Leaked Police Report Sheds Light On Raided Busby Event
Here's another clue that's come out of the now-infamous fundraising event from two Fridays ago for Democratic House candidate Francine Busby (CA-50), which ended in a raid by the San Diego Sheriff's Department when things got out of hand with a deputy who was responding to a noise complaint.
A preliminary police report that has been leaked to the media (the Sheriff's Department is not releasing documents, due to an ongoing internal probe) shows that the noise complaint originated from a house nearby, with the caller incensed over "a loud Democratic rally with loudspeakers."
This corroborates what Busby had previously told me, that the deputies who came to the event said they were responding to a complaint about a "Democratic demonstration." For her part, Busby has said that the event was not loud, but was a standard fundraising house party, at which she briefly spoke through a microphone and had finished up her remarks at some time around 8:30 p.m.
The Sheriff's deputy arrived about 45 minutes after that, and things got ugly. By the time it was over, multiple people had been pepper-sprayed, one of the hostesses and a guest were arrested, and a full Sheriff's Department backup had come in, including even dogs and a helicopter -- to deal with a crowd of middle-aged Democratic donors.
The police report says that Deputy Marshall G. Abbott used his pepper spray because he felt threatened by guests who were surrounding him. It also says that he ended up with "several scratches and minor swelling on both of his arms."
Busby and others who attended the event believe that the caller is probably the same person as an unidentified heckler who shouted obscenities and anti-gay slurs at the assembled crowd. That still hasn't been nailed down with certainty, but doesn't seem like an unreasonable assumption. Busby has said the call was motivated by a political agenda, but she has not accused the police themselves of behaving politically.
Late Update: The report can be viewed here.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
DemoPhobia is a recognized defense to violent assault South of the Orange Curtain and north of the Grapevine
July 8, 2009 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Better be careful down in "whiteflight" and watch out for those "dangerous dems", they might vote on something or some such.
Just who were these women, Ma Barker, and Granny from Beverly?
The initial report said this deputy knocked a 65 year old woman to the ground. Just what gauge was the shotgun she was pointing at him?
"The stupidity of the act is directly proportional to the amount of people watching."
July 8, 2009 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
John-give the non-locals a break.
"the Orange Curtain" refers to the beginning of Orange County, which is just south of Los Angeles County
"north of the Grapevine": the Grapevine is the stretch of I-5 that goes through the mountains just north of LA and ends at the south end of a very big stretch of desert.
LA is very blue, Orange is very red (whack-O land!), and San Diego south of that is getting bluer every year. While the vote is getting bluer, the Sheriff and the SDPD really aren't.
There is some buzz that this whole thing was a set-up by local Repub. politicians who have ties to the Sheriff's Dept. by marriage. In that case Abbot would be the fall-guy sent because his over-reaction was pretty much assured. Could be true.
July 8, 2009 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if the Deputy had been eating Twinkies shortly before receiving the urgent call to action...
July 8, 2009 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm assuming it was Krispy Kremes in this case.
-- ARG
July 8, 2009 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gene's referring to the infamous "Twinkie defense" perpetrated on the public's sensibilities by the legal guns for Dan White, assassin of San Fransico Mayor George Moscone and City Councilman Harvey Milk, who used it to help White dodge an otherwise likely double conviction for first-degree murder.
July 8, 2009 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
desert:
Actually, that is a myth. There is no such thing as the 'Twinkie Defense' - and Whit's defense made no such claims in court. In fact, their claim was that high consumption of junk food exacerbated an already existing psychological problem
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/23/INGRE343501.DTL
July 8, 2009 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, you're half right.
The Twinkie Defense is usually construed to mean it was claimed White eating Twinkies was the cause of his depression and violent behavior.
This is wrong.
What was claimed was that White eating Twinkies was a symptom of his depression.
From the article you cite:
So was there a Twinkie Defense? No. But there was a Twinkie Diagnosis.
Reporters being reporters, though, that was lost in the shuffle.
July 9, 2009 5:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
The report identifies the Clinician who was with the Deputy as being female. One might wonder what else he'd been doing between the time the complaint was filed and his arrival at the house, which might have affected his (un)professional demeanor at the scene of the "crime".
The report also basically identifies the address of the person who complained as being just to the west of the "crime" scene address.
July 8, 2009 3:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Imagine if an African-American family was having a fundraiser for Obama and a racist neighbor was yelling "niggers" at the guests and made a false police report to try to provoke a police raid of some kind on the event. The neighbor should at a minimum be charged with making a false police report, and be made to pay ALL the expenses involved in the police action that he created. Then the neighbor should be sued for personal damages by ALL the guests and hosts of the event for instigating what is at it's core a hate crime. I would hope the bigot looses his house with the legal expenses his actions provoked. That might put the fear of god in the hearts of ALL the christian bigots in the area and spare the decent people living there any future misery.
July 8, 2009 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if all that happened, the neighbor would become a poster-child victim of the "gay agenda".
You can't put "the fear of god" into these people because they believe they are doing god's work, whether calling the cops on evil Democrats (evil *lesbian* Democrats!) or screaming epithets. It's all part of His plan, you see.
