Barry Coopers web site just got shut down.

[guest]

Barry just sent out a mass e-mail.
I got his e-mail at 1AM.

This is the e-mail:

The only disinformation you have ever received from me is when I announced
KopBusters was still at the drawing table in Hollywood. The truth is we have
had a team of eleven detectives working secretly in Odessa, Texas the entire
time. I could not divulge that information because it would have compromised the
operation and since the police get my newsletter, I wanted them to be relaxed
and think we have not started yet.

The operation was a success. We busted the dirty cops with a dummy grow room
that triggered an illegal raid on our KopBusters house. Our attorney was
arrested and released.

Click here to read all about it and watch the Channel 7 News story:

[http://nevergetbusted.com/v2/node/176]

Peace, Love and NeverGetBusted

Barry and Candi

His web site went dark about 6:30.

This is the web page that he had linked in his letter:

Barry and Candi Bust Cops In Odessa!!

It's called an informant plant. The Odessa narcotics unit illegally compelled an informant to plant drugs on Yolanda Madden. The informant testified in federal court he planted the drugs on her and he passed a polygraph confirming the same. Yolanda also passed a polygraph along with a hair follicle and urine test. Our broken criminal justice system ignored the evidence and railroaded her through court sentencing her to 8 years in prison.

Her father hired KopBusters, a new reality show produced by NeverGetBusted, whereby Barry and Candi along with their detectives set up stings across America to catch crooked Kops.

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.

The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster's attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster's secret mobile office nearby.

The attorney was handcuffed and later released when eleven KopBuster detectives arrived with the media in tow to question the illegal raid. The police refused to give KopBusters the search warrant affidavit which is suspected to contain the lies regarding the probable cause.

The team of eleven freedom fighters wore red "Free Yolanda" shirts as they clashed with the police demanding answers for the illegal raid and the drug plant. The police would not comment but later stated they were trying to charge KopBusters with a crime.

It is not illegal to grow plants under a light in your home but it is illegal to lie on an affidavit and plant drugs on a citizen. This operation was the first of its kind in the history of America. Police sometimes have other police investigating their crimes but the American court system has never dealt with a group of citizens stinging the police. Will the police file charges on the team who took down the corrupt cops? We will keep you posted.

Peace, Love and NeverGetBusted

Watch the news article YouTube of the news story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Fu4YVH8nA

 

[JJScorpio]

Good.

The crap put hundreds of growers in Prison during his carrer as a pig. Just my opinion but I have zero use for him. I don't know why people trust him. How does anyone know that he's still not feeding information to the Feds while he plays both ends of the stick?

 

[funker]

a reverse sting is pretty sweet, though...can u imagine how PISSED that task force must be right now? wow!

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Good.

The crap put hundreds of growers in Prison during his carrer as a pig. Just my opinion but I have zero use for him. I don't know why people trust him. How does anyone know that he's still not feeding information to the Feds while he plays both ends of the stick?

How is he playing both ends of the stick ?

He may have been a pig, but he is clearly on our side now, it is not like he is asking to come round and have a look at your grow, merely telling you quality information on how to stay free.

You do not have to trust him, just appreciate what he does, this busting bent pigs idea is genius, in the US as in the UK, Police lie through their teeth because they can, because there is nobody to challenge them.

Go Barry !

 

[Lifebreather]

It seems like he was doing this to try and bring light to a case of injustice involving that Madden lady.

I think this was awesome...and well done.

I'll have to save my harsher criticisms of him until after this plays out.

 

[JJScorpio]

I should have given credit for him playing those crooked cops for what they are. But the bottom line is he still put the same people in prison over his career. I've always been a firm believer a cop is always a cop.

My worry is what if he decides to swing the other way, or is only against crooked cops. It seems he's on an ego/possible money trip. What is the info and questions people send to his web page worth to the feds? This could be a funny thing and I don't think I'd be praising him on his website nor asking him questions that could link me to a grow without a good proxy. Nor would I be giving him any personal info....

Must just be my cop hating nature....

 

[luaith]

heres the video of the bust...HA-HA!!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dc9_1228632109

 

[Tony Aroma]

How is it that his web site got shut down? Assuming of course that it was not his choice. Since when does the government have the power to deprive a citizen of their right to free speech without due process? Especially since it would appear that he did not even commit a crime. I love the way LEO turns it around to make it look like they are the victim. Our criminal justice system sucks!

 

[Deft]

Yea whats the deal with the shut down? What/who caused the shut down?

 

[DrugleyDoRite]

Notice on site:

Due to high traffic, our website is down. We are working around the clock to increase our server capacity.

Please check back later!

 

[Fafafooey]

I hope they sue. A few high dollar civil judgements ought to teach those dirty bitches.

 

[Lifebreather]

Must just be my cop hating nature....

I have the same feelings...

What I also take into consideration is what if, he really feels remorseful about what he has done? What could he do to make things right in his eyes? Possibly, what he is doing now. There is nothing he can do to reverse what he has already done, only go forward as best he can.

I, too, have my skepticism...but I think it would be best if I withhold those judgements until I know more of this situation.

 

[NiteTiger]

I have the same feelings...

What I also take into consideration is what if, he really feels remorseful about what he has done? What could he do to make things right in his eyes? Possibly, what he is doing now. There is nothing he can do to reverse what he has already done, only go forward as best he can.

I, too, have my skepticism...but I think it would be best if I withhold those judgements until I know more of this situation.

