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Ogden • The family of accused cop killer Matthew David Stewart plans to hold a Friday afternoon rally decrying the "home-invasion style" search warrant service they feel led to the January shooting.
"We want to make it to where our police officers are peace officers again," said Erna Stewart, the accused's sister-in-law.
The rally will start at noon at Ogden's 25th Street park and will include a march to the Weber County Attorney's Office.
Erna Stewart said she does not speak to her brother-in-law about the night of the deadly shooting, but said that "a lot of things went wrong that night."
Stewart's family has previously chastised the search warrant practices of the Weber Morgan Narcotics Task Force, whose agents were looking for marijuana in Stewart's Ogden home the night of Jan. 4. Erna Stewart said the practice put home owners, neighbors and police in danger.
The rally "is not against [police], it's for them," the woman said.
Stewart's family sat in 2nd District Court on Monday, wearing prisoner of war pins.
"There is a war on drugs," Erna Stewart said. "We do believe Matthew is a prisoner of the war on drugs."
In 2nd District Court on Monday, attorneys set a May 22 hearing to determine whether the defense's request for funding for a private investigator should be heard in open court or during closed proceedings.
Ogden police Officer Jared Francom was killed during the January raid at Stewart's home that erupted into a gun battle that also injured five other officers.
The officers were serving a search warrant when they entered Stewart's home.
Court documents claim Stewart was hiding as the strike force searched the house to see if anyone was inside. Stewart emerged from the hiding spot, court documents say, firing a 9mm Beretta.
Francom, 30, was shot six times, according to the court papers.
Stewart, 37, who also was wounded, has been charged with aggravated murder and eight other felony counts related to the shooting and marijuana cultivation. Weber County prosecutors have filed notice that they intend to seek the death penalty.