Lindy: "No Knock Raid" - a song about the drug war's deadliest tactic.

Note: This video contains graphic images of violence and mature language. Viewer discretion is advised.

"No Knock Raid," written and performed by Toronto-based musician Lindy, is a searing indictment of one of the most aggressive, ubiquitous, and mistaken tactics in the War on Drugs.

Consider only the most recent raid to cause a national outrage: On May 5, 2011, 26-year-old Jose Guerena, who survived two tours in the Iraq War, was shot and killed during a raid on his house by a Pima County, Arizona SWAT team that fired dozens of bullets through his front door. Guerena, married and a father of two, had just finished a 12-hour shift at a local mine. Law enforcement sources claim he was involved in narco-trafficking but have yet to produce any evidence supporting that claim. Officers involved in the death have been cleared of wrongdoing.

Guerena's death is not an isolated incident. As USA Today reports, an astonishing 70,000 to 80,000 militarized police raids take place on a annual basis in America, many of them on mistaken suspects and many of them ending with injury or death for police and citizens alike.

As Reason Contributing Editor Radley Balko and others have documented, the militarization of standard police practice is a direct consequence of the modern-day War on Drugs, started 40 years ago by President Richard Nixon - and perpetuated by every administration since. (For a comprehensive report on the failure of the drug war to achieve any of its stated goals, read "Ending the Drug War: A Dream Deferred," by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.)

For supporting links to all stats cited above, longer clips of raid footage, and more, go to http://reason.tv/video/show/swat-no-k...

"No Knock Raid" written and performed by Lindy.

Produced and directed by Hawk Jensen.

Performance footage directed by Victor Tavares and Zachary Koski

About 4.50 minutes.

Go to http://reason.tv for downloadable versions of the video and mp3 and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

• Category

  News & Politics

[Coltaculuss]

Shooting people because they do something you don't like is hardly civilised.

[Karenronwood]

People need to ask themselves a tough question: When is it ok to shoot a cop?

The answer is the same as the answer to: When is it ok to shoot a person?

-It doesn't matter if they have a badge. If someone is a direct threat to your life. Kill them.

Next time you hear about a cop killer on the news. Stop, and think if that person wasn't simply acting in self defense. So much human suffering could have been prevented over the last 10,000 years if more people asked themselves this question.

[Troy Kent]

Soooo, does everyone now realize we live in a police state?

[BradSoDank]

Who gives a shit a bout opinions?...

Did no-one else see the poor dog's being shot? :c

[BradSoDank]

I don't give a fuck about the shit storm of opinions here...what about the poor puppy's :c

[Mark Daniels]

If you "don't give a %*&#" the why are you still here? You made your point, so why continue arguing? Have you nothing better to do with your time?

[7saif7]

Why SHOULD we control ourselves. it is our RIGHT. our FREEDOM to change our consciousness in any way we wish. if you are honestly suggesting we sit back and do nothing you are insane. Most of us do try and get the law changed and many of us dont have the money to move elsewhere. Many people including me rely on cannabis as medicine otherwise we would be on pharmaceuticals that kill millions. If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.

- Thomas Jefferson

[rkoharchik]

I wish they'd use this in one of the last episodes of Breaking Bad.

[TheQueenCityPsycho]

So what if they broke the law? The whole fight for Civil Rights was nothing but breaking the law. Today people are fighting for the right to put what they want into their own body, yes they break the law, but if the law is immoral, then excuse my language, but FUCK the law

[warrior9504]

but who is the wolf?

[nichovinwulffin]

The sheep hate the sheep dog. Until the wolves come then they hide behind the lone sheepdog. Thank you cops for all you do. It's a dangerous job that very few have the balls to do.

[Chris Anslinger]

Apologist cops coming on here justifying their murder is sick perverted crap. Do us all a favor; just die already.