I'm curious why you guys are assuming he put MJ users in prison? I've never checked out his stuff, does he claim to be a former narco detective?

 

[Merfolk]

Yes ^ he has put many away as he claims

 

[dontstepongrass]

former drug interdiction officer, to be exact

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I'm curious why you guys are assuming he put MJ users in prison? I've never checked out his stuff, does he claim to be a former narco detective?

Not a detective but a patrol officer who looked primarily for drugs. If you watched his first video, he stated several times how he would look for this or that. He may have been part of a task force.

But oh yeah, he busted alot of people for weed and other drugs.


I hate cops too but I think he may have changed his ways. As far as money, well he has to make a living somehow. He could have just as easily done something else after leaving the PD.

 

[LiLWaynE]

hey peanut butter, his website says :

Due to high traffic, our website is down. We are working around the clock to increase our server capacity.

Please check back later!

click here to view raw footage of the illegal raid

i dont think the GOV stepped in... i think many many people are tuning into this hot topic and causing him a server jam...

 

[dbuzz]

heres the video of the bust...HA-HA!!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dc9_1228632109

that video was awesome. barry's dvd was pretty shady, but i think this shows dude has some ballz for the cause. hope to see moar war on christmas trees.

this article has been blowing up on reddit for a few days.

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/130429.html?

 

[SomeGuy]

I remember saying in another thread:

"If Barry Cooper wanted to impress me he'd go back to court and admit that he falsified evidence and/or violated peoples rights in order to wrongly convict people."

Doesn't look like he's willing to go that far, but I have to admit a reverse sting by private citizens is pretty sweet. But, it doesn't change that fact that he negatively affected THOUSANDS of peoples lives with his actions as an officer.

Now all he has to do is repeat that in all 50 states about 100 times each and put the fear into every department out there and let them know that just because they work for the law, doesn't mean they are above it.
He appears to believe this now and it should be his mission to educate every department in the country.

 

[SomeGuy]

Searched news.google.com and came up with 4 hits. Most linked back to Radley Balko and The Agitator who referenced Barrys site. Check out the quote from the Examiner that I bolded, its classic!

The Agitator

Gotcha
Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Like Mark Draughn, I’ve been somewhat skeptical of Barry Cooper, the former drug cop turned pitchman for how-to-beat-the-cops videos. He comes off as more of a huckster than a principled whistle-blower, which I think does the good ideas he stands for (police reform) more harm than good.

But damn. I have to hand it to him. This might be one of the ballsiest moves I’ve ever seen.

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.

The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.

To clarify just a bit, according to Cooper, there was nothing illegal going on the bait house, just two evergreen trees and some grow lamps. There was no probable cause. So a couple of questions come up. First, how did the cops get turned on to the house in the first place? Cooper suspects they were using thermal imaging equipment to detect the grow lamps, a practice the Supreme Court has said is illegal. The second question is, what probable cause did the police put on the affidavit to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant? If there was nothing illegal going on in the house, it’s difficult to conceive of a scenario where either the police or one of their informants didn’t lie to get a warrant.

Cooper chose to bait the Odessa police department because he believes police there instructed an informant to plant marijuana on a woman named Yolanda Madden. She’s currently serving an eight-year sentence for possession with intent to distribute. According to Cooper, the informant actually admitted in federal court that he planted the marijuana. Madden was convicted anyway.

The story’s worth watching, not only to see if the cops themselves are held accountable for this, but whether the local district attorney tries to come up with a crime with which to charge Cooper and his assistants. I can’t imagine such a charge would get very far, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone try.
See public comments at link.

National Examiner

I've long thought that too many civil liberties advocates (myself included) are reactive -- forever chasing the last horrendous abuse, only to be blind-sided by the next one. What we need are more pro-freedom advocates who are confrontational and take the battle to the authorities. Of course, that would probably require somebody with a bankroll to spend on good deeds, or else some way to make such confrontations into a commercial opportunity so they're self-financing. Sort of like what ex-cop Barry Cooper did when he set a trap for Odessa, Texas, police and filmed the results for his online reality show, KopBusters.

According to Cooper's Website:

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.

The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster's attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster's secret mobile office nearby.

Cooper and company were hired by Raymond Madden, the father of Yolanda Madden, an Odessa woman convicted in 2005 of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Yolanda's supporters say a key witness in the case admitted in court to planting the drugs -- but that she was convicted anyway and sent to prison.


Cooper is a former Texas cop and drug warrior who turned against prohibition after seeing the consequences of arrests for non-violent, consensual acts on the people he brought in. "This war on people is a failed policy. We have more prisoners of this war in jail then ever before yet even the DEA admits we have more potent drugs and a larger supply of drugs available than ever before."

He's become an able self-promoter who makes money selling videos that teach people how to go about their lives, including growing, using and selling marijuana, without raising police interest. That's opened him up for some criticism, but it also means he may well be among the people best-positioned and most strongly motivated to keep setting traps for cops who cut corners and violate constitutional rights. After all, he stands to make money selling videos of the abuses.

Wow, civil liberties activism as a profit-making enterprise. I love it.

It will be interesting to see how the Odessa police react to the trap into which they walked. I suppose they could try to press criminal charges of some sort, but if Cooper and company are telling the truth, all they did was engage in perfectly legal activity and wait for the police to misinterpret the situation, probably through the use of illegal search techniques backed by fraudulent claims made to secure a warrant. Under the circumstances, any attempts at retaliation are just going to dig a deeper hole for the local authorities.

Hat tip to Radley Balko for first covering this case.