Anthony Diotaiuto Update
It appears that this story is one that is not going to go away quietly (and I’m going to do what I can to make sure we continue to talk about it).
Indeed. As will I. This article gives a run down:
Andrew Diotaiuto has returned repeatedly to his grave at North Haven’s All Saints Cemetery.
He sometimes makes two or three trips a day from his home in East Haven.
Burying a child is always painful, but the last moments of his son’s life are especially troubling.
On Aug. 5, Anthony Diotaiuto was shot to death by a SWAT team from the Sunrise, Fla., Police Department during a dawn narcotics raid in the home he shared and helped buy with his mother, Marlene Whittier.
According to police, he was found with about 2 ounces of marijuana, plastic bags and a weight scale.
The police are sticking to their story:
Sunrise police Lt. Robert Voss said the homicide department was still investigating the case, which will be presented to a grand jury for review, as is standard in all fatal police shootings in Florida.
“We’re asking for people to keep an open mind and wait for the facts to come in … before coming to a conclusion about what happened in the house.” Voss said.
Voss said police had a court-authorized search warrant based on surveillance and a controlled narcotics purchase from the house.
Officers entered the residence and confronted Diotaiuto in the living room. He was shot after fleeing to a bedroom and arming himself with a loaded semiautomatic handgun, Voss said.
Diotaiuto had a concealed weapons permit.
“It was his choice not to follow orders and to retrieve a weapon,” Voss said.
Neighbors dispute whether or not the police announced themselves.
It also mentions the effect of blogs:
Television and print media in Florida have closely followed the story. It also has taken on a life in Internet blogs, where some see it as another call to change the nation’s drug laws.
Good. Keep the story alive.
August 26th, 2005 at 7:53 pm
“[S]ome see it as another call to change the nation’s drug laws.”
A question just sneaked into my mind the other day: If it took a Constitutional amendment to institute Prohibition, and another to end it, how is it that we can have these drug laws?
August 26th, 2005 at 7:58 pm
Since then, the commerce clause has been bastardized. At least, that’s my guess.
August 26th, 2005 at 9:35 pm
Thanks for replying. I won’t even go into the ludicrosity of laws against hemp, which is not even psychoactive, or cannabis, which is much less harmful than tobacco or alcohol; but let’s just look at the meth problem.
Can the DEA and its bosses honestly contend that, if people who desired them had access to legal pharmaceutical-grade amphetamines, there would be all these people cooking up crank in basements and car trunks using brake fluid and whatnot? (Well, maybe there would be some. After all, people do make moonshine.)
Haven’t there been enough studies that show it would be cheaper for our society to pay for medical treatment of the few unfortunate souls who are going to get all f*cked up regardless, than to pay for endless investigations, prosecutions, and incarcerations? Especially if the same “sin tax” approach was applied (which I don’t necessarily agree with) to drugs in addition to alcohol and tobacco?
This young man’s death is so pointless and criminally caused that I’m having a hard time remaining calm.
August 26th, 2005 at 10:07 pm
Yup, although it should be noted that pre-FDR commerce clause jurisprudence was a bit wacky, too.