Sunday, March 2, 2014

Chief Mark McBride: The Crime Lord of Idaho Falls



The Idaho Falls Police Department: What we think we do...


“I don’t know why there would be [one],” replied Idaho Falls Police Chief Mark McBride when asked if his department would apologize to Victor and Delosanto Madrigal and their family. “Just because a person is found not guilty doesn’t mean the officers were wrong.”

Actually, Chief McBride, that is precisely what this acquittal means, given that the charges in question were contrived by your officers to justify their own criminal behavior – and the only “evidence” supporting them was police testimony that the jury correctly determined to be entirely implausible, if not outright perjury. 

The Madrigal family, which suffered greatly as a result of the privileged criminality of the IFPD, has filed notice of a $279,500 lawsuit against McBride’s department.

The Madrigal brothers, along with their elderly mother, Maria; a pregnant mother named Letty Hernandez, and a next-door neighbor, were criminally assaulted by members of McBride’s department during a full-fledged police riot last August 31. The police invaded the Madrigal home following a noise complaint called in by a distant neighbor who had a long history of hostility toward the family. This occurred at the end of a child’s birthday party that was held on a Saturday evening during the Labor Day weekend. 

None of the immediate neighbors complained about the noise. Chantal Meek, whose home abuts the Madrigals’ house, later told the local newspaper that she wasn’t at all disturbed by the birthday party. She was severely perturbed, however, after two Idaho Falls Police Officers thrust their way into her home with guns drawn. The officers, who had been summoned by a call for “backup,” went to the wrong address. That home invasion was part of a general mobilization in which at least a dozen police vehicles were dispatched to shut down the entire block.
 
... and what we really do.
All of this happened, once again, because of a noise complaint phoned in by someone who lived a block and a half away. 

Rather than knocking on the Madrigals’ front door and politely requesting that the family hold it down – which is how civilized people behave – McBride’s minions invaded their back yard and needlessly escalated the encounter. 

As a cellphone video of the incident documented, after being informed that he would receive a citation for “disturbing the peace,” Victor complained about his treatment by the local police. Officer Clark Lund, dispensing with any pretense of professionalism, sneered: “If you don’t like it, you know how to leave.”

Victor and his brother Delosanto (also called Dindo) are natives of the Dominican Republic. They are naturalized, and gainfully employed, citizens of the United States. Lund’s taunt had unmistakable undercurrents of ethnic animosity – an attitude that would become overt once the brothers had been taken to jail. 

After flinging that insult at Victor, Lund announced he was leaving – then called for backup and grabbed his Taser. He turned back and demanded that Victor provide identification. That demand was unlawful; it was a deliberate provocation. Yet Victor moved to the house to obtain his driver’s license. A few seconds later, Lund bellowed, “You’re under arrest” and barged into the home, flinging aside a pregnant woman and tasering Dindo in the back before he and two other officers threw an unresisting Victor to the ground. 

While Victor and Dindo were handcuffed, one of the officers shoved their elderly mother. As Victor instinctively rose to protect her, his head brushed against the arm of Eric Rose, one of the officers restraining him. That act was described as “assault on an officer,” a charge that entailed a potential five-year prison term. Victor was also charged with “resisting and obstructing” and disturbing the peace.
Victor (l.) with his son and daughters.

Earlier this month, a jury quickly acquitted Victor on all counts. Shortly thereafter, Idaho Falls City Attorney Randy Fife dropped all charges against Dindo. 

The tort claim filed on behalf of the Madrigal family – hopefully the first of several that will be generated by the IFPD’s rampage – describes how the officers who kidnapped Victor and Dindo collaborated with the Feds to torment them once they were in jail.

“After the incarceration, Officer Rose … [contacted] federal officials asserting that Mr. Madrigal was possibly an undocumented alien and should be considered for deportation,” recounts the tort claim. This subjected Victor to “unfounded suspicion” and an unwarranted “investigation by the federal government.”

More importantly, it was an act of conscious malice rooted in deliberate dishonesty: Victor Madrigal, as the IFPD knew, has an Idaho driver’s license. Lying in official reports appears to be standard operating procedure at Chief McBride’s department.

