The shocking video referenced below can be found in this article: “Press Covers for North Carolina Sheriff’s ‘Firing Squad’.”
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Please share the hell out of this!!! We are alive and healing, thank God!!” Jason Kloepfer posted on his Facebook page on January 18th, 2023. The “this” in question was a video on December’s joint Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department/Cherokee County Indian Police SWAT raid on his trailer, reported last month on AmmoLand News, when cops opened fire on Kloepfer and his wife, followed by gruesome photos of the damage their hail of bullets did to the North Carolina man’s torso.
It’s a miracle he survived. It’s a miracle she survived, too, since she was standing behind him. It would seem Jeff Cooper’s Rule IV (“Know what [your target] is, what is in line with it, and what is behind it”) was not a priority during the 5 a.m. raid.
“I am physically doing better, mentally me an Ali ain’t so good on this one,” Kloepfer wrote in a January 20 follow-up post. “We are out of state for fear of our lives since I got out of the hospital. I can’t talk too much about details right now as this is [a] major, major case still evolving. But like I said 5 weeks ago, trust me the news is completely wrong and so are my charges.”
For his part, the Cherokee County Sheriff appears to have gone silent on Facebook following a January 20th, 2023, excuse-making and finger-pointing post that has not gone over well with those reading it. He and his chief deputy weren’t on the scene. He says he didn’t see the video until January 18th, 2023. It wasn’t him who prepared the press release put out under his authority claiming Kloepfer, “charged with Communicating Threats and Resist, Obstruct, and Delay,” engaged in a verbal altercation and confronted officers.
It was the county attorney, relying on information provided by the Cherokee County Indian Police. And it was their SWAT team that did the shooting. The Sherrif had to call them in because he doesn’t have one, so he’s going to ask for funds to get one.
And of relevance, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners “quickly tabled” a resolution opposing funding of SWAT.
Left unanswered in the sheriff’s attempt to absolve himself of responsibility & blame everyone else are some key questions:
- Why weren’t you or your chief deputy on the scene for a SWAT action?
- Why was there such an extended wait between the supposed call that prompted initial contact and the active intervention if it was believed a hostage’s life was at stake? How is it that the “suspect” was allowed to go to sleep apparently unaware there were police outside his door?
- Will the call that prompted a response in the first place be released? Is the recording of it secure?
- Some are making excuses that police opened fire because Kloepfer held their robot in one hand, and they mistook it for a gun. Did the robot have a camera, was it being monitored and didn’t its operator see he picked it up and tell the others?
- Did police responders wear bodycams? What did they record?
- With a man shot and with all the legal implications, how is it that the sheriff and his chief deputy can claim ignorance of the video (and by implication, bodycam evidence) until it was brought to his attention by public outcry?
For its part, the Cherokee Indian Police Department is keeping mum. So is the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations, reported by some sources to be investigating the incident, but so far unresponsive to the “tip” I sent.
@SBI1937 In the spirit of “If you see something say something”: https://t.co/uzNkYaiVVf
— dcodrea (@dcodrea) January 21, 2023
Speaking of other journalistic news reports, since AmmoLand News published its article about the shooting on January 19th, 2023, some “mainstream news” outlets have followed suit, notably UK’s Independent, The New York Post, and some local news affiliates. Still, and totally expectedly considering the way they have traditionally acted as gatekeepers for what information the American public should be provided with, there is nothing about this story at this writing on outlets like CNN, The New York Times, or any of the major players using the search terms “Kloepfer” or “Cherokee County Sheriff.”
A SWAT team firing on an unarmed man with his hands in the air isn’t newsworthy?
A search for the same terms using the Google News search tab confirms the media influence giants have no interest in treating this as reportable. It’s hardly the first time they’ve been deliberately indifferent to documented exposés alleging major government abuses.
And speaking of interest in reporting, at this writing, there’s a reasonably comprehensive summary of the story so far at Wikipedia, with a caveat notation that should concern all who are interested in not seeing this buried:
“This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia’s deletion policy.”
That information would be purposely omitted is hardly surprising, especially when attempts to update origin documentation on other important stories have been deliberately edited out. So far, none of the stories published by “regular” media have credited the one source none of us would have any information on this without, DRenegade.
Noting that once more, there appears to be no interest by major news media to bring this story to the attention of the public; it’s again up to concerned citizens and citizen journalists to push the information through and demand investigations that can’t be ignored.
And a few of the questions raised here have been answered. Coming up in the next report, AmmoLand Shooting Sports News has obtained a copy of the police dispatch recording and the Calls for Service (CFS) report.
And those, as you’ll see, raise plenty more questions. Like why does Kloepfer say he still fears for his life?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
