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Subdeacon Joe

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MILLER: Iraq vet brutalized over guns in D.C.

 

 

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) seems to have it out for our military. The department is using the city’s pointless firearm registration mandate to harass, arrest and jail servicemen.

 

Army 1st Sergeant Matthew Corrigan was woken in the middle of the night, forced out of his home, arrested, had his home ransacked, had his guns seized and was thrown in jail -- where he was lost in the prison system for two weeks -- all because the District refuses to recognize the meaning of the Second Amendment. This week, the city dropped all charges against Sgt. Corrigan, but the damage done to this reservist cannot be so easily erased.

 

This story will describe how Sgt. Corrigan went from sleeping at home at night to arrested. Subsequent installments of the series will cover the home raid without a warrant, the long-term imprisonment and the coverup by MPD.

 

Sgt. Corrigan, 35, and his attorney Richard Gardiner appeared before Judge Michael Ryan at D.C. Superior Court on Monday. The District’s assistant attorney general moved to dismiss all ten charges against him - three for unregistered firearms and seven for possession of ammunition in different calibers.

 

Wearing a blue suit and black-rimmed glasses, Sgt. Corrigan looked unemotional after the hearing that ended his two-year ordeal. Outside the courtroom, I asked him how he felt. I expected some vindication or, at least, relief. Instead, he was weighed down by the losses and trauma of the experience. “For court, I put on a face showing I’m okay,” he said. “Overall, this has broken me.”

 

Nighttime Raid

 

Sgt. Corrigan was asleep in rented apartment on North Capitol Street in the Stronghold neighborhood at 4 a.m. on Feb. 3, 2010, when he heard his name being called on a bullhorn from outside. There was a heavy snow falling -- the first storm of what became known that winter as “snowmageddon.”

 

Flood lights glared through the front and back windows and doors of his English basement apartment. “Matt Corrigan, We’re here to help you, Matt,” the voice said in the darkness. An experienced combat soldier, he assumed a bunker mentality and hid in the dark room.

 

 

 

When he opened the door, he saw about 25 officers in full body armor and kevlar helmets, carrying M4 assault weapons. SWAT and explosive ordinance disposal teams were on all sides. Streets were barricaded for blocks. “They were prepared to be blown up or attacked,” Sgt. Corrigan remembered. Experienced in combat, he knew how to surrender with the least chance of being hurt. He put his hands over his head and spun around so they could clearly see he was unarmed.

 

matt2In the dark, snowy night, the Iraq vet was an easy target. “I looked down at saw 10 jiggly red dots all over my chest,” he said, appearing afraid at the memory. “I crumbled.”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one officer ready to tackle him, so he dropped to his knees and crossed his ankles to demonstrate complete defenselessness.

 

“They immediately zip-tied me tighter than I would have been allowed to zip-tie an Iraqi,” Sgt. Corrigan said, pulling up his dress shirt cuff to show his wrist. “We had to check to fit two fingers between the tie and the Iraqi’s wrist so we weren’t cutting off circulation. They tied mine so tight that they hurt.”

 

Mr. Gardiner, the defense attorney, still questions whether this initial arrest was legal, since there were no charges against him at this point. The only thing the police had was the word of a VA operator saying he claimed to be a gun owner. He was not read his rights. MPD spokesman, Gwendolyn Crump, would not comment on the case.

 

I can't wait to be called a "cop hater" for posting this and saying that the DC police went way overboard.

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First off, I am not a police hater. I am a police officer. We all know how the media screws up most of these stories. I pray this is one of those examples. If this story happened like it reads, I think LE screwed up big time. Anyway you look at it, the crazy chick on the hotline should have her head examined as well. I am very interested as to "the rest of the story."

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It may be that this happens because WDC is so far out of touch with the rest of the USA that it wants to be another city state. :angry: :angry:

Election time could help. Nah. It brings out the worse in the morons of WDC.

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Not the cops fault..It's the idiotic, unconstitutional gun laws they have in DC.. :angry:

Disagree.

 

Perhaps not the "rank-and-file" officers, but after reading the subsequent articles it's apparent that at least a small number of those in command positions as well as jail personnel exercised extremely poor judgement while displaying a hugely arrogant disregard for not only the Sergeant's rights but proper procedure.

 

Not likely to happen, but some of those clowns need to have their "careers" abruptly terminated. Short-order cook in a truck stop would be more in line with their abilities, I'd think.

 

Too bad the Army can't draft their butts and send THEM to Afghanistan for a year! :angry:

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What cop in his right mind would go to this extreme without a warrant? And some wonder why cops ain't too popular in some peoples mind.

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