Four Canadian RCMP Officers Gunned Down

[Nickdfresh]

Four Mounties die in shootout

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin condemned the brutal killing of four officers.

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) -- Four Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were shot and killed during a raid on a marijuana-growing operation in rural Alberta Thursday, in one of the bloodiest days in the history of the national police force, a senior official said.

A suspect in the shootout that erupted inside a large farm building that police were investigating also died when he turned his rifle on himself, said Bill Sweeney, commanding officer of the RCMP in Alberta.

"The loss of four officers is unprecedented in recent history in Canada. I'm told you have to go back to about 1885 in the RCMP history during the Northwest Rebellion to have a loss of this magnitude," Sweeney told reporters in the town of Mayerthorpe, about 140 km (90 miles) northwest of Edmonton.

"It's devastating."

The Mounties' names were not released. They were described as junior members of the force that has long been one of Canada's most famous national symbols.

In the late morning, the officers, armed with handguns, entered a large metal hut as part of a stakeout that began the night before when they came under fire from what police said was a man armed with a rifle.

In response, the force called in its SWAT team and major crime units and closed the airspace over the area. It requested the Edmonton city police department helicopter as well as armored personnel vehicles from Edmonton's armed forces base.

In mid-afternoon, police surrounding and stormed the building only to find the bodies of the officers and the suspect, Cpl. Wayne Oakes said.

The suspect may have entered to find the officers inside, then opened fire, Oakes said.

Police have been cracking down on illicit marijuana "grow-ops" that have sprung up across Alberta. Many of the operations targeted by the so-called police "Green Teams" are said to be connected with organized crime.

"The issue of grow-ops is not a ma-and-pa industry as we've been seeing for a number of years. These are major serious threats to our society and they are major serious threats to the men and women on the front line who have to deal with them," RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said in Ottawa.

The federal government has angered police organizations and U.S. officials by planning to introduce legislation that would decriminalize marijuana possession.

It has been 120 years, during the long rebellion by Metis and Indians in western Canada, since so many national police officers have been shot and killed.

In 1963, four were killed in a plane crash in Yukon. In 1958, five died when their boat sank in Ontario.

In a statement, Prime Minister Paul Martin said: "Canadians are shocked by this brutality, and join me in condemning the violent acts that brought about these deaths."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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[DrMaddVibe]

I guess decriminalization isn't working?

[FORD]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
I guess decriminalization isn't working?

If it HAD been decriminalized, there wouldn't have been a mafia-operated grow room full of cop killers.

Nobody ever died from smoking dope and nobody should die as a result of growing it. Legalize it, and take the criminal profit motive off the goddamn table.

Is the profit margins of breweries, timber companies, and the pharmaceutical industry really worth this kind of price?

And if you don't know what I mean by that, do some research as to how and why marijuana was made "illegal" in the first place.

[Nickdfresh]

I heard on a Canadian radio station this morning that even the douchebag's (that murdered the agents/officers) family called him "the devil." It was said he was a notorious psychopath since the age of 12. I think the RCMP guys should have taken more precautions.

And I believe, like in Alaska, that small amounts of pot for personal consumption are decriminalized in Canada, it is not truly legalized. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.

[DrMaddVibe]

"Nobody ever died from smoking dope and nobody should die as a result of growing it. Legalize it, and take the criminal profit motive off the goddamn table."

Really?

[Angel]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
I heard on a Canadian radio station this morning that even the douchebag's (that murdered the agents/officers) family called him "the devil." It was said he was a notorious psychopath since the age of 12. I think the RCMP guys should have taken more precautions.

And I believe, like in Alaska, that small amounts of pot for personal consumption are decriminalized in Canada, it is not truly legalized. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.

Hasn't been de-criminalized yet, and as far as I'm concerned, this is another reason why it should be legalized completely! Prohibition does not work, and only causes more serious crimes to occur, such as this one.

Only grow-ops get busted, however. You can pretty much buy, smoke or sell without having too many worries.

It is also legal for some people. My husband has a license to smoke medical marijuana, and I'm licensed to grow it for him. When we go out of town, the police provide additional security. They usually don't patrol our residential street, however they do a couple of "run-bys" when we are away. They have to keep his meds safe, after all! :D

[FORD]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
"Nobody ever died from smoking dope and nobody should die as a result of growing it. Legalize it, and take the criminal profit motive off the goddamn table."

Really?

Robert Nesta Marley died of a melanoma cancer which started in his big toe, and unfortunately metastisized when he refused to have the toe amputated. So unless he was somehow taking bong hits through his toenails, there ain't a connection there, AssVibe.

