Attorney claims victim has more from SWAT raid
Bear Paw – Fresh from felony charges being dropped when a shocking surveillance video discredited law enforcement’s version of a SWAT raid at his home, Jason Harley Kloepfer’s attorney says he is planning to release a second video.
The new video footage was set to be released during a 2 p.m. press conference Tuesday on the steps of the Cherokee County Courthouse in downtown Murphy held by his attorney, Beverly Cook. While the press conference was canceled, Cook said Kloepfer was going to send the video to the Cherokee Scout; however, it was not received by press time.
It is unclear what is on the second video. Visit cherokeescout.com for updates.
Kloepfer is an Upper Bear Paw Road resident who was shot by the Cherokee Tribal Police SWAT team on Dec. 13 following a 911 call from a neighbor.
Kloepfer has been recovering from his bullet wounds and living out of state since he was discharged from the hospital.
He has used his Facebook page to excoriate local law enforcement for its role in the violent assault at his home.
Felony charges against Kloepfer were dismissed on March 1. District Attorney Ashley Welch’s office said
the charge of communicating threats was dismissed “at the request of the prosecuting witness” and the charge of resisting a public officer was dismissed “upon prosecutorial discretion and the charging document does not list the type of orders given and under what circumstances that this would be a duty of their office.”
The two dismissal orders were signed on March 1 by chief assistant district attorney Jason Arnold.
The Dec. 13 incident continues to draw attention following a shocking video that refutes official law enforcement’s version of the raid that attempted to justify the shooting.
In the first video he posted on Jan. 18, taken by a surveillance camera installed inside his camper, it showed Kloepfer being awakened by a SWAT drone, picking up the drone, and opening his front door in an apparent attempt to comply with the orders being shouted at him by law enforcement outside. As he opened the door, he was met by a hail of gunfire.
The video clearly shows that the initial news release issued Dec. 13, which stated, “The suspected shooter engaged in a verbal altercation with officers and emerged from a camper trailer and confronted officers,” was debatably inaccurate.
Kloepfer’s Facebook post stirred up a torrent of activity on social media, even to the point of getting its own Wikipedia page.
To deal with the high volume of calls about the shooting, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office even set up a special telephone line in its automated answer system just for calls about the raid.
The video has led to national media coverage of the case, a follow-up release by Sheriff Dustin Smith expressing his desire for a county sheriff’s office SWAT team and the resignation of Darryl Brown as the sheriff’s office attorney.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office requested the Cherokee Tribal SWAT team after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor who reporting that Kloepfer, 41, was shooting a gun and fireworks. The caller heard a man and woman arguing.
Early the next morning, Kloepfer and his wife, Alison Mahler, were asleep in bed when they were stirred awake by a SWAT drone tossed inside the house.
At 4:57 a.m., video shows Kloepfer picked up the drone and was carrying it in his right hand and opened his main door in an apparent attempt to comply with police demands. SWAT members apparently mistook their own drone in Kloepfer’s hand as a weapon and opened fire, wounding Kloepfer but missing Mahler, the first video shows.
Kloepfer repeatedly screamed, “I’m shot!”