Man Killed By Police In Omaha, Nebraska For Possessing Cell Phone

Dateline: 1998

As he exited his vehicle after being stopped by Omaha Police Division officers,
Omaha native and Gulf War veteran Marvin Ammons was shot to death by Omaha
Police Division officers who claimed they believed the cell phone in his hand
was a handgun.

Later, after all officers were cleared of the charges, the survivors of Marvin
Ammons filed a federal lawsuit in Omaha against the Omaha Police Division.
During the proceedings of this lawsuit, Ammons family attorneys forced then
Interim Omaha Police Chief Charlie Circo to release tape recordings in the
police's possession of Ammons and his cell phone calls.

Later still, the Douglas County, Nebraska judiciary announced that no requests
were ever made by the Omaha Police Division for wiretap permission nor had any
Douglas County, Nebraska judge ever issued any wiretap order, EVER. This was
printed in the Omaha World Herald with a Douglas County judge making the
statement.

Douglas County is the legal entity presiding over the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

Yet, the Omaha Police Division claimed the stop of the vehicle driven by Marvin
Ammons was a routine traffic stop. The man had broken no laws, and they
murdered him for having a cell phone in his hand.

The federal judge presiding over the case denied Ammon's family attorneys the
option of presenting the wiretapped recordings in court and the lawsuit was
dropped.

Later still, the nephew of Marvin Ammons was arrested in another so called
routine traffic stop where the OPD discovered a handgun and quantity of
marijuana. Apparently, the police, who had been conducting illegal wiretap
surveillance on the Ammons family had confused the voice of Marvin Ammons with
that of his nephew and were on their guns ready to kill when they stopped the
vehicle of Marvin Ammons prior to his nephew's arrest.

The entire episode is being covered up to this day. Not a finger was lifted by
the cellular service providers in the Omaha, Nebraska area, including Sprint
PCS, to protect their customers from surveillance by the police or other
criminal eavesdroppers, nor was any effort by the FCC or any other federal
agency to bring the police and their informants to justice.

And you want me to buy a cellular telephone?

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› See More: Man Killed By Police In Omaha, Nebraska For Possessing Cell Phone

> And you want me to buy a cellular telephone?

Dude, they sell like a hundred million cellphones a year. You think all
those people are gonna get shot by police? *laughs derisively*

Do you have a wired phoneline? Those are waaaay easier to tap; GSM phones
have at least somewhat effective encryption in place, thus requiring special
equipment to eavesdrop on conversations. With that in mind, shouldn't you be
MORE likely to be wiretapped over a regular phone you think...?

Melvin says: go sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here!

If you don't believe what has been said on this post, check out the archives of
the Omaha World Herald.

The details are in the article reporting on the progess of the Ammon's family's
lawsuit.

Marvin Ammon's cell phone killed him in more ways than one.