Thread by @RespectableLaw

A VERY TROUBLING THREAD: Remember that weird police shootout during a no-knock raid in Houston last week?

🚨It appears something truly rotten happened.🚨

This story looks like it’s about to become huge, and let me tell you why...

https://twitter.com/JRogalskiKHOU/status/1093562929587412993

It was immediately obvious the raid was fishy. An anonymous 911 caller reported drugs at a home owned by 59-year-old disabled Navy veteran Dennis Tuttle and his wife Rhogena.

But neither had any criminal record. And friends and family say there’s no way they were dealers.
bit.ly/2Gg9Viu

Some HPD detectives set up an investigation. They claimed they did a controlled purchase of brown powder heroin using a confidential informant. They also claimed to have kept the home under surveillance after the purchase and up until the raid.
bit.ly/2Gul0fk

The cops signed an affidavit stating there was heroin in the house along with a 9mm handgun. The cops swore they confirmed the informant was clean prior to the purchase, and that they personally inspected the heroin he allegedly purchased.
bit.ly/2GvQ6Dd

Before entering, the cops didn’t announce their presence, and upon entry, the lead officer shot the couple’s dog. The police were then met with gunfire from Mr. Tuttle using a .357 revolver. When the smoke cleared, Dennis and Rhogena were dead and five officers were wounded.

They didn’t find any evidence that Mr. Tuttle was a heroin dealer. Just a small amount of personal marijuana and some white powder (probably some coke or crushed pills or whatever). But no packages of heroin ready for sale described in the affidavit, or the 9mm handgun.

Everything was fishy. People started asking questions. What the hell happened? Were they at the wrong house? Activist groups were becoming vocal.

As criticism grew, HPD Union President @JoeGamaldi made some wildly improper statements, threatening to track anyone “spreading the rhetoric that police are the enemy,” and “hold you accountable every time you stir the pot on our police officers.” bit.ly/2MWXSXL

Nonetheless, Houston City Council members doubled-down on their unconditional support for Gamaldi and HPD, scolding @AshtonPWoods of Houston Black Lives Matter for having the audacity to express outrage about Gamaldi’s repulsive jack-booted tirade.

m.facebook.com/story.php?stor…

Flash forward a few days, and news breaks that one of the officers involved has been relieved of duty. And the rumor flying around among local journalists is not that police were at the wrong house…but that the “controlled purchase” NEVER EVEN HAPPENED.

https://twitter.com/JRogalskiKHOU/status/1093586753326407694

As these whispers began to percolate among the media, HPD’s Chief @ArtAcevado released a statement acknowledging that an internal investigation was underway into “questions regarding the circumstances surrounding the search warrant.”

https://twitter.com/houstonpolice/status/1093583514157629440

And the Harris County DA put out a statement saying their Civil Rights Division is tasked with the case:

https://twitter.com/HarrisCountyDAO/status/1093604338042368005

At the same time, the chorus calling for the firing of HPOU President Joe Gamaldi continues to intensify:

houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/…

The lead HPD case-agent for the botched raid remains in the hospital, unable to communicate due to his wounds. In the meantime, the community sits on pins and needles waiting to learn exactly what happened to Dennis and Rhogena and what reckoning must follow.