi said. “We’re going to be keeping track on all of y’all, and we’re going to make sure to hold you accountable every time you stir the pot on our police officers.”
That sounds a lot like a threat to anyone who dares to question the police narrative. Joe Gamaldi has been silent lately.
The FBI is involved in investigating this mess. There is a reasonable chance for reform, even though the FBI reputation has suffered much during the Mueller witch hunt.
The police Chief has drastically reduced no-knock raids. Hundreds of cases done by the narcotics officers involved are being reviewed. Some pending cases have had charges dropped.
One retired police officer (not involved with the Houston Police Department), told me if he were in any of those officers shoes, he would have retired if he could. It would make the pension much harder to take.
Texas has a pension forfeiture law. It only applies to elected officials. It went into effect on 8 January 2019.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
When people recklessly and ignorantly talk of repealing the Second Amendment– this incident right here is a perfect illustration to explain why we have and why we need a strong 2A. While many on “both sides” like to theorize about “the security of a free state,” and one side will ponder over civil war, and the other will ridicule gun owners for “thinking guns can fight against jets and nuclear weapons,” the stark reality of state authoritarianism has little to do with citizens battling their own volunteer military. Historically, the real way any strong totalitarian state oppresses its citizens is… Read more »
I wonder about the location of the .357 used against a dozen or so armed assailants. Also, would like to know the caliber size, and number of projectiles removed for the wounded and dead. The investigation of Texas police I had believed to be the responsibility of the Texas Rangers. Why the FBI, did not they send 29 agents armed in battle gear and with machineguns to arrest non-violent Roger Stone. Thank goodness that his little dog and invalid wife was out of sight initially. It is curious where are the fearless investigative news reporters. Is discretion a better part… Read more »
Is it just me, or does this “wrong address” crapola pop up way too often? Getting the address wrong when delivering pizza or an Amazon package certainly doesn’t have the same impact that delivering potentially LEATAL force does. These PDs need to ‘study’ how the military does fly-overs, regularly, without doing the fly-over over an empty park, or wrong park. Every place, mine, yours, everybody’s(?), has a Lat/Long coordinate, street address not required – CAVEAT still, some numb-nut has to input the CORRECT numbers into that GPS rig! Some well known NFL dude probably says it best – DISCOUNT DOUBLE… Read more »
The break down the door approach to getting someone is wrong, wrong ,wrong. There can be a more reasonable approach and there needs to be. The more people are killed in these raids means there are that many more people who are going to be ready for them. Besides, they are not going to sneak up if there is a dog in the house. The dog will sense the presences of someone outside no matter how quite they try to be and the owner will be waiting for the door to come off the hinges. Someone will die. As far… Read more »
Since the police departments have become militarized we have had needless loss of innocent lives, they are not the army and we are not their target practice.
What gives the right of the police to take the neighbors video recording without a warrant?
Trying to hide evidence of their mistakes?
Feds better do something and any heirs should file suit against Houston PD and the city.