"The only thing that stops a bad MRI with a gun is a good MRI with a gun."
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The judge that signed the warrant needs to be removed from the bench as completely incompetent. A simple inquiry into the type of business would have resolved the power consumption issues and belie the weed smell as the lie it was.
Some days I feel like the only thing I can do to make a difference is become a cop and do nothing but arrest wealthy people and state that their property was used in the furtherance of a crime. Just start doing asset forfeiture against everyone and anything that currently believes themselves insulated.
Hell, become a cop and use asset forfeiture on the police station because we have public record of the crimes they've perpetrated.
Wait, but... It's California? They don't even do grow ops in la, they do it less than a day's ride up the coast? You know, the biggest weed producers in the country? Hombolt?
This officer should have gone to Trump University and and would have learned you can defeat magnets by just getting them wet. A cup of water, BOOM, no more magnet!
Also, did the officer believe upon entering the outside room that they were somehow growing pot plants in the MRI tube behind an invisible curtain or something? Why would you need to walk into the room? Also, buying all that medical equipment would be a pretty big investment as just a front to grow a few pot plants. How does a warrant like that even get signed off on? Increased power compared to other non-medical buildings, and someone who thought they smelled pot? I'm sure it couldn't have been someone in the waiting room that smoked up, or was around someone smoking before before going inside, right?
Not saying drugs haven't ruined lives, but the war on drugs has ruined far more.
Holy shit, they pulled the emergency release on one of those MRI machines. I think that adds a zero or two to the cost of bringing back online.
I'm just an XRay tech. But I would expect at least one whole day, for a pair of engineers to get it running again and re-certified. $20-50K for their time, plus missed revenue from the lost day. Best case could total $100K easy. Way more, if the damage is more than cosmetic.
Yeah, quenching the machine makes bringing it back online $200k+ depending on the system
Yeah, that liquid helium and the MRI down time are super expensive
At one point, an officer walked into an MRI room, past a sign warning that metal was prohibited inside, with his rifle “dangling… in his right hand, with an unsecured strap,” the lawsuit said.
Honestly this might be a case where his laziness saved his life. If he'd been strapped in properly depending on where that strap goes he could've taken a nasty ride. And that would have been priceless to watch.
Officers allegedly raided the diagnostic center, located in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, thinking it was a front for an illegal cannabis cultivation facility, pointing to higher-than-usual energy use and the “distinct odor” of cannabis plants, according to the lawsuit.
MRI machine probably draws quite a bit
The real takeaway here is that they bullshitted smelling an odor of cannabis when there was none as an excuse to justify starting the raid in the first place. Some officer(s) lied on a form somewhere.
Didn't they recently rule that cops can no longer use the "I smelled weed" excuse as reasonable suspicion/probable cause? Maybe that was just one state.
Seems doubly ridiculous that this happened in California
And if it did smell like weed near the MRI place, you know what I'd suspect? That's a venn diagram with cancer patients in the middle.
You really want to crack down on cancer patients?
Cut off the motherfucker's nose, let's all recognize potsmeller when he's walking down the street.
Argh, the fucking police being powertripping cunts really gets me going.
I don't know if there is any single takeaway here, this story is just fucking ridiculous on every single level.
- They bullshited themselves into a search warrant based on typical cannabis "investigation methods".
- In a state where recreational cannabis use is legal.
- Persisted in the search even after their main argument for it, high energy usage indicating a grow-op, fell away when it was clear it was indeed a medical facility.
- Made the motherfucking "Gun flies to MRI" TV trope a certified reality. This is a thing that verifiably happened now.
- Instead of getting help, used a sealed (!) emergency shutdown button...
- ...which damaged the machine. And released thousands of dollars worth of helium gas.
- Forgot their loaded magazine on the ground.
This can't be real. I'm fucking dying over here. Please let there be bodycam footage of the cop speaking in a high pitched voice after. (I know the helium was probably not released into the room, but one can hope I guess)
5 . Instead of getting help, used a sealed (!) emergency shutdown button...
The sealed shutdown was definitely behind glass which the cop smashed with the nearest object just like in every movie
"Doctors are just a bunch of overeducated assholes who think they are smarter than everyone else. What could they possibly be doing with all that electricity?"
- LAPD probably
The icing on the donut:
The officer then grabbed his rifle and left the room, leaving behind a magazine filled with bullets on the office floor, according to the lawsuit.
Literally just a legally-sanctioned gang at this point.
At all points. It was a gang that ~~started wearing~~ was given badges, not a 'serve and protect' force that (d)evolved into a gang.
Hey, y'all need to chill out. The cops have qualified immunity because they are better trained and educated than the average civilian. Y'all think this was a medical imaging center!? You don't know that! They could have been growing dangerous Marijuana that immigrated here illegally from Mexico to eat the dogs and cats!
Thank God our boys in blue took the time to clear this potentially dangerous building of any possible threats! That MRI machine nearly got one of them until they disarmed and detained it!
Just another dangerous day on the job!
Do you know how racist you're being right now?
It's the Haitians who eat the dogs and cats. The Mexicans take all of our jobs.
Get it right. Jeez.
An officer then allegedly pulled a sealed emergency release button that shut the MRI machine down, deactivating it, evaporating thousands of liters of helium gas and damaging the machine in the process. The officer then grabbed his rifle and left the room, leaving behind a magazine filled with bullets on the office floor, according to the lawsuit.
The shutdown did have to happen (because the cop is a dumbass) but it obviously should have been done by someone who knows what they are doing. The guy should be suspended for being a dumbass and also for leaving his loaded magazine.
Does LAPD specifically hire the dumbest dumbfucks they can find? 'Cause if this is their best, well ...
I didnt know they could use the "I smell weed" excuse to raid buildings and stuff now.
Thats just like, the magic words that make all rights disappear, innit?
The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that smell isn't enough of a connection to illegal activity. Weed is legalized there, as well. California apparently needs someone to take up a case.
If that fails, they can just say the MRI machine was the wrong color.
I'm not surprised by the rubber stamped warrant. Cop shops are known to shop for judges that will just stamp off. I'm sure they didn't mention that it was a MRI business but the odor of weed even combined with high energy usage shouldn't be enough for a raid IMO. There should be some other evidence, especially in LA where it smells like weed pretty much anywhere.
I'm curious how this will go. I assume LA will settle out of court because they don't want a precedent set that they actually going to be responsible for private property damage during raids.