Woman experiences DEA raid at 5:00AM after shopping for indoor gardening supplies

[bentom187]

Guilty until you're proven innocent. Watch out people ,cover your bases. Be safe.

Woman experiences DEA raid at 5:00AM after shopping for indoor gardening supplies

"They had a gun pointed at me when they said, 'Are there any illegal substances in your house?'"

SHOREWOOD, IL — A woman became the subject of an investigation when she was observed shopping for indoor gardening supplies at a hydroponics store. Police and federal agents began staking out the woman’s home, sifting through her garbage, and monitoring her electricity usage. The investigation prompted gun-wielding agents to show up in her bedroom in the middle of the night.

The subject of this investigation was Angela Kirking, a 46-year-old artist who does face-painting for children at local fairs. She enjoys indoor gardening and grows a hibiscus plant for her consumption. She shops for fertilizer and supplies at a local shop called Midwest Hydroganics.

It so happened that police and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had been staking out Midwest Hydroganics to attempt to bust citizens who grow unauthorized plants without government permission. Angela Kirking was witnessed exiting the store “carrying a green plastic bag containing unknown items” on September 17, 2013, the Shorewood Patch reported. The bag contained organic fertilizer for her hibiscus flowers.

Based only on the woman’s shopping habits, an investigation was launched that lasted nearly a month.

Police began spying on Kirking’s utility bills. They discovered that her electricity usage was “consistently higher” than her neighbors. Officers were then sent to sneak around the outside of her property at 4:15 a.m. to dig through her trash. According to The Shorewood Patch, the garbage-pickers reportedly found “multiple green plant stems” that smelled strongly of “green cannabis.”

This evidence was enough to make the police and prosecutors believe that her home may contain the forbidden cannabis plant. A few days later, a paramilitary team of plant enforcers was assembled to arrest Mrs. Kirking.

Police tacticians decided that the most effective way to arrest the artist would be to wake her up at 5:00 a.m. with gun-toting strangers in her bedroom. That’s what Mrs. Kirking awoke to on October 11th, 2013.


“They had a gun pointed at me when they said, ‘Are there any illegal substances in your house?’” Kirking recalled.

DEA agents and Shorewood police officers were standing over her bed. Apparently they had waited for her husband to leave for work at 4:50 a.m. and then made him let them in the home.

The Shorewood Patch reported that the agents confiscated her computer, some books, and a few grams of a plant that they claimed was marijuana. These crimes amounted to misdemeanor charges, and Mrs. Kirking was taken away in handcuffs.

Of course, the investigation was based on rubbish. Kirking’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, is trying to get the search warrant voided because of its shaky pretexts.

Indoor gardeners are frequently the targets of police raids. John Kohler, an indoor gardening advocate who runs GrowingYourGreens.com, had his home invaded by police because he grew vegetables in his bathroom. A Kansas family who grew a garden in their basement suffered a no-knock raid under nearly the same pretexts as Mrs. Kirkling.

 

[GrowerGoneWild]

And the DEA thought it was raidworthy?.. . What BS. The thought of officers having a gun drawn and the possiblity of a negligent discharge, and somebody injured or killed over some plants pisses me off.

Thanks for the heads up.. I live in the US.. and even a few days ago I was victim of illegal search. I have been keeping a very low profile the last few years, and only recently have I made a comeback. I was super paranoid going to the growshop, and I see that it wasnt a bad practice to do that..

 

[Agaricus]

What a farce. Not only the porkers but the so-called judge who issued a warrant with no evidence of wrongdoing. As in, the stems in the trash apparently weren't proven to be cannabis.

It still baffles me how these kinds of tactics can be condoned in a supposedly free country.

 

[MJBadger]

It still baffles me how these kinds of tactics can be condoned in a supposedly free country.

What amazes me is that practically every adult can have a gun but a plant brings the most armed loonies around in as fast as possible . If the stems weren't Canna the whole thing is tits-up . Is there any chance of her suing the police/DEA , can it be done ?

 

[TheArchitect]

FUCK THE PIGS!

These assholes should be waterboarded and beaten with rubber hoses before death by a thousand cuts.

 

[TheRealHash]

Stereotypes hurt everyone. Not all L.E.O. are assholes.

