A rant: Tipping culture is out of control. I'm a generous tipper. But 20% for someone to make eye contact & hand me a muffin is crazy. Restaurants widely suggesting people tip 30% now is kookoo bananas. At this rate we'll soon be tipping the price of the meal. Make it stop. I always feel like a sociopath when I select "no tip" after buying, say, a $7 coffee. I should not feel that way. Someone took my money for a drink I already paid too much for, poured liquid in a cup, and handed it to me. Why is a tip merited there? What are we doing here?

This is Sergio Velazquez, former police chief of Hialeah, FL.

Over $1 million in civil forfeiture funds vanished on his watch. Now he’s facing prison—because he allegedly stole a bunch of that.

It’s not the first time legalized larceny became actual larceny. A thread. For those who aren’t familiar, civil forfeiture allows police to seize someone’s assets, even if the owner isn't charged with a crime.

Velazquez—who allegedly spent the money he stole on Rolex, Louis Vuitton & Versace—is a brazen example of how the practice is ripe for abuse. /2

This is a bad analogy. State-run liquor stores came out of Prohibition—because governments wanted drinking to be difficult and expensive after alcohol was legalized again. Using that as a model for food isn’t exactly reassuring.

https://twitter.com/BenBurgis/status/1938594255934779711

Grocery store profit margins are *tiny*—usually 1-2 percent. (Liquor stores, by contrast, have margins around 20-30%.) It would be very hard for a shop run by the state—which isn't known for efficiency—to keep prices low while maintaining quality & selection. Defeats the purpose.

This is Rhogena Nicholas & Dennis Tuttle.

Police shot & killed them—and their dog—during a no-knock raid on their home. A Texas officer claimed an informant had bought heroin there.

The problem? That cop lied. The couple hadn’t sold heroin—and there was no informant. A thread. Officer Gerald Goines targeted Tuttle & Nicholas based on 911 calls from a neighbor, Patricia Garcia, who said they were dangerous drug dealers who'd sold her daughter heroin.

Garcia—who didn't even have a daughter—later admitted she made the whole thing up. /2

The FBI threw a grenade into this innocent family's home, ripped their door off, and held them at gunpoint.

Why? Because agents...didn't verify the address.

Last month, the government told the Supreme Court that was reasonable. The reasoning may shock & depress you. A thread. A few years ago, Toi Cliatt, Curtrina Martin, and Martin's 7-year-old son woke up to the FBI breaking into their home.

Agents stormed into the bedroom screaming—guns drawn—and cuffed Cliatt.

But the actual suspect wasn't there. Because he lived approximately one block over. /2

This is Linda Martin. A few years ago, the FBI seized her life savings: $40,200.

The kicker: She was never charged with a crime—and the government couldn’t tell her why it took her money.

Martin is far from the first. But she is trying to make sure she is the last. A thread. In 2021, the FBI raided U.S. Private Vaults, a storage business in LA.

The company was suspected of criminal activity. But the warrant explicitly forbade agents from searching & seizing the contents of customers' boxes—like Linda Martin's.

Well... /2

This headline sounds peachy. The problem: It's completely deranged.

That's because most of these low-price cars—which Hawaii's govt is auctioning off—were seized by police from people who were never convicted of a crime.

In a sane world, that would be a scandal. A thread. For those who are unfamiliar, civil forfeiture allows law enforcement to seize assets—cars, cash, homes—from people, often without having to prove they were guilty of a crime.

Hawaii, like many states, doesn't even require an arrest. /2

This is Curtrina Martin & her son.

A few years ago, the FBI set off a grenade in their home & smashed the door in. But their suspect wasn't there. Because the FBI had the wrong house.

The family was barred from suing—and the Supreme Court just agreed to hear the case. A thread. Stories of police officers raiding the wrong homes are more common than you might think.

Yet time and time again, victims are told they aren't allowed to ask a jury for damages after these egregious errors upend their lives.

So this is big. /2

When I found out that Colorado essentially permits abortions up until someone's water breaks, my reaction was: "That can't be correct." It's correct.

Whatever your views on abortion, I struggle to understand how anyone supports this. If a baby is viable, how is that OK?

https://twitter.com/emmma_camp_/status/1833889506908405885

I know people get abortions for different reasons, including health issues. I want to be empathetic. But it is also true that some people are aborting healthy fetuses that would survive outside of the womb. I can't wrap my head around that not being a form of murder.

This is Chelsea Koetter & her sons. A few years ago, she accrued a small property tax debt.

So the government seized her home, sold it—and kept the $102,636 profit.

The Supreme Court said this practice is illegal. But some states are subverting that. A thread. Koetter, who is a single mother, fell behind on her 2018 taxes. She owed $1,199.59.

With all penalties/interest/fees, her debt came out to $3,863.40.

To collect that, the government auctioned off her home for $106,500. It gave her nothing in return. /2 reason.com/2024/07/26/she…

This is wild. Indiana law enforcement is seizing millions of dollars by rummaging through packages at the local FedEx hub & taking the money they find—without saying what crime the sender or recipient supposedly committed.

