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The flashbangs and middle-of-the-night no-knock raids are standard practice now. And they have consequences:

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/toddler-critically-burn...

In this case of the toddler, the police are at least claiming that they used a battering ram on the door and it did not work. They claim that the door was blocked by the playpen.[1] As if that makes it ok.

It surprises me how no-knock can be legal. In some places, you cannot even respond with force. Or if you do, you cannot claim self-defense, as police get special privileges.

I don't even see how knock and notice is legal, as you have no timely way to authenticate someone claiming to be police. Why would an attacker simply not yell "police!" and scream orders at his victim? How would a victim possibly differentiate in this scenario?

A friend was just robbed in the middle of the night. His reaction was to yell at the intruders, claiming to have a gun. Had the intruders simply yelled back they were LE, my friend would have ceased resisting and voluntarily given into being tied up.

1: http://pix11.com/2014/05/30/toddler-injured-after-swat-team-...

Incredibly sad. How much is America willing to give up for the War on Drugs? I suppose it is a similar situation to the boiling frog, they ratchet up the intensity bit by bit.

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