Police 'Showdown' Averted ['Team of State Agents Were En Route to Seize Terri']

Miami Herald ^ | Sat, Mar. 26, 2005 | CAROL MARBIN MILLER

[West Coast Conservative]

Hours after a judge ordered that Terri Schiavo was not to be removed from her hospice, a team of state agents were en route to seize her and have her feeding tube reinserted -- but they stopped short when local police told them they would enforce the judge's order, The Herald has learned.

Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told police in Pinellas Park, the small town where Schiavo lies at Hospice Woodside, on Thursday that they were on the way to take her to a hospital to resume her feeding.

For a brief period, local police, who have officers at the hospice to keep protesters out, prepared for what sources called ``a showdown.''

In the end, the squad from the FDLE and the Department of Children & Families backed down, apparently concerned about confronting local police outside the hospice.

''We told them that unless they had the judge with them when they came, they were not going to get in,'' said a source with the local police.

''The FDLE called to say they were en route to the scene,'' said an official with the city police who requested anonymity. ``When the sheriff's department and our department told them they could not enforce their order, they backed off.''

The incident,known only to a few and related to The Herald by three different sources involved in Thursday's events, underscores the intense emotion and murky legal terrain that the Schiavo case has created. It also shows that agencies answering directly to Gov. Jeb Bush had planned to use a wrinkle in Florida law that would have allowed them to legally get around the judge's order. The exception in the law allows public agencies to freeze a judge's order whenever an agency appeals it.

[carl in alaska]

Perhaps I am. But I don't see what he can do here when the entire judiciary from top to bottom is just giving him the middle finger, without starting an armed conflict in Florida. Somebody has to make a decision to resolve any kind of dispute in our society, and we have given that power to the judiciary (unwisely at this point in time.) But the judiciary decide how disputes will end without armed conflict between the different factions of our society. If people do not follow the decisions of judges, then we surely will end up in numerous armed conflicts and literally firefights between various groups.

And that is exactly where this would have gone if Jeb had moved in with his state police into that hospice defended by local police. It would have ended in an armed conflict and possible shootout between two police forces. Now you may say "well that's fine because it's the right thing to do and we have to fight for Terri." That may actually be true in this one case, but what kind of precedent does that set for the future? Do you want a DemocRAT President thumbing his nose at the Supreme Court and sending troops in to enforce his will on society? Jeb was looking through the present crisis into the future and I think he made the right decision here. To survive politically, he has to explain all this to the people and then take Greer down hard.

[Chad Fairbanks]

We are devoid of testicles.

Speak for yourself.

[DuncanWaring]

Then why are they all dangling like marionettes on Judge Dredd's Greer's strings?

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Someone needs to teach you about courtesy pings.

[Windcatcher]

If I lived in that county, one thing is for sure: the local FOP lodge would never see a dime from me again (and I've given to my local FOP so I'm not just blowing smoke).

[Darkwolf377]

Yeah, what kind of president is he, he should be out there calling on people to break the law!

Ah, how long ago it was when we were all bitching about servicemen who didn't just shut up and follow their orders. Now I guess just following orders when they feel like it is the order of the day.

[Libertina]

I have been praying for God to guide Jeb. This is agony for him, too.

[Bedford Forrest]

President Bush is very quiet last few days about all this, looks like the Bush Brothers are backing down from their John Wayne cowboy image.

It is a lot worse that that. They both had a chance to do the right thing and, in the process, put rogue judges everywhere on notice that the war against them had now commenced. Instead they appear to have headed for the tall grass. If this turns out to be true, Jeb's ride is finished and the President may have damaged himself beyond repair. Real Americans will have the same sense of revulsion as they did when GHWB let Saddam stay in power and then signed off on a huge tax increase. And renounced his life membership in the NRA. If the son turns out to be all hat and no cattle in the war against the black robed tyrants and the culture of death, we are in for an interesting ride.

[bjs1779]

Picture of young boy arrested by Nazi Storm Troopers - Poland 1939

10 year old arrested at Woodside Hospice Center for Trying to give Terri Schiavo Water 3/24/2005

14 year old arrested at Woodside Hospice Center for Trying to give Terri Schiavo Water 3/24/2005

10 year old arrested at Woodside Hospice Center for Trying to give Terri Schiavo Water 3/25/2005

Picture of young boy begging Jeb Bush for help - Woodside Hopsice Center 3/25/2005

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Randall Terry just said live on Foxnews that Jeb was on his way over this morning to get Terri with a team of people, and were told by Greer that if he attempts to take custody of Terri there will be police force stopping you. He said at that point Jeb BLINKED!! he got SCARED! 3/24/05

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Jeb

"I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom."George S Patton

[NorCalRepub]

huh????......so are you the one in charge of determining the morality or evilness of the laws....isn't that what the legislature and courts are for in the first case.....you are saying if you don't like a law, you can just disobey it.....I think Most Americans would not agree with you on that point....but of course I haven't polled them

[Fitzcarraldo]

Perhaps he wanted to ensure his access to insulin and to Terri in order to bring her down slowly.

[DoughtyOne]

I've pretty well laid off of the topic for the same reasons, but this woman is dying from intervention by the government.
She was not dead or dying. She will be dead within hours. That is flat out wrong.

[Texas Deb]

"I hope this shows that Jeb was serious. He only backed off to avert a state of FL civil war. Those who think Jeb was not going to act are wrong, he only backed off to avert a major firefight over Terri. I know some would still want that, but I think Jeb made the right call in the end."

I agree.

[Army Air Corps]

Didn't hear the news? We are citizens of a judicial oligarchy.

[Darkwolf377]

"What do you think Reagan would have done?"

When did Reagan ever call out the troops when the judicial branch didn't do what he liked?

[Chad Fairbanks]

We get the point, bjs1779 - America is now full of Nazis. You don't need to keep repeating yourself everywhere...

[Antoninus]

It would royally tick me off if they did anything this late in the game.

Better late than never. If they just let her die, I will lose a tremendous amount of respect for Jeb Bush.

This is not to place the blame solely on him, or even predominantly on him. I just have no more respect to lose for the pro-death scum democrats and the RINO-ghouls that infect segements of the GOP. I expected a LOT more from Jeb Bush. He's looked very small indeed.

[Army Air Corps]

He did hand-out pink slips to federal employees.

[NorCalRepub]

I really don't think killing would have been involved in this case........maybe alot of pushing, shoving until cooler heads prevailed.......which in this case, they did before the entanglement

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

I didn't say you weren't a Christian. But now I can say you aren't too bright. My own first post to you indicated that I was not committing to calling you a Christian or not a Christian. What I said is you do not understand the christian perspective. I'll stand by that.