MAYOR CHEYE CALVO DESCRIBES RAID IN E-MAIL TO FRIENDS

Dear Friends and Neighbors-

Yesterday evening, as my mother-in-law prepared dinner and I changed
clothes hurrying to head to a community meeting, a heavily-armed
county SWAT team burst through our living room door and shot and
killed both of our dogs. There were loud voices. In the sights of two
high-caliber weapons, I was ushered downstairs in only my boxer
shorts before I was bound and forced to kneel on the floor. My
mother-in-law was bound face down in the kitchen. The dead body of my
bigger and older dog, Payton, laid in a pool of blood on the other
side of the living room.

It was some time before someone spoke to me other than to yell
orders. I was told there was a warrant but was never shown one. After
many questions and much anger, I was told that they had intercepted a
package addressed to our house that contained 32 pounds of marijuana.
The large, white box, which I just had retrieved from the front
porch, sat unopened on a living room table.

The county police then proceeded to turn our house upside-down. I was
moved to the kitchen, where I could see my little dog, Chase, lying
in his own pool of blood. My mother-in-law watched them shoot him
while he was running away. After about 90 minutes, they finally
removed my restraints, which tied my hands behind my back. About the
same time, Animal Control came to remove our dogs. Emotions overtook
me; I broke down and sobbed.

They asked questions. Through my anger, hurt, and confusion, I
answered them. Trinity came home from work a little after 8:00 pm,
and they questioned her outside. We both were and remain in shock. It
does not make sense, but shared what we could. About three-and-a-half
hours passed before they acknowledged that they had found nothing to
connect us to the box, but could not be 100 certain whether or not we
were involved. The package alone was enough to arrest us all, they
said, but they would not so long as we continued to cooperate.

Then they left. The broken front door remained open and unsecured.
Blood from my dogs was pooled and tracked throughout the house. Our
belongings were pulled from drawers, closets, and trunks and tossed
about, piled in the middle of rooms and on tables and beds.

A Berwyn Heights officer on the scene helped me get the door shut.
Just after midnight, I began to clean up the blood. We put a few
things back. Trinity and I tried to sleep. Instead, we both laid
there through the night as disbelief, fear, and anger played off one
another. We try to make sense of it. They invaded our home and killed
our dogs! That, above all else, can't be undone.

A friend came this morning to secure the door. People have begun to
call, and the outpouring of friendship and support brings tears to my
eyes. The media calls have begun, as well.

I wanted to get this out so that you at least hear the story from me.
This promises to be a lengthy process, which will involve telling and
re-living this story time and again. Hopefully, the healing will begin soon.

Warm regards,

Cheye