Reason Magazine
- reason.com
- reason.tv
- reason.org
- Donate
- Site Search:
Reason on Facebook
Reason on Twitter
Reason on YouTube
Reason RSSGet Reason E-mail Updates!
Manage your Reason e-mail list subscriptionsadvertisements
Georgia Man Dead After Drug Raid
Details are still sketchy, but it looks like police in Columbus, Georgia raided a home after an informant says he bought 4.5 grams of marijuana from 40-year-old Darrick Brockington. When police then raided the house, Brockington's father, 66-year-old Leroy Brockington, exchanged gunfire with police and was fatally wounded.
It isn't clear if the elder Brockington was selling, or aware that his son was selling. What does seem clear is that he's dead over 4.5 grams of marijuana.
This comes just days after another apparent mistaken on the home of an 18-year-old woman in Columbus.
Jordan|6.12.09 @ 3:44PM|#
No, he's dead because he exchanged fire with the police.
Sorry, but expecting people not to defend themselves when somebody
busts their door down is too fucked up for words. You simply don't
have time to identify who's coming through that door before you
pass the point of no return. End the idiotic Drug War and most of
this shit will stop overnight.
Scarcity|6.12.09 @ 3:47PM|#
I mean seriously, what did he expect busting into the police
station guns a-blazing?
What's that? His house you say? Fine, what'd he expect greeting the
patient, uniformed officers at his door with an assault
weapon?
Huh? History might suggest they did what to his door? And were
dressed how? And were screaming what?
|6.12.09 @ 3:48PM|#
In general, shooting at cops is kinda stupid.
I'm happy to wait for the details to come out, but what's "kinda
stupid" is raiding a house over 4.5 grams of pot.
Scarcity|6.12.09 @ 3:54PM|#
777 | June 12, 2009, 3:42pm | #
Derrick? Leroy? Columbus, GA?
Nothing to see here. Move along...
777 | June 12, 2009, 3:44pm | #
FrBunny
In general, shooting at cops is kinda stupid.
____________________________
Tonight at 11 - knee-jerk recations of authoritarian racists
assholes! Stay tuned!
777|6.12.09 @ 3:58PM|#
"Tonight at 11 - knee-jerk recations of authoritarian racists
assholes! Stay tuned!"
Having lived in GA, my point was that the cops don't have a problem
busting black folks for sport.
And given that there is NOTHING IN THE STORY about this being a
no-knock raid, until I hear that it was, I will stand by my
contention that "In general, shooting at cops is kinda stupid."
|6.12.09 @ 4:00PM|#
And given that there is NOTHING IN THE STORY about this
being a no-knock raid
When's the last time we hear about one of these where it
wasn't a no-knock? Seriously, the smart bet is on
no-knock.
Scarcity|6.12.09 @ 4:03PM|#
"Having lived in GA, my point was that the cops don't have a
problem busting black folks for sport."
My bad then.
Certainly in a vacuum, "shooting at cops is" extremely stupid. I
didn't say this was a no-knock raid, but if I had posted "Shooting
at masked men kicking in your door is pretty smart," then I could
see how you would assume that I was implying it was.
Xeones|6.12.09 @ 4:05PM|#
Seriously, the smart bet is on no-knock.
No way. The late Mr. Brockington was obviously high on the weeds
and angry with rage when those humble civil servants rapped
politely on his door.
|6.12.09 @ 4:09PM|#
The late Mr. Brockington was obviously high on the weeds and
angry with rage when those humble civil servants rapped politely on
his door.
I heard that he had just finished watching the series finale of
Battlestar Galactica and became so incensed that he was
about to shoot the TV and the completely innocent police merely
drove by, drawing his ire.
|6.12.09 @ 4:09PM|#
"Scarcity"
Makes me think of "Chastity" as in Sonny & Cher's kid. I read
today that she is going to have sex reassignment surgery (NTTAWWT).
I bet that kid had one messed up childhood (not that it played into
her decision at all).
Warty|6.12.09 @ 4:20PM|#
I heard that he had just finished watching the series finale
of Battlestar Galactica and became so incensed that he was about to
shoot the TV and the completely innocent police merely drove by,
drawing his ire.
