Constitutionalist blames police for fatal shootout (shooting in Massillon, Ohio)

The Canton Repository (Ohio) ^ | August 13, 2002 | ED BALINT

[Catspaw]

Don Matthews was a hero up until this firefight.

Uh huh. To what do you attribute his heroism? That as long as four years ago he said if he got pulled over for a traffic ticket, he'd kill a cop?

[ResistorSister]

The officer was like any other person working for a living.

He probably felt pretty safe too...because Massillon is just a quiet little Ohio town...where football rules; there had not been a police officer killed in the line of duty for 50-years.

[ResistorSister]

Freaks.

No kidding!

[general_re]

Don Matthews didn't have a lot of money. As you can see from the picture, his friends don't have money either.

What's your standard for not having a lot of money? They claim that "over $200,000" worth of fireworks were "stolen" by the police. Dunno about you, but that sounds like a lot of money to me - they ain't talking about a couple of packs of Black Cat firecrackers here...

[ResistorSister]

I like how they showed such respect for the dead by dressing appropriately to go calling at a funeral home.

I think, they think, they are dressed appropriately. :-(

[ResistorSister]

Nutburger? *grin* never heard that one before...but it fits.

[ResistorSister]

He does look the part. They have a lot of rights...they just aren't satisfied living within the parameters of a normal, happy, productive life...they are the fringe.

[wimpycat]

I don't know if Matthews snapped or the police provoked him so badly that he felt that he had to defend himself.

Think about that statement for a moment. If the cops pull you over for speeding, and you take off, and the police chase you--what on God's green earth could "provoke" you enough to pull a gun on a cop, Hmmmmmm? Unless you think the "traffic stop" is part of the "coverup" (re: your statement--"I know that police have been known to find excuses to kill "troublemakers," and I know that once police have killed, city officials and judges have been known to help cover up the abuses of their friends.")

Please be explicit in your statements and let us know once and for all:

a. Do you believe Matthews was justified in refusing to give the patrol officer his driver's license?
b. Do you believe Matthews was justified in running from the traffic stop?
c. Do you believe any conditions exist under which Matthews could have been sufficiently "provoked" into drawing his weapon on law enforcement officials?

These questions are not contingent upon further investigation. No one disputes that the traffic stop occurred, that Matthews ran from the police, and that Matthew drew his weapon.

Instead of being shadowy and vague in your suspicions, and grasping at straws to justify Matthews' behavior, why don't you just condemn his actions unequivocally?

[ResistorSister]

I hope Matthews felt his priniciples were worth his life.

He might have justified it as standing on principles...- from his actions...I think he was more of a coward, who was fearful of life and those around him. He let his Constitutional fight consume him, which then lead to the murder of an innocent man.

A man who wanted ALL OF HIS RIGHTS - ends up leaving the planet by stripping another man of his rights. Stupid!

[wimpycat]

I wish I could give credit where credit is due, but I can't remember which FReeper said it first. I only know I didn't think it up myself.

The British use the word "nutter", which I think is pretty cool.

[Poohbah]

I like the one from the Monty Python Fish License sketch...

"He's gone off his chump."

[Poohbah]

Don't expect an answer from exodus. The questions you ask have a moral component to them, and rabid ideologues have no use for such bourgeouis notions.

[ResistorSister]

The questions you ask have a moral component to them, and rabid ideologues have no use for such bourgeouis notions.

Well said!

[wimpycat]

Well, now he can never say that he didn't have the opportunity to set the record straight. Honestly, just like the Muslim clerics with regards to Muslim terrorists (and I'm not comparing Matthews to terrorists, but I am comparing the attitudes of each of their apologists), if they would unequivocally, no ifs ands or buts, condemn Matthews' actions, from refusing to hand over his license to running from the cops to pulling his weapon, then no one would be giving other "freestyle interpreters of the Constitution" such a hard time.

[american spirit]

Your first question is so stupid it doesn't even deserve a reply. As for your second question, you show me where in the Constitution it gives these municipal corporate gov'ts. the authority to annex property, require permits, pass codes and regulations, etc. The short answer is that there is no authority for these local gov'ts. to have this inordinate amount of control over us. Codes and regulations are created statutorily under administrative law which is NOT constitutional law.

[wardaddy]

I'll say it again. Politics aside, killing a cop over a speeding ticket is simply wrong. It doesn't matter if the guy was Posse Commitatus or the Communist Worker's Party. Anyone trying to justify this particular action is sorely misguided. I lament the shame by association this has brought on our forum.

[Poohbah]

As for your second question, you show me where in the Constitution it gives these municipal corporate gov'ts. the authority to annex property, require permits, pass codes and regulations, etc.

Well, how about this section here:

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Game, set, and match. G'Day.