Flash ....!
“We [Charlotesville police] were ordered to bring the rival groups together. As soon as they were in contact with each other, we were told to stand down. It was outrageous. We weren’t allowed to arrest anyone without asking the mayor first. We weren’t even allowed to stop the driver as he sped away.“ [snip]
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Related research in posting at the following thread ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3573144/posts?page=35#35
“We [Charlotesville police] were ordered to bring the rival groups together. As soon as they were in contact with each other, we were told to stand down. It was outrageous. We weren’t allowed to arrest anyone without asking the mayor first. We weren’t even allowed to stop the driver as he sped away.“
Since when is permissible to order public safety officers to "stand down"
thus encouraging violence by two confrontational groups ?
If it can be shown that the Mayor was in control of his police officers and communicated such an order to them
the elected official should be tried for "criminal facilitation",
and accessory both "before and after the fact" where a criminal offense occurred during a "stand down" order.
It is, at least, a dereliction of duty to protect public safety.
Where a fatality occurred during such a "stand down" order, a charge of "accessory to murder" would seem to be appropriate.
For too long, such "stand down" orders to public safety officers by elected officials has gone unpunished; such an order is an act of commission, rather than omission !