Officer Rose lied in his report by claiming that Victor had “head-butted” and “grabbed” him. Under oath, all of the witnesses for the prosecution – that is, the officers who collaborated in the assault and abduction – admitted that Victor was handcuffed and couldn’t have assaulted Rose. 
 
Maria Madrigal.
Officer Lund, the instigator of this episode, “testified at trial that Mr. Madrigal had the right to not provide [his] identification and that such [a] choice by Victor did not constitute obstructing or resisting,” continues the claim. He also admitted that Victor “entered his home and sat on his sofa awaiting the resolution of the events” and “did nothing to stop the officers from completing the investigations.”

Those admissions against interest demonstrate that on the night of August 31, Clark Lund became a serial offender. 

Under Idaho statutes (18-703), Lund committed an “illegal arrest,” a misdemeanor. Every subsequent act of violence Lund committed constituted an “unnecessary assault by an officer” (18-706), an offense punishable by a $5,000 fine and a one-year term behind bars. 
By barging into the home without invitation or cause, Lund committed criminal trespass (18-7008). In the melee Lund precipitated, serious damage was done to the family’s furniture; this was “malicious injury to property” (18-7001). 

The tort claim specifies that $2,000 in property damage was inflicted on the Madrigal home; this means that Lund’s actions were a felony punishable by a term of one to five years, and a $1,000 fine. Since Lund’s objective was an unlawful “taking” – that is, the abduction of Victor Madrigal – his forcible entry was an act of burglary (18-1401), which has a prescribed penalty of one to ten years in prison. 

Under Idaho law, Lund’s act of shoving a pregnant woman constitutes aggravated battery (18-907), an act for which he could face  a term of up to 15 years in prison. (He might also be liable to prosecution under the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”) The act of shooting Dindo with a Taser was an assault with a deadly weapon (18-910), another felony with a 15-year prison term attached to it. 

Lund, Rose, and their comrades conspired to commit kidnapping, defined in Idaho law (18-4501) as seizing or confining a person “without authority of law, to be secretly confined or imprisoned within this state”; and false imprisonment (18-2901), “the unlawful violation of the personal liberty of another.” In the course of that conspiracy, Lund and Rose committed perjury (18-5401), for which they should confront a prison term of one to fourteen years. 

The whole affair was a “riot” (18-6401), as defined in the Idaho Code: “[An] action, use of force or violence, or threat thereof, disturbing the public peace … if accompanied by immediate power of execution, by two (2) or more persons acting together, and without authority of law, which results in (a) physical injury to any person; or (b) damage or destruction to public or private property; or (s) a disturbance of the public peace….”
According to Chief McBride, the conduct of his underlings on that evening was the very distillate of sober professionalism. 


After the Idaho Falls Post-Register published a story in which some of the Madrigal family’s neighbors criticized the actions of the IFPD, Chief McBride was given space on the op-ed page to retail anonymous gossip depicting the family as a menace to the “community.” 

That sophomoric little essay recapitulated the conscious lies composed by McBride’s subordinates, adding, as theatrical filigree, the claim that the anonymous accuser “never reported any of [the Madrigals’] parties because of fear of retaliation.”

Because of the assault on their home, and the resulting negative publicity, the Madrigals were nearly evicted by their landlord. This means that they suffered “public hatred, contempt, [and] ridicule” as a result – in part – of McBride’s dishonest published account of the incident. This comports with the definition of “Criminal Libel” in the Idaho State Code (18-4801), an offense that carries a $5,000 fine and a six-month jail sentence. 

If McBride were a conscientious administrator, he would fire Lund, Rose, and probably several other officers, and file charges against them. If he were any part of a man, he would apologize to the Madrigal family and formally retract the defamatory remarks he published about them. Given the opportunity to do so, he retreated into sullen, adolescent petulance, defiantly owning his libel and the legal responsibility for the crimes committed against that family. 

Mark McBride’s formal title is “chief,” but his actions reveal him to be the capo of a criminal syndicate – one whose actions are going to inflict considerable damage on the tax victim population in Idaho Falls. It would be entirely reasonable for other victims – such as Mrs. Hernandez (who was berated and threatened with arrest when she called the IFPD to protest the abuse she suffered) and Chantal Meeks – to file tort claims of their own. Allowing McBride to remain in his position could prove cost-prohibitive for Idaho Falls. 

