Police Behaving Badly

The parents of Salvatore Culosi, the Virginia man killed by a SWAT team in 2006 while under investigation for gambling on sports games, have filed a $12 million lawsuit against the city, the police department, and the officer who shot him. I hope it goes well, but qualified and sovereign immunity are high hurdles for plaintiffs in these kinds of cases to clear. To their credit, in addition to damages, their suit seeks major reforms to the way Fairfax uses its SWAT team. Read their wrenching account of how Fairfax officials have treated them here.

In related news, here's some truly horrifying video. Note that until the video hit the news, the guy had only been charged with misdemeanors.