Maybe he was 7 books deep into The Wheel of Time when he
suddenly realized it wasn't ever going to make any damn sense and
he had just wasted months of his life reading those shitty
books...oh wait, he was black?
Oh.
Maybe the cable went out.
P|6.12.09 @ 4:22PM|#
Why is it always "4.5 grams" of pot that the cops report, not
"1/4 ounce"? Do they think that some people won't realize that it's
a tiny insignificant amount of weed if they state it in
metric?
I mean, it's pretty unlikely an informant called them and told them
he bought 4.5 grams of weed from someone.
|6.12.09 @ 4:22PM|#
4.5 grams... help me visualize this. Is that 4 joints?
How much money would I have to part with to get 4.5 grams?
|6.12.09 @ 4:28PM|#
"Why is it always "4.5 grams" of pot that the cops report, not
"1/4 ounce"? Do they think that some people won't realize that it's
a tiny insignificant amount of weed if they state it in
metric?"
It's really about 1/6 ounce so I'mm going to say yes, it's using
metrics to cloud things.
"4.5 grams... help me visualize this. Is that 4 joints?"
2-3 max.
The Chad|6.12.09 @ 4:36PM|#
In my day, that would be approx. $50, depending on markup. Definitely an international drug cartel they bravely put a stop to there.
The Chad|6.12.09 @ 4:37PM|#
eighths are that much these days Warty? Not 4 years ago it was $40. Inflation's a bitch
monkey on juice|6.12.09 @ 4:38PM|#
"How much money would I have to part with to get 4.5
grams?"
Roughly $100...
|6.12.09 @ 4:38PM|#
"In my day, that would be approx. $50, depending on markup.
Definitely an international drug cartel they bravely put a stop to
there."
I don't know about that. Not every one was killed here.
Warty|6.12.09 @ 4:38PM|#
Yeah Chad, back when I cared, an 8th of good stuff was worth $50. I figured inflation and all that.
Spoonman|6.12.09 @ 4:39PM|#
Um, an 8th can last awhile if you have decent stuff. 2-gram joints sound retarded.
|6.12.09 @ 4:42PM|#
I pay $100 for 6 grams of my namesake.
A pinch-hitter is the only way to go. The only thing wasted is
you.
And when rolling, always use rice paper, preferrably Club. They
evenly burn to a whisper.
Xeones|6.12.09 @ 4:45PM|#
Ok, so this guy died over some plant matter that was worth somewhere between $50 and $80? Shit, the life of a black man was worth more than that in Georgia under fucking slavery. Fuck the police of Columbus GA, yo.
|6.12.09 @ 4:46PM|#
Oh FUCK! FUCK, FUCK anf Fucking FUCK!
4.5 fucking grams of reefer! A confidential informant (who's
probably getting off easy on a violent or property crime) a police
raid ("we annouinced police loud and clearly" the officers will
surely testify), a dead citizen (who if he had survived would
testify the exact opposite), his son (who probaly will tesatify
that unknown assailants broke in unannounced and his father opened
fire on what they both believed were armed robbers) facing felony
charges.
I remember those innocent days in 2008 when I opined that although
Obama might be a disaster for the economy, surely he'd ease up on
the War on Drugs Minorities.
The sheriff's deputies were working with U.S. Marshals to carry out the operation.
Yet we're still using cocksucking U.S. fucking Marshals to raid
somedy's home over a godfdam four and a half motherfucking grams of
reefer! I've bought that much from strangers in a motherfucking bar
and amazingly enough, since ythere were no dumbshit, steroid
abusing cops amped up on adrenaline for a bust around, nobody, not
a single fucking solitary soul was harmed in the slightest. Fuck,
fuck, and fucking fuck all over again!
Maybe Obama can make some funny cracks about this in his next press
conference. Goddam cowardly hypocrite politician.
Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!
REMEMBER KATHRYN JOHNSTON!
|6.12.09 @ 4:47PM|#
On top of it only being 4.5gm, TFA said it was two
separate transactions.