Since McBride clearly lacks the dangling anatomy to do what is necessary, the onus is on City Attorney Randy Fife to file charges and prosecute the chief and his fellow perpetrators. In a letter to a local resident, Fife – perhaps unwittingly – acknowledged that there are abundant legal grounds for such a prosecution.

Invoking the pernicious doctrine of “qualified immunity,” Fife informed the resident that “Peace officers do have certain privileges and exemptions directly related to lawful execution of their jobs that other citizens do not have (such as being able to utilize force, carry weapons and other equipment not generally available to the public, being able to view or process information not generally available to the public, etc.) Where they step beyond those activities, they are subject to civil and/or criminal liabilities, prosecutions, and punishments.” (Emphasis added.) 

That “privilege,” note carefully, depends on “lawful execution” of a peace officer’s duties. As Clark Lund admitted on the witness stand, he had no lawful cause to enter the Madrigals’ home, let alone assault and abduct Victor and Dindo. Ergo, that invasion and everything done by Lund and his comrades as a result was criminal. As Fife admitted, “There is no particular immunity or special privilege granted to a peace officer in Idaho if he or she were to commit a crime.” 

Attention, Mr. Fife: The foregoing paragraphs offer a template for the necessary indictments. You’re welcome. 

If you can, please contribute to help keep Pro Libertate on-line. Thanks, and God bless!  






Dum spiro, pugno! 

48 comments:

  1. So this case against the police is still in the process?

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  2. The tort claim was just filed last week, which means that the civil case against the IFPD has just begun.

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  3. This would be shocking if it were not, sadly, the norm.

    The worst part is that all of the damages these people will rightly win will not be paid by these thugs, but by taxpayers.

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  4. I don't have the money to donate. Is there anything else I can do to help? Would it help and Is it ok to print and distribute copies of your hard work? Please respond.

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  5. I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I wouldn't bet against the police. Here's what I think will be the most likely outcome:

    Cop will get acquitted and then paid for his time off during the time of the trial. This happened to a cop in my area recently.

    It will be concluded that we can't punish the police for "just doing their job, and we can't set a precedent that discourages officers from doing their job".

    The jury will be afraid to convict because the cops will know who they are and can go after them any time they want in the future.

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  6. Anon @2:24 -- I appreciate your generous impulses, and would be grateful if you could disseminate my work in any way possible. Thank you.

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  7. Corruption has no limits. Cops are cops. Selfish, disrespectful, ass clowns that do NOT "serve and protect." Instead they serve warrants and protect bad laws. When laws become more and more unjust I just hope they are smart enough to take that red coat off and join the "rebellion."

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  8. Anon @ 7:23,

    Oh, you are sadly in error - police nationwide do indeed Serve and Protect, and they do so with gusto!

    They first serve and protect their own, as this case and literally thousands of others repeatedly prove. And, comprehending on which side their bread is buttered, they serve and protect those in power Over Them. And of course, they serve and protect the extreme of the population, namely those who are obscenely rich and those who are obscenely power hungry.

    Finally, I, for one, have no use for any of them coming over and joining the good guys. That is because I would not trust one to not put a bullet in my head the moment I took my eyes off him. Nor would I trust one not to be, in reality, an agent provocateur/double agent working against the cause of true freedom.

    Any employed cop today should have the where-with-all to recognize reality for what it is, and should have the courage and soul to turn his or her back on the 'Thug Life' so near and dear to the department's heart. So any 'good' cop should have already removed his 'red coat' and burned it at the pyre. Alas, blindness runs rampant in the world today.

    Kevin

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  9. McBride was my next door neighbor for years. I've never met a nicer more honest man. I haven't had an opportunity to speak with him since he made chief. I would like to talk to him about this situation. Idaho Falls is not immune from bad cops. However, everything I've read about this incident is extremely one sided.

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    1. Isn't that what the neighbors of serial killers and various other criminals almost always say to the cameras after someone is caught?

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  10. McBride was my next door neighbor for years. I've never met a nicer more honest man.

