Philip Smith has the story of what appears to be not only a real tragedy, but an outrage.
Cops Kill Father-to-Be in Botched Marijuana Raid
A 21-year-old father-to-be was killed last Friday night by a Las Vegas Police Department narcotics officer serving a search warrant for marijuana. Trevon Cole was shot once in the bathroom of his apartment after he made what police described as “a furtive movement.”
Police have said Cole was not armed. Police said Monday they recovered an unspecified amount of marijuana and a set of digital scales. A person identifying herself as Cole’s fiancée, Sequoia Pearce, in the comments section in the article linked to above said no drugs were found. […]
Pearce herself told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Monday that police forced her to kneel at gunpoint in the bedroom and that she could see Cole in the bathroom from the reflection of a mirror. According to Cole, police ordered Cole to get on the ground, he raised his hands and said “Alright, alright,” and a shot rang out.
Pearce was 8 1/2 months pregnant. The two planned on getting married soon.
As Mike Meno at MPP says:
The message people need to take from this stomach-turning incident is the one MPP broadcasts over and over again: Marijuana does not kill people, but prohibition does. If marijuana were sold in a legal and regulated market, tragedies like this would cease to exist and police could better spend their time dealing with crimes more serious than the possession of a substance safer than alcohol.
Of course, stories like this really can bring the trolls out in the news reports. Here’s a sampling:
Of course the “other person” in the apartment was the shack-up honey ready to pop out another out-of-wedlock child for taxpayers to support.
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Who cares? If he got served with a narco search warrant, he was probably a dirtbag anyway. Good job Metro. Wiped another worthless dirtbag off the planet.
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If your cousin was anything like you the baby is better off without his father. Your cousin had a baby on the way??? Why wasn’t he married to the mother? A respectable young man would have done so.
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Well done metro, thank you for saving us money.
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News Flash — DRUGS is a choice, being a bad person is a CHOICE, getting pregnant and having baby and with allegations of drugs being involved, go figure. METRO did their job and did it well. Thank you Metro, another drain on society removed, taxpayers realized instant savings, and now maybe the baby will a chance in life and become a productive member of society.
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If you’re NOT a thug, just stick your hands up or lie sprawled on the floor so you’re obviously no threat to the officers. If you’re a thug, I hope you get shot because most of you glorify the thug life and have no desire to try to change things when given the opportunity. You’re like the cockroaches of society and should be stamped out.
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“Pearce also said she was nine months pregnant, and that now her baby would be fatherless.” And this is different how again? Good shoot officer, thank you for taking out the garbage.
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Don’t sell drugs and you won’t get shot by the cops pretty simple if you ask me. It’s too bad now she may have to get a real job to raise that kid.
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Why is there always such a BS human interest story when one of these tribal marauders gets wacked. I’ll bet they will tell you that he was an honor student and would have gone to Harvard had it not been for his love for volunteer work with puppies. I dont believe a word of it.
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[Regarding the fact that the officer had 3 controversial fatal shootings in his career…] Only 3 garbages taken out in 10 years? He should’ve taken out more.
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SO? Let me guess you smoke pot and think its ok.!Well i know people who also smoke pot!. They steal from there grandma, they cant keep a job because they cant wake up and they fail drug test.
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hey whiners pay attention, if he didn’t shoot the man and later he go and kill someone, guess who youa re going to whine about?
New visitors, please note: The comments above were a selection of some of the worst and most outrageous from the commenters at those newspapers, not from our folks. Fortunately, even most of the other commenters at the newspapers weren’t as ignorant.
Wow those comments..I dont know if I should be angry or sad. Such a lack of respect for human life.
Ya just gotta love the use of the English language and grammar these prohibitionists learned to use. I seriously doubt any of them “get up” to go to work, other than a burger flipper. They sure didn’t get up to go to school. Probably just drunk or hung over.
It’s obvious when someone just misses a key and just as obvious when the writer doesn’t know how to write. Sorry, I pay attention to that sort of stuff.
This is what we have come to,allegedly the most civilized country in the world,filled with hate and prejudice.
We can only hope that the next society that rules this country is a little more civilized.
hey clay, i realy comend u 4 ur thawts of civilization. i know wen peopl c u, they think the total oposit, but u kp bein u n thinkn how u do! my Brothr told me that wen u hav pepal guesin, u hav em! n oh yea i think these idiots need a dictionary 4 meanins of words! we shortn wrds 4 texn, but the meanings r stil da same. IGNORANCE JUST MEANS THAT U DON’T KNO, SO THE NXT TYM SUM1 DECIDES 2 JUMP ON THE ME 2,I HATE OR IM BETR THAN THEM BANDWAGON, THEY SHUD 1ST KNO WAT THAT MEANS!
