County

Sharing Facts Is No Rush To Judgment

The snails pace investigation into the death of Adams County Rancher Jack Yantis is contrary to a national trend among the nation’s law enforcement officials. Keeping facts from the citizens (and media) only leads to speculation, rumors, and anger.

State Police and the Attorney General say it could take six months to learn the facts.

Yantis is the rancher who was killed by Adams County sheriff’s deputies at the scene of a traffic accident November 1 which involved a collision between a car and a black bull owned by Yantis. Yantis was called to the scene by the sheriff’s dispatch. He had a rifle (logically to put down the bull).

After he was shot by one or both deputies, his wife, Donna Yantis, suffered a heart attack and was handcuffed during the chaos. She survived and was taken to a Boise hospital where she is recovering.

Sheriff Ryan Zollman told a town hall meeting Tuesday in Council that each deputy was wearing a “body camera” and at least one of the patrol cars had a dash camera. He claims to not know if any of the cameras were activated and turned over all evidence to the Idaho State Police which is the lead agency investigating the incident with the Attorney General acting as “special prosecutor” on behalf of Adams County. Someone needs to show the video if it exists, or reveal that no cameras were activated. Silence only foments distrust.

In the past year the nation has been rocked by violence in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore Maryland, and Cleveland, Ohio after citizens died at the hands of police. We have noticed a trend recently of immediate action on the part of law enforcement officials when they are aware of obvious misconduct by officers.

While there is no racial involvement in the Adams County case, the longer it takes to reveal facts, the shorter tempers get to be.

Rather than hide behind, “We cannot release information, names of officers, or comment on an open investigation,” top cops around the nation are jumping quickly on incidents like a deputy smashing a school girl to the floor for not surrendering a cell phone (NC), marshals shooting a six-year-old boy (LA) or coppers assaulting college kids for being noisy (AL).

While we will not speculate on specifics of the Yantis case, release of certain facts could serve to cool tempers without jeopordizing a potential defendant’s right to a fair trial. When the investigation is completed it will probably boil down to PERCEPTIONS. What was in the mind of the parties at the time of the incident? Release of statements, and reports by all involved could answer the question of perceptions…the sooner the better.

UPDATE

Turns out there are others, across the political spectrum who agree with sharing the evidence, according to the Idaho Reporter
.

Comments & Discussion

Comments are closed for this post.

  1. Dave, I have a question. You mentioned perception in your piece. I wonder what the deputies “perceived” might happen when the rancher was called to dispatch a well over 2000 pound animal. Did they think he was just going to show up and say… Die cow? Logical intelligent individuals would have realized that a weapon would be involved in putting the animal out of it’s misery. Hell according to witnesses they even shot the cow several times in an attempt to finish it off. My point is this if their perception that a person called to the scene by LE to put the animal down would not have a weapon to do the deed their perceptions of the entire scene were skewed from the beginning and in dire need of re-evaluation.

    I do agree the secrecy surrounding the investigation will only lead to the perception that something is being covered up. LE in this country needs to have it’s veil of secrecy on every level stripped completely away, this is IMHO the only way they are going to regain any trust from a concerned public when these ever increasing situations occur. Their are even rumors that the individuals involved and their families have been “moved” from the area. According to a cattleman that I know there is a fair amount historic “bad blood” between ACSD and the public that this situation and it’s supposed initial handling has only heightened.

  2. We should all be very concerned about this… if you think it can’t be you they shoot one day over something completely stupid or mistaken while your outside mowing the front lawn, you are wrong.

    ISP will fiddle with it until the public has lost interest and then say “good police work, bad outcome”. If he were black the FBI would be here.

    The statesman did a fairly nice article based on witness statements. My inclination from reading it and seeing clips of witnesses on the news is… the coppers were all jacked up by the oddity and calamity of the situation. They blasted the hell out of the bull but failed to kill it, making it agitated instead. So the anxious coppers were surprised by the Rancher doing what the police dispatcher called him outside to do.

    Hmmm, Gosh, after all the police errors blamed on communications, perhaps they should focus on that problem and not more armor and guns and black APCs.

    Seeing/hearing the tapes if any survived will be interesting to compare to witness statements.

