This article was published more than8 years ago, (CORRECTION: The copy below is slightly incorrect. SWAT teams can serve a valuable function in law enforcement. He says he and his wife have been followed, even down the mile-long dirt road to their house. Shirley told CNN the drug task force unit comprises three Georgia counties -- Stephens, Habersham and Rabun. Tuccille From there he was taken to a hospital where he later died from massive blood loss. These are some of the best places to take them in Hall County, Best breakfast in Hall County? WebHe was one of the agents with the Mountain Judicial Circuit N.C.I.S. Defense attorney Shannon Demler said his client was trying to protect himself. Hall school board approves $11M for giant classroom touchscreens. WebA Stephens County grand jury decided that narcotics officers Billy Shane Harrison and Kyle Bryant were justified in shooting Jonathan Ayers, 28, pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist Au total il y a 112 utilisateurs en ligne :: 3 enregistrs, 0 invisible et 109 invits (daprs le nombre dutilisateurs actifs ces 3 dernires minutes)Le record du nombre dutilisateurs en ligne est de 850, le 05 Avr 2016 19:55 Utilisateurs enregistrs: Google [Bot], Senuphile, Yahoo [Bot] WebJonathan Ayers, 28-years-old, was a pastor at the Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Toccoa, Georgia. In her September interview with the North Georgian, Barrett told the paper that Ayers had been trying to help kick her drug habit, but later, while facing charges related to both the Ayers case and another incident, she told investigators that Ayers had in previous years paid her for sex. 6. | A total of 30 bullets were fired, and Navarro was shot 12 times. * Cpl. The family of Jonathan Ayers has also filed a lawsuit against the police agency that killed him. In Denver, one such person was 45-year-old Ismael Mena, who was shot and killed by a SWAT team during a no-knock raid on September 29, 1999. Ayers widow, Abby They are no better than a domestic terrorist, because they dont care about families they didnt care about the family, the children living in that household to be selling dope out of it, to be selling methamphetamine out of it. Grand jury to review police shooting of Georgia pastor, Probe of Georgia pastor's shooting expected to take another month, Rally planned for Georgia pastor killed in botched drug sting, Georgia Baptist pastor killed in botched drug sting. 10. Jonathan Ayers, a 28-year-old Baptist minister from northern Georgia. ------------------------------------------. So those fair investigations that went to extraordinary lengths failed to discover that the cop who shot Ayers not only had prior disciplinary problems, but also he wasnt even legally authorized to be a cop, much less carry a gun. (You can watch surveillance video of the altercation here.) The Jonathan Ayers story was already outrageous enough. The leader of veterinary diagnostics company IDEXX is out of commission because of a serious bicycle crash. (WVUE/Raycom) NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A man that was killed in the This would have been a grossly disproportionate way for these cops to have approached Barrett, their actual suspect, much less a guy they sought to question only about the 10 minutes he'd just spent in the car with her. Copyright 2010 - 2023 CacheValleyDaily.com LLC, all rights reserved. AlthoughChavalia was acquitted of criminal charges, Wilsons family was awarded $2.5 million in 2010 in a civil lawsuit against the city of Lima. 8. For three days in December, a grand jury was presented with the interviews and watched the video. Police would later acknowledge he was not using or trafficking in illicit drugs. WebLOGAN A 29-year-old Ogden man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of teenagers in Providence Canyon. All rights reserved. Learn how your comment data is processed. 3.1.2023 4:00 AM, John Stossel WebJonathan was shot by police in 2009. Drug task force that killed an innocent pastor in 2009 also involved in burned toddler story*, For Ovechkin in winter, a deadline sell-off makes sense this spring, Commanders cut Carson Wentz and Bobby McCain, clearing cap space, The NFL deserves every bit of its raging Daniel Snyder headache, burned a toddler with a flashbang grenade. But the kicker has to be that the subsequent police-led investigations of this high-profile case failed to turn up such a critical piece of information. They ordered him not to put the car in reverse, but Ayers did so anyway and accelerated, making contact with an officer behind the car. The undercover officers wanted to question Ayers about what they had just seen, he said. The person I blame in this whole thing is the person selling the drugs, Terrell said. Up until that moment, Ayers was known to most as a man devoted to his family and faith. Many people from across the political spectrumfrom the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, the National Urban League and the Rev. He suggested allowing a grand jury to investigate further about possible policy violations or civil liability. He said the official explanation of what happened "flew in the face of credulity.". But instead of apprehending her at the motel, they instead followed Ayers, the stranger they'd just seen give her a ride and hand her some cash. Copyright 2023 Salon.com, LLC. Ayers gave her the $23 in his pocket to help cover her rent. Jonathan Ayers had taken money out of an ATM in the convenience store and was beginning to pull out of the parking lot when Harrison, along with other deputies dressed in plainclothes, according to court documents, approached him. One of the bullets reportedly grazed one of the victims. Apologists for the killing claimed that Mena (a Mexican immigrant) had a gun, and LeRoy Lemos (a community activist) responded: If police hadn't gotten the wrong house, Mena would be alive. WebJonathan Paul Ayers, a pastor at the small Shoal Creek Baptist Church, was shot outside a Toccoa convenience store by plainclothes drug agents on Sept. 1. Authorities say they found nothing illegal in Jonathan Ayers' car after he was slain during a drug sting. Mellontree, in a 1992 interview, told the New York Times: People cant accept the idea that a 84-year-old grandmother gets shot in her bed, and its not even worth a negligence charge.. When task force members saw Ayers alone in the car with the woman, they switched their focus to him. Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press. According to an interview Barrett gave to the North Georgian newspaper shortly after Ayers' death, the pastor had seen her walking near a gas station on her way back to an extended-stay motel where she was living with her boyfriend. WebThe Springville Police Department announced Monday that Jonathan Hamilton was the man killed in Springvilles fourth fatal shooting of the past month. They followed the car as Ayers dropped the woman off at a gas station. Ayers was 29. Mike Ayers, who was in charge of the investigation for the GBI, is not related to Jonathan Ayers. But in addition to the $1.6 million, slightly more than $832,000 was awarded to the plaintiff in legal fees and expenses. A concussion grenade was thrown into the apartment; Spruill, a city employee who was getting ready to leave for work, suffered a heart attack and died. Abigail Ayers then filed a civil lawsuit in March 2010, alleging gross and plain incompetence in the use of deadly force. The woman who was in the car with Ayers was taken into custody and faces drug charges, Bankhead said. He was charged with two counts of felony discharge of a firearm and seven counts of aggravated assault, all second and third-degree felonies. Stephens County sheriff Randy Shirley has placed both officers involved in the incident on paid administrative leave, he said. But in the drug war, the combination of SWAT teams, no-knock raids and sloppy police work can have deadly consequences for innocent people. In a democratic republic, civilians are not executed in paramilitary-like raids based on guilt by association. One of Harrison's two shots hit Ayers. Thats a remarkably fast investigation given that the raid happened less than two days ago. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Radley Balko is a journalist at The Washington Post. The Narks are murderers for shooting an innocent preacher, You trying to justify it only shows how weak some Georgia citizens are. "I don't want someone on a task force or as a law enforcement officer who shoots first and asks questions later, and unfortunately, that's what we have here," Claytor told the AJC. In September 2009, Johnathan Ayers, a 28-year-old Baptist pastor from Lavonia, Ga., was gunned down by a North Georgia narcotics task force in the parking lot of a gas station. No one was disciplined for the actual killing of Ayers. Perhaps we shouldnt be all that surprised that a sheriff who sees drug suspects as terrorists also oversees a drug task force that has now killed an innocent pastor and burned a two-year-old child. In the end, the jury decided the shooting was justified. Heres when your childs school will get one. Some say Ayers was obviously frightened by two men running to his car and he did not know they were police, though witnesses told the grand jury they heard Harrison and Oxner identify themselves. In a democratic republic, the innocent until proven guilty concept is supposed to be sacrosanct.Jurors, police officers, judges and prosecuting attorneysat least in theoryare required to err on the side of caution, and if a guilty person occasionally goes free, so be it. When they broke in, Johnston (who lived alone in a high-crime area of the city and kept a gun in her house for protection) assumed she was being the victim of a home invasion and fired a shot. Posthumously, Navarro was proven innocent, and his senseless death underscored the need for the United States to seriously reform its misguided drug laws. Roland Stroberg, the attorney representing Ayers widow, said the family was "extremely disappointed," and that a lawsuit would be forthcoming. An investigation revealed that after Johnstons death, a major coverup was attempted, including planting bags of marijuana in her house and trying to bully White into lying and saying that Johnston was selling crack cocaine. So maybe we should take Rickmans quick assessment of this weeks raid with a grain of salt. The grand jury also heard from Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter and former Stephens County District Attorney Mike Crawford. It was refreshing to hear an attorney general make those statements; also encouraging is a recent Rasmussen poll finding that 82% of Americans see the war on drugs as a failure. "They approached the vehicle. Williams suffered a heart attack and died. Another then opened fire, killing him. That a police officer untrained in the use of lethal force and unqualified to be holding a badge and gun was put on a narcotics task force, and then placed in a position where he was able to shoot and kill a non-suspect is worse. Ayers, who was white, had a reputation for being the type of Christian who didnt spend all of his time on a soap box preaching about sin and salvationhe actually put his money where his mouth was, became active in his community, and did things to help people. And all three of them pled guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to violate her civil rights. Jonathan Ayers, Rodolfo Rudy Cardenas, Alberta Spruill, Mario Paz, Kathryn Johnston and others could have been prevented. But Ayers had no way of knowing he wasnt being attacked by carjackers or gang members; in fact, the officers who killed him went out of their way to look as thuggish and intimidating as possible. These officers jumped from an SUV waving their guns commando-style over a possible $50 drug transaction. Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. The suit has since meandered through a series of 208 motions, depositions and other court filings. An 18-member grand jury in Stephens County in northeast Georgia ruled that the officer who fired two shots that fatally wounded Jonathan Ayers, pastor of Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia, Ga., was justified in using lethal force because he reasonably believed he was in physical danger. Gwinnett Countys district attorney and a retired DA were asked to review the case. Claytor said the fact that Harrison shot as Ayers was clearly driving away also gnaws at many. Below are 10 innocent victims who became collateral damage and lost their lives in the war on drugs (there are many, many more). Wilsons one-year-old child was also shot but survived, although one of his fingers needed to be amputated. "How does a young man, who does so many wonderful things, have a dark side that wound up getting him killed?" Jonathan Ayers, 28, was shot Sept. 1, 2009, in GAINESVILLE, Ga. (ABP) Two north Georgia police officers have asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against them for their use of deadly force in a 2009 shooting that claimed the life of a Baptist pastor. Jonathan Paul Ayers, a pastor at the small Shoal Creek Baptist Church, was shot outside a Toccoa convenience store by plainclothes drug agents on Sept. 1. Police later determined what they had seen was not a drug transaction, but "other circumstances were involved, and that's part of the investigation," Bankhead said. Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court. The Department of Homeland Security Turns 20. The law cited by the grand jury states in part that a person who uses threats or force in defense of self or others is immune from criminal prosecution. An unmarked Escalade pulls up and three men jump out in masks and guns. He suspects they are private detectives. He shouldn't have been killed," Turpin told the AJC. No drugs were found in the house, and Bill Ankeny (El Montes assistant police chief) later acknowledged that there was never any evidence of the Paz family being involved in drug dealing. Rickman said as far as he is concerned the criminal matter is closed. Idexx Laboratories Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ayers is taking a medical leave of absence following what the company said was a serious bicycling accident on June 27. An undercover drug task force team had set up an operation at a local business, and had a woman under surveillance -- someone they had bought drugs from on two previous occasions, GBI spokesman John Bankhead told CNN Thursday. When he returned and got into his car they pounced. Ayers lost control of his car not far away. One of the people he had been helping was a woman who had a history of problems. The pastor may have fled the police, the grand jury concluded, because he feared his reputation would be ruined if his relationship with Barrett were exposed. Franklin said Ayers touched a lot of people and that makes it hard for some to accept that he may have had a relationship with Barrett. Parlez-en ! 3.1.2023 12:30 AM, Jacob Sullum Oxner, who was working undercover, is briefly out of the frame while Harrison can be seen lifting his right hand to his side, which he said was to lift his shirt so his holstered weapon would be visible. Had the narcotics officers who confronted Ayers been wearing uniforms that made them easily recognizable as cops, its possible that he would not have fled and would still be alive today. 3.1.2023 12:01 AM, 2022 Reason Foundation | The decision to raid the Paz home, according to Ankeny, was made after narcotics officers found some bills and Department of Motor Vehicle records containing the familys address among the possessions of a drug suspect named Marcos Beltrn. The police claimed they announced themselves, but it isn't difficult to see how Ayersor anyone elsemight have been confused in the commotion. Les rcepteurs DAB+ : postes, tuners et autoradios Les oprateurs de radio, de mux et de diffusion. All rights reserved. The grand jury heard testimony from several members of the Mountain Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team and had the chance to question the witnesses, including Harrison. The police were trailing Barrett at the time. The GBI was called in. LOGAN A 29-year-old Ogden man has been arrested for allegedly shooting at a group of teenagers in Providence Canyon. One such victim was 22-year-old Pedro Oregon Navarro. One of the most disturbing examples of "collateral damage" in the war on drugs was that of the Rev. Hours before Ayers was killed, police say Johanna Barrett sold undercover officer Chance Oxner $50 worth of crack cocaine. According to Ayerss lawsuit, the woman was about to be evicted from the motel at which she was staying. WebJonathan Ayers We found 100+ records for Jonathan Ayers in MD, WV and 32 other states. Several people working at the hospital told GBI investigators that Ayers told them he didn't know who shot him. By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism. No matter what the misconduct is, the police are always exonerated., ACLU members were critical of the way the raid was handled and asserted that a no-knock raid was totally uncalled for; Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado ACLU, said, If the government officials who authorized the warrant had followed the law, Ismael Mena would be alive today.. Another then opened fire, Family members said he asked who shot him and said he had done nothing wrong. They were in plain clothes. Police said they later observed a white male in a red Honda Civic give the woman money. Drug raids are often conducted based on information from informants (many of them drug users and/or low-level drug dealers), but all too often, the information is unreliable and costs innocent victims their lives. WebAyers, attempting to leave the scene, was shot by Harrison. Smith and Junnier both pled guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter; Smith also pled guilty to perjury and admitted he planted the marijuana in Johnstons house. Smith, Junnier and Tesler faced a variety of charges from both the federal government and the state of Georgia. At the heart of this outrage, though, once again, is our increasingly demented, hysterical, all-too-literal drug war. Though I know they can't all be good. Harrison and Oxner told investigators they saw a woman, Kayla Barrett, whom they planned to arrest later that day on drug charges get into Ayers' car and they saw him give her money. The task force followed Ayers to a convenience store, where he went in to get money from an ATM. Abigail Ayers' civil suit also alleges prior disciplinary problems with both officers Oxner and Harrison, including alleged drug use. 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