Aftermath of Obama's War on Cops: The East Haven Four (Part One)

Former East Haven, Connecticut police officer Dennis Spaulding joins us to share his horrifying story—and it's one you’ve likely never heard.In 2012, the Obama DOJ indicted four officers from the East Haven Police Department—Dennis Spaulding, John Miller, David Cari, and Jason Zullo—after a federal investigation into allegations that members of the department had violated the civil rights of Latino residents.This was nothing but a politically motivated prosecution fueled by anti-police activism and federal pressure to make an example out of a small police department enforcing immigration laws.These men were not corrupt. They were not rogue actors. They were committed, decorated professionals engaged in the unglamorous work of enforcing the law in a community plagued by fraudulent vehicle registrations, gang activity, and illegal enterprises. Yet because many of those arrested happened to be undocumented immigrants, the DOJ sought to brand the entire department as racist.Spaulding was sentenced to five years in federal prison.In this interview, Spaulding shares his side of the story for the first time in depth—and his hopes that President Trump will issue him and his fellow officers a pardon that will allow them to move on with their lives.Coming Next: In Part 2, we discuss the aftermath of the trial, Spaulding’s time in federal prison, and the broader questions his case raises about federal civil rights prosecutions of police officers.