The scheme may violate Indiana's *own laws.* A thread.

https://twitter.com/reason/status/1823068908603187506

The FedEx hub in Indianapolis is the 2nd-largest in the US. It seems law enforcement may have seen that as an opportunity.

Police find reasons—many of them bogus—to flag/search packages. If the packages have cash, they often take it.

Since 2022, they've seized $2.5 million. /2

This is Curtrina Martin. In 2017, the FBI raided her home. They detonated a flash grenade, ripped the door off the hinges & broke in with guns drawn.

They had the wrong house.

All these years later, the gov't still won't let her sue. There are many stories like hers. A thread. In the early morning, Martin says the FBI lit up her home "like the 4th of July." She initially had no idea it was law enforcement.

Agents ran into her room screaming. They handcuffed her fiancé & held them at gunpoint.

Until they realized their suspect lived a block over. /2

This story is bonkers. Cops in this South Carolina town run an annual 5-day operation where they stop as many cars as possible. They find any reason to pull people over. And often if the driver has cash, police steal it.

In 2022, cops seized $968,611. That's $194,000 per day.

https://twitter.com/reason/status/1820988255103312066

Police stopped one car for "driving in the left lane while not actively passing." Then they claimed to smell weed. So they searched the car.

They didn't find drugs. But they did find $15K, which the driver said she was using to start a hair business.

The cops took it anyway.

This is disgraceful. The Trump campaign is referring to Jaleel Stallings, a veteran who was acquitted of all charges and who won a $1.5 million settlement because police violently attacked him during his bogus arrest.

The only party convicted in this case was a cop. A thread.

https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1815097201233908222

In 2020, Minneapolis police shot Jaleel Stallings with rubber bullets because they found him out past curfew.

Thinking he was being attacked, he fired his gun, for which he had a concealed carry permit. He didn't hit anyone, and when he realized it was police, he surrendered. /2

This is Laurens van Beek.

Not long ago, he was kicked out of the U.S.—even though he immigrated here as a child. Legally.

The kicker: If his family had come *illegally* he would've gotten to stay.

A thread on our insane immigration system. DACA protects some folks from deportation if they arrived in the U.S. illegally as kids. Many recipients do not know any other country but America as home.

Laurens can relate.

But his story diverges in a crucial way: His family came here lawfully. /2

This is Sylvia Gonzalez. At age 72, she won an upset victory for city council after campaigning to oust the city manager. The mayor didn't like that.

So he had her arrested & jailed.

The Supreme Court is about to hear her case, which has largely gone unnoticed. A thread. In 2019, Sylvia began her tenure on city council with what she'd promised constituents: a citizen-backed petition calling for the city manager's removal.

So the mayor, Edward Trevino, responded by setting in motion a monthslong *criminal* investigation. But that's not all. /2

It should be a scandal that in 2024 federal police can *still* seize your life savings & leave you destitute without even charging you with a crime. But lawmakers can come together in 30 seconds to vote on possibly banning TikTok, because culture war. I find it deeply depressing. I'm talking, of course, about civil forfeiture, which lets law enforcement take your assets if they merely *suspect* you of a crime. Many lawmakers claim to oppose it. Yet nothing changes.

Which is a shame, because it's ruined innocent people's lives. Let's talk about them. /2

This is journalist Priscilla Villarreal. A few years back, police in TX arrested her—because her work is often critical of them.

Last week, a federal court said those cops didn't necessarily violate her rights. Everyone got qualified immunity.

That should concern you. A thread. Priscilla lives in Laredo, TX, where she's amassed a huge Facebook following.

Her work often exposes police abuse, which angered some in law enforcement. So they set about trying to punish her.

But free speech is, uh, pretty important here. So they had to get creative. /2

This story will fly under the radar. It shouldn't.

Houston tried to prosecute a woman for helping the homeless. And the state couldn't even impanel a jury, because the bulk of potential jurors saw the case for the insanity that it is.

This is why jury trials are essential:

https://twitter.com/HoustonChron/status/1748491707652460922

In July, the gov't prosecuted a Houston man for the same thing: feeding the homeless.

A jury acquitted him. That's likely not because the defendant didn't break the law. It's because the jury thought the law was asinine.

Jury nullification at its best. reason.com/2023/10/10/the…

This is Amy Hadley & her kids, Kayla & Noah. In June 2022, police tossed dozens of tear gas bombs into their home, smashed windows, punched holes in the wall & more.

A cop's error led them to Amy's home. She hadn't committed a crime.

The gov't won't pay her back. A thread. A year and a half ago, police in Indiana were trying to locate a fugitive. One officer tried to find him via Facebook, concluding that the suspect was accessing social media from Amy's IP address.

He was not.

They destroyed her home anyway. /2 reason.com/2023/12/20/thi…

This is LaShawn Craig. He faces years in prison after he shot a masked man who had broken into his home.

What's rich: New York prosecutors agree it was self-defense.

They're trying to lock him up anyway. He's not the first. A thread. Last month, Craig was standing outside his NYC home when he heard his alarm go off. He entered his residence, where he saw a masked intruder, who reached for something in his pocket. Craig fired his gun.

The homicide was labeled justified.

And yet... /2