One for 2gm and one for 2.5gm.
And people wonder why I say that cops are all lying
cocksuckers.
|6.12.09 @ 4:48PM|#
A 2 gram joint is a monster, approaching the one that Cheech
lights up in Up In Smoke and then yells out "Led
Zeppelin". NTTAWWT.
"Dude, you just took the most acid I ever seen anybody take in my
entire life, man."
|6.12.09 @ 4:52PM|#
And for the cop fellating assholes who want to dispute my rant,
look up the first Kathryn Johnston story at Hit and Run. Look up my
angry, accusational rant about what probably happened. Then look up
to see if I got one fucking thing wrong!
Grrrrrr!!!
|6.12.09 @ 4:53PM|#
Oh, and 45 large for 4.5gm?
That's got to be some genetically modified superweed, right?
Fucking cops, fucking stupid lying cocksuckers.
And by the way, as evidence that pot users are not the deranged
violent psychos that the cops say they are, I submit the fact that
with all of these outrageous events there has not been a rash of
revenge killings tagetting pigs.
Scarcity|6.12.09 @ 4:59PM|#
Isaac, $45K was just a fecicious reference to the ridiculous "street values" that generally show up in drug raids. Good chance there'll be plenty to be pissed about here as the details emerge, but that was just a joke.
Scarcity|6.12.09 @ 5:00PM|#
Not that the fact that a man is dead over a pot raid isn't enough to be pissed about, regardless of the particulars.
Xeones|6.12.09 @ 5:01PM|#
I surmise that J sub D has properly divorced outrage from
surprise.
Yes, there's not really a chance of surprise anymore. The man's
angry rage is fully calculated.
phalkor|6.12.09 @ 5:16PM|#
no way those two separate transactions were for 2.5g and 2g. it
was definitely 3.5g then 1g.
the crime here really was being black while in Georgia. how do they
really defend these actions? prohibition is so fecking tired. it's
a long painful culture war with far too many casualties.
|6.12.09 @ 5:18PM|#
The only surprise here would be if this wasn't a "no-knock"
raid.
Condolences to the Brockington family.
phalkor|6.12.09 @ 5:22PM|#
Jsub,
I'm not so good at raging in type (it reads like whining) but you
have perfectly encapsulated the appropriate response. Stop the
madness!
Federal Dog|6.12.09 @ 5:33PM|#
4.5 grams convert to .91 of a teaspoon. People really have no
idea how much is involved as long as prosecutors state the quantity
in grams. When I work cases, I always request judicial notice of
the equivalent amount in baking terms so that everyone knows
exactly how much is at issue.
Fucking assholes.
Warty|6.12.09 @ 5:45PM|#
FD, your comment really confused me until I realized you were
talking about cocaine.
What is 4.5 grams of coke worth, Epi?
Freewheelin\' Franklin|6.12.09 @ 5:47PM|#
The GA cops really fucked up on this one. They could have had a
warm body sitting in their prison system, earning somebody
money.
Seriously, 4.5 grams? 4.5 fucking grams? 4.5 grams? A couple bong
hits? That's not even really a felony, where I live. You couldn't
get the cops off their fat asses, and out of the Dunkin Donuts for
that! Well, maybe some of the local shit-town cops, whose primary
function is to generate income for the township.
This shit's gotta stop. The more I think about it, the more pissed
I get.
But here's
something you might get a laugh out of. I went to high school with
this guy. From what I heard, he was passed out on the sofa from too
many Halcion. They guy tried to rip him off, so he properly showed
him the door.
|6.12.09 @ 6:00PM|#
Since we have some drug appraisers in the house, I am wondering
if anyone knows the value of heroin? Is it anywhere near possible
that an "illegal immigrant was arrested with $4 million of heroin
in his backpack" as reported on my local news?
I know what I think the answer is, but I really don't know.
Warty|6.12.09 @ 6:02PM|#
I've heard a good rule of thumb is to reduce the reported street value by an order of magnitude.
