Police raid of Dem candidate’s fundraiser under review
Published: June 30, 2009
Updated 1 year ago
A police raid of a Democratic congressional candidate’s backyard fundraiser has become the subject of a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department investigation, the department said on Monday according to an area report.
The fundraiser was for Francine Busby, a Democrat who is running against incumbent Republican Brian Bilbray of California’s 50th congressional district. The fundraiser was being held in the backyard of a suburban home in Cardiff, which apparently riled a neighbor who reportedly shouted profanity at the group. Then, around 9:30 p.m., two-year veteran Deputy Marshall Abbott showed up, seemingly in response to a noise complaint from the heckler.
By the time it was over, several of Busby’s supporters had been pepper sprayed and the party’s hostess, Shari Barman, was arrested for resisting and obstructing a peace officer.
“‘He had a raged look in his eyes, and his head was bobbing from side to side,’ said Kimberley Beatty, 42, a stay-at-home mother who attended the fundraiser,” according to a report by Sign on San Diego. “Beatty said she called 911 to report that [Deputy Abbott] ‘appeared to be out of control.’”
Sheriff Bill Gore, in a written statement to reporters, said, “The only proper way to ascertain exactly what happened is to initiate an internal affairs investigation.”
“We cannot take action based on media accounts,” he added.
According to reports, the heckler had made disparaging remarks about homosexuals, leading Busby to believe the individual’s noise complaint was politically-motivated. The home’s owner is a lesbian who lives with her partner.
“You could hear his voice very clearly, it was loud,” she told Talking Points Memo. “But as far as the actual words, I didn’t hear them. I heard my name, and obviously derogatory words. Other people heard profanity, and somebody heard something about gays, as well.”
A guest at the party said the loudest portion was Busby’s speech, given over an personal amplification system.
The homeowner, Barman, explained the situation in a lengthy statement published Tuesday morning.
“Deputy Abbott asked for my name and date of birth,” she wrote. “I gave him my name and politely asked him why he needed my date of birth. He said it was for identification purposes in case they needed to return to the premises. Because he had my name and I had identified myself as the homeowner, I asked why he would need my date of birth. He told me I was under arrest, grabbed my right arm, twisted it behind me and threw me on the ground.”
She added that about 25 people witnessed the arrest, including her partner.
“My partner, Jane Stratton, asked him to please be careful as I had recently had right shoulder surgery,” she said. “His response was to knock her to the ground.”
When others began approaching, the deputy stood and deployed his pepper spray against the onlookers, she said.
“His actions were completely unexpected, excessive and I believe, unwarranted,” she said. “The remaining guests who witnessed what occurred and who were pepper sprayed were stunned and outraged.”
A police report explains the events differently.
Written following the arrest, it alleges that Barman attempted to walked away from the deputy, causing Abbott to grab her wrist and begin arresting her. As party-goers became agitated and began shouting at the officer, several onlookers pulled Barman away from Abbott, causing him to reach for the pepper spray.
“These kinds of (fundraising) events are held all the time,” Busby told The North County Times. “If one phone call can cause this kind of chaos, it has to be stopped.”
It is unclear when the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s investigation into the incident will be complete.
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My first suspicion upon reading this headline was that it would read, “Dateline: Dallas, Texass.” I am sadly disappointed, but not surprised that it is San Diego, CA.
That being said, there is a solid contingent of back-assed knuckledraggers who call themselves Republicans in the State of California — and they are militarily supported by the law enforcement goons that plague this state like the vigilance committees upon which they were founded.
California would do well to rid itself of this cancer, both legislatively and executively. Start with “Governor” Schizenegger — the guy is a barely literate racist buffoon. The fact that this son of a Nazi was elected through a recall masterminded by Karl Rove pretty much says it all.
Recall the recall and get this fucktard out of office. Only then can California get back to evolving as a state instead of devolving into the same primitive stature as shitholes like Texass and the rest of the southern jackass contingency states.
More official gay bashing in the same day!!
Gosh, let’s see. I bet shaved head, satanic tats, steroids and a small penis.
Some Sheriffs are little better than rent-a-cops
jlewd,
when you call a whole state a “shithole,” you come across worse than a southern jackass.
The cops are going to lose their jobs over this.
These stories about how police treat people sometimes killing innocents make me physically sick to my stomach.
I hope you’re right bigdan … this sort of thing has gotten mush worse over the last 8 years of the Republican crime organization. It’s time for citizens to demand that police officers be held accountable and that they be monitored for what has basically become military operations against citizens who have not broken the law.
Anything is an excuse to levy brute force from tasers that kill to stomping people on the ground.
Just recently there was a case where police claimed there were drugs in a home … they surrounded it and broke in and shot these innocent peoples two black labs … it happened to be the x-mayor of that town and still the ruled it was justified …
It happens so often almost every day in this country that it’s as if the police are at war with law abiding citizens because they have been trained in domestic combat ans some of them can’t wait to use their new toys.
skyreader7: Go there some time and you’ll see why. With the exception of Austin, which knows it is nothing like the rest of Texass, there is no reason for anyone with an education better than 10th grade to be there — so you should fit in juuuuuust fine. Don’t forget to wear shoes.