  3. I agree. ISP and the sheriff might not know the exact number of bullets fired at Yantis and the bull or the locations where all of the spent each spent shell lit in the road, but they know today what happened. To stonewall is ludicrous.

  4. Well Said!

  5. The problem now is the integrity of the ISP, who is investigating this case after the cover up and evidence tampering in another recent case…

    http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2015/jun/01/whistleblower-complaints-charge-isp-cover-death-case/

    And now they are not releasing dashboard cams and body cams that us taxpayers paid for? And now the law enforcement folks are saying they are not sure they were turned on? And it maybe 6 months before any report comes out?

    If this was reversed a private citizen would be in jail with his name on the front page of every paper and all the evidence would be released.. And if Jack would have had a dash cam and the police shot it would have been released.

    We don’t know what happened that night but I think we have a right to see the evidence.

    Just saying

  6. Thank you for pointing out that the body cam videos should be available for public viewing immediately.
    I was also very disturbed that channel six had a story on their website that said “…the media was not invited…” to the public meeting held to inform the public of the tragedy.
    A friend who has been following this as well said that some media reports were trying to paint Yantis as an anti-government type, as if to say it’s ok to murder anti-government type people.
    From what I have heard so far, both the deputies involved should be up on murder charges.
    This is yet another example of our government acting like our master instead of our servant.

  7. 6 months? Totally ridicules! Maybe the State Police department needs to be investigated?

  8. foments- good one Guardian.

    My “perception” is the police are effed up.

    I bet the conclusion of this case will be to protect the deputies regardless of the facts and “they were justified as they feared for their life”.

    Anyone want to take that bet?

  9. Considering the very close daily working relationship between ISP and small Sheriff Departments, it is a glaring conflict of interest for ISP to be doing this investigation. FBI needs to take over now.

  10. There were witnesses, obvious physical evidence, body cams and car cams, they know what transpired. The stalling is about damage control and hoping the situation will cool down. Unfortunately, it does cause speculation and anger instead.

  11. Zippo, A system that only allows “brothers” (cop term) to investigate another “brothers” will always be flawed. The “thin blue line”, “big blue blanket” or what ever you want to call it reaches across agency, state or federal lines and any investigation of one cop by another is going to be biased on that we can all rest assured.

    Dave K, you have very valid points. The ISP knows exactly what happened and has for several days. Unless all video equipment was turned of or miraculously malfunctioned AKA was intentionally erased. I think you are right there is an effort afoot to spin this in away that LE thinks they can get a few people to buy. It is sad that LE any LE cannot be trusted to have any transparency in situations like these. I for one would like to know the answer to a question reportedly (by the statesman)posed several times at the “town hall” Why aren’t these 2 guys in jail right now? If the situation was reversed and the deputies were lying dead in the highway Yantis would have been arrested on the spot, at the

  12. Zippo and Dave K are right… the cover up’s in the works. And LE’s already tenuous support from the average citizen will be strained even further. I guess when you get to make all the rules… it doesn’t matter though. No one should ever trust ANY cop to do the right thing…. EVER

  13. Blood for blood. Maybe it is time to implement civilian ran lex talionis. From now on, whenever a cop kills a citizen, family of that citizen should have the right to kill a cop.

    EDITOR NOTE–We allow this post only to illustrate the degree of unrest. Please refrain from such radical notions in fact or thought.

  14. It’s very interest in most financial businesses that the Fed and State regulate you are required to keep at least 1 week of recorded video. And now we are being told that they don’t keep the body cams and dashboard cams on all the time because they don’t have enough storage to keep the recordings?

    Why have the body cams and dashboards cam if you don’t keep them on?

  15. Well there are ways to resolve this in Council.

    1. Recall election of the Sheriff and Commissioners.

    2. The term of office for the Sheriff runs out in 2016. Don’t vote him back in.

    3. Join the protest on Saturday in Council, the more numbers the louder the message becomes, be peaceful of course, but demand action and answers.

    In the Statesman article by Cynthia Sewell, there was mention that there was a video camera in one patrol unit, but not on. At the town hall meeting the Sheriff said he wasn’t aware if the cameras were on or off. That right there sounds contradictory and actually, I think you would know after talking to your deputies and before you turned them over to the ISP Detectives as evidence.

