Editorial
A House Raid, and a Question: What Should We Know?
Editorial: The following is an opinion article
Representative Benning filed a Freedom of Information request on the 13th requesting Search Warrant documents after his household and his property was searched by officers of the Los Santos Police Department. Why and what were they searching for? Well… we don’t know.
What we know so far is that on the 12th of October, William Benning house and property were raided. The police were allegedly searching for a specific, unknown item in the Representatives belongings and failed to find it. They searched his house, and then they searched the Representative’s person and his vehicles.
We asked Representative Benning about what he knew about the search:
| “They had the tactical teams there, so they searched my residence and they didn’t find anything in there, and then one by one we went through all my vehicles took about almost two hours because some of them were spread around the city and they didn’t find whatever they were looking for” |
We also asked if he knew what they were searching for:
| “I know that they were looking for something and I just don’t know what that something is. […] and they didn’t really make any of that clear. […] they have to guard some of their information. I understand that, but they could at least let me know what kind of what they were looking for. […] I just want to know the circumstances, why a search warrant was issued and also I want to know what they were looking for.” |
We asked representatives from the Los Santos Police Department multiple times regarding the incident and so far we have received the ‘we are unable to comment’ reply.
So should the police have informed Representative Benning of why they were searching his property? The answer is complex; we asked a lawyer for comment on the situation however they didn’t want to comment about ongoing proceedings.
One thing that a State Representative shouldn’t have to do is request a copy of a warrant involving them on a public request process when that information should be provided for them by the police. Everyone should have the right to know why they are being searched and what is being searched.
A copy of the signed warrant was given to Weazel News from an anonymous source, the warrant establishes the areas and scope of search but fails to list what police were looking for. According to Justia, an online legal resource, “the [search] warrant must state specifically the place to be searched and the items to be seized.” In this case, the document provided fails to state the items to be seized in the search. We are seeking further explanation on why the items were not included in the warrant provided.
Representative Benning made one thing clear: that he isn’t against police action and the police being proactive, he just wants answers as a private citizen of San Andreas to why his house and property were searched.
Stay with Weazel News for your trusted news regarding this issue.