XPost: alt.drugs.pot.cultivation, alt.law-enforcement, pa.general
XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.conservative, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
From: leroysoetoro@hrc-rejected.com

https://www.foxnews.com/us/family-suing-over-grateful-dead-mega-fan-and- pot-grower-who-was-crushed-to-death-by-police-driving-a-bulldozer

The family of Gregory Longenecker says the 51-year-old's civil rights were violated by authorities who crushed him to death with a bulldozer last
year while trying to arrest him for growing fewer than a dozen marijuana plants, according to a federal lawsuit.

Longenecker, a short-order cook from Reading, Pa., had allegedly been
secretly growing 10 pot plants deep in the woods of a game preserve in
Berks County when a game commission employee discovered his car and called
the police, the Washington Post reported. When they arrived, a friend who
was accompanying Longenecker that day was arrested, but the life-long
Grateful Dead fan fled into the heavy underbrush of the preserve.

An hours-long search ensued, with a helicopter tracking Longenecker's
movements from above and two police departments combing the land, which
was so thick with vegetation that a tracking dog could not even get
through, according to the Post. The game commissioner who discovered Longenecker's plants had been driving a bulldozer, and one police officer, identified as Mark Weiss, reportedly got on the heavy machinery in an
attempt to get through the landscape.

What happened next is hotly debated -- Pennsylvania State Trooper David
Boehm first said Longenecker could not have died in a pursuit because
there was no pursuit. Then, authorities concluded it was possible
Longenecker had a heart attack while running from police. Next, Cops said
they needed to use a bulldozer because "there's no way that you could walk through that stuff," the Washington Post reported.

One thing is certain: an autopsy revealed that Longenecker died of
traumatic injuries, as "virtually all" of the bones and organs in his body
from his pelvis to collar bone were "crushed, broken, and /or lacerated."
An investigation by the Berks County District Attorney ruled his death as accidental.

Longenecker's family argues in the lawsuit that police knew the
approximate area where he was, because troopers allegedly shouted over a
PA system in the helicopter, "I see you lying there! Get up!"

The bulldozer, "with similar force and characteristics of a military
tank," allegedly continued to move towards Longenecker "knowing that he
was lying in that area and also knowing they could not see in front of
them," the lawsuit says.

Longenecker was known by family and friends as an avid vegetable gardener
and loving father figure to the children of his girlfriend and "soulmate"
of 25 years, according to the Post. They say they want police to be held accountable for their "reckless" decision to use a bulldozer while trying
to find Longenecker.

"They killed a beautiful human being, a caring, loving man," said
Longenecker's uncle, Mike Carpenter, who's named as a plaintiff in the
federal suit. "He'll never be able to share his life with us, or us with
him, again. For no reason. He wasn't hurting anyone."

Medical use of marijuana was legalized in Pennsylvania 2016, and
possession of small amounts of the drug is decriminalized in Philadelphia
and Pittsburgh. However, recreational use and growing the plant is still illegal in most of the state.

The local chapter of the National Organization for Reforming Marijuana
Laws slammed the police department and called their actions that day
excessive force in an extreme manner. They said they believe if
Longenecker had been arrested, charged and convicted, his sentence would
most likely have been probation.

"No matter your opinion on marijuana legalization, the penalty for growing cannabis should never be an extrajudicial death sentence," NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said in a statement.

Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams has spoken out in defense of
the officers involved and said that Longenecker's family would have still
been angry if he had only been injured and not killed, according to the
Post. He added that the efforts of police were "reasonable and conducted
in a safe manner."



--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.

ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its supporters can dispute that.

Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.

Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.

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