  16. Answer to David

    My bet is they talked to the deputies and they know if they were on or off.

    Come on we are talking about Council Idaho here. If the Sheriff didn’t talk to the deputies after the shooting he should be fired on the spot!

  17. Has anyone wondered why, on highway 95, livestock can legally roam… at night? Why bother building a safe road if this most basic level of stupidity is still allowed. An old and powerful open range law needs to change with the times. Deer and Elk will typically try to get out of the way… but cattle have no street smarts at all.

  18. As troubling as we find these acts of police violence, there is a larger picture that worries me.
    Naomi Klein, in her book Shock Doctrine, shows us that very often these events, or the constant drumming of the events by the corporate media, and the “solutions” presented are preconceived by the Oligarchy.
    We have been under nonstop assault by sensational corporate news reporting of school shootings of very dubious authenticity. This seems to have an end goal of disarming everyone in America.
    Likewise, we have been under nonstop assault of every act of police misconduct.
    I believe the end goal of this is the nationalization of all law enforcement, perhaps under the umbrella of homeland security. The Nazis called their national police force the Gestapo. We would, of course, use a new name (Homeland Police Force?) so as not to set off alarm bells, or just install a ‘political officer’ from Homeland security in every precinct who would be top dog. This would be a “solution” the Nazis would approve of, and we must reject at any cost.

  19. The odd of you changing the open range law is about as good as Boise getting a mayor last election. Many cattlemen and ranchers in your legislature.

    When you are driving out side of Boise in rural areas you better figure you are in open range. Same goes for NV and many other Western States.

  20. Oh and Zippo I can tell you don’t live in Idaho City…and drive to Boise. I see at least 1 dead street smart deer or elk dead on HYWY 21 every day. Blood all over the road most of the time.

    Robie Creek to High Bridge is the worst. I slow down to 35 MPH in a 55 MPH zone at 5:30 AM in that area. Almost got a deer today. So far I have hit 5 deer. But when you are going 35 MPH its not as bad. Haven’t got a elk yet… but close.

    And this is even after us taxpayers built a new $1,000,000 underground tunnel and fence for the street smart critters to use. Stimulus money at work….But that is another story.

    Feel sorry for the folks that are just driving through and don’t pay attention to the flashing signs..

  21. Las Vegas Rebel
    Nov 12, 2015, 8:18 pm

    Porcupine is spot on “The problem now is the integrity of the ISP, who is investigating this case after the cover up and evidence tampering in another recent case.”
    ISP is not capable of undertaking such an investigation. There is a clear conflict of interest here due to the close relationship that Adams County shares with ISP.

  22. Zippo… go back to Cal if you don’t like it….

  23. Porcupine have you ever wondered why cops don’t want video? I wonder why there is an ability for LE to turn on and off this equipment. I am of the opinion that if there is an incident such as this and the LE did not turn the camera on.. or if it miraculously malfunctioned at a critical point that witness testimony should be considered fact and any and all LE statements thrown out as false. We see time and time again (Cincinnati is a classic example) how multiple LE statements are proven false and usually out right lies. Dave this is not cop bashing… it is fact.

    JSmith… I think you have hit the nail on the head… I really think these murders and SCOTUS rulings are small steps designed to slowly take power from the people and put it into the hands of a small few and their chosen enforcers.

    L.D. I disagree… I don’t think that the family should be allowed to act after the fact… I do think that in most situations self defense laws should apply to citizens defending others from LE. Case in point the situation in 2013 case of Linwood Lambert who was tased at least 20 times while hand cuffed(mostly in the back of a cop car) any force used against LE to stop that action would have been completely justified. The individual was dead by the time LE got him to the jail. Their answer… he was on cocaine.

    EDITOR NOTE–Rick refers to an incident revealed recently by NBC news after more than 2 years of investigative reporting and public records requests. http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/driven-hospital-virginia-man-tased-shackled-and-dies-police-custody

  24. Rick, One of my many jobs has been driving cattle… as well as hauling them to market. Some of us can and do think outside the box. I miss the smell of leather and diesel, but not the stench of pooh.