July 8, 2009 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well WWJD?
We all know Jesus was a Young Republican and spent his life warning us against a gay takeover of the world! It is all written down somewhere but there was a 'gay agenda' to keep it out of the actual Bible. I can only hope and pray that fine young christian police officer finds the strength to keep up the fight against the pagan gay fundraising in his own backyard. ( I'll bet the lesbians were serving shrimp or some other shellfish ...... what an abomination! To Hell with them!
July 8, 2009 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not such a good advertisement for post-military employment when the young ex-Marine still thinks he's in the sand box kickin' hajis around.
He's probably the kind of cop who fingers his gun when he pulls you over for a traffic stop. If this guy is allowed to stay employed with the Sheriff's Dept, he should be assigned to a desk and never be allowed to interact with citizens again.
Whatever happens with the case, it's more than just a shot across the bow of any aspiring Democrats in the region. Overwhelming force was applied when a raging cop felt threatened, even if it was only by a different ideology.
July 8, 2009 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Our streets and highways are crawling with suppressed PTDS victims. The savagery of combat creates many wounds that are not detectable. Do not assume that ALL of our law enforcement professionals believe in that "To Serve and Protect" crap.
“Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.”
Henry Steele Commager
July 8, 2009 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ironically, the blogger who got a hold of the police report, Barry Jantz, is a rightwinger who thinks the report is proof of how unlawful the Democrats at the party were.
July 8, 2009 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Make sense that a winger would have the connections there to get this report where others wouldn't have that kind of juice. Probably best friends with the raging cop and the bad neighbor.
July 8, 2009 5:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
The "threatened" excuse is the get out of jail withoout prosecution excuse for AL violence initiate by law enforcement.
Time and again an innocent citizen is shot, maimed, killed, etc. and the perpetrator gets off if it is someone with a badge who says they were "threatened" (the MANDATORY statement given for ALL such actions).
When everyday citizens use this same excuse, they are put in jail or have to hock their homes and future to remain out of jail until the trial... which, if they hire an attorney, will cost them their home.
So much for the much touted, seldom seen, "Equal Justice" we seem to throw around with other passe terms such as "Freedom" and "All Men Are Created Equal" and "Honesty in Government"...
You know... those ideas stated as fact in high school...
July 8, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely.
My department was sent to a bogus self defense class (because you don't teach self-defense by lecturing people sitting in plush auditorium chairs) taught by two cops. And one lesson stuck with me.
During questioning people asked about the consequences should the level of force used in your 'defense' result in serious injury or death to the 'attacker'. There response was simple "Just say you felt in danger for your life". There was no particular hint that maybe you should actually have that fear, it was sold as a pretty literal get out of jail free card good for all circumstances.
If cops are willing to actually teach that to civilians you can only imagine how they teach it to rookies on the first day with their training officer. Everytime I hear a cop use that phrase I understand that it may actually be true, or maybe not, but it is sure damn useful.
July 8, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I remember going to one of those classes a long long time ago and we were told that if someone comes on your property and you feel threatened, if you kill him outside of your house, make sure you drag him inside!!!
July 8, 2009 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
If he feels that threatened by unarmed 60+ year old democratic lesbian women, he might want to take on a new career doing something that isn't quite as scary for him. This jackass couldn't be a bouncer at a bar, he'd kill someone. I mean I know they might SEEM intimidating while they tell him he is violating the law and not following his own department rules, but at no point could I possibly envision them being a threat to his safety. Until she was placed under arrest that woman had the right to decline to answer ANY question he asked her and the right to walk away if she wanted to. She has to be VERBALLY informed she is being placed under arrest before he is allowed to start use of force. In his own report he admits to physically accosting her before he informs her she is being placed under arrest, and doesn't even mention just asking her to stay put for a second and talk to him. I tried to find one, but I cannot locate any news stories about a crowd of people at a political fundraiser in the united states attacking a law enforcement agent in the last 20 years. Maybe a story like that exists someplace, if anyone can find it I guess it could serve as proof that there was a threat. I'm personally shocked they didn't fire him yet.
July 8, 2009 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry... I forgot the all important...
"WE DO NO TORTURE" fact...
July 8, 2009 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
That minor swelling on both arms results from an acute overdose of lard products.
July 8, 2009 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
more likely from the hives he got from being scared by old ladies.
July 8, 2009 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or steroids.
July 8, 2009 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
...or pepper spray
July 8, 2009 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
No sane person would not conclude that this was way out of line. I hope that victims sue the Department. That is only way to put a stop to this kind of response. A side benefit of a generous settlement will be that it will annoy the h*ll out of the loud mouth neighbor.
July 8, 2009 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
As a San Diego resident, I can assure you that such conduct by the SD Police is very typical. They seem to have 2 modes: Off & Full On Ragin'.
July 8, 2009 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just to keep the record straight (not to disagree about San Diego's finest) - Marshall Abbot was a San Diego County Sheriff deputy and not a San Diego city policeman.
