Posted on 02/19/2009 7:25:45 AM PST by peggybac
An Oklahoma City police officer wrongly pulled over a man last week and confiscated an anti-President Barack Obama sign the man had on his vehicle.
The officer misinterpreted the sign as threatening, said Capt. Steve McCool, of the Oklahoma City Police Department, and took the sign, which read "Abort Obama, not the unborn."
Chip Harrison said he was driving to work when a police car followed him for several miles and then signaled for him to pull over.
''I pulled over, knowing I hadn't done anything wrong," Harrison said in a recent phone interview.
When the officer asked Harrison if he knew why he had been pulled over, Harrison said he did not.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsok.com ...
27 years ago my dad and his coworkers talked me out of following in his LEO footsteps.
They said affirmative action was destroying their work environment and rendering it unsafe.
Some of the best advice I ever got.
hmm. I smell a lawsuit :)
The REAL villain in this whole mess is that effing cop. He should be suspended and evaluated for competence to perform his job. In addition, that citizen should contemplate a lawsuit against him and the police force.
From the Secret Service folks I know, they would likely agree with you.
This is so reminiscent of the crap that took place during the Toons administration, ie., the couple who were in line, and when Clinton got to them, said: "our soldiers died, and you suck." They were hauled away and questioned extensively by the SS.
“One thing for sure, the motorists of OKC won’t have to worry about seeing any more negative bumper stickers regarding Obama. Message received.”
Bingo. This is intimidation and harrassment meant to scare OTHER CONSERVATIVE PEOPLE..not just this Harrison dude in Oklahoma!
Priceless. Absolutely priceless. Put that on a T-Shirt and you could send your kids to college.
Un-FN believable. So, would I be targeted for having bumper stickers showing my support for the military?
Exactly.
BS. He was not acting alone. I am sure his superiors approved him or someone else reporting this to the SS. The buck stops with the chief of police.
Once brought into it, the Secret Service just covered their bases by following through.
Again BS. They did not have to go to the guy's house and have a walk thru. The SS actions are inexcusable given the circumstances. If they believed that this sign was not a threat to the President, there was no need to investigate further save some checks of lookout files. I am not about to give the SS a pass and I have worked with them on many occasions as a member of WH advance teams or on the receiving end of POTUS visits overseas.
Sweet!
In principle, you're right. But, for the rest of this guy's life he will have a file on him at the SS and the FBI. Regardless what the SS says to the man, he will forever be on a "watch" list of sorts.
I'm guess that the information they've already compiled on the man would be shocking to the average citizen. Information, by the way, which will be maintained and accessible forever.
Yeah, I'd like to know at whose direction they did that? Did that cop make the call to the SS to begin with? Did he return to headquarters with the sign, and then call in the threat to the SS himself?
I didn't see anything in the article that claimed the SS had received a complaint from anyone, and then told the cops to stop the guy and investigate. The police department did call after the incident to tell them the sign wasn't a threat, so why did they end up on his doorstep afterall? Either they don't trust the local cops to do the job right, or the police department is lying or leaving out info on how this actually went down.
Is there potential for police harassment in this? Violation of the 1st Amendment?
Now that's one fantastic FR tagline for these times, if you care to use it as such. Sad, huh? :-(
''We always try to do the right thing and in the end we believe we did the right thing by returning the sign," McCool said. .."
That is BS. The cop should be fired. Anybody here think an "Abort Bush" sign would result in this?
The SS agents made a mistake. They could have CYA'ed themselves by just running routine police and lookout checks. A visit to and walk thru the house was uncalled for. It is indefensible and those SS agents responsible for it should be reprimanded by the SS.
The REAL villain in this whole mess is that effing cop. He should be suspended and evaluated for competence to perform his job. In addition, that citizen should contemplate a lawsuit against him and the police force
Sorry, but the officer's superiors should have squashed this before it ever went to the SS. Yes, the cop was responsible for the arrest and confiscation of the sign, but the police chief must have approved of reporting it to the SS.
That's what one of the comments on the paper's website suggests.
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