The lawsuit added that 75 boxes of pizza were found at McCormick's farm following the raid by the Riverside County Sheriff's Office.

A weed farmer in California recently filed a lawsuit against the a local sheriff’s office alleging that they conducted an illegal raid of his farm and then threw a pizza party to celebrate.

Earlier this week, Preston McCormick filed a lawsuit against the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office in California, alleging that several officers executed an “unlawful and illicit” raid at his cannabis farm, East Wind AG, and then celebrated the raid while remaining on his farm.

“Astonishingly, and at the conclusion of all this wholesale destruction and devastation at the hands of RCSD’s officers and others directed and controlled by same, all as briefly described herein and above, Defendants proceeded to celebrate the terrible results of their unlawful acts by ordering for delivery to, and then consuming, various pizza and other food and drinks, all while still remaining at and on the Property (the “Pizza Party”),” the lawsuit, which was reviewed by Newsweek, said.

The lawsuit added that 75 boxes of pizza were found at McCormick’s farm following the raid by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    101·
    11 months ago

    The lawsuit added that 75 boxes of pizza were found at McCormick’s farm following the raid by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.

    Hmm…

    Much of McCormick’s property and cannabis plants were destroyed during the raid

    I can guess how they “destroyed” it if they got 75 boxes of pizza afterward.

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
      561·
      11 months ago

      Not even joking, but they often burn it in a fire they all stand around.

      Which obviously gets them high and gives them an excuse if they’re tested, so I’m sure they actually smoke some too.

      But burning pounds of it explains how they got high enough to not only order 75 pizzas, but leave all the boxes there and then drive away after.

      If a single one was sober they’d have realized they at least needed to dispose of the boxes to hide evidence

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        20·
        11 months ago

        Sheriffs are usually elected too, so this is probably not going to endear the count sheriff to the voters next time around.

        • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
          33·
          11 months ago

          Sheriffs in Los Angeles and surrounding areas (which includes Riverside) are known to be literal gangs. They get tattoos when they have an on-duty shooting and celebrate when they kill someone on-duty. When people think of bad police, LAPD is usually up there on top with NYPD; but the sheriffs in the LA area are far far worse than LAPD.

          • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
            9·
            11 months ago

            Sheriffs in huge parts of the west. I live in AZ and know shit has potential to get very ugly whenever it’s a sheriff’s deputy who shows up

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
          101·
          11 months ago

          Not all of Cali is liberal

          I looked up this county and 45% voted trump. In non presidential elections, turnout is likely lower. There’s a chance this bullshit actually helps the sheriff’s re election

          • Omega@lemmy.world
            9·
            11 months ago

            When it comes to law enforcement, moderates tend to skew conservative too. That’s why conservatives jumped on the whole “defund” stuff to terrify moderates.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            5·
            11 months ago

            That suggest the opposite to me- that if the populace found out that the cops got high, ordered a ton of pizza, then left all the pizza boxes and drove off while high and they’re conservative, they’re not going to like the Sheriff very much. But they’re also police bootlickers, so who knows?

    • MxM111@kbin.social
      13·
      11 months ago

      I can’t. How many police officers possibly participated in the raid, and how many pizza pies an average policeman can eat? Let’s say 2 at max, that suggests 35 policemen. WTF?

      • Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world
        5·
        11 months ago

        Are pizzas small there? I couldn’t imagine eating even half a pizza solo. Let alone more than one full one. Pizza is a party food for that reason isn’t it?

        Or I guess am I missing the joke, is it that police are generally larger people and eat more?

        • MxM111@kbin.social
          4·
          11 months ago

          I made a worst case estimation of small pizzas and large hungry policemen. These numbers suggest that there should be AT LEAST 35 policemen. If we go with half pizza per person, we get 140 policemen. It is WTF^2

  • FoundTheVegan@kbin.social
    95·
    11 months ago

    In November 2022, McCormick noticed a news report detailing an “unauthorized and unlicensed cannabis farm, located on unincorporated land,” that was raided by members of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. McCormick then met with members of the sheriff’s office to provide paperwork showing the legality of his cannabis farm.

    At around 4:30 a.m. local time on December 7, McCormick was woken up by members of the sheriff’s office as they began their raid.

    Fuck! He proactively went to show his legal status and all that did was put himself on their radar.

    However, the sheriff’s office was informed by members of the tribe that they were not authorized to conduct the raid on their land. In turn, members of the sheriff’s office said the tribal members “didn’t know what they were talking about,” the lawsuit said.

    Much of McCormick’s property and cannabis plants were destroyed during the raid and officers confiscated $300,000 from the tribe’s safe.

    Outright theft. They had no jurisdiction and didn’t care that they didn’t.

    Additionally, the lawsuit said that on January 8, 2023, McCormick’s "family home ‘mysteriously’ caught fire, after the sheriff’s office ordered power and water to his property to be turned off, resulting in the home “being completely burned down,” along with much of his personal belongings.

    Why would the water be shut off?! Goddamnit. Every part of this article is infuriating, nothing about this was law enforcement, just armed thugs raiding locals for fun and profit.

    • OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world
      38·
      11 months ago

      Oh Jesus christ they didn’t even put the worst parts anywhere near the title. They didn’t just have a pizza party, they celebrated the destruction of a man’s property on land they weren’t allowed to police on, LEFT THE BOXES, and then engaged in a little bit of freelance arsonry (or aided arsonry). Fuck me

    • uphillbothways@kbin.social
      23·
      11 months ago

      To the cops involved, it was probably their annual work party. Bastards stole his money and burnt his shit down for morale and their mutual holiday cheer.

  • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
    514·
    11 months ago

    More rage bait:

    • built it on land belonging to the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe
    • tribal land and the tribe created a Cannabis Control Commission
    • However, the sheriff’s office was informed by members of the tribe that they were not authorized to conduct the raid on their land. In turn, members of the sheriff’s office said the tribal members “didn’t know what they were talking about,” the lawsuit said.
    • during the raid and officers confiscated $300,000 from the tribe’s safe.
    • McCormick’s "family home ‘mysteriously’ caught fire, after the sheriff’s office ordered power and water to his property to be turned off, resulting in the home “being completely burned down,” along with much of his personal belongings.