When society tolerates or applauds the murder of unarmed civilians by the police, you have a serious problem on your hands.
@strayan — fortunately, the comments I’ve shown here were in the minority. Otherwise, I’d be too despondent to post.
After 37 yrs of trying to turn the other cheek and do the right thing i am seriously beginning to think we may be going about this this the wrong way . I understand an eye for an eye makes the world blind but when i hear comments like this i am begining to wonder if we should not be fighting back much more aggresivly ,The cops know they are loosing control of the cannibis law’s and that soon we will win and if history has taught us any thing it is the worst atrocity’s in any war are always committed by the loosers at the end as they go out in a raging childish temper tantrum or a fit of sour grapes. to all thosewho commented and who feel it’s OK to murder a man after he has surrendered all i can say is as much as i pity you for being such pathetic humans i truly hope i will get a chance to tell you face to face one day what a true asshole you are as for the cop who murdered this man over a lil lbit of cannabis you can kiss the dirtiest hairiest part of my unwhiped ass!!
Sick. Wrong. Using para-military SWAT raids to serve search warrants is disgusting. Who the hell decided it was an acceptable risk to send men with automatic weapons to arrest people with a misdemeanor ammount of weed? Or as alleged (and I believe the fiancee), no weed at all? Murder is what this was. ANOTHER murder, committed by police who will never be held responsible. During prohibition of alcohol, the police death toll was almost as high as the civilian toll. Maybe we’re taking the wrong tack.
Another sad trigger happy wanting to kill sombody mentality cop story…put the cops mug on a terrist watch list.
omg, i really want to take arms and go blast coppers blood all over the streets…
it just really upsets me to know im on the same planet with theses dreadful creatures..
Note: I’ve got no tolerance for “kill all the cops” statements. We’ve got some incredible cops on our side. Visit the wonderful folks at http://www.leap.cc
I knew Trevon. He was a very nice young man. I’m so angry. This damn cop should be put in jail for murder. What that story does not tell you, is the gun that was pointed at and used to kill Trey was an assult rifle. Let me also describe his bathroom, a typical one bedroom small bathroom. He is 285 pounds, give or take a few pounds, add two cops in the bathroom, assult rifles, and you get not an inch of room to move around. So with his arms up, he was ordered to get on the floor face first…his “furtive movement” would have been taking a breath. The trigger happy cop didn’t follow any kind of procedure. He just shot and that was that. It kills me to know that Sequoia seen him in a pool of blood 3 days before she was to give birth to thier daughter. Yes, he had scales, I do too. I like to make sure I am getting what I pay for. I have my card in California, it is too expensive here in Las Vegas, BUT, it is so-called-legal. I did look up the law here, it is legal and there are a couple of dispensaries. Now the cops are saying he was involved in some drugs and guns on the military base here. If he got smoke for anyone, he did not take it on base, HE DIDN’T HAVE A CAR! I promise you, on my Grandmothers grave, the involvement with ANY guns is a lie! He did not like guns. He was a linebacker, not a gangbanger! My God they are making him sound horrible and I know that is lies. If that were the case, he would have some money, and furniture instead of the matress on the bedroom floor and a 30 inch tv. that was all they had, they had no other furiture, not even a crib for the baby. So, please tell me, if any of what the cops say were true, why did he not have even the bare essentials in his home?
I first met Trey in Moorpark, Ca at Moorpark college where he was playing football, linebacker. He had moved here to transfer his credits and play for UNLV, Moorpark college had made an error on his transcript last year, that’s the only reason he wasn’t at UNLV.
As for the comments about her pregnancy, having a welfare child. God I truly hate idiots! They themselves must be on welfare or flipping burgers. Sequoia is a hair stylist, and a good one. She has her California license, but Nevada requires more hours, so she had to go back to school. They were a nice young couple trying to make it on their own. They were also each other’s first everything, first love, etc…and he was truly in love with her. It shined in his eyes whenever he talked about her. They had the real thing, and my heart is breaking for her and their daughter.
Thank you for listening, I appreciate everyone’s kind words. He truly was a good person, he did not use or have anything to do with any other drugs. He believed that Marijuana was a gift to us from God an it should not be considered a drug.