BakedPenguin|6.12.09 @ 6:17PM|#
John C, I wouldn't know from personal experience, but this article suggests the price for a kilo of heroin is $100,000. If that's true, then maybe if the guy had this backpack, he could have fit in 40 lbs.
robc|6.12.09 @ 6:51PM|#
REMEMBER KATHRYN JOHNSTON!
Considering this is Georgia still, Im going to assume that the
informant lied and any evidence found was planted by the cops
afterword.
Anyone think Occam's Razor suggests otherwise?
Justice Scalia|6.12.09 @ 7:11PM|#
Another development over the past half-century that deters civil-rights violations is the increasing professionalism of police forces, including a new emphasis on internal police discipline. Even as long ago as 1980 we felt it proper to "assume" that unlawful police behavior would "be dealt with appropriately" by the authorities, United States v. Payner, 447 U. S. 727, 733-734, n. 5 (1980), but we now have increasing evidence that police forces across the United States take the constitutional rights of citizens seriously.
|6.12.09 @ 7:13PM|#
Baked,
Thanks. Though I guess 40 kilos would be closer to 88lbs. That
would be quite a backpack to throw from the car during a
chase.
He had a $150 million bond ( I think that's what they said) because
of the millions of dollars of heroin.
There was also a guy in a shitty apartment who allegedly sold over
$100 million of stuff at a Mexican restaurant. Yeah.
Between that and the news using a crime victim to advocate for tax
raises ( or else the police will no longer be able to leave Dunkin
Donuts to respond to burglaries), the put on an interesting
show.
MNG|6.12.09 @ 7:13PM|#
"Considering this is Georgia still, Im going to assume that the
informant lied and any evidence found was planted by the cops
afterword."
Georgia? They probably wrote the guy up for violation of the slave
code to boot...
|6.12.09 @ 7:17PM|#
This must be the "Assumption Magazine" section of the interweb.
Somehow I got redirected here from Reason.
Seems to me only Syd, with his first comment on this wretched
situation, made a lot of sense.
Still, it is interesting reading. If what some of you are saying
about Georgia (I drove through it once) is true, I can't imagine
any reason to remain living there.
Joel|6.12.09 @ 8:06PM|#
This must be the "Assumption Magazine" section of the
interweb. Somehow I got redirected here from Reason.
Go to the link below (sorry, I just can't figure out how to insert
a link at H&R without weird and very bad things happening),
look at the information, and then come back and tell us if you
still think the "assumptions" are unwarranted.
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/
Jonas|6.12.09 @ 10:09PM|#
"If what some of you are saying about Georgia (I drove through
it once) is true, I can't imagine any reason to remain living
there."
I have to say, I witnessed racial profiling firsthand in Georgia.
Some black guy was walking down the street talking to me and my
friends, and he was about the nicest, happiest person imaginable
even though he looked like your stereotypical "dangerous black
man", and then the cops came and interrupted the conversation to
basically accuse him of stealing something which I'm pretty sure he
didn't steal (it looked like this dumb broad just lost something)
and to make him leave us white Catholic folk alone. (I was at the
National Catholic Youth Conference in Atlanta.)
baldanders|6.12.09 @ 10:30PM|#
"Dude, you just took the most acid I ever seen anybody take in
my entire life, man."
Man, if I had a nickel for every time I ever heard that... get over
it people, it's just acid. Beyond a certain point it really doesn't
matter how much you take- there's a limit to how hard you can trip.
Of course you might trip that hard a little longer if you took
more, but... if you wanted to go to work this week you would have
eaten some shrooms in the first place.
Anyway 4.5 grams actually sounds smaller than a quarter to me.
That's partially because I'm pretty good with weights and measures,
but also partially because it's measured in grams.. which sound
kind of small, really. I mean, if I make an effort to ignore the
fact that I can effortlessly convert grams to ounces by eyeball..
even 10 grams sounds less substantial than a quarter. Cause grams
are small, but ounces are big.
Either way, it's a ridiculously small amount of the demon weed. I
mean- killing someone over a pound would be ridiculous. I'd rather
not kill anyone over any amount of herb, but at least I kind of
understand it when they raid a barge laden with hundreds of tons of
the stuff guarded by henchmen with machine guns. Which happens a
lot, btw.
baldanders|6.12.09 @ 10:44PM|#
Warty: "I've heard a good rule of thumb is to reduce the
reported street value by an order of magnitude."
