here's another one of those breaking news situations an unarmed local kid was just
shot in his bed by police who busted in his house with a SWAT team this would be national
news but we're talking about the poorest area of West Virginia on March 10th the
West Virginia State Police Special Response Team executed a search warrant in McDowell
County West Virginia and shot 21-year-old Darius Lester multiple times yesterday I
went and met Darius and his family and examined the scene of the shooting the truth is far from
what the state police gave to the news media let me tell you what really appears to have
happened by the way this is the same state police currently all over the news for being exposed as
completely untrustworthy at the highest levels as I just detailed in a recent video foreign
here's the information that was given to the news media by the state police one man was injured
Friday during an officer-involved shooting while Troopers with the West Virginia State Police were
serving a search warrant at about 5 45 AM members of the West Virginia State Police SRT acting in
cooperation with the FBI served the search warrant at the residence of Jeremy Lester upon entry
members were confronted by Darius Lester 22 of Big Sandy who was armed and attempted to attack the
members with a hammer members engaged the suspect and shots were fired stopping the threat first
aid was administered on scene until EMS arrived Darius Lester was transported to Raleigh General
Hospital for his injuries and here's what really happened Darius had been asleep on the couch in
the home's living room where he liked to sleep Darius was unarmed at the time that he was shot
and was still on his bed as indicated by the pool of blood on and underneath the couch where he was
sleeping which I looked at yesterday Darius had no criminal record he was not under arrest he
was not suspected of having committed any crime he was merely sleeping on the couch in a house
where police were executing a search warrant completely unrelated to him Darius works as a
coal truck driver he works the night shift so he had just gotten off work at around 4am he then
went to sleep shortly after getting home then sometime just after 5 a.m the State Police SWAT
team showed up and inside the house everybody was asleep including Darius I've already examined the
actual search warrant that formed the basis of the raid it did not provide for a no-knock entry it
also contained no allegations that anyone inside the home was armed or dangerous in fact from my
understanding nobody who lived inside the home even had a criminal record at all law enforcement
was there to execute a search warrant based on the illegal possession of explicit photographs
allegedly downloaded by darius's Uncle there were no allegations alleged in the warrant application
that executing this particular search warrant posed any threat of danger to law enforcement so
why call out the state police's SWAT team the SRT e the allegations against the uncle solely pertain
to downloading illegal photographs there was nothing in there about violence or physical danger
to police officers who would be executing a search warrant it's my understanding that the uncle
had no prior criminal history nor were there any allegations at all against Darius the Press really
said that they knocked on the door twice and there was no answer of course there was no answer
you got there at 5 00 am on purpose so that there would not be an answer the occupants of the house
were sleeping and whatever knocking they did did not awaken anyone inside it was dark both outside
and inside the house they came in with flashlights the press release also said that quote upon entry
they encountered Darius Who Had A Hammer well the photographs I took yesterday show where Darius was
when they encountered him asleep on the couch in the living room which is quite a ways away from
where they actually made entry through the front door they would have made entry and then walked
through the house and then rounded the corner into the living room before ever encountering Darius
and waking him up up out of his well-deserved sleep after working a night shift hauling driving
coal trucks he would have woken up startled with flashlights in his eyes probably very confused and
rightly so the photographs of the blood-stained show where the Violence by the police occurred
right on his bed slash couch where Darius had been sleeping although he did have a bedroom
in the house he liked to crash where he felt comfortable on this particular couch I'm happy
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again thanks to Morgan Morgan for sponsoring this video so why would Darius attack a SWAT team with
a hammer that's absurd he wasn't under arrest he hadn't done anything wrong why would Darius attack
a SWAT team with a hammer it's just absurd perhaps it's more likely that once they realize that they
shot an unarmed man who wasn't even the target of their investigation they grabbed a nearby hammer
and came up with a cover story for why they shot him why would a SWAT team in full body armor be in
fear for their lives of a guy who had no criminal record no criminal charges allegedly holding a
hammer especially one in his own bed are they that afraid I mean really a hammer I've dealt with the
West Virginia State Police SRT team before I had a case in federal court in the Northern District
of West Virginia up in Doddridge County where the state police SRT busted in on an elderly man my
client who likewise had done nothing wrong they were looking for a third-party fugitive who used
to work for him and they literally just scared this guy to death while they searched the house
they put him in handcuffs and they made him stand in the kitchen this old man in poor health began
having trouble breathing he asked to be released from his handcuffs the tough guy state trooper
SWAT team dude wearing full body armor and holding a machine gun literally a machine gun as it was a
full auto select fire weapon he refused because as he explained to me when I took his deposition
well there were officer safety concerns because they were in a kitchen and you know know there
are sharp knives around when you're in a kitchen and I'm not even joking this tough guy Trooper