What is wrong with these people? Killing anyone for cannabis is wrong…IT A FRAKKING PLANT!!
Well , I hope they are happy. I hope they enjoy paying for this mother to raise her FATHERLESS child.
Pete…Thank you for reporting this. I am praying this cop does actually face charges this time. This is the same cops third shooting, second fatal.
I also agree, this is just one cop. There are millions of really good cops out there. I have several friends that are cops, they know I smoke pot and don’t care…oh yeah, they are in Los Angeles! But, yes, there are good cops everywhere that i’m not afraid to call Hero’s.
There is never an occasion to wish death on anyone. Trevon was my friend, but I don’t want to go shoot every cop I see. ( I just want to yell and scream at them and call them assholes for letting this happen)!
I’m sorry, this just has me so very upset.
Mean while…Some have the US desease, they think the drug war can be won.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100616/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico
To everyone who didn’t know Tre like me personally, for you to call a person you have never met or had a conversation with and felt his presence, shame on you for judging someone who you do not know. Not everyone grew up with a parental censor on there TV or in a neighborhood where you don’t hear gun fire everyday, he was owning up to his priorities and was gonna be a father of a beautiful girl. That child now will not have her father in her life like most of us and for you guys to say he’s a dirt bag with out knowing him at all FUCK YOU! And that’s with all do respect of course. If he was still alive and was in your face these comments wuldnt even of been posted from all you who think he’s a scum because I bet he would run your asses over. All you are cowards and sheltered from what it is really like out here, streets is tough and for some people there is no other way. But whatever say what you want because I know what he was about and he was a real ass person with real person problems. R. I. P Tre, one love
Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us, Michelle.
Adam, keep in mind that I was just reporting the comments that were in the newspaper. None of the regular readers here would ever say such ignorant things.
Oh I c. My apologies Pete. Jus sad to lose such a great guy. Talked to him weeks before he got killed and was supposed to kik it with him. Jus wish it coulda been sooner he was a genuine man and full of laughs. 🙁 so sad
For a different cop story:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/822475–the-drug-sting-that-stung-a-cop
Maybe we’ll get lucky some day and this cop will swallow his own pistol. Just a thought but maybe it should be a little easier to fire bad police in this country. I’ve been keeping tabs on this Baltimore case in which an off-duty cop who had been out drinking shot and killed an unarmed ex-marine because the ex-marine grabbed the off-duty cop’s lady friend’s ass. This cop already had one instance of shooting a man while he was off-duty and drunk. Disgraceful, you would think they would want to root out their own bad apples so they could save what’s left of their profession’s reputation.
I have to agree with many of the posters at Radley Balko’s site (The Agitator) who say there are very few good cops (outside of LEAP). If cops aren’t themselves, brutal bullies or corrupt, they defend the thin blue line and cover up for the brutal bullies and corrupt cops. If they were truly GOOD cops, they would not allow the brutal bullies and corrupt cops to remain in law enforcement, instead they would report them, immediately, and help drum them out of the force, permanently, as soon as any corrupt bully showed his real attitude for the very first time; hopefully before someone, or someone’s dog, ends up dead or brutalized at the hands of the corrupt, brutal cop.
I really really hope those commentors are just tasteless trolls. Otherwise they’d be sad examples of how people can be taught to salute their flag while whiping their arse with their constitution.
Those commenters are just the product of decades of DARE and money going to prison instead of education.
The War on Some Drugs must end now before one more of these avoidable travesties occurs. Stop voting for all drug warriors NOW!!!
Those comments remind me of the good Germans in the 30’s who only followed orders. Wonder if they would feel the same about it if the swat team raided them by mistake.
Thank you for taking the time to fill in the blanks Michelle. This is an outrage and while it’s no comfort in the present moment this cop will pay the price for his ill thought out actions. All cops will if they don’t change their ways such as the good folks at LEAP.
Lovely cop in Seattle too sucker punching the 17 year old girls, and he’s being defended by his police chief.
I would not say the cop involved was overzealous. I would say he was a scared little chicken shit. A loss of life just starting.
Having lived in Chicago for thirty+ years, you would think I would be desensitized to this but it makes me ill.
Why were the the police armed to the teeth? Because they are cowards. The only thing we should hate is hate.
My condolences to Trevors fiancee.
(and to all you people above spreading the hate, I left my real name-LET’S TALK.)
I am sorry. I was calling Trevon, Trevor. I apologize for the mistake.
