Wisconsin State Journal - Madison police violate 4th Amendment rights of gun owners

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_eacaa046-c571-11df-a52c-001cc4c002e0.html

SNIP

A 62-year-old woman visiting a local Culver's sees several restaurant patrons with guns on holsters in plain view.

She doesn't know that Wisconsin law allows people to openly carry a firearm, so she notifies authorities, later telling them, "I didn't want to be that one person that saw guns and didn't call and something horrible happens."

Officers arrive to find five armed men at the restaurant near East Towne Mall. . . .

Shawn M. Winrich, 33, of Madison, said he remained silent when police asked if he would provide his ID. Police then told him he was being placed under arrest, and he was handcuffed, disarmed, searched and held until police determined he was not a felon, Winrich said.. . . Wisconsin Carry won a $10,000 judgement against the city of Racine and its police department after Hannan-Rock was involved in a similar incident there, Gold said. . . . On Monday, detectives were sent to Culver's for further investigation to determine if another criminal charge, such as disorderly conduct, is warranted, McLay said.

Based on initial police reports, he acknowledged, "There is no indication that a disturbance had taken place."
. . .

i love the part where the article says detectives went to culver's to see if they could trump up any other charges.

Mike said:

Based on initial police reports, he acknowledged, "There is no indication that a disturbance had taken place."
. . .

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Then they had no probable cause! :banghead:

Wisconsin Authorities need to learn to Respect The Second Amendment and The Forth Amendment!

I will be discussing this situation on Vicki McKenna's show this afternoon at approx. 5pm for a 15 minute interview.

Newstalk 1310 WIBA Madison, WI

Listen online at:
http://www.wiba.com/main.html

Why waste more time and money when Van Hollen already told the cops open carring by itself is not disorderly? More cop's on a power trip that think they have more right's then the citizen's.

Based on initial police reports, he acknowledged, "There is no indication that a disturbance had taken place."

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He's conveniently overlooking the MAJOR disturbance caused by the police who broke several laws...
I oughta open a popcorn concession for this one.

paul@paul-fisher.com said:

Actually, that is true. They had to keep (at least twice) moving police cars because they were blocking patrons vehicles in, specifically the squad car (a Dodge Charger) with the camera that they were videoing the encounter with.

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They should be cited for double parking then!

Wouldn't 8 officers in a situation like this pretty much preclude any sort of consensual encounter by default?

they were in front of us in force, they were behind us, they had cars stationed in other parkinglots, they weren't there to welcome us to the neighborhood, and hope we had a good meal!

all these fellows wanted a a bite to eat, and now the MPD is quickly bitting off more than they can chew...

I work on the WJJO Morning Show in madison, WI. we would love to talk to someone from the group Carry Wisconsin. If you know someone that'd be good, please have them email me biatch@wjjo.com.

Thanx!

Why are they not filing suits at the state level?

Have they considered holding the officers personally responsible in civil court? What about the department? The officers exceeded their authority.

Have Wisconsin OC'ers learned to carry recorders while OC'ing?

230therapy said:

Why are they not filing suits at the state level?

Have they considered holding the officers personally responsible in civil court? What about the department? The officers exceeded their authority.

Have Wisconsin OC'ers learned to carry recorders while OC'ing?

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Some suits are being filed on the state level. Yes, most WI OC'ers know to carry recording devices.

Section 1983 federal civil rights suits offer fee shifting provisions and in Wisconsin state suits dont. So, it's expensive to file a state suit.

I don't see a point in filing a state suit in this case. Why do you think it should be done?

230therapy said:

Why are they not filing suits at the state level?

Have they considered holding the officers personally responsible in civil court? What about the department? The officers exceeded their authority.

Have Wisconsin OC'ers learned to carry recorders while OC'ing?

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Take a look at www.wisconsincarry.org and click on the Legal and then Lawsuit. You sill see one of the suits.

I did carry a Blackberry and did record the encounter and am being accused of setting the cops up. :banghead: Not a formal, legal, charge, just a charge in the press.

paul@paul-fisher.com said:

Take a look at www.wisconsincarry.org and click on the Legal and then Lawsuit. You sill see one of the suits.

I did carry a Blackberry and did record the encounter and am being accused of setting the cops up. :banghead: Not a formal, legal, charge, just a charge in the press.

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Like cops never do any stings/setups. Not saying what you did was one or that's what we do here, just funny that they (the press and/or the cops) are assuming that.

Own up to your **** up MPD, don't displace the blame.

This was a good read and brought up an intersting point. And now that I know the rules on posting news articles (thanx admin!) I present to you:

Madison WI proclaims peaceful open carry is disorderly conduct
Posted by David Hardy · 24 September 2010 08:43 AM

Press release here.

Five open carriers went into a restaurant. One patron called police to check them out, stating she "felt uneasy" despite their calm behavior. The city is classifying it as disorderly conduct (disturbing the peace), noting "The DC statute does not require an actual disturbance take place, only that conduct in question is of a type that tends to cause or provoke a disturbance."

please read the rest of the article here: http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/2010/09/madison_wi_proc.php

I don't recall her ever saying she was uneasy, only that it was strange those guys were so calm and looked relaxed.