let this man just die in handcuffs unable to breathe because he was afraid this completely
innocent guy who wasn't charged with anything they're just searching his house he could have
theoretically gone and gotten a kitchen knife and come after this full body armored state
trooper with a machine gun they just let the guy collapse on the floor basically and they ended up
taking crime scene photos right there because I mean they were already there in that case ended
with a settlement that part of that settlement was that the West Virginia State Police agreed
to retrain the entire agency every state trooper about the Constitutional requirement to knock an
announce prior to busting in someone's house on a search warrant execution I thought we got this
straightened out years ago in that case but here this seems awfully similar what's the point of
having a SWAT team if you don't get to use it from time to time am I right in my prior case
there were I believe 17 different SWAT guys at the scene I wonder how many they had here that
were so afraid of an innocent guy with a hammer and even if he did have a hammer perhaps if he
didn't bust into his house in the darkness and startle him out of a deep sleep that was well
deserved after a long work night he wouldn't have grabbed a hammer if he did though I highly doubt
he ever did the evidence at the scene points to the gunshots occurring while Darius was still in
his bed what really happened could it have been an accident a mistake maybe they thought he was
the uncle and nobody would care if they shot him given the allegations against him one thing's for
sure had there been body cam we wouldn't have to speculate there's no doubt that the case
law would justify the police shooting someone who was coming at them with a hammer there have
been numerous similar cases with those facts the question is is did that even happen here because
it doesn't make sense as discussed in some of the recent State Police Scandal videos one of
the allegations against the top brass of the State Police is that they make the lower tier guys the
lower tier state troopers wear and use body cams while the important higher up people don't have to
all the street level state troopers now have to use body cams why would the state police's SWAT
team their SRT not be given body cams that would make it really easy does the footage show a guy
running at them with a hammer and refusing to drop it or does it not show that if the situation is so
important and dangerous that they need to use the SWAT team why does it not justify the use of body
cams I'll go ahead and speculate that they chose not to use them just in case they end up shooting
somebody like this then they can just grab a nearby object and say that the guy was holding
it and he refused to drop it the South Park he's coming right at us defense isn't it beautiful
oh my God it's coming right for us then when it gets to court they walk in wearing their uniforms
and their fancy hats and they hope that the jurors will take their word over the victim's word that
sort of gray area credibility issue should be completely unnecessary this should have been
caught on video maybe it was but the preliminary information I have suggests that there was no body
cam footage this is yet just another example of a completely unnecessary shooting of an innocent
this is yet another example of a completely unnecessary shooting of an innocent unarmed
citizen by our government for those of you with The Thin Blue Line stickers and all the
pro-constitution stickers at the same time this is your government this is who they will send to
come to your house to confiscate your guns when the time comes this is how they'll treat you as
well NRA sticker on your truck you better believe they'll show up at your house at 5 8 5 a.m also
at a time where they think that you're asleep they'll be trigger happy too since they'll all
have been briefed on what a gun nut that you are this is where we are in this country this
is the road that we're headed down then after your government shoots you what do they do next
well if you survive guess what they charge you with a crime to cover up their exposure to a
civil lawsuit and that's exactly what they've done to Darius here they've charged him with a
felony for allegedly attempting to harm this poor vulnerable SWAT team with a ball peen hammer and
he was so successful at it that no officers were injured into the contrary the perpetrator was shot
multiple times including two rounds to the chest why did they do this because any subsequent civil
rights lawsuit is going to be bound by any factual findings contained in the underlying criminal case
if they convict Darius of attempting to hit a police officer with a hammer in the state
criminal case that fact will have to be taken as true by the federal court in a subsequent
civil lawsuit so it would Tire hands yes that's right citizens of McDowell County West Virginia
your local criminal justice system is running defense for the State Police so they don't lose
a civil lawsuit and have to compensate a poor innocent person that they shot hopefully the
elected prosecutor of that County does the right thing and drops the charges also don't worry the
West Virginia State Police is investigating themselves and this is the same agency again
that is currently all over the news for literally refusing to properly investigate themselves as of
last night it was revealed that the governor has ordered the seizure of the cell phones and
electronic data of almost all the top leadership at the State Police crazy crazy stuff again
this is a poor area of West Virginia that has been for years neglected by politicians corruption has
been rampant in this area since it was probably first named that's why it's important to bring
attention to what's happening in the watch very carefully so if you're interested in watching
as well and following along in this case and others please make sure that you subscribe let
me know in the comments your reaction to what happened here you can learn more at the blog
at thecivilrightslawyer.com post it in the link please make sure to also subscribe there and at
my other social media sites remember freedom is scary deal with it I'll see you next time
thank you