    It’s a dangerous outdated law, last updated in 1961… If not changed, then reduce speed limit to 20mph at night in Open Range areas. I believe Idaho has failed to provide a safe roadway if a bull is legally standing on Highway 95 at night. Can probably force the change by withholding federal highway funds due to unsafe State road policies. Perhaps float the idea in a Washington DC blogs. States have been successfully sued for unsafe roadways. This law needs narrowing, NOW. Also, no mention open range law while inviting tourist to cruise Idaho roads on vacation. Not a peep about the glaring safety risk anywhere in the brochure.

    ————————-

    FBI now on the shooting case. Good? Hard to say? If you live in Adams County expect a large tax increase and many cutbacks when they finally settle with this family. Has Boise County overcome rejecting the treatment facility yet?

    Editor, Thank you for providing this excellent platform for ideas and gripes. It would seem that politicos and the MSM do read it.

  25. The cops have too many immunities, and they repeatedly abuse those vast immunities.

    The law must be changed regarding these immunities, in order to force more accountability by law enforcement.

  26. I disagree, with Rick and the editor. With no ombudsman (of worth), and with every police involved shooting deemed “justified”. Literally, Every, Single, One. There is legitimate reason to fear, and mistrust the police. So long as these traitors to the country are allowed to operate with complete impunity, from the beat walkers to the prosecutors, (ie; canyon county), than I feel extreme action is the only way to end such abuses of power. Then, and only then, will the citizen complaints be taken seriously. Because right now, whenever citizens complain against the police, the reaction is just to hide evidence, and complete closed door deals and try to appease with public with lies that punishment was fulfilled.
    It is passed time we use the 2nd amendment for what it was intended for. Government reach, and the long are of the “law” is well beyond what it was intended for.

  27. Eagle Writer
    Nov 13, 2015, 10:09 am

    Zippo, and others, some good thoughts for discussion.

    First, open range is a long-standing tradition and one of the things that makes the west so very special. I have lived in three states that have open range and it is one of the things that I love. Tourism is drawn to the west to see western stuff – this is western stuff. Let’s hold on to the “trailing of the sheep,” and all things open.

    Second, the police question is dichotomous. On the one hand we want local law enforcement and protection from the feds. But the second we question our local police we run to the feds and want FBI intervention.

    I know of no facts of this recent shooting, but generally not getting shot by the police is pretty easy.

  28. L.D. so what I hear you saying right now (correct me if I am wrong) is you feel the family would be justified in finding these two and ending all this with 2 to the chest one to the head… (cops call that a failure drill… at least when and where I was one) is that right? Here are your words….” From now on, whenever a cop kills a citizen, family of that citizen should have the right to kill a cop”. That would make the “family” no better than the “family” (cop brotherhood) we are dealing with now. Is that what you are calling for? Citizens will lose that battle.

    I agree with a lot of what you are saying but, to advocate for individuals to go out and execute cops… even when cops execute (as in this case) is just plain stupid. I agree completely that cops 99% of cops are not to be trusted. I am not saying 99% would do something like this, that # is probably more like 60-70% but you can bet the other 30-40% will back the play of their “brother”. I believe any and all will lie about cold blooded murder to back another cop.(see the Cincinnati murder last summer)Those who lie are the real dangerous ones. You can weed out the power abusers and murderers fairly easy (if you can ever get supervisors and prosecutors to actually do their jobs) it’s the cowardly person who will not stand up and tell the truth that is the real problem.

    Unfortunately our society has allowed this growth that is LE to fester unchecked for so many years that reining them back to where they should be is going to be very hard. They tell you if not for them your life is in danger every minute of every day. Guess what, you are in more danger (in Idaho) from cops than gangs, rapists, or murderers. LE unions in this day and age have power comparable to those run by Jimmy Hoffa in the 60’s. We know the corruption that is associated with that name. If society is fed up with the abuse of power that is rampant in the entire judicial system (LE, Prosecutors, and Judges) the onus is on society to vote in prosecutors, sheriff’s and legislators who will stand up to this corruption. I wonder how many people know that there is no “law” giving a cop the right to order an individual to remove their hands from their pockets. That is a universal department policy, not a law. Society does not seem to be disgusted enough to demand change, this is evidenced by the fact that there are only a handful of people commenting on something that people in Idaho will tell you doesnt happen here. Guess what it does, and it happens on some scale everyday in BPD, ACSD (Ada as well as Adams), NPD, CCSD, ISP the initials can go on and on.

