Collateral Damage from The Intercept

Ep. 8 Legalized Takings: The Land Grab That Killed Donald Scott

In 1992, Donald Scott, the eccentric owner of a large Malibu estate, was killed in his home by an ad hoc team of raiding cops. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department led the raid, but a panoply of state and federal police agencies participated too. Police claimed Scott was operating a large marijuana grow on the property. Scott, who always feared the government would take his land, actually repudiated the use of illegal drugs. No marijuana or any illicit drugs were found on his property. A subsequent investigation by the local district attorney confirmed Scott wasn’t paranoid: The LA County Sheriff’s Department was motivated by a desire to take Scott’s property under civil asset forfeiture laws, auction it off, and keep the proceeds for the department. Bizarrely, Scott’s home wasn’t even in LA County. Despite recent reform efforts, the promise of forfeiture continues to be a major motivating force in drug policy across the country. You can support our work at theintercept.com/join [https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time]. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Ep. 7 Dirty Information: The NYPD’s Shock Tactics and the death of Alberta Spruill

In 2004, New York narcotics officers raided Alberta Spruill’s home, shattering her door and detonating a flash grenade. Spruill, a 57-year-old city worker, went into cardiac arrest and died two hours later. The raid was based on faulty intel from a discredited informant, and the suspect they were searching for was already in custody. Spruill’s death came amid a surge in New York City Police Department raids, which had skyrocketed from 1,400 in the mid-’90s to over 5,000 by the time she was killed, nearly all no-knock. Despite repeated warnings that these reckless raids would end in tragedy, few listened. This episode of Collateral Damage [https://theintercept.com/podcasts/collateral-damage/], hosted by Radley Balko [https://theintercept.com/staff/radley-balko/], explores how Spruill’s death catalyzed the political rise of Eric Adams, a young Black NYPD officer who would later become mayor. It also examines how promises of reform quickly faded, and the NYPD returned to business as usual. You can support our work at theintercept.com/join [https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time]. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Ep. 6 Airborne Imperialism: The Tragic Deaths of Veronica and Charity Bowers

Veronica and Charity Bowers, a young Christian missionary and her daughter, are killed when the Peruvian Air Force shoots down a small passenger plane in 2001. The plane had been mistaken for a drug smuggling plane and was shot down as part of a joint anti-drug agreement between the CIA and the Colombian and Peruvian governments. President Donald Trump has made the Bowers's deaths newly and urgently relevant since he began ordering the U.S. military to strike down alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean in September 2025. By early November, the U.S. had launched a total of 17 strikes, killing at least 70 people, and those figures seem to grow [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/29/us/us-caribbean-pacific-boat-strikes.html] almost by the day [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/29/us/us-caribbean-pacific-boat-strikes.html]. The attacks are illegal under both U.S. and international law. The administration also provided no documentation of the alleged drug trafficking [https://theintercept.com/2025/10/31/trump-venezuela-boat-strikes-unprivileged-belligerants/].  The attack on the Bowers family pierced the veil that obscures drug war foreign policy because of their nationality, skin color, and relatability. More than 20 years ago, House Oversight Committee hearing members Jan Schakowsky and Elijah Cummings demanded accountability after U.S. drug interdiction forces killed the Bowers. They demanded to know how such a mistake could happen, and how we could prevent the loss of innocent life going forward. “The kind of action we saw in Peru … amounts to an extrajudicial killing,” said Schakowsky at the time. Cummings added, “The Peruvian shootdown policy would never be permitted as a domestic United States policy precisely because it goes against one of our most sacred, due process principles — namely, that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.” Now, a new administration openly celebrates summary execution of alleged drug smugglers without a hint of due process, and is now threatening to topple another government to prevent the U.S. from sating its appetite for illicit drugs.  The story of Veronica and Charity Bowers is a stark reminder of how aggressive drug policy is wasteful and futile, how we never seem to learn from past failures, and how the generations-long effort to stop people from getting high also — and necessarily — treats human lives as expendable. You can support our work at theintercept.com/join [https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time]. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference.  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Ep. 5 What Fourth Amendment? How the Killing of Trevon Cole Almost Made Prime-Time TV

In June 2010, Las Vegas police conducted a no-knock raid on Trevon Cole’s apartment, where he lived with his nine-months-pregnant fiancée. Cole, who occasionally sold small amounts of marijuana, rushed to the bathroom to flush a bag down the toilet. An officer followed and shot him in the head, killing him. Cole was unarmed. The officer claimed Cole made a “furtive” movement, but others present, including Cole’s fiancée, never heard any warning. Cole had no prior criminal record, but police secured the warrant by falsely linking him to a different Trevon Cole with a criminal history in Texas. Despite the clear misidentification and Cole’s lack of threat, a coroner’s inquest cleared the officer, who had previously shot two other men, killing one. This episode of Collateral Damage, hosted by Radley Balko, examines how the courts have failed to protect the Fourth Amendment in drug cases, featuring interviews with constitutional law scholars, Cole’s fiancée, and the daughter she was carrying during the raid, now a teenager. You can support our work at theintercept.com/join [https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time]. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference.  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Ep. 4 Criminalizing Care: The Remarkable Life and Cruel Death of Peter McWilliams

Peter McWilliams was an optimist, activist, poet, and advocate for personal freedom. His book “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country” resonated across the political spectrum. After contracting AIDS and being diagnosed with AIDS-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 1996, McWilliams turned to medical marijuana to manage his nausea and keep down his medication. He became a vocal advocate for medical cannabis, but in 1997, he was arrested by federal authorities for running a grow operation, despite California creating some protections for medicinal use at the time. As a condition of his bail, McWilliams was forced to stop using marijuana, even though it played a critical role in his treatment. He later died after choking on his own vomit, while awaiting sentencing by a federal judge. This episode of Collateral Damage [https://theintercept.com/podcasts/collateral-damage/] explores McWilliams’s life and legacy, and examines how the drug war has obstructed health care.  You can support our work at theintercept.com/join [https://join.theintercept.com/donate/Donate_Podcast?source=interceptedshoutout&recurring_period=one-time]. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference.  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.