    I am reminded of Isabel Patterson's observation:

    "Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends."

    We are what we do. McBride may be superficially nice, but his actions demonstrate that he is not honest: He libeled the Madrigal family. Nor is he honorable: He refuses to own up to what he and his underlings did, and apologize to the people whom they have wronged.

    ...everything I've read about this incident is extremely one sided.

    In the sense that there is one entirely innocent party, and one entirely culpable party, this incident can properly be described as "one-sided." The claims and actions of the IFPD were scrutinized by a jury and found to be entirely without merit.

    With the rarest of exceptions, law enforcement agencies that commit criminal abuse of innocent people withhold critical facts and decline to comment on the matter because of "internal investigations" "or pending litigation."

    Then when their actions are shown to be improper, they smugly insist that everything was done according to "established procedures" and that the matter is closed. At that point, police apologists will take over, decrying the "one-sided" nature of the criticism endured by the bold and valiant paragons of public order who guard us in our sleep, oh may they be praised forever.

    There's a name for an organization that invades private property and assaults innocent people: Street gang. There's a proper title for a person who presides over such actions and comments those responsible: Crime lord. McBride has earned that title by his conduct in this matter, and he will own it unless and until he does what is necessary to make redress to the victims.

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  11. I think this is extremely one sided. I have heard from a fairly reliable source that this isn't the first law suit by the family. Additionally they now are suing for $279,000?

    I have heard that all their kids have been on WIC. They never had insurance during their trips to the hospital, so we paid for their hospital stay. They still get food stamps despite having fairly good jobs. At what point, does our society have to keep paying for this family. At what point, Is $279,000 fair for the tax payers to pay for a family that takes and doesn't provide.

    This case was abuse by the police. They should be fired. The lawsuit is as poor morally and ethically as the police that put us in this mess.

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    1. Well ma'am or sir, whatever it is that you've "heard" about the Madrigal family is exactly what you described it as, hearsay. Although you don't know these facts to be true or false, for some reason unknown to me, you still thought it was a good idea to puke it up on Facebook for others to see! Unlike you, I know the oldest son of this family very well. Actually, as a matter of fact, a lot of people in Idaho Falls know him. Probably because not only is he a good friend and teammate, he is also a great student and is currently out of state attending a college in Utah. Now you might not agree with me on this one, but this family's health care is none of mine, yours, or anyone else's business! Regardless of weather they use assistance from the state or not, I don't think that has anything to do with the fact they were assaulted by these officers.

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  12. I think this is extremely one sided. I have heard from a fairly reliable source that this isn't the first law suit by the family. Additionally they now are suing for $279,000?

    I see that the "seminar posters" are out this morning, and that they're faithfully hitting their talking points.

    Name the "fairly reliable source," or retract the claim. Chief McBride played that same game in his op-ed, passing along anonymous gossip to defame the Madrigal family. That should cost him a great deal, including his job.

    Given the criminal conduct of the IFPD, $279,000 is a remarkably austere demand on the part of the victims. It should come from the salaries and pensions of the perpetrators, rather than out of a tax victim-subsidized insurance policy.

    I have heard that all their kids have been on WIC.

    If that were true, the Madrigals would be like scores of millions of other US citizens, including the parade of people I see at Wal-Mart at the strike of noon on the first of each month when the EBT cards are loaded.

    They never had insurance during their trips to the hospital, so we paid for their hospital stay.

    If your "reliable source" was in a position to know this, he/she committed a HIPPA violation. But I earnestly suspect that this claim, like the one above, is something you've extracted from your retreating aperture. In either case, this wouldn't justify what the police did to the Madrigals and their friends.

    They still get food stamps despite having fairly good jobs.

    This claim falls into the same category as the ones made above, and reinforces my suspicion that it's a product of your emunctory orifice.

    At what point, does our society have to keep paying for this family.

    Victor and his wife both work full-time. They pay their bills and provide for their own children. I've been in their home -- as an invited guest, not as an armed intruder -- and can testify that it is well-appointed, tidy, and reflects the lifestyle of people who work and save, rather than subsist on the labor of others. They are well-liked by their neighbors, with one embittered and unreasonable exception.