Sounds like bad police work and bad luck to me.

 

[MIway]

gosh, wouldnt it be nice if they went after white collar criminals w such zeal...

this country is depressing. hope they can sue the city & finds a conscientious judge

 

[Dropped Cat]

Yeah, let's form a protest.

Outrage? Yup.

Action? Nah, too busy.

My post in this thread is pretty much as far as I'm willing
to show dissent about the para militarization of the
country I live in.

That, and a hearty tsk, tsk.

 

[bentom187]

What amazes me is that practically every adult can have a gun but a plant brings the most armed loonies around in as fast as possible .

Freedom should not have stipulations, guns or weed, or any drugs and property ownership, they are all rights that come with the associated individual responsibilities. We are all adults and don't need to be told what to do.

Sorry, this sort of hypocritical stance is sort of a pet peeve. "Rule's for thee but none for me" . Its sort of how the drug war got started.

 

[Dropped Cat]

The USA is quickly becoming the Florida of the Earth.

ugh.

 

[StoneyK]

Stereotypes hurt everyone. Not all L.E.O. are assholes.

Sounds like bad police work and bad luck to me.

Yea they are... In a major way actually.
I've yet to meet or experience a cop who has protected or served me in anyway.
They harass and intimidate at EVERY opportunity.

 

[dj.scotfree]

ILL States finest. Guilty until proven innocent. So sad.. their walls and laws are crumbling down. Now they waste their time on a Mom and or Pop with a home garden to provide food or the beauty of a plant for themselves...

PS... It's Like bentom187's quote: Edward Snowden "Bathtub falls & police!!!!?" Truth hurts.. fo real!

 

[Jhhnn]

The USA is quickly becoming the Florida of the Earth.

ugh.

Damn... that's rough. Never been to Florida. I hear that they're.... different... down there.

I understand bored local LEO's getting squirrely, but the DEA? Really?

If they staked out a grow shop, which I see as improper, why did they target this woman with a bag of hibiscus food out of all the customers who came & went, some of them undoubtedly loading up their vans & pickups? Or were they pulling this shit in the background on a lot of people? Was she the only one who had a high electric bill & some (maybe) stems in her trash? Why her?

Did her connection to children set them to fishing for some juicy headlines, or what?

WTF? This makes no sense whatsoever, not even from a law enforcement perspective. If there has to be a DEA, and if the citizens have to pay for it, then they have a right to demand a Helluva lot better police work than that, aimed at people & organizations behind all the real poison in the black market.

Whoever ran this particular operation needs to have their balls busted off & the judge as well. That wasn't a warrant based on reasonable evidence- it was a fishing license for a minnow.

They do get a few points for finessed entry, but that doesn't rate any honor badges.

 

[Sóley]

It almost seems like they're doing this to scare people off from going to hydro-stores.


Mission accomplished.

 

[m314]

The DEA is trying to bust small time growers who go to hydro shops? I thought they were only going after big commercial growers.

 

[m314]

Stereotypes hurt everyone. Not all L.E.O. are assholes.

Sounds like bad police work and bad luck to me.

What if she had been growing a couple cannabis plants in her closet for pain relief or insomnia? Raiding her home and waking her up in bed at gunpoint would have been justified then?

 

[Jhhnn]

What if she had been growing a couple cannabis plants in her closet for pain relief or insomnia? Raiding her home and waking her up in bed at gunpoint would have been justified then?

Easy, there. Why the harsh tone?

 

[m314]

Easy, there. Why the harsh tone?

Sorry about that. The harsh tone was from anger at the DEA. This story wasn't just about bad police work. It was about the gestapo-like tactics law enforcement uses to bust people who grow the wrong plants. Not all law enforcement officers are assholes, but the DEA is a truly evil organization who does more harm to society than any drug ever has. The DEA shouldn't exist at all in a free society.

This never would have made the news if they had found a single weed plant in the house. That kind of injustice is so routine it goes mostly unreported. Nobody should be raided and have their lives ruined for growing a plant.

 

[Guest]

They should be de-balled with a battle-ax!!!

 

[TheRealHash]

Everybody that gets pushed around just needs to take the proper legal route.




Push back with a good attorney.