From: msmith01@flash.net
Subject: SNET: A Case Of Trespassing
Date: 21 Feb 2001 11:02:09 -0500
To: Mark 

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Feb. 16, 2001

A Case of Trespassing:

Kansas Man Faces Trial After Standoff with Police

by Michael H. Burchett

What appeared to be yet another standoff between police and a deranged
gunman may actually have been a case of overzealous conduct by law
enforcement authorities, according to sources familiar with events
surrounding the incident.

In the early morning hours of August 22, 2000, police in Newton, Kansas
burst into the home of 50-year old Wilhelm Smokorowski and arrested him
on
charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and
obstructing
justice. According to a local newspaper, the Newton Kansan, Smokorowski
initiated a standoff with police around 11 a.m. the previous day, when
officers from the Newton Police Department came to his door to issue him
a
warning about his alleged trespassing on the grounds of Newton High
School
earlier that morning. Newspaper reports allege that Smokorowski became
"angered when an officer tried to open the screen door to talk to him,"
retrieved a shotgun from a back room, and "pointed it at the officer,"
who
called for backup. Within minutes, "dozens" of officers from the NPD and
the
Harvey County Sheriff's Department responded to the call and surrounded
the
house.

During the next several hours, the police reportedly attempted to
negotiate
with Smokorowski, who according to newspaper accounts was a "paranoid"
person with "anti-government" views, including opposition to
fluoridation of
the city's water supply. Police allege that Smokorowski refused to speak
to
family members who volunteered to assist negotiators. Finally, at 3:09
a.m.
on the 22nd, members of the police department's emergency response team
broke down the back door of the house and apprehended Smokorowski.

On the surface, this appears to have been a simple case of a disturbed,
volatile man whose behavior warranted the intervention of authorities in
the
best interests of the community; but some eyewitnesses tell a different
story, suggesting that the situation could have been averted at several
crucial junctures. Moreover, some acquaintances of Smokorowski insist
that
he is merely a zealous activist who has been mischaracterized as an
unstable
paranoid, and that his efforts to defend his property from heavyhanded
law
enforcement officers simply got out of hand.

"A Common-Law Pain"

Wilhelm Smokorowski is of Ukrainian Jewish descent. His parents came to
the
United States in the mid-1940s, after spending time in a German
concentration camp. His friends insist that Smokorowski, who served in
Vietnam, had never spoken badly of his country and could hardly be
called
"anti-government," but was fearful of excessive government intrusion
into
the lives of individuals and suspicious of government policies and
actions
that he regarded as attempts at social engineering. In recent years,
Smokorowski had become a fixture at Newton City Commission meetings,
where
he frequently questioned the Commission's actions on issues that were
often
minor or esoteric. According to one friend, "Smoke was on the fringe of
becoming a common-law pain in the ass ... to those who would run
roughshod
over civil liberties. He would go to the library for hours and research
state and local law. He was always causing consternation to (the
Commission)
when they tried to go against Kansas statute. He knows the Constitution
down
to the article."

Confrontation

The trouble began on the morning of August 21 when Smokorowski, who had
over
time become concerned about local schools teaching "revisionist" history
that downplayed the Holocaust and the role of the the founding fathers,
walked into the library of Newton High School and began taking notes
from
various books on the library's shelves. The librarian on duty recognized
Smokorowski as the ex-husband of a teacher at NHS, and called
Smokorowski's
ex-wife in her classroom. Shortly afterward, Smokorowski left the scene
without incident, but was followed into the parking lot by his ex-wife
and
Kathy Wilson, the school's principal. When told that he had violated the
school's sign-in policy -- a measure enacted after the Columbine
shootings
and, according to sources, "loosely enforced" -- Smokorowski replied
that he
had not seen the sign posted on the school's entrance, was unaware of
the
policy, and had the right as a taxpayer to use the school library.

Meanwhile, someone at the school had called the police, who arrived at
the
school shortly after Smokorowski left, and after talking with Wilson and
the
librarian, headed for Smokorowski's house to issue him a "warning" not
to
make any further announced visits to the school. The two officers
arrived at
Smokorowski's house, a wood-frame bungalow on West Fourth Street in
Newton,
shortly after 11 :00 a.m.. Smokorowski met them at the door and spoke
with
them through the screen.

