Posted on 05/04/2006 8:53:59 AM PDT by StevenB
Illegal Immigration Counter Protesters Detained
The topic of discussion on the Bryan Suits radio show on 570 KVI earlier this evening was a call by a Seattle area citizen, Eric, who called to say that while thousands of illegal immigrants marched a couple of feet away, 5 United States citizens, he being one of the 5, who should be covered by all of the constitutional amendments, including the 1st and 2nd, were detained by the Seattle Police Department for over 2 hours because... well hard to say really. The reason for Caller Eric's call into the show was, surprise, surprise, the medias total lack of coverage of what should be a fairly big story. U.S. Citizens constitutional rights infringed in order to protect illegal aliens non existent right to hold a protest march.
Now I am a regular listener of the Bryan Suits show, as you should be, especially if you, like me, are in the male 35-64 year old demographic, and as Bryan can testify, I am also a regular emailer, but did not catch every single minute of the show since the 5pm to 8pm time slot is right in that end of the work day - drive home - eat dinner time window so I may have missed out on some of the conversation but here is a recap as best as I can recall. Full disclosure on my part requires that I state my Father is a 25 year retired Seattle Police Officer and I may or may not own a gun, try breaking into my house and you may or may not get an answer right then and there.
It all started with a 911 call from someone the police say was not part of the march claiming that there was a group of people with signs opposed to the marchers who were armed. The caller said he saw a gun holster sticking out from a partly open jacket. The police responded to the call and found the counter protesters and asked if any of them had weapons and sure enough, 3 of the 5 had guns and one had a switchblade or some sort of knife. Caller Eric said he was the one counter protester that did not have a weapon. At that point they were cuffed and taken to the West precinct where they spent the next 2 plus hours being detained until the march was over. The problem is they had not violated the law as the 3 with guns had valid concealed carry permits and as best as I can tell while switchblades appear to be illegal, there was no mention of the person carrying the knife being arrested or charged with a crime.
A Seattle Police officer, who called himself Steve, called into the show to give his version of the events. While for the most part, the stories matched, Office Steve's main point was they felt they were doing the appropriate thing in order to potentially avoid a violent situation and needed to take the people to the station in order to do a proper investigation. As Bryan Suits said, it was kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for the police but he, along with myself, kept asking under what authority were these people detained and why did it take over 2 hours to finish the investigation and let them leave? Bryan's conclusion, as was mine was it seems fairly obvious that the message from the police hierarchy was to hold these people until the march was over. One thing that bothered me about the conversation with Officer Steve was how Suits had to explain to him it is legal to openly carry a firearm. In the State of Washington you must have a concealed carry permit to have a concealed weapon but not to openly carry. Officer Steve made a comment that implied he thought since the holster was partly visible, that was in some way a violation of the law since the weapon was no longer concealed, which is not the case.
Later a female caller gave Bryan a ring and said she was one of the counter protesters who was packing heat. The first question from Bryan was in effect, what were you thinking bringing a gun into a situation like that even though you are totally within your rights to do so? Her response was she always has her gun with her, expect in bars and other "gun free zones" or as I like to call them, "potential sitting duck shooting galleries". She mentioned that the gun was in her purse and they told the officers when they first asked about the weapons that they had valid permits for them. She said once at the station they were told they would be released once the march was over which contradicted what Office Steve said about it just taking that long to finish the investigation and there was no intent to simply hold them until the march was over.
Now last I checked, United States Citizens have a 1st amendment right to free speech and even in Seattle we have a 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms and it sure seems to me like those and potentially others were violated. I do know one thing, if I were one of the Seattle 5, I would "lawyer up" and have filed a lawsuit against the City yesterday, because as I emailed Bryan, until the city gets hit with a lawsuit and pays a big judgment, expect this kind of thing to keep on happening