To the family and friends of Trevon, my heart goes out to you. This was a senseless killing and a terrible waste. i realize most people posting on here are on one side or the other of a crusade and tend to forget that these are real people with real lives. and of course, some of these people are simply trolls with meaningless little lives who really should find a better outlet for their inferiority complex-induced and illiterate diatribes.
to the trigger happy cop and his supporters, take your happy asses to afghanistan or colombia and use your powers for good – maybe you can die a martyr for your cause.
Look, nobody said (least of all me) ‘kill all the cops’, Pete. By another tack I meant publicizing the MANY senseless tragedies and the insane cost involved in allowing law enforcement to address what is essentially a public health issue. I left my statement open, so I suppose alot of people may have read it that way. It was left that way so maybe people would look beyond their first response, and really think about new strategies. Sorry if I left anyone with another impression.
There is no better proof of the gentle nature of the majority of marijuana smokers that these scum have not been hunted down and exterminated. Eventually the courts may fail enough that there is no choice but to do that, but those angered by these stories continue to prove themselves morally superior to these murderers in uniform by still trying to work through the system.
I’m about to give up on the courts, which have upheld “qualified immunity” and “drug free zones” despite them being a clear violation of the equal protection clause. Apparently most of the law schools judges attended are about on par with Cracker-Jack boxes when it comes to the credibility of the degrees they issue.
Sadly, I can’t hit the broadside of a barn with a shotgun at close range, so I’ll leave it to others. Rest assured, though, that if I’m on a jury I will take my duty seriously and ignore the illegal instructions of the judge.
Thank you Adam, Trey was a good friend. He was one of the kindest souls out there. He will never be forgotten. I just pray that his killer will face justice.
Pete, how do you do this? Just skimming those comments made my throat clench up.
Some days I don’t know. I don’t think the drug-war lords will ever stop their terror campaign. Too many precincts get a large chunk of their operating budgets and even gear because of the drug war. Too many people involved in the legal and political systems have their salaries and perks paid by the drug war. Too many people have no humanity or compassion and think their stone carved ‘morals’ trump morality. It’s like chopping away at Mt. Everest with an icepick.
darkcycle, I think the comment about no tolerance for ‘killing cops’ comments was more directed to Tyler.
You’re right, many different tactics are required because there are many different fronts. In fact the idea to use police death statistics as a tool against the drug war would be an interesting tact as well. I think leap had a release on it?
Many of the regular police deaths -are- senseless and wasteful. Men and women who could be protecting their communities, making them safer, used as pawns in a chess game they have no real say in. There is carnage all around because of this “war.” So many broken families and broken lives due to irrational prohibition.
I PLAYED FOOTBALL WITH TREVON COLE AT SANTA MONICA COLLEGE AND LET ME TELL YOU, ME AND TRE HUNG OUT AT SCHOOL AND WERE THERE FROM 8AM-8PM MONDAY-SATURDAY, SO WHERE DO SELLING WEED COME IN AT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE MIGHTY HARD TO FIND ANYTHING TO DO BESIDES FOOTBALL AND SCHOOL. SO FOR ALL YOU IGNORANT FUCKS, YOU NEED TO REALIZE THAT A MAN LIFE WAS TAKING UNJUSTLY, AND NOW HIS DAUGHTER HAS LOST A VERY ESSENTIAL PART OF HER LIFE, AND HIS FIANCE LOST HER BETTER HALF. R.I.P TRE, YOU WILL BE MISSED BRO…
this was one of my friend we knew each other form Inglewood ca.. and all i have to say is fuk LVPD…the killed my uncle now my friend…LVPD is wrong and i hope his family seek justice…LVPD just shoot on anyboby for no reason they’re cowards..they suppose to serve and protect us by all they do is SERVE us….rip my “Cuzzin Pete” you WILL be MISSED
My name is Laura and I live in Las Vegas. I just heard about this murder. Metro is out of control.
I want to get all the facts and put together a coalition of activists and organizations in Vegas to demand justice for Trevon.
Please email me lauraisademocrat@gmail.com
Pete,
What you don’t know is that most of those hate-filled and ignorant comments you published regarding Tre’s death are from law enforcement officers here in Las Vegas. Yes, the very ones who are supposed to be protecting Las Vegans. They like to troll the police shooting stories in our two online local newspapers to compliment each other’s good shooting skills. They are easy to spot: They are the ones spewing racial hatred and profound ignorance.
