Liberty Minute September 29 2014

If Troy Wheeler really was a dangerous fugitive who was believed to be heavily armed, why did police choose to arrest him in a way that put innocent lives at risk?

Wheeler was arrested by the Ada Metro SWAT team at a charity yard sale in Meridian, Idaho on September 22. The event was entirely routine, and Wheeler did nothing to provoke attention ? until a throng of camouflage-clad, masked figures suddenly materialized in their midst, pointing guns and barking orders.

Wheeler was thrown to the ground and handcuffed, along with a woman who simply happened to be standing next to him when the SWAT team arrived. The police described Wheeler, who was as a suspect in a ?major narcotics investigation.? Boise PD spokeswoman Lynn Hightower insisted that the SWAT raid was necessary because Wheeler was ?known to be heavily armed and the arrest was high-risk.?

The raiders weren?t pursuing a bank robber, suspected murderer, or terrorist. They were serving an ordinary arrest warrant that could have been executed without the high-risk theatrics. But that?s not how things are done, now that we?ve become a country where a SWAT raid at a yard sale doesn?t provoke public concern.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.