    You know nothing about this family, and your comments here are the product of manifest bad faith and, quite likely, poor character.

    At what point, Is $279,000 fair for the tax payers to pay for a family that takes and doesn't provide.

    The Madrigals are makers, not takers. This isn't true of the tax-fattened cretins who invaded their home, assaulted friends and members of their family, and nearly got them evicted for no defensible reason. It is the armed takers of the IFPD to whom you should direct your outrage.

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  13. I agree that we should direct the outrage of the police and have them fired. This lawsuit isn't going to come from their wallets though. How is this fair to the hard working people of Idaho Falls to see their tax dollars wasted on cops they are more then happy to see fired. The only benefit to society is to fire the police not burden as you point out an over taxed over penalized community.

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  14. Interesting that you would apply Isabel Patterson's observation to my past relationship with McBride But do not apply a similar standard to the Madrigals. I never stated an opinion on the case, just that the coverage is one sided. The writings are polemic and lend to their incredulity.

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    1. One sided? Do you also apply this to newspapers, tv, etc coverage? The same types who all assured us Iraq had WMDs, that the NSA was not really spying on all of us, and that anytime the govt speaks, it is telling the truth?

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  15. You do some great work but spare me oh they collect WIC so do many Americans.

    Yea well when the system allows multiple ID's forgive us for doubting that the leaches exist.

    Keep up the good work and when I get some extra money I will donate but If you call someone an asshole don't obfuscate.

    60 million illegals and they pick on the one's who did not sneak across the border Sheesh.

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  16. Great article as always! Stuff like this is why I donated the other day and will continue to as much as possible! It is funny to see the talking points being used from those defending the govt - almost as if they have some sort of talking point memo distributed for them to make posts? But of course, we know that governments don't do that sort of thing, and it is only conspiracy theorists who would suggest otherwise

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  17. Its sad to see what looks like government employees and their friends and family are trying to slander the victims in this story. Its a typical reaction from the dark side, do not attack the message but the messenger which the messenger in this situation is, the victims.
    This situation shows to the rest of the world that Idaho is not ready for prime time and I have a hunch that companies that were thinking of bring jobs and new wealth into Idaho, would feel better off looking someplace other than Idaho. Idaho has a bad image as the white nazi, hate state. And clearly having cops and their family and friends attack this family seals the deal on what people believe about the worst of Idaho are. This could be seen as scorched earth in destroying any good images Idaho has corrected of being labeled the, white nazi hate state, to protect what seems to be bad cops. Sadly Idaho has a long way to go to join many other states in the 21st century.

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  18. Coming soon in the glorious each according to his need, workers of the world unite utopia:

    https://statelymcdanielmanor.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/connecticut-the-coming-storm/

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  19. If Mark McBride were indeed a truly nice guy, he would never have tolerated what happened. This was the local Idaho Falls Gestapo at work.

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  20. Hi, I'd like to pose this question to the readership of this much valued website. What would it take to deflate, neuter or dissolve cop associations and unions? Unquestionably a purge needs to take place. The best way to do that is through quiet attrition. No shots fired, explicitly. Find an artery of cop funding, sink in silent fangs and let the venom flow. Let them slowly be eroded, decayed, liquified and driven absolutely mad in the process until it is no longer the citizen they aim their service issue at, but at themselves - each and every night before facing next shift. Starve them to death in any manner available to you. Don't fix their roofs, sell them food, pour their coffee and so on. They won't last long.

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  21. I would love to go through what this family went through to get as much money as they are suing for. Hell I would love to be tazed if I knew that I was getting a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

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  22. Will inform these people if you know them personally to never use the word suffer.....or any form of it. Look it up, it is evil that you have allowed and accepted.....We always need to comprehend and know the words you are using, with the minions of the father of lies...... that have stolen justice in fraud from our honorable courts. "My people are destroyed for a want of knowledge."

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  23. Anon @1:24 wrote:

    I would love to go through what this family went through to get as much money as they are suing for. Hell I would love to be tazed if I knew that I was getting a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

    Leave McBride in his current position, and let the criminal actions of his underlings go unpunished, and you may have that opportunity -- assuming that you survive the encounter.