There might very well be a CIA connection though. Marley and many of his family and friends believe that he was targeted because of his outspoken political & religious views, especially concerning his native country of Jamaica.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by FORD

Nobody ever died from smoking dope

You CRACK me up, you really do. :gulp:

[m_dixon1984]

Good posts, Ford and Angel. You got it exactly right.
To me legalizing it is the only logical way of dealing with the problem. My main concern with the hopefully soon to be enacted de-criminalization is supply. If I won't face charges for possessing small amounts of pot it begs the question how did I come to be in possession of it at all. Should the guy who sold it to me and the guy who grew it face harsher penalties than I do? I think not. Think of all the personal growers out there that get lumped into the same "grow-op" category as this now certifiable murderer in Alberta, who do nothing more than pay higher electric bills and avoid interacting with the criminal element. I have to take extraordinary precautions with my garden to ensure that neighbours and guests remain oblivious. Legalize it and the pot-smoking stigma and frustrating supply problems almost instantly disappear. Lets start using our tax resources to help those addicts that truly want and need help, instead of on the insanely ineffective "War On Drugs", and let respectable, productive people enjoy their vice (in your husband's case, medicine) openly and legally.
M
To BigBadBrian - You took Ford far too literally. He obviously meant pot when he was using the word dope. I think most enlightened people see the difference between pot and other much more damaging and addictive substances.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by m_dixon1984

To BigBadBrian - You took Ford far too literally. He obviously meant pot when he was using the word dope. I think most enlightened people see the difference between pot and other much more damaging and addictive substances.

Yeah, I realize what FORD meant. I also hoped FORD knew I was calling him a dope. :gulp:

[m_dixon1984]

Wow, i was taking the posts far too seriously and completely missed your humour, BBB. I'm not nearly mellow enough in the office. Is it 4:20 yet?
M

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by m_dixon1984
Wow, i was taking the posts far too seriously and completely missed your humour, BBB. I'm not nearly mellow enough in the office. Is it 4:20 yet?
M

It's OK. FORD probably caught it, though. He knows me well enough by now. A little harmless jousting among opposing political views. :D

[Angel]

Originally posted by m_dixon1984
Good posts, Ford and Angel. You got it exactly right.
To me legalizing it is the only logical way of dealing with the problem. My main concern with the hopefully soon to be enacted de-criminalization is supply. If I won't face charges for possessing small amounts of pot it begs the question how did I come to be in possession of it at all. Should the guy who sold it to me and the guy who grew it face harsher penalties than I do? let respectable, productive people enjoy their vice (in your husband's case, medicine) openly and legally.
M


That's why I got my license to grow it for him. It was crazy that his former supplier could get busted for trafficking. Not to worry, it was a vice long before it became medicine for my husband. :D

[WACF]

If it was not this is may of been a Meth lab...the drug type is not relevant....tragic regardless.

[kentuckyklira]

All drugs should be legalized!

[Jesterstar]

Originally posted by FORD
Robert Nesta Marley died of a melanoma cancer which started in his big toe, and unfortunately metastisized when he refused to have the toe amputated. So unless he was somehow taking bong hits through his toenails, there ain't a connection there, AssVibe.

There might very well be a CIA connection though. Marley and many of his family and friends believe that he was targeted because of his outspoken political & religious views, especially concerning his native country of Jamaica.

ACtually the CIA targets anyone that permotes using your mind and life in the freeest way possible. Look at Lennon..........Morrison........Kennedy........... All targets.

[WACF]

Originally posted by kentuckyklira
All drugs should be legalized!


With Crystal Meth on the rise we can soon thin out the population....let the bottom feeders that live off society kill themselves off.(Sarcastic)

Nice thought but too many people are killing themselves with this shit.
Good people too...a couple hits and you are already frying your brain.

Some things just should not be...

[kentuckyklira]

Originally posted by WACF
With Crystal Meth on the rise we can soon thin out the population....let the bottom feeders that live off society kill themselves off.(Sarcastic)

Nice thought but too many people are killing themselves with this shit.
Good people too...a couple hits and you are already frying your brain.

Some things just should not be... Everything in moderation.

There´s enough stuff out there that´s perfectly legal, easily obtainable and will fry:

-your brain

-your liver

-your kidneys

-your lungs

-various other organs and/or intestines.

Outlawing drugs is sheer hypocrisy.

BTW, do you seriously think people would be doing crystal meth if cocaine was, let´s say 15$ a gramm??

[WACF]

Considering you can make Meth with household cleaners in your basement...yes...heavy drug users are not rational.

[Angel]

This actually had fuck all to do with the grow-op. The guy had a hate-on for the RC's, had for many years... They were called in to assist a bailiff reposses the guys truck and got ambushed. All junior officers and the RC's fucked up royally on this one!

I attended the national memorial last week. Un-fucking believable! A sea of red and blue as far as the eye could see. Troopers from Alaska, to NYC's finest, and all points in between.

However, the fact that the guy had a small grow-op is completely coincidental. The guy was a fucking loonie who had terrorized the town for years. I hear the States is really pushing it as Canada's violent drug problem, and that they don't mention that he also had a stolen car chop shop, which would get him a more severe sentence than a grow-op.

Pretty fucking sad that the RC's sent in 4 fucking juniors though. :(

[UGS]

One of them was off duty too. Just trying to help out.