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shinyturquoise said:
wake up america, marijuana is a huge part of our culture and its here to stay, no matter how many testosterone-conditioned, underpaid, undereducated cops you arm with glocks...

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shinyturquoise said:
wake up america, marijuana is a huge part of our culture and its here to stay, no matter how many testosterone-conditioned, underpaid, undereducated cops you arm with glocks...

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Knewnews said:
i am 100% sure that it is a wet county. poor guy, hopefully he can help move public opinion... people generally don't like "nice" kids being shot over herb.

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derx said:
There is a protest happening on campus RIGHT now.
Godspeed recovery to derek copp.

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Coaster said:

another 1 bites the dust

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rodfarva said:
Yeah, that area of michigan is different. Its bible belt esque.. there are no 24 hour stores or restaurants and i believe that school is in a dry county. There is a 4 to 1 girl/guy ratio at grand valley so its not all bad.
Talk about overbearing police incompetence. I hope the kid gets off clean and with a mountain of $$

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veggie said:
Kudos to mlive.com for continuing to follow the story and updates ...

'Few tablespoons' of pot found in Derek Copp's off-campus apartment, lawyer says
March 17, 2009 - mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS -- Police found only "tablespoons" of marijuana in Grand Valley State University student Derek Copp's off-campus apartment the night he was shot by police during a drug raid, his lawyer said this afternoon.

"To my knowledge, the raid resulted in the seizure of a few tablespoonfuls of marijuana, and nothing more," attorney Fred Dilley said in a statement.

He said his concern is the manner of the search carried about by the West Michigan Enforcement Team, or WEMET, on Wednesday night. Copp was shot in the chest, and is recovering after suffered injuries to his ribs, lung and liver.

Dilley is also concerned about "the apparent lack of justification whatsoever for the use of force much less deadly force in executing a search warrant. The campus and Allendale communities are asking why? Why burst into a college student's apartment with a gun drawn for a few tablespoonfuls of pot."

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From one of the links Veggie posted the media interview with the police said that it was a "narcotics" investigation that lead to the search warrant.

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GO ARREST crack dealers, you fucking pieces of shit.

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Alan Rockefeller said:

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GO ARREST crack dealers, you fucking pieces of shit.

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Why?  What harm are crack dealers doing?

Go arrest cigarette dealers!

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jeverden said:

GVSU student shot during raid out of hospital
GRAND RAPIDS - A Grand Valley State University student shot during a police drug raid at his off-campus apartment in Allendale is out of a Grand Rapids hospital.

George Copp, the father of 20-year student Derek Copp, tells The Grand Rapids Press today his son has been released from Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.

Family attorney Fred Dilley tells WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids that Derek Copp is resting at the family's home in Spring Arbor, near Jackson.

Copp was unarmed when a bullet penetrated his chest, lungs and liver in the March 11 raid.

Michigan State Police are investigating. They say an Ottawa County sheriff's deputy shot him during the execution of a search warrant.

The shooting has spurred student protests.

Source

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begreen0 said:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/03/friends_of_grand_valley_studen.html

ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP -- Friends of Derek Copp cannot comprehend how he
would pose a threat during a police raid of his Campus View apartment
late Wednesday, or why a deputy shot and wounded an unarmed Copp.

"Nobody wants to think those in the criminal justice system are shooting
unarmed college students," said Laura Quist, a 19-year-old Grand Valley
State University sophomore who lives in an opposite hallway from Copp, 20.

Friends described Copp as an easygoing, guitar-playing young man.

Students today continue to question what happened after five officers
with the West Michigan Enforcement Team, a regional drug unit, executed
a drug-related search warrant on Copp's apartment. Copp, a film and
video major, was shot in the upper right chest area with a Glock handgun
after police came through a back glass slider door.

Copp was listed in serious condition at Spectrum Health Butterworth
Hospital.

Police on Thursday said there was no confrontation and did not think
Copp was trying to flee, but did not divulge details about what led to
the shooting.

A student neighbor of Copp, Joe Putra, said he could sometimes smell
marijuana odors in the hallway and often witnessed people coming and
going from Copp's apartment. But he was surprised by the raid.

"This must have been something more serious than just some weed," Putra
said. "He wasn't a real shady kid. It wasn't like he was trying to hide
anything."

The unidentified deputy who fired the shot, a 12-year Ottawa County
sheriff's veteran with a good record, is on paid leave pending a
Michigan State Police investigation. He was assigned to WEMET two years
ago.

State police Lt. Cam Henke would not disclose whether police found drugs
in Copp's apartment or what kind of drug they were seeking. The search
warrant was for an "ongoing narcotics investigation."

He said drug raids at GVSU happen occasionally.

David Bearss, a friend of Copp, questions why police knocked on his rear
sliding door instead of going to the front door. Apartments at the
complex are accessible 24 hours a day.

He calls Copp one of the happiest, friendliest guys he knows and
suggested police did not properly identify themselves.

"If they said it was the police, Derek wouldn't have done anything
different and I can't imagine he did anything to justify getting shot,"
Bearss said. "These guys have all this weapons training to control their
guns and it doesn't seem like any of it was used here."

Authorities would not say whether anyone else was in the apartment.
Bearss knew nothing of Copp being involved with drugs. Another friend of
Copp, Dan Fischer, accused police of overreacting.

"Maybe he stood up too fast, I don't know. But I don't think they should
be shooting first and asking questions later," he said.

Fischer was not sure of any drug use.

"If anything, he had some weed in there. I'm pretty sure he wasn't
growing it," he said.

The owner of Campus View Apartments, Brian Gardner, called the shooting
an isolated incident and said staff makes a point of knowing the
tenants. The 372-unit complex, just off campus, is home to the
university's more studious students and tenants are required to sign a
"no party" agreement, he said.

Gardner said he would have investigated Copp's unit himself, and
probably evicted him, if other tenants had notified him of their drug
suspicions. Still, he described the tenants of the raided apartment as
"nice kids."

"It just seems like there could have been a less tragic outcome," he said.

Copp, a Spring Arbor native, has been at GVSU since 2007, the same year
he graduated from Jackson Community College, according to his Facebook
page.

He identifies himself as "a left-wing hippie peace-keeping liberal."
Copp plays the guitar and often volunteers at music festivals to see
favorite bands for free, his social networking page states.

Music and film are prime influences in his life, listing jambands Phish,
Grateful Dead and Umphrey's McGee as his favorites.

Copp expects to graduate from Grand Valley in 2011. He has held several
jobs including selling college gear at football games and making pizzas
at Peppino's Ristorante Pizzeria and Sports Bar.

Peppino's co-owner Carlo Dileonardo described Copp as a good kid and
said the shooting upset workers at the Allendale eatery.

"Everyone's surprised because we've never seen him out of line or
anything other than being a hard worker," Dileonardo said. "It's shocking.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@grpress.com

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ToiletDuk said:
He was on drugs while getting shot so that's okay.

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