As I mentioned earlier, three people filed lawsuits today against the Portland Police Bureau, and one person has filed a tort claim. Here’s number three:ARRESTED AT GUNPOINT FOR NO REASON: Gregory Benton (above) is suing the Police Bureau for $50,000 for violation of his first and fourth amendment rights…

On September 18, 2006, police had responded to an anonymous call of a shooting in the area around the apartment building on NE Killingsworth, in which Benton lived. He refused to allow the police to search his home without a warrant, but eventually capitulated to escalating threats from police, and opened the door. Benton found a nine-strong SWAT team waiting for him with guns drawn, pointed directly at his head. He was forced to the ground and arrested, while Officers went through his apartment without a search warrant.

The officers involved claimed in their use of force reports that they thought Benton was armed, but had no basis for their suspicion. They thought the noise of Benton sliding his door bolt across was, in fact, a gun being loaded. They wrote that they heard him dropping shells onto a hard floor behind the door, “but I have a shagpile carpet,” Benton points out.

“The police fabricated and exaggerated everything in their reports to justify what they did to me,” said Benton, this afternoon. “They just stomped on that apartment block because they thought they could.”

“I’m an American citizen, and instead of protecting our rights the police look for ways to get around them,” Benton continued. “But it’s my responsibility as a citizen to stand up for my rights.”

As a result of his arrest, Benton missed work the next day and was fired. He is asking for an extra $1500 in economic damages resulting from his loss of employment.