Probably a pretty good rule of thumb, but you really have to look
at things on a case by case basis. For instance, if you're talking
about LSD it's really nonlinear in the amount of doses floating
around in a particular market, and on how much reach the guy
selling has in that market. The only way you can make any money
selling acid retail is if you know a lot of people connected to a
really large University (or if you have a lot of new customers
coming through on a daily basis in a pretty safe environment for
selling, like the lot of a touring band.) I could explain further,
but pretty much you should assume that LSD in quantity is worth
more like 2 orders of magnitude less than its "street value."
Cocaine, in it's various forms is a bit different- you can sell a
lot of cocaine to a few people if they have the money to buy it.
But it's still the case that the people who have the kilos on hand
don't do the peddling. So the cocaine involved might actually
eventually bring something not too far away from the estimated
value, allowing for shrinkage, but it won't bring anything near
that to any one person, let alone the people who happen to have it,
if you're talking quantity.
Marijuana cultivation is subject to particularly odd distortions...
I mean, it's sort of nuts to count every seedling as a fully
flowered mature female plant. If you know anything about anything
it's pretty clear that that's nonsense.
|6.12.09 @ 11:25PM|#
I think it's important to understand what 4+ grams of pot is... if you don't have a good analogue, it may seem that 4.5 grams is just a sh*t load of dope. According to the US Mint web site, a US Quarter coin weighs 5.67 grams. So someone was killed over less than 25-cents in weight of pot. That's not worth a life in any manner of thinking
baldanders|6.13.09 @ 12:22AM|#
"I think it's important to understand what 4+ grams of pot
is"
Well- the actual weight isn't really important here- the efficacy
is. Now, I reject the premise that the efficacy or the weight
matters, but since the court system cares...
4.5 grams of herb is enough to.. well, if it's skank mexican weed
it's enough to piss off any number of people. If it is really
insanely well made Humboldt it's enough to keep 4 people happy for
an evening if they are not fiends. If they're fiends it's basically
an unmeasurably small amount of the stuff.
Anyway, I kind of doubt this was the kickass shit. I bet it was
some Mexican dirt. Fucking sad to get shot over that. Poor guy.
JB|6.13.09 @ 12:55AM|#
Reading stuff like this makes me wonder why more people just
don't start killing every cop they see.
It's self-defense. Who knows when one of these wackos will shoot
you in the back or break down your door? A good defense is a good
offense.
baldanders|6.13.09 @ 1:38AM|#
"Reading stuff like this makes me wonder why more people just
don't start killing every cop they see."
Mainly because they would go to jail for shooting a cop. Or
actually they would get the fuck beaten out of them in pretty
unimaginable ways for shooting a cop. I mean- cops don't like it
when you shoot cops.
Now, not that I would encourage this or anything..
But cops do have to rely on other people to get their shit right. I
mean.. it would be morally wrong, if you were an electrician, to
fuck up a cops wiring a little bit. I mean- he might have kids. And
then there's the firemen to think about...
And it would be morally wrong to fuck up his brake job because you
might hurt an innocent person. I mean- maybe your mom even. Yeah,
your mom.
But I think it would be reasonable at this point to try to hurt a
cop in any legal way you can that didn't hurt anyone else. I'd even
go so far as to fuck with the immediate family. I mean- if I am an
admissions officer at an Ivy league school I have a lot of
latitude. Maybe your kid is going to community college rather than
Princeton man ;).
I mean- that's unfair, but... a lot of shit is unfair. A lot of my
best friends are doing 5-10, and that's a lot worse than anything I
can do to some cop. So fuck them. If you get the chance to fuck a
cop without hurting anyone outside his immediate family, I say you
ought to take it.
Within bounds of course... denying a loan is one thing, but
directly causing children to suffer is not right, IMHO. Even if
they are a cop's kids. You have to draw the line somewhere or
you'll be as bad as them.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245