To be honest, I couldn’t give a shit less what you think. I’m sick of eight years of ignorant fuckwads including a presidential asshat FROM Texass ruining my nation. I’ll say whatever the fuck I want to keep it from happening again.
Or maybe you cons don’t like it when a liberal tells you to go fuck yourselves and means it?
It’s a different game today. The ignorant right painting all liberals and progressives as weak-wristed, treehugging, cowardly hippies is as much a fantasy as is a thinking man is in the Republican party. Besides: all this secessionist bullshit talk in Texass — from its citizens, from its legislators, and from its governor — is reason enough to find the state a boil on the ass of my country tis of thee.
It is also reason enough to call it what it is: sedition.
I reiterate: fuck Texass.
Remember that it was in San Diego where poll watchers were arrested for wanting to legally watch the tabulation of votes. Franken’s win is going to really bring the snakes out from under their rocks.
Having been in law enforcement myself, I have seen little pricks like deputy get a bit out of control and take what should have been an easy going, don’t make a big shit out of it incident, a big shit incident. What I can’t understand is how these pricks have gotten so military in looks–uniforms–and attitudes. The shaved heads and steroid created bodies are really ridiculous looking.
People, I don’t advocate violence against police offices, but when a group of us sees an out of control asshole like one this seems to have been, it’s time to knock his dumb ass to ground and put the cuffs on him or her and set ‘em on the curb. Remember, they’re supposed to work for us, not abuse us.
There was no justification for the police officers actions. I’d be willing to bet that this officer first went to the “homophobic complainer / hecklers” home first and got the picture from him … where upon hating gays and Dems Abbot entered the home bent out of shape to begin with.
I am hoping there are charges brought against him and the Department. With so many upstanding witnesses this seems like a slam dunk. At the very least I would like to see these abusive weenies loose their jobs … I am sick of these types of officers basically breaking the law act out against citizens.
Dear Stephen C. Webster,
I think you yourself have done enough police brutality reporting to recognize that we have a PANDEMIC of militarized police state reminiscent of E. German Stasi or Soviet era, post-9/11.
Fish does rot from the head down. Post 9/11, many of us have watched with disgust as an undeserved necessity to automatically imbue those in uniform with automatic reverence. Unfortunately we’re seeing more and more moronic response even from juries sitting on cases where police are ON CAMERA clearly abusing their authority and have the nerve to actually charge the victim citizen with resiting arrest, and actually “assaulting” them. This lunacy of us vs. them attitude now practiced by modern police have got to STOP.
It’s high time you guys consider doing a MAJOR expose on this matter, catalog just how drastic the abuses have gotten. When the Pres institutionalizes torture, and NO ONE is held to account, the same doorkickers with PTSD come home and parade around as cops, no one should be surprised that cops are now acting as if they’re patrolling the streets of Ramahdi.
Obama has done NOTHING to repeal ANY of Bush’s police state policies. Under his political “capital,” such abuses are actually ACCELERATING. To think otherwise is to live in delusion.
WE MUST REPEAL ‘patriot’ actS, No-Fly List, illegal search and seizure, NSL, torture, secret and indefinite detentions, and ALL other manner of police-state apparatus instituted since 9/11, INCLUDING the Nazi-named DHS, once and for all.
Isn’t it interesting someone connected to the political establishment must be abused before such issues get taken seriously enough, or someone like Oscar Grant MURDERED before anything that remotely resembling accountability get heeded? Why do these civil servant morons forget that sooner or later, they too would become victims to unbelievably unCONSTITUTIONAL laws that they passed while in CONgress? Nobody stays in public sector forever. To think these delusional lackeys delude that they’re part of the ruling class and deserve special treatment, when the very premise of this nation was founded upon (yes we had and still have dark periods) individual liberty, in unconscionable.
Continued luck on all your efforts.
Oink, oink.
Remember in the 60’s they would place “plants” at anti-war rallies to rile the pigs, then they would storm troop in and start bashing people? To confirm this we observed photos taken of the audience and these fucks would keep showing up. Keep taken pictures, people.
Relax folks. All our cell phones have video recorders. The days of the bad cops (most cops do a great job) being able to Rodney King whoever they want, and get away with it are over. And I mean over. As far as the neighbor shouting “slurs”, it is standard mo for the few remaining ignorant Republicons.
Take heart. Republicons are a dying breed, with no plans on stopping the hate, and rejoining America as far as I can see. In fact I have a sign on the back of my car that reads “Republicans Are A Disease”.
You can get yours at
http://www.RepublicansAreADisease.com
I am tired of being called names by people less intelligent than my dog.
“Remember in the 60’s they would place “plants” at anti-war rallies to rile the pigs, then they would storm troop in and start bashing people? To confirm this we observed photos taken of the audience and these fucks would keep showing up. Keep taken pictures, people.”
60’s? This is happening today. Provocateurs are alive and well in these days too. In fact, I’m sure they have never stopped.
better state police for a better police state.
Like most repuglicunts, this piss-ant sheriff probably whacks his wee winkie watching reruns of “24″.
Speaking of “24″, we’re all at greater risk of being struck by drunk driving Jackass Bauer/Queefer Sutherland than we are of being attacked by Islamoterrorists with nukes in suitcases.
Fuck 24. Fuck Jack Bauer. Fuuuuuck Queefer Sutherland. And fuck the police, comin’ straight from the underground. . . .