    To Dave (the editor) I know I will most likely get yet another personal e-mail reminding me that I have written more on this subject than the original post. There needs to be millions and millions of words written by hundreds of thousands of people in this country on this very subject. Every person in this country needs to be talking about this because it effects us all.

  29. Zippo
    To answer your question ” Has Boise County overcome rejecting the treatment facility yet?” Answer Boise County never had a problem…. We just get a new group of leaders and raise taxes.

    The real question is have the taxpayers overcome the leaders stupid mistakes in rejecting the treatment facility yet?…. Answer no… Our taxes went up to pay for the leaders mistakes…

  30. Eagle writer Here are some facts as reported in the statesman and some that are common knowledge. Anytime an incident like this occurs the farmer/rancher or a representative is called to the scene. Most often to put the animal down due to injuries from the accident. We will never know if that would have had to happen in this case because hero #’s 1 and 2 apparently decided to do that them selves. When Mr Yantis assessed the situation and probably told the hero’s just exactly what he thought of gut shooting a 2000+ pound animal with pistols. He decided to put the animal down on his own… like he was called by LE to do if need be. Here in lies the rub, we know that anytime someone has a gun in the vicinity of LE their will be a cry that “my life was in danger” and LE will shoot the individual… as many times as they think they need too Jack only caught 5… for 2 shooters an incredibly low number. They must have been low on ammo after pumping so much into the bull.

    The bottom line is this, this did not need to happen. 99.999% of shootings involving LE do not need to happen. LE claims to be in fear for their lives on every one of these when in reality they are very very rarely in any danger.

    I was a reserve at one point in my life 18 years ago, we were told in training then that only 1 in 100 cops ever fires his gun in a real situation in a 20 year carrier. (in light of current happenings that has probably gone to about 1 in 10) We were trained that if we ever did shoot or shoot at someone the first statement we were to make was “I was in fear for my life and I fired my weapon in an effort to stop the actions of the individual”. Sound familiar? LE has got to start being held to some standard any standard or they are going to get what L.D. is advocating for. A war on cops. Unfortunately I do not think it is far from happening in the country as a whole and LE will be the only ones to blame. As to this situation, if charges are not brought the Adams County Sheriffs Dept. I fear will have the first of these wars on their hands. Then we will see what the “old west” was really like. Am I advocating for it, no way, do I see it as a distinct and real possibility, you bet and we will have 2 hero’s lack of ability to handle a situation without shooting someone to blame.

  31. L.D. Do you work for a police or security/surveillance organization of some type? I often see police types make provocative posts to draw out the radical element. What you suggest is stupidity at this stage of the game. The problem is bigger than the police too. However, revolution or lawlessness is not needed. We have the best structure to regain control of our government ever created… it’s up and running right now. What would your revolt hope to create which could possibly improve on what we have now.

    All that needs to happen is to get more citizens involved in government… more people voting intelligently. The core obstruction of this participation is teachers and the media are not teaching people to get involved… they are teaching helplessness… they are teaching America is bad. They are teaching people to be meek little PC mice. They are literally taking money from China to teach that America is bad. (Ask your professors and State leaders who paid for their tour of China.) I just watched an anti-American and very racist Hollywood blockbuster film. Its intent is to make America look bad. Picture Studio owned by China? Our leaders are removing monuments of our past greatness due to PC concerns. We the people are being bombarded with propaganda teaching us that involvement is hopeless… so we remain disengaged, and by default the power falls into the hands of a few elitists creating the propaganda storm.

    If we teach people how to control their local governments again, enough people will regain the faith in America and the problems of unresponsive governments will fade away. It’s a 60 years long brainwashing… we have much work to do… but it does not involve threats and violence L.D., that would play into their hands. Right here in Idaho the people did install term limits… but a corrupted court voided the voter’s power. If the masses knew from early education and local media just how corrupted that override was, the court would not dare take the position.

    Teachers and Journalist you have failed your country. You have failed the World. You have failed to keep safe the greatest reservoir of liberty the World has ever known. You idiots!