By all accounts, the discussion was amiable at first, as Smokorowski
continued to insist that he was unaware of the policy and was not trying
to
cause trouble. About five minutes into the exchange, one officer placed
his
hand on the screen door and told Smokorowski to let him in. Smokorowski
replied that he would not allow the police to enter his house without a
warrant. One eyewitness reported hearing Smokorowski's mother yelling,
"the
Nazis are here to get us! Don't let them take me away" from inside the
house
as the officer struggled to open the screen door.

As the officer continued to try to force open the door, Smokorowski
disappeared into the back of the house. He returned momentarily with a
shotgun pointed toward the ceiling, and ordered the two officers off his
property. The officers ran for cover, but it is unclear whether
Smokorowski
ever pointed the shotgun toward them -- and by the time backup arrived,
the
question was moot. With dozens of police surrounding the house, all hope
of
a smooth resolution to the problem was lost.

Over the next several hours, police communicated frequently with
Smokorowski
both on the telephone and face-to-face through his front door; but their
"negotiations" were fruitless, as neither they nor Smokorowski were
willing
to budge. Smokorowski kept reiterating his sole demand that the officers
go
away; but police, who were still arriving on the scene, had obviously
gone
too far to back down. A friend of Smokorowski who served with him in
Vietnam
went to police and offered to try talking Smokorowski out. "We can
handle
him," they replied.

Soon afterward, several of Smokorowski's relatives tried to call him,
but he
had stopped answering his telephone. The police turned off the power to
his
house in hopes that the darkness would lull him to sleep, but he
continued
to pace about the house with a flashlight. Finally, at 3:09 a.m., they
called the house again. When Smokorowski answered the phone, the police
entered his home and apprehended him. They recalled that he had a
"bewildered look in his eyes ... we hit him so fast, he was in a state
of
shock."

Questions Unanswered

Regardless of which version of the story one believes, it is clear that
Smokorowski was at least partially to blame for the unfortunate outcome.
One
may argue that he should have seen the sign posted at the front entrance
of
the school, and should have checked in at the office before entering the
library; but even if he had not seen the sign, his assertion that he had
a
right as a taxpayer to roam freely on a school campus was erroneous.
Smokorowski had a constitutional right to refuse to allow police to
enter
his home without a warrant, but should not have resorted to brandishing
a
shotgun at them in order to prevent them from entering. Even though
police
admit that his mother did not appear to have been in danger at any point
during the standoff, Smokorowski should have considered her safety
before
facing down dozens of armed officers for sixteen hours.

Nevertheless, it appears that the official version of this story as
reported
by police and the media has unfairly cast Smokorowski as the sole
instigator
of the standoff, and has substantially distorted the actual chain of
events
by leaving several key questions unanswered. To wit: Why did
Smokorowski's
ex-wife accompany the principal into the parking lot to confront
Smokorowski? Why did the police go to Smokorowski's home to warn him
about a
school policy that was not a police matter? Given that Smokorowski had
not
done this before and did not present himself as an immediate threat, why
didn't a school official simply call him or send him a letter officially
notifying him of the policy? Why would the police have found it
necessary to
open the screen door when they were able to converse with Smokorowski
through the door? Why did the police refuse offers of assistance in
negotiating with Smokorowski? None of these questions has been
adequately
addressed by either the police or the media.

One thing does seem certain: as a result of this incident, Wilhelm
Smokorowski will spend some time in state custody, either in prison or
in a
mental institution. Since his arrest, police have dropped the least
serious
charge -- criminal trespassing -- against Smokorowski; but he still
faces
charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer -- for which
Kansas law mandates mandatory imprisonment -- and obstructing justice.

Last September, Smokorowski's attorney requested that the court question
his
client's competency on the grounds that he suffered from a "mental
illness"
and was uncooperative. Smokorowski has since hired another attorney who
withdrew the motion for a competency hearing, insisting that Smokorowski
had
cooperated with him fully and showed no signs of mental incompetence.
Smokorowski has waived his right to a preliminary hearing. His trial is
set
to begin March 28.

Copyright © 2001 Michael H. Burchett. All rights reserved.


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Page copyright © 2001 Terraplane Publications.



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