Posted on 11/05/2002 3:31:42 AM PST by kattracks
I'm not "toying" with or presuming anything!
I am simply stating that this delicate little A.H and his pathetic attorney "blind-sidded" officers who were trying to end a murderous and desperate situation by visiting everyone who had both a white van and a 223 rifle.
This jerk was having a good time in a truly desperate situation with the liberal media right there to add to his enjoyment.
A certified A$$ hole.
Whether or not one is convicted of the subject "crime," the trauma to one's self (not to mention one's family and friends) of being indicted, arrested, processed, arraigned, dealing with and being indebted to a lawyer, tried in a court of law, unemployed, publically labelled a criminal, etc. etc. is most likely to be quite substantial.
If you don't believe me, then you do and review a Google search of "Linda Tripp prosecution." Or simply use some common sense....
The charges against Tripp? They were dropped. They had NO real merit. It was a strictly 100% political persecution. They kind NO ONE, innocent or guilty, is exempt from.
You have made one argument: "Be afraid of the bogeyman!" Nothing more, no facts, nothing but fear.
Grow up.
You, son, can settle this in your own diminished and arrested mind by simply coming down here to Maryland and covertly taping someone. You no doubt have enough time on your hands and no career or anything material to lose.
Not surprisingly, your FR home page reads:
"Location: A location shown on the NJ State quarter.
"I can count to 100 and know all the vowels, if not most of the alphabet. I can walk up the stairs without using my hands and dress myself without anybody's help. I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. For a living I am planning to sell dryer lint on eBay, or maybe I'll invent a edible toothpick. No, my mother does not wear army boots."
And you, Junior, have the gall to tell me to "grow up?"
If the agents really wanted to end a murderous and desperate situation, why were they wasting their time visiting non-criminals, rather than doing something useful like checking whether any vehicles were present at an implausible number of the roadblocks?
Unless you think it's a good thing that the government agents were using their government-paid time to harrass law-abiding gun owners rather than working usefully toward solving the case, I can't see why you would object to having the media expose such action?
Yeah, all those children were in the way! They deserved to be fried! </SARCASM>
Oh, I see...Your position is that the FBI did not want to end a murderous and desperate situation and that the agency was just spending its time tormenting people....Nice.
Clearly, if they had a probable cause to suspect he was involved in the sniper shootings they would have gotten a warrant. Warrants are issued on probable cause. If they thought this individual knew something about the sniper incidents then they would have asked him questions that did not have to do with a rifle purchased yaers ago.
The agents clearly were chasing a wild goose and the fact that they would go after people just because they happened to have purchased a firearm that fires the same round the shooter used in this case. Clearly their time would have been better spent checking out field reports from officers who stopped vehicles after some of these shootings and looking for the people seen in the vicinity of more than one shooting. That might have led them to John Mohammed and it was a valid police procedure. Checking out those kind of details is what led to the arrest of David Berkowitz. It is a tried and true methodology.
Further, unlike the sweep of Maryland gun owners, it does not damage the FBI's reputation for the future. It encourages cooperation in future cases. It does not leave the impression that the FBI is eager to violate the Right to keep and bear arms.
Of course, you may suggest what you wish.
However, as an avid hunter and gun owner (bow hunting as well),my suggestion is that this person got his jollies off by interferring with a legitamte and desperate (and I repeat-desperate)search effort to find the madmen who were terrorizing much of the greater Washington DC and Virginia/Maryland areas.
Other gun owners possessing both a white van and a 223 Bushmaster had no problem cooperating with the FBI. This a$$hole, his stooge lawyer, and their liberal media Peter Jennings wannabees had their fun getting press while interferring with a massive and well justified manhunt.
Pathetic.
If they were so desparate to solve the case why weren't they doing good police work instead of toeing the Sarah Brady line
I really do not care if you are a hunter or not. I point out for your reference the Second Amendment is not about hunting.
