Ricardo J Gonzalez for a Better America

He kicked in doors and made arrests. He helped the people in Gerald, Missouri end their problems with Meth. Sometimes he was a Federal Marshall, others, a member of the DEA, but it was not always clear which. When asked to show a warrant he informed people he was a federal agent, and didn't need one. Sergeant Bill was no federal agent. He was an unemployed former rent-a-cop who went on a spree of arrests with the approval of the Gerald Police Department. When he first arrived, the Police Department confirmed his credentials with the "Multijusrisdictional Task Force", a non-existent entity whose name comes from Beverly Hills Cop II. While the Gasconade County Republican ousted him on May 14th, he has yet to be charged with a crime.


I shouldn't be surprised that he hasn't been charged. What he did is no worse than what actual enforcement agencies do. No-knock warrants combined with mistaken addresses can end up with SWAT members shooting little old ladies. What's absolutely disgusting is that some tout him as a hero:

I’m not saying it was legal or lawful. But look, they were very effective while he was present. I don’t think Gerald is having the drug problem they were having. I’ve heard from some residents who were thrilled that he was there.

his lawyer said in a Fox News Channel interview.

I say this on no uncertain terms: this man, and anyone who knowingly assisted him, needs to be thrown in prison for a long, long time. That his lawyer has the chutzpah to suggest that the ends justified the means is an indication of just how far the erosion of civil rights and the rule of law has gone. The people in Gerald complied without a warrant likely figuring that just as so many rights lost in the "post-9/11 world" the necessity of a warrant was considered too big a burden for federal law enforcement.

Linda Trest, the reporter that broke the story, was able to uncover his lie in an hour of research. On NPR's Talk of the Nation, Ms. Trest claims that dogs in Gerald go through a more rigorous scrutiny with their vaccinations than "Sergeant Bill's" credentials got. Cursory investigations found evidence that some victims were robbed, and many assaulted with a sawed-off shotgun. 17 of his victims are suing him and the city. According to Fox News one victim was an "an elderly woman who was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward because she didn't cooperate with the police"

The ends do not justify the means. The protections the constitution guarantees are in place to lessen abuses of power by those whom we elect to govern us. It is never acceptable that a man with or without official authority go around terrorizing citizens with no burden of proof and no accountability to anything except his whims. Over a month has passed since his actions were discovered and reported, yet he remains a free man, making a circuit of talk shows and news programs. No crime has been charged, no bail has been necessary. The biggest criminal in Gerald has yet to pay any consequences, as he gets protection under the law, something his victims never got.