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  24. I say fire the police force. Just don't allow this family to walk away with $279,000 unless it comes from the police themselves. Why turn one crime into another.

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  25. Fire the police force, prosecute the specific offenders, and seize the requisite amount from their pension fund to compensate the Madrigals for the criminal injuries they suffered. Justice requires restitution.

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  26. I saw that when the tort was filed for this case. The wife was listed as Ms. My question is ( I have never read many legal documents). shouldn't it have been filed as Mrs. Madrigal?

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  27. Alissa Madrigal is very much a "Mrs."; I suspect using the post-feminist title is part of the standard legal template, because I see it used consistently in legal filings of this kind.

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  28. Who is really the "victim" here. If they would have worked with the neighbor and toned it down, the cops would never have been called. Maybe Victor and Victor, wow Grandma has a real imagination need to man up to their irresponsibility. No teh y want money.

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  29. I see reading comprehension isn't among your gifts. (The same is apparently true of spelling.) The brothers are named Victor and Delosanto, not "Victor and Victor." That detail is difficult to miss, but then again you do appear to have a gift for missing the obvious.

    As noted above, none of the Madrigals' immediate neighbors had a problem with the late-summer party -- to which they had all been invited. The only problem the neighbors experienced that night resulted from the tumult and chaos that occurred when the police arrived and staged a riot.


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  30. Of course they want money, they are taking it from the hard working people of Idaho Falls now. They aren't suing the thug police that started this. They should sue for property damage, medical bills, attorney fees, and time away from work for this case. However, they want $279,000 for this all at taxpayer expense. All I saw in the report above was that the police caused $2,000 of property damage. This is hardly fair for the Idaho Falls community. This is as a immoral misdeed as the IFPD's actions that warm fall night.

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  31. This arrangement is immoral, but the victims are not at fault here: It is all but impossible to sue abusive police officers individually because of the toxic and fraudulent doctrine of "qualified immunity," which forces tax victims to indemnify criminal misconduct by cops.

    I suggested that a better arrangement would be to take money for a civil award out of the police department's pension fund.

    In addition to $2,000 in property damage (a felony amount), the Madrigals have legal and medical bills to deal with, as well as lost wages. They are also entitled to punitive damages: Victor, Dindo, and their mother were assaulted, the brothers were abducted, and they were threatened with deportation -- actually, exile, given that they are US citizens -- out of simple malice.

    They aren't asking for a seven-figure award, and that fact alone makes it clear that they aren't motivated by purely mercenary concerns.

    As a native of southeastern Idaho who went to high school and college in Rexburg and lived in Idaho Falls, I find myself asking:

    All other matters being unaltered, would critics of the Madrigals' lawsuit accuse that family of money-grubbing if the gainfully employed and hard-working husband were blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and of Nordic ancestry, rather than being a large black man who speaks with a foreign accent? If the family's surname were, let's say, "Manwaring," and they attended a local LDS ward every Sunday, would people be so ready to criticize them for being "greedy" if they demanded $279,000 after having their home invaded and family members assaulted without cause by the police?

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  32. I think you are playing the race card not the post you responded to.
    I would question anyone suing for that much in any similar case. I recently read an article that said lawsuits costs the average American tax payer over $900 per year. All I am asking is where is the fairness for the majority of citizens.
    They should be compensated for what was lost or damaged as a result of this case, but I believe that in the tort they are also suing for public embarrassment?????? How were they embarrassed as they were proven innocent.

    Also who typically benefits from such a lawsuit? I have read that 30-60% goes to the lawyer depending on the state of the tort, and then the winnings will also be taxed by the federal and state government. How much will this family get? We are ultimately throwing the money back in a different government agencies hand. While the rest of us write another check.

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  33. It was Officer Lund who played the race card when he sneered that Victor should "leave" Idaho Falls, and then instigated a riot under color of law.

    It was Lund and his comrades who played the race card by making a consciously false report to immigration authorities that Victor and his brother may be "undocumented aliens" -- when both of them are US citizens, and the police knew that Victor possessed a valid Idaho State driver's license.

    "Embarrassment" is a mild description of the damage done to this family's public reputation. The officers who invaded the Madrigal home and assaulted several people filed a false police report accusing the victims of "assaulting" them; that official lie was retailed in the local media, along with mugshots of the two angry black men who had been arrested without cause.