    We still don’t know the facts in the Rancher shooting; most of my commentary pointed at the glaring problem of police and government trampling people’s rights because then can… because we let them.

  32. The ISP investigation, collecting the facts of an event that took place over a time span of minutes, could take “up to six months?”

    Maybe ISP should just keep writing tickets on the Interstate and let professional investigators handle this one.

  33. Improving citizen involvement and public servant allegiance to the public rather than corporations. How to restore Americans participation in government?

    Ease of use is a very important way of attracting more participation. Immediate results are another. Here’s how to have both… Via secure online account, a monthly review of each and every elected official within our voting district. Every miserable one of them from dogcatcher to potus gets a thumbs up or thumbs down the first of every month from every eligible voter choosing to participate.

    It is to be done online with the same easy and secure methods used to pay bills. The only catch is the voter will need to correctly answer some basic civics questions before gaining access each month. Overall process takes 5 to 10 minutes. Upon ballet entry, a copy and sequentially generated serial number are provided to the voter. One day later each voter can check the accuracy of the official vote tally by cross referencing their serial number.

    Immediate ejection from elected office results from two failed confidence votes in a row, or three overall. It’s not a poll… it’s a vote!

    (Thanks for the leeway editor… last post by me on this thread)

  34. One thing I know for sure Mr Guardian…. people are interested in this story.

  35. I find it interesting that the government has an enormous data collection/ storage facility just over the border in Utah that has been recording every email, telephone conversation, and all of our internet use, but the police departments can’t afford to store body cam footage??

  36. Eagle Writer
    Nov 14, 2015, 9:06 am

    Rick, I agree with some of what you wrote except for your incorrect statistic of 99.999% of shootings by police do not need to happen. Of course no shootings “need to happen” if we do not care to be safe. Time after time when I see a person shot by police I think “good, they got the bastard.” That is not the case in this one, I want to see the evidence. But I expect to be able to walk the city streets safely with my family, and it is LE in arms that makes it so, not just my carry weapon.

    Zippo, your plan would continue to decrease the quality people willing to serve. Jefferson, Adams, Washington would have never survived that scrutiny and process. People are mortal and imperfect. Our pols are just people and many, more often than not are good intentioned. Maybe they could use more citizen support than citizen criticism for every breath they take.

  37. J Smith, I want to use that NSA database during pretrial discovery… to listen to the police process in cases where it appears the cops twisted the rules. It’s got to be good for something, apparently it’s useless to stop terrorist attacks or even to properly inform the president about the vibrant strength of groups he says are contained.

  38. EW, I disagree. The people in office now are using the mechanisms and power of the office to insulate from scrutiny. They are often really slimy people who are part of a really slimy club. The media is part of the club as are corporations and big donors.

    I’ll give you this; the problem with my plan is the media will still be telling huge lies to manipulate public opinion. The media is the true core failure in America.

  39. writer… We wont argue the 99.999%you’ve show your intelligence level with the “good they got the bastard comment” and I will not engage you on this.

    I will let you in on a fact…LE does not make you safe, on that you can be assured. LE is like a blister… they show up after the deed is done 99.9% of the time.

    Your “carry weapon” does not make you safe either it puts you in more jeporday. Most if not all people who have concealed carry will do 2 things if confronted by a person with a gun… 1st say shit… 2nd do it in their pants.

  40. I would like for this thread to get back to what I think is the crux. What can be done about rouge cops like the 2 in Council and the 1000’s throughout the country. Arguing about whether or not politician should be elected once a month or the ludicrous concealed carry laws that only inflate the egos of small minded people.

    We need to have an honest discussion about for years in this country has been a run away police and judicial industry. These other topics while worth while are in now way connected to this thread or discussion. I imagine they are attempts by individuals who fully support LE in the Adams county incident to start an argument that will result in the thread being shutdown.
    Lets keep our eye on the prize, finding out what actually happened and hopefully prosecuting the individuals responsible for the individuals death to the fullest extent of the law.

  41. Rod in SE Boise
    Nov 14, 2015, 5:00 pm

    Lots of speculation here. Very little information made public.

