Long Island Man Arrested For Defending Home With AK-47

[mike r]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/07/long-island-man-arrested-for-defending-home-with-ak-47/

Long Island Man Arrested For Defending Home With AK-47
Says Many Gang Members Were Coming After His Family
September 7, 2010

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBS 2) — He was arrested for protecting his property and family. But it’s how the Long Island man did it that police say crossed the line. He got an AK-47 assault rifle, pulled the trigger and he ended up in jail, reports CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman.

George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious “MS-13.” He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home. “I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, ‘Can you please leave?’ Grier said.

Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house. “He starts threatening my family, my life. ‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’ So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,” Grier said. Grier was later arrested. John Lewis is Grier’s attorney.

“What he’s initially charged with – A D felony reckless endangerment — requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone’s going to die. Shooting into a lawn doesn’t create a risk of anybody dying,” Lewis said. Grier said he knew Nassau County Police employ the hi-tech “ShotSpotter” technology in his area and that the shooting would bring police in minutes. Cops told Guzman he was very cooperative. Grier also said he was afraid the gang outside his house was the dreaded MS-13. And Nassau County Police Lt. Andrew Mulraine, head of the gang unit, said MS-13 has 2,000 members in the county...

[MichaelHarris]

1. wrong forum

[me b zola]

2. The article was heavy with innuendo, but light on facts

It reads to me like this guy saw a group of dark skinned people close to his driveway and from that he deducted that they are members of some gang. The article says nothing about whether or not these people had gang affiliations or whether or not they were in any way doing anything wrong. The article suggests that the group of people began yelling at him only after he brandished a weapon.

Makes me wonder if the local news hadn't been hyping gang related stories, fueled by election season and those always willing to use fear to work up republican votes.

[MichaelHarris]

5. yup

I agree

[LostinVA]

12. Yup, and why did he go outside if he had called the cops?

Stay inside, and if they try to invade before the cops get there, then you can shoot.

:wtf:

[Matariki]

16. Does it matter to your narrative that the guy is also 'dark skinned'?

[me b zola]

18. I don't have a narrative on this story

Everyone is left to question what the facts are to this story because they were absent from the article. Again, the article states that the homeowner thought that the group of people were gang members, but does not go on to say if there is any validity to that statement, or even why the homeowner had that impression. The article left me with a lot of questions and gave me very few facts.

[Hugabear]

3. "...the dreaded MS-13" - someone's been watching too much "Gangland"

You spend too much time watching that show, you'll think that just about every street in America is crawling with gang members.

[old mark]

6. Actually, MS-13 is very big in the north eastern US - there are members here

in Pennsylvania, in Jersey and all over the NYC area. They are responsible for a lot of killings and they are not a media myth at all.

FWIW, we also have Latino Kings and several others in this area.

Many families have been gang members for generations.

mark

[Regret My New Name]

10. I dunno, that's a dangerous bunch...

my brother had a few problems with them. Albeit, he's an idiot and managed to bring it upon himself because of his own actions and involvements in such silliness.

I lived on long island for a while, and never had any issues with gang bangers... Of course, I didn't take part in activities that would put me in the middle of it, nor did I live in an area that was known for gang activity.

I think we'd need more information before we assume it was just some racist dude who doesn't like dark people. It could very well be that they were there for some reason (perhaps he had some form of involvement with them), and he's just not talking about it. It might also be he just lives in an area that has a problem with the gang... Then again, you might be right. Kinda hard to say based on what we read, aye?

[Renew Deal]

19. This neighborhood probably is.

It's not the safest place on Long Island.

[Swamp Rat]

4. Was it this guy?

[walldude]

15. LOL.. at least he's recycling...

[Redstone]

17. But he misplaces apostrophes!

Redstone

[annabanana]

7. I will wait for further information before

I decide if this guys concerns were unreasonable. There have been home invasions here on LI, and MS-13 is a real presence in some neighborhoods.

Now, actually firing an AK47. . that's another story.

[benEzra]

13. The issue is really the warning shots.

Contrary to TV myth, warning shots can get you into trouble. I'm sure he fired the warning shots hoping to defuse things, but in hindsight it would have been safer from a legal (and tactical) standpoint to take a defensive position inside the home and wait for police to show up.

FWIW the rifle was a civilian non-automatic AK lookalike, not a real Title 2 AK-47, and probably wouldn't have been considered an "assault weapon" under the 1994-2004 Feinstein non-ban.

[aikoaiko]

8. That's the thing about producing a weapon -- it can escalate things

As others have said there are not enough facts to judge for sure, but generally if "the gang's" actions didn't justify lethal force then firing shots in the ground is not justified.

It probably would have been better for him to stay in the house with the AK (probably a semiauto civilian version), wait for the police that he called, and not use the firearm until "the gang" committed a felony or approach the gang outside with a concealed weapon.

If it really was a gang intimidating him or threatening to invade his home, he was in a dangerous situation. And while he was being processes in jail, his family may have been very vulnerable. If it was a gang, I don't envy the situation he was in or is in now.

[baldguy]

9. Misleading headline - he wasn't charged for having the weapon.

He had a license. The weapon was registered.

[Evasporque]

11. not so much the AK as it was the claymores.....nt

[Redstone]

14. So why did he think this gang wanted to invade his home? Was it random, or did he

do something, or was he involved in something, that would piss them off? What's his connection with them?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Redstone