    After the Post-Register published a reasonably balanced story demonstrating that the Madrigals' immediate neighbors blamed the police for this mess, Chief McBride published an op-ed in which he retailed unsubstantiated, anonymous gossip about the family and accused them of being a danger to the community.

    That act of official defamation by itself justifies punitive damages.

    As I have repeatedly said, the best arrangement would be to fire Chief McBride and the officers involved in this mess and force them to pay restitution to the victims: Levy their bank accounts, force them to sell their homes and cars, make them liquidate their personal assets and sell blood plasma, if necessary.

    Tax victims in Idaho Falls should demand that this be done. Each year, you are throwing away at least $279,000 to pay the salary and benefits of the corrupt chief and the abusive officers responsible for this outrage. Why aren't you incensed about that waste of money? How is this fair to "the majority of citizens" in Idaho Falls?

    Anybody who criticizes the Madrigals for filing a lawsuit, but doesn't demand, at very least, the firing of Lund, Rose, and McBride, is indisputably a hypocrite. Place the blame where it belongs.

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  34. I have never argued whether or not the cops in the case should be held accountable. They should definitely be fired and charged with criminal charges.

    I am asking why we (the citizens of Idaho Falls) should pay that much money for these criminal acts. It wasn't the City of Idaho Falls responsible for these crimes.

    Did you write the tort Mr. Grigg?

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    1. It wasn't the city of Idaho Falls that was responsible?? The police are employees of the city of Idaho Falls. Of course the city is responsible. That is the responsibility, inherent of employing someone. If the city hires someone, and provides them with the weapons, tools and equipment to carry out an act of this nature,It certainly does make them responsible for the results of said action.

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  35. I did not write the tort; if I had, I would have focused much more heavily on the libel committed by Chief McBride. I've been told that the Madrigals' attorney may file a supplemental claim.

    The Idaho Falls PD is the enforcement arm of the Idaho Falls Municipal Government. Ergo, the City of Idaho Falls (meaning the municipal corporation) is responsible for the crimes committed against the Madrigal family. And the city's tax victims are paying money for criminal acts as long as the perpetrators remain on the payroll.

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  36. So ... after all these years. That flat foot inbred from roy utah made cheif ? Ill be go to hell .

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  37. $279k is nothing in a legal battle like this. That's only 139.5 business days or 27.9 5 day work weeks at a very generous $250/hr. Taking on the police force means that $279k is likely not enough.

    The blame of this cost to the tax payers does not belong to the properly documented Dominican family.

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  38. I lived in Idaho falls for twenty years. I can tell you the police are crooked. I live in a city that's 10 times bigger and they have less officers working per shift. Every two minutes you turn another corner and bam there's another one. They pull people over for no reason other then race,poverty. Unless you're Mormon or racist get out now.

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  39. Illegal search and seizure, cofidential informants get away with everything, illegal use of a CI personal phone, entrapment, are just a few of their tricks. Prosecuting attorney s office is just a bad.

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  40. Would you be interested in discussing this with me? WNGrigg [at] MSN [dot] com. Thanks.

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  41. You are erroneously using my picture at the top of your blog. I had nothing to do with this case, and have been retired for a year and a half. I demand that you stop illegally using my image. Dave Frei

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  42. Mr. Frei, the photograph was placed in the public domain by your former employer. If you can demonstrate to me that the Idaho Falls Police Department has withdrawn your likeness upon your request, I will remove it from my blog.

    The caption to the photograph makes it clear to people of normal intelligence that the officer depicted therein had nothing to do with the criminal assault on the Madrigal family.

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  43. Using my "normal intelligence", I read the caption associated with your use of my photo and those following. Although I disagree with you on every point, I understand how you are using the picture and I withdraw my complaint. I was made aware of your use of my picture by a fireman who described it as me being"the face of IFPD corruption". I should have read your caption more closely.

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  44. I appreciate that, Mr. Frei. Thank you.

    It would appear that the fireman in question should have read the text, or at least the captions, before drawing his conclusions.

    Respectfully,

    Will Grigg

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