I also point out the vetran who was shot by his spouse who happened to have a white van anbd a .223 rifle in Baltimore who was in custody when another shooting happened in the Beltway series. You seem to not wish to have Federal Law enforcement agents do the actual work of investigation and want them instead to practice a law enforcement technique more like that employed by Captain Louis Renneault in Casablanca to wit Round up twice the usual number of suspects. You have alleged this line of inquiry was legitmate but have yet to substantiate that with any logic or reasoning. If it were a legitimate line of inquiry why were the agens not cooperative with teh News Media documenting a legitimate line of inquiry? Further, as far as I know the FBI has never objected to someone having an attorney present during any legitimate questioning. Why were they upset if this was a legitmate form of inquiry? Unless and until these questions are answered it is merely another instance of the FBI performing unprofessiuonally when they need to not only be professional but appear that way. I note this episode occurred after the tarot card had turned up. In short this was during the time when they already had info leading to the 5% connection and a possible Muslim connection based up the exact phrasing. They also had the records from several road bloack intercepts that the chevy caprice with NJ plates was in the area of more multiple attacks. Following up on that lead would have been as simple as sorting plate numbers and tracing the most frequent hits, a simple computer program would have given them that lead and probably Mohammed and Malvo probaly before they shot their last several victims.
You place great emphasis on the desparation of the search for the shooter. This is all the more reason why the limited police resources available should have been put to the best use possible. Further, FBI agents should be polite to people they interview most particularly when they do not have evidence of any crime committed by that individual. It costs them nothing. It builds up a good rapport with the public. It encourages future cooperation from the public. The FBI and BATF should have been scrupulous about returning any firearm that was not an exact match to the owner of that firearm. If that had been the reputation beforehand then I doubt there would have been the learyness of seeing these agents.
Once more if you appreciate the FBI one should focus on improving it. We as a nation were subjected to a major terrorist attack about 14 months ago. The FBI needs to have the maximum trust and cooperation of the American people. Anything which cuts that trust and cooperation without a real tangible benefit must be viewed as a bad management practice and dangerous to our nation.
While it is never a pleasant experience to meet police, exactly how many gun owners complained and what was the specific harm that they experienced?
That's a ridiculous question. "Exactly how many"! Oh boy .... there's no argument that a person willing to delude himself cannot declare himself the victor of. Well, HOORAY, you have won! No one of sanity and reason can make a hairs-width of headway with you!
Please go celebrate.
Your experience is far different than mine I have never once had a problem meeting police. When occaisionally someone has come to the door I have invariably invited them in and not had a problem but then again I have not had a problem with police trying to enforce some non law.
exactly how many gun owners complained and what was the specific harm that they experienced? More than six had complained of guns being volunteered for ballistic testing and not being returned to the owners after completion of the test. If you had read the above and been following RKBA news sites you would have been aware of this. Clearly property taken and not returned is a major problem especially when one is talking about a Constititionally protecte3d item like one's arms. The fact that at first many gun owners had volunteered their property and not been treated courteously when after sufficient time ( a day or less) to get the ballitic sample(s) for testing is the underlying problem and this was explained in the article.
When the FBI does things correctly I do praise them and I know several Agents who have my deepest respect but when the management allows them to behave as jack booted thugs they alienate the people they need the most that is the ordinary citizens who would normally cooperate.
You asked for specifics. Yu have been given specifics. Had a state or local Law Enforcement agency I would also criticise them but the FBI is supposed to be the best Law Enforcement operation in the nation. Given their history over the past couple of years one may reasonably state that they are FUBAR and need to get their act together. Obviously when an organization gets is not performing adequately the senior andf the middle management needs profound changes. I do not need to go into the litany of problems here. Will the current director who has been in his post only a little more than a year fix things. I certainly hope so.
What I do not like is seeing an us vs them attitude regarding Federal Law enforcement agents. We can not afford the non cooperation of the American people.
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