You might also like to inform your readers that a few days after Tre’s death, Metro officers raided his fiancee’s new apartment on so-called “reports of gunfire”. They were looking for guns and drugs–anything which could be used in their use-of-force hearing and any future lawsuits. There was no gunfire in the area. Just Tre’s fiancee with her new baby daughter being victimized again by an out-of-control and desperate police gang.
Tre’s use-of-force hearing has been set for August 20th. Please keep your readers informed of the outcome…although I guarantee that this murderous officer will be found justified in killing Tre–with an AR-15 rifle, no less. Only once in 34 years has a Las Vegas officer been found not justified or not excusable. “Furtive movement” and “I was in fear of my life” has been their defense strategies ad nauseum.
This officer (Brian Yant) has shot three black men, two of them fatally, so far in his ten-year career. In the previous fatal shooting, Officer Yant testilied that the suspect dropped his weapon as he was being shot–evidence showed that the suspect’s weapon was found 35 feet away from his body. This was never brought up during the use-of-force hearing and Officer Yant was found justified.
Pray for Las Vegans in-the-know. We are under siege.
It is amazing to me the police in this country have LESS restrictive Rules of Engagment (ROE) than the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. is suppose to be implementing democracy in the middle east. Remember, Sadam Husan was a tyrant and killed alot of people for no reason. Yet, it seems we are becoming a police state here at home. The police operate with impunity. The standard line from the police is “I was in fear for my life” or “he made a furtive move”. That will be the end of it!
There have been some posts on this board about how wonderful Trevon Cole was, well maybe he was I don’t know. But he sold illegal drugs and got caught doing it, he put himself in a situation for it to happen and he also put his fiance and unborn child in a position to be hurt as well. Trevon was unarmed and he was shot it’s too bad, but so is the trauma that will live with the officer. I happen to know the officer and watched him grow from teen to adult he is not the trigger happy jack booted thug that so many of you have tried to portray him as, quite the opposite. All of his life he has placed others above himself, first in the service of his Country and then to the people of Las Vegas. He has had to see the violence that all men do to each other and his safety has been in jeopardy on countless occasions, but no one will make references to the good things that he has done to help the community. People have talked about this to death the bottom line is that Trevon made the choice to sell drugs and this happens. And before someone starts to preach about how he may have been a troubled inner city youth who has never had a chance, thats a bunch of crap I came from inner city Detroit with a mother who did drugs I had things stolen from me and everything else that goes with living in a rough city, but I made choices that bettered myself and others and have become successful in life because of it. Do not judge either of these men its not your place to. People make far to many excuses for the bad things and never do anything to try and bring themselves out of it. It is all about the choices one makes in life bad choices will never return good things.
Evidently expdnarc, it’s a few things about Ofc Yant that you were in dark on. This article describes him a little different and makes me question if you really know him at all. I’m sure for many, it will make them question their actions around Ofc Yant if they ever encounter him.
EXPDNARC—Here’s the link.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/officer-under-suspicion-101541563.html
Boohoo, the poor officer who shot an unarmed man dead for a spot of weed will have psychological trauma. Well guess what? Trevon Cole’s trauma was so bad he died. What’s even more important is that Trevon Cole is the THIRD person that Yant has shot, and the second who’s been killed by Yant. This guy is a professional at getting his ass off the line, and I guarantee you that Trevon Cole is just another “dead nigger” to Yant.
Every shooting or death instigated by the police should be a investigated by at least one, preferably more, private investigations, and the reports published publicly. The whole “cops investigating cops” leads to – big shocker here – free cops 99.9% of the time, even if they were in the wrong. This invariably leads to extreme abuses of power because hey, my buddies will just let me go.
I so far haven’t even seen any evidence that Cole was actually drug dealer as opposed to a simple user; he was confused with a different Trevon Cole who was in fact a drug dealer. The police didn’t bother checking that sort of thing out though, and because of it, Cole is dead. Yant called it all a “mistake” in court. You want to know what happens to me when I make a mistake that leads to death? I go to fucking prison.
Using SWAT teams for drug busts is so over the top and ridiculous I just don’t understand it. We treat foreign combatants better than that; we surround their house and ask ’em to come out nicely. If drug flushing is suspected, test the water in the toilet, it’s not that hard.
Defending this cops clearly overzealous actions makes me sick. A man was killed, he’s dead, he’s not ever coming back, and all you can say is “guys what about the cop”? Fuck. That.