Another interesting twist on this case- the women who hosted the event were lesbian. San Diego county is still a very conservative place, especially north San Diego county. The DA is investigating the complaint. The DA, Bonnie Dumanis, is your typical conservative republican DA with one exception- she too is lesbian. It hasn't been an issue in her campaigns or in the way she runs her office.
The deputy who "lost it" is one issue. Another issue is the caller who taunted the Busby event and was maybe the person who called in the complaint. Was he just anti-Dem or was he also anti-gay. His name hasn't been revealed yet, but the location where he lives has, so I think it will just be a matter of time before the focus of the investigation turns to the caller AND the deputy.
July 8, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually Cardiff is pretty artsy and liberal. Coastal North County is one of more liberal areas of the San Diego County. Beach folk are a different breed. Now up the coast in Orange County, Rick Warren and the Rapturistas are a different story. They are a mental health challenged group that worship God in public and worship money in their heart.
July 9, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's no doubt that 65-yr-old females are some of the most dangerously lethal creatures on the planet. The bloody carnage at church socials, bridge tournaments, and PTA meetings is the dirty little secret of law enforcement agencies all over the country, and a significant part of police training deals with how to disarm and subdue these raging beasts. I personally have seen a Methodist social security recipient in dark blue capris and Capezios kill, gut and clean a 750-lb Kodiak bear without breaking a sweat.
July 8, 2009 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the bingo - dear God, the bingo.
July 8, 2009 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Hey Abbott!"
July 8, 2009 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what are the odds this guy keeps his job and the department doesn't have to pay off a huge lawsuit? Our cops have too much leeway.
July 8, 2009 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I may be wrong, but I do not believe a police department or sheriff department has actually paid ANYTHING to a victim for at leat a hundred years. Instead, ALL suits, if won, are paid 100% by your friends and neighbors.
It aggravates me when the media says something like "the federal government is paying" or "the department must pay"...
This is nonsense, but if they were required to post "highway funding provided by the now poorer taxpayers of this county" or some other TRUE statement, we might just get our dander up enough to stop the nonsense...
'We the Taxpayers" are easily manipulated... IMHO
July 9, 2009 2:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I said it before - this guy is a departmental laughingstock, and he's going to be looking over his shoulder for the smirks on his fellow deputies' faces. The report will exonerate him, the suit against the county will be thrown out, but he won't last five years in law enforcement. Only pray that he doesn't kill someone on the way out.
July 8, 2009 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
The incident demonstrates the need for Dems to recruit among young people. Had anyone under 30 been there, the entire event would have been filmed and on YouTube within minutes.
The marks on the arms of SD County's own Barney Fife could easily be caused by the headlock he reported put on a guest. Grabbing an arm that's squeezing your neck is a nearly universal response to that particular stimulus.
July 8, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
So true!
July 8, 2009 5:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
You look like a nice American dad and I agree with you and posted something similar.
July 8, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am sure the scratches and swelling came from the people who were trying to wart off his abuse.
What a loser. Orange County/San Diego County redwhacko land. Its a pity because San Diego is a lovely place. Hopefully it will keep turning bluer as people wise up
July 8, 2009 5:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the linked doc is accurate (no reason to think otherwise) then there's a few really interesting things here:
1. There is no independent verification of any noise issue in the report. This is very telling. Its an admission the officer had no grounds to do more than issue a warning, much less turn this into an arrest.
2. He claims the door was open and someone pointed him to the owner. That's an effort at a CYA move because he had no basis to go entering a private house - a bad effort, but an effort.
3. Also no follow up with complainant, despite introduction saying it would happen. Perhaps to prevent having to put name in report?
So basically, you get an anonymous tip you can't verify, and your response is to go into someone's house without notice to the owner, interrogate a woman without explaining why you're there, and when she refuses to give you all you demand chase her down and physically grab her to follow up your interrogation. I'm up to at least 3 violations of the 4th Amendment by the time he reaches for her, then when she tries to resist an illegal seizure she gets charged with battery and resisting. You stay classy, San Diego.
July 8, 2009 7:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Has anybody notice the change in conduct of the Police after 9/11 and Bush Administration that there is lack of professionalism in the Police force?
July 9, 2009 3:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
There has always been a certain percentage of violent, dickish cops, but I don't think this got much worse after 9/11. I think it started getting worse during the 1980s. The most obvious example is the growth and overuse of SWAT teams, many of which are more or less military units now.
July 10, 2009 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
".....minor swelling on both of his arms."
I spent 4 years in the Army, fought in a war and spent over 50 years in construction and I've never heard of or experienced a case of "minor swelling of both arms."
What the hell is it and how do you get it?
July 9, 2009 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Having lived in this area, it is often noted that the Sheriffs Department usually gets the people that couldn't get hired on with city police departments were the recruiting standards are higher. The preponderance of the photos demonstrate an sophomoric/immature bunch of guys living out some fantasy to the peril of the people. Add to that mix, returning vets from a war zone and you have incidents like what happened in Cardiff to a bunch of pre-retirement gray haired boomers. As I have commented before, I really hope the hosts sue over this. Big settlements and officers demoted or kicked off the force are the only way to change the mentality in the department.
July 9, 2009 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink