Posted on 10/05/2010 6:01:36 AM PDT by Kaslin
The "Long Gray Line" is bringing pressure on the Vegas department following Erik Scott's death in a hail of bullets.
It was a foregone conclusion that a coroner’s inquest in Las Vegas would find three Metro police officers justified in gunning down Erik Scott in a hail of bullets outside of a crowded Costco on July 10, even though five of the seven bullets hit him from behind, and at least one appeared to have been fired while Scott lay prone, dead or dying on the ground.
Police were called to the store after an employee described Scott as both armed and acting as if he were under the influence of narcotics. As Scott and his girlfriend emerged from the store along with dozens of other shoppers, he was confronted by a trio of officers with weapons already drawn. Scott was identified by a Costco employee, and seconds later, Scott lay dead on the ground. These are the facts of the case that are not in dispute.
What is very much in dispute is whether or not Costco employees unnecessarily escalated the threat, whether the store chain’s unclear policies on customers carrying weapons and their employee training contributed to the events that led to Scott’s death, and whether or not police officers violated Erik Scott’s civil rights when they killed him in a confrontation that some argue was little more than an ambush or assassination.
Erik Scott’s family is expected to file a civil case against Costco, the Metro police, and the individual officers over his death, but that isn’t the only action being called for because of this incident. Metro has raised the ire of the the Long Gray Line — Erik Scott’s fellow graduates of the United States Military Academy.
Sources have provided PJM with copies of communications between members of the group. Alumni in the threaded discussion seem almost universally suspect of the coroner’s inquest process used in Las Vegas, where prosecutors and law enforcement control the witnesses called and the questions asked, and disallow cross-examination. Since 1976, law enforcement officers have been in front of the coroner’s inquest more than 200 times, and none has resulted in criminal charges being filed against an officer for even the most controversial shootings.
One alum wrote to the president of one of the larger West Point Society chapters:
I don’t know if you are aware of the tragic shooting of Eric Scott ‘94 in Las Vegas not long ago. It looks more and more like a police screw up and cover up on top of that. We are trying to bring as much political pressure to bear, as possible, to make sure the “truth” comes out.
Another suggested that members bring the Scott case to the attention of West Point and Naval Academy graduates in Congress: Rep. John Shimkus, Rep. Joe Sestak, Rep. Geoff Davis, Rep. Brett Guthrie, Senator Jack Reed, Senator John McCain, and Senator Jim Webb, and well as Nevada’s Congressional delegation, plus Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Chairman of the House Judicial Committee John Conyers. (Interestingly enough, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s name was never mentioned.)
One of the strongest comments openly suggested that the Metropolitan Police Department should be considered as an adversary:
I think that we, as a society, need to take a more active stance. This needs to go to the AOG. Remember the words of “The Corps.” We all took the same oath the Erik Scott did many years ago, on the Plain “to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic.” The abuse of due process, not only for Erik, but all of the others who didn’t have a voice is an attack on the Constitution.
There were at least three of us at the vigil last night. I think that we need to have a much more visible presence to show our support of a member of The Long Gray Line.
Another graduate called Metro PD an “out of control police force,” a characterization that seems to match up with the analysis of the shooting conducted by Mike McDaniel, a former police officer and SWAT operator (also my co-blogger at Confederate Yankee) who recently analyzed the audio of the 911 call and the police radio transcripts. Troubling bursts of static in the Metro radio traffic at key points indicate that these communications need to be examined, and the lack of in-car camera footage from the multiple police cars is also odd — to put it mildly. This is on top of the fact that Costco’s cameras seemingly malfunctioned in the days before the shooting, meaning that none of the four cameras pointed at the scene of the shooting recorded the event according to Metro and Costco — the two entities that have the most to lose from disclosure of such evidence.
A letter composed by one of the officers has been submitted to Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice, outlining “an on-going pattern of police misconduct” by authorities in Las Vegas and citing 63 officer-involved shootings since 2005.
Eric Scott’s death may have been ruled justifiable during the coroner’s inquest, but the pending civil trial to be filed by his family, and the specter of a federal civil rights case being filed against the department, means that the spotlight on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and its leadership will only get brighter.
injecting yerself into a situation of 'i HAD to shoot' is a recipe for disaster for a citizen...cops should be held to a higher standard...
however, 'BITE ME, curly' should/could/would be an *expected* response from a citizen who was simply going about his day...
the initial activity that started this whole mess was a man who...
1. is a citizen of a FRee country, whose God Given right to life is affirmed in our highest 'law of the land'...the 2A of the Constitution...
2. resided in a state that recognizes open carry {IIRC], but allows for the infringement of 2A by the state, in the form of 'liscensing' its citizens for CCW by statute...
3. he went above and beyond, to be 'legal' by obtaining said permission slip from the state...
4. costco ignored the letter of the same statutes, and failed to post a 'kill zone' warning on their door...
5. scott then proceeded to have the nerve to shop at this store, and upon inadvertantly uncovering his weapon, further had the gall to verbalize his military service, and his successful submission to infingment and his RIGHTS as a citizen...to a low wage punk in the store...
6. said punk dropped dime and called in the bully squad, who responded to ONE MAN with multiple cars, swat, and helo coverage...all these individuals of this mini army being 'prepped' for a firefight by said low rung employee and the para military radio operator...eventually, the punk realized he initiated a potentially fatal chain of events, but the machinery was already in motion...
7. one of these entities called for an evac of a large box store, possibly with dozens if not hundreds of innocent citizens, also going about their day in FReedom, being jacked into a heightened state of emotion [fear] of the unknown 'danger' that they were being exposed to...
8. amidst the chaos, scott walked peacefully thru the store, exited the building, PAST the first cop, and was 'fingered' by the employee and physically assualted [touched or grabbed] by a rather large man, who was most certainly using an aggressive 'command' tone of voice and actions...
9. whether its 2-6 seconds, or 2-6 minutes, really doesnt concern me, as the whole scenario was based on a false premise that the state has the 'authority' to put hands on, and demand detention, of a man who was enjoying his life of FReedom in this country as a citizen...
10. the 'evidence' [what little has been trickled out] points to the fact that the FRee citizen, complying with the 'law' was given a matter of a few seconds to recognize and acknowledge a potential threat to his FReedom...ultimately, he didnt 'comply' quickly enuff and was cut down in the name of 'officer safety'...
11. officer friendly shouldnt have even been present to be in fear in the first place, unless he drove the store by to 'enforce' a case of theft, IF scott left the store without paying for the merchandise he damaged...
12. this whole chain of events was based on hearsay evidence, of 'crimes' which do NOT exist, [albeit the destruction of property had a potential to be unpaid] THEREFORE the entire shooting 'fault' lies with the costco employee and the dispatcher not working within the letter of the law, what there is left of it anyways...
13. whether scott was a pill head, was 'seen' with a weapon, was aggravated with the employees of the store etc...NONE of that matters, as they had no reason to be confronting and demanding ANYTHING of him except that he would be expected to pay for the case of water he opened...
14. case of bottled water...$3.99
15. having yer life snuffed out in the blink of an eye for $3.99...the costco of doing business with a statist government and grazing sheep...
MR Rogers has repeatedly pointed out that the situation developed VERY quickly into a fatal 'fight'...one that could easily have been avoided IF mosher had taken the time to determine the facts on the scene for himself...
I see it more 'black & white' at this point in my life...they shouldnt have even been there in the first place...
but where we are as a society, and intrusive gubmint 'laws' being what they are today, mosher most certainly has the requirement to establish the facts on the ground, and having force of numbers, weapon at a ready position, did in FACT have ample opportunity AND obligation to simply 'ask' to speak to erik scott instead of assaultin him and endangering the lives of my countrymen with his over aggressive and fearful 'tactics' that resulted in a mans death...
/rant, sorry for the long .02...
Source?
But let’s talk about those seats.
1. The seats that showed residue in tests were in a part of the aircraft that was far from the ceter wing tank.
2. Tests demonstrated that such residue would have been degraded in ocean water in two days, and the seats had been at the bottom of the ocean for weeks when recovered.
3. Not one passenger’s body...not one...showed the damage that would have resulted from a missile strike or bomb explosion. The structural damage is very much inconsistent with a missile or bomb detonation.
Sorry, but once we look at all the facts in evidence, any missile that this aircraft becomes a physics-defying superweapon that would have had to be fired by Captain Picard. It would be a missile that was fired at night without anyone seeing a launch, that struck a target that should have been well out of range both vertically and horizontally, that left a streak visible to witnesses on Long Island but not combat trained pilots in the air, was (unlike any other SAM) in boost phase when it reached the target and blew it apart without leaving evidence of any explosion on the passengers, structure or the seats near the impact zone, but left magically waterproof warhead residue on seats in the aft section, bypassing row after row of seats and bodies before depositing the crucial evidence. Oh, and it also had to make a sound that had the acoustic characteristics of a fuel tank explosion rather than a warhead detonation.
Sorry, no sale.
BTW, see the link I posted if you haven’t clicked on it. A bullet fired from the level and angle of the Depository through two ballstic mannequins with bones not only followed the “magic” path, it was only slightly more damaged than the original bullet.
As for secrecy...I suspect there were government officials who did some things during the initial couple of days (when they believed that the assassination might be the opening move in a Soviet attack) that they don’t want to come out until after they’re dead.
I cannot imagine why you would expend so much effort to protect this obvious coverup.
Hundreds of witnesses described the missile ascent and strike, and not one of them could have had any reason to fabricate anything, and the gov’t’s extreme attack on Jack would make no sense if the witnesses were wrong.
Anyway, enjoy!
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