    I’m the last guy to come out and defend LE actions, and by saying what I’ll say next, I’m not doing that:

    Local news media have adoped the deceased rancher and are trying to deify him or propose sainthood for him. They may find that when all is said and done that their embarrassment will be so severe that they will be forced to leave the state.

  42. Rod, they made the same mistake on Bergdahl. Time to fill. Few facts. They can’t seem to help themselves. On the other hand, LE has not helped with their total lack of transparency and information.

  43. Eagle Writer
    Nov 15, 2015, 10:37 am

    Rick,

    LE don’t keep us safe, we can’t keep ourselves safe, and my intelligence is low because I approve of police shooting desperadoes in the act or on the run? Good to know.

    You can insult, but do you have a workable solution?

    Zippo, people in power are slimy and the media lie? Teach me. The media has reported an attack in Paris that was carried out by ISIS. Since that is a lie, help me know the truth. No attack? Not in Paris? Not ISIS? I want the truth, not the media lies. Help me.

  44. As always Rick, you make this a forum to slam 1000’s of police officers. No doubt this incident needs investigating. no doubt there was wrongs done here and they need to be addressed. But your remarks about rogue cops across the country etc, is exactly the banter you have been spewing for years now. We get it Rick, you don’t like cops! You have been wronged before it seems and I am sure you were “right” in what ever the situation was that jaded you. However, when these articles are posted by Editor, why don’t you try and stay on track with the specific incident and get off your high horse about all police officers being bad, its getting old.

  45. One of my deep concerns is how the “facts” are developed in the ensuing investigations.

    If the cameras were not on, then the “facts” will immediately be suspect, for me.

    Further, there is a false presumption that the cops see “facts” more clearly than you or I.

  46. As always Sal you defend cops.. are you a cop Sal? You sure sound like one. I guess we do not need to talk about the 1000’s of rouge cops in this country. Is that what you are saying? We do not need to talk about a system that is increasingly putting out individuals like these two in Adams Co. who killed for no logical reason.
    You say I spew the same thing over and over, well it is relevant in every situation I “spew” it about. You spew the same thing in every comment you make. It too is getting old and it’s getting harder and harder for intelligent people to take you seriously. I guess since what I am “spewing” you do not agree with means I should be forced to stay quiet is that correct? That is one thing cops depend on, people like you telling people like me we are not entitled to speak our mind. You are hoping I will go off on you and get the thread cut off, not gonna happen. The more people like you tell me to shut up the louder people like me need to yell the truth. Learn it, live it, and above all learn to love it.
    You assume like cops do that anyone who doesn’t like them has had to have had a situation where they (people like me) were in the wrong. No Sal people like me, who see cops for what a good deal of them are, look at situations like Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2014/0114/Kelly-Thomas-case-why-police-were-acquitted-in-killing-of-homeless-man-video. The one armed one legged man in Houston who was threatening a cop with an ink pen, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/22/officer-shoots-kills-double-amputee-in-wheelchair-in-houston/. Eric Garner in NY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajhpFT-lVZY. I ask why do cops do shit this stupid. All in these stories are now dead and all cops involved are walking the street and all are to my knowledge still cops. Get over yourself Sal, intelligent people do not look at these situations and say “good, they got the bastard” like Eagle Writer and I would imagine you do. Do you self a favor and don’t speculate on things you know nothing about, such as my motives. Dave (editor) my shut down my comments, it sounds as though that is what you would like but, you sure won’t shut me up.

  47. Writer, I will comment on this in this post and then be done with this segment of the discussion. I think a person who writes “Of course no shootings “need to happen” if we do not care to be safe” and “Time after time when I see a person shot by police I think “good, they got the bastard.” has a very low level of intelligence, is ONLY interested in starting an argument, and is most likely a cop. The very fact that you cannot comprehend this proves I’m probably right. No insult just fact as I see it.
    I assume “your workable solution” is to just shoot “desperadoes” who are ” in the act or on the run.” Is that correct? Let’s see how you like it when a cop decides you’ve done something wrong and decides to be judge, jury, and executioner in your case. I know, that won’t happen “you” don’t break the law. It is evidently fairly easy to sit in your McMansion in Eagle with your “carry gun” and worry about “those people.” You know the ones that cops need to protect you from. I personally cannot understand it. I have never been a person who would ever think I need to have a cop or a gun to be safe. It is sad to me that you do but, that is you.
    There are several very easy solutions to the woe’s of this country. Ones applicable to this situation would be. 1) to hire individuals to be cops who’s first thought is not to cry “I was in danger” and go to the gun. Cops are not, no matter how much they think they are judge and jury. I took a CJ class taught by the then, and maybe still recruiter for BPD Charles Albanese who commented more than once if people wanted to lessen crime they needed to let the cops make the decisions. He said we don’t need lawyers, prosecutors or judges, cops can make better decisions as to who goes to jail and for how long. People like this 20 plus year cop are the main problem and IMHO need to be booted from any and all PD’s. If Chuck reads this he will swear he didn’t say it, and he will be a lair.
    2) we need to take a serious look at the perpetrators of most crime. Wait that won’t work since the biggest crooks in this country are CEO’s, elected officials and cops who are all exempt from the rules. Ok now a legitimate 2nd why does the average street criminal do what “he” does? Money will be the overwhelming answer. Why doesn’t “he” have money? “He” doesn’t have a job. What do we do about that? That is an incredibly easy fix, if anyone really cared to fix it. Fix that problem and you will cut down crime drastically. I will let you chew on that one, and let you tell me just how wrong I am.
    There are many more simple fixes for these problems, though most will never be implemented in Idaho or anywhere else. That in itself is a sad testament to the apathy and just plain ignorance of a public who can’t get past lock’em up and in your case just shoot’em. It’s sad that you are typical but, you are typical.

  48. EW- Paris is a false flag attack. Prepare to surrender more of your civil liberties to the Oligarch Overlords to save us from the mythical terrorists.
    Short story… America creates and funds Al Queda and ISIS to attack certain Islamic countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria whose leaders don’t have their nose up the posteriors of the Elite.
    Russia attacks ISIS in Syria to prevent a failed state on their border.
    We/France rig a “terror attack” to scare the bejesus out of the citizens so they will back the sociopath Elite return to Syria to continue bombing them back to the Stone Age, even if it triggers WWIII, and nuclear missiles fly and create a nuclear winter killing everything on the planet except for ants and cockroaches.
    The nightly news is a return to the 24/7 war drum beating inflicted upon us following 9/11. The media is running lockstep with the traitors orchestrating these events.
    By the time proof of this atrocity being committed by our “leaders” is evident to all, such is now the case with the “Charlie Hebdo massacre”, America will be a much less free country.
    I predict the national ID card, greater cell phone privacy invasions, the banning of cash, and other such Orwellian schemes that have been in the works will be ramroded through with little debate at frightening speed.
    This is a textbook case of Naomi Klien’s Shock Doctrine at work.

    EDITOR NOTE–Sorry guys. We are forced to close this thread…wandering way off topic which WAS release info on Adams county shooting incident.

  49. According to Rick if you defend cops or believe in getting some facts before we call for a lynching then must be a cop.

    Zippo believes that if you call for cold blooded killing of fellow Americans (who happen to be police) like L.D. did, then you must be a cop trying to draw out radicals and cause trouble.

    Can we stay on topic without some of you regulars making the whole site look like we wear tin foil hats?

  50. Yes Rick I am a cop, are you a parolee, probationer, or just someone who feels he was wronged once and goes on a tirade against all cops. Who would you have respond when a person is needing help because some degenerare is breaking into their house? Who would you have respond when drunk husband is strangling his wife? Who would you have respond when a pissed of ex-employee us back at his office threatening the staff with a knife or a gun? Please Rick, tell me how you have solved who will help common everyday people that need help. Please Rick, enlighten me!

  51. Steve… of course cops can see the facts better than you and I. Just ask them. They can also attend to driving while fiddling with their computers better than a normal human. Just ask them. They can also ride side by side on motorcycles, safely. Just ask them.

  52. Foothills Rider
    Nov 16, 2015, 8:50 am

    “Opinion – noun. A personal view, attitude, or appraisal”

    In review, most of what is presented as “fact” in this entire string is not. The contradiction in this latest from Rick is the best! “No insult just fact as I see it.” Entertaining, all!

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