Bear Paw – Months after a Dec. 13, 2022, SWAT raid left an unarmed man gravely wounded during a barrage of gunfire, a German-based news program shows Jason Harley Kloepfer returning to his home for the first time since the incident.
The video shows footage of Kloepfer and his wife, Alison Mahler, returning in early spring to be interviewed by the German news crew. The seven-minute segment aired June 10. It can be found at rtl.de or via a link on Kloepfer’s Facebook page.
The segment, narrated in German, is headlined, “Opfer von Polizeigewalt: Unbewaffneter durch Schüsse schwer verletzt,” or translated to English, “Victims of police violence: Unarmed man seriously injured by gunshots.”
The segment shows Kloepfer and Mahler returning to their home, Kloepfer hobbling along with a cane, their property in disarray by their months-long absence. The tearful couple exchange a hug as they reached the front door riddled with bullet holes. It segues to Kloepfer raising his sweatshirt and showing the scars left by the bullet wounds, and then transitions to surveillance video taken the night of the raid.
It switches back to Kloepfer and Mahler examining the bullet holes in their door and other evidence left by the SWAT team and investigating officers who arrived later.
The segment includes file photos and footage of a neighbor’s 911 call that led to the raid, Kloepfer’s property, him being treated in the hospital, sheriff’s patrol cars, footage taken outside the Sheriff’s Office headquarters and more surveillance video.
It also shows a shot of an April edition of the Cherokee Scout bearing the headline, “DA steps aside in SWAT shooting; Welch says case involves alleged government officials misconduct.”
Kloepfer linked to the program on his personal Facebook page, along with a comment: “We aired In Europe last night. #1 station #1 news program in Europe and producer said they are extremely happy with the ‘high high ratings’ last night. But here in America 98% crickets. Why does other countries care about us more than our own country???”
Legal action
On Facebook, Kloepfer continues to be critical of local law enforcement and said he is considering legal action.
“We are going to be suing in civil court and that could take 2 years to win,” he said. “Then they jam it up more for another years or so. They have shown they truly are heartless with all this. Not only did they almost murder us but not even an apology or anything from any officials. Not the sheriff Dustin Smith or chief deputy Jacobs and all their deputies. ...
“All they keep doing is trying to twist it on me. And truly like a bully beating us up everyday we have to wake up to fighting them. When we all see how wrong they were. Great small town/southern America justice system. We are just loving it.”
Kloepfer and Mahler continue to seek donations to assist in their recovery. Thirty-two people have donated $2,015 toward a goal of $50,000 on a GoFundMe page under the title, Justice for Jason and Ali.
“We need 10k for Alison to go to a trauma facility for 30 days,” Kloepfer wrote on Facebook. “She isn’t doing well. And then for us to move back home we need to buy something to live in even if it’s another 15k travel trailer for now.”
In another post, Kloepfer says, “We have nothing to live in. The trailer is full of bullet holes and the pipes broke two months ago. Mold is everywhere now plus pipes and fixtures still broke. So we literally have no where to live back home.”
The raid
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 said she heard a man and woman arguing.
“Male was saying he will kill everyone in the neighborhood,” according to an official narrative of the incident from Cherokee County E-911 Communications. “RP (reporting party) has on video the male saying send the cops, I’ll get them too. RP heard his wife screaming stop it a bunch of times and a couple of shots and now RP cannot hear him.”
The 911 call came in just before 11 p.m. Dec. 12. Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene and assessed the situation for more than an hour before requesting help from outside agencies, including the tribal SWAT team. Meanwhile, deputies continued to comb the area, noting such things as multiple security cameras around the house, music playing in the garage, and the number of exterior doors in the camper and which way they opened.
Officials contacted the State Bureau of Investigation to see if it had a better surveillance robot than what tribal police could provide. SBI responded that it could not provide the requested robot because it does not have a valid memorandum of understanding for use of the equipment.
Meanwhile, some of the tribal SWAT members had arrived by 2:21 a.m. Dec. 13 – 2½ hours after the initial 911 response – and were waiting for the rest to arrive. Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies briefed the arriving SWAT team members:
“… This was a domestic that was going on outside,” according to the report narrative. “Male fired several rounds. He was yelling at the neighbor. He said he would kill all the neighbors. He said he would kill the cops. He fired one round into the garage that is secured. The RP saw the male go into the camper. Saw the male secure the garage apartment and then walk into the camper. They are unable to get the male to come out of the camper.”
Despite the commotion outside, Kloepfer and his wife were asleep in bed. They were stirred awake by the Cherokee Tribal SWAT drone that had been tossed inside the house and was wandering around the camper recording video. At that point, someone outside could be heard telling Kloepfer to come outside with his hands up.
At 4:57 a.m., Kloepfer picked up the drone and was carrying it in his right hand when he 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.
Several shots were fired. Kloepfer stumbled backward as Mahler helped pull him back inside the camper. Kloepfer repeatedly screamed, “I’m shot!” while Mahler yelled, “He’s shot! What the hell did you do?”
Secondary sweep
Officers shouted for Kloepfer to come out with his hands up, but both he and Mahler shouted that he had been shot. At one point, Mahler told officers that Kloepfer was disabled.
Within two minutes, tribal police officers dragged Kloepfer from the camper as one instructed others to “Start working on him now.”
Minutes later, three tribal police officers went back inside the camper, referencing a “secondary sweep.” One officer addressed another, “[Expletive], bro.”
Another officer quickly responded that “there’s cameras, there’s cameras,” though it is not clear whether he is referring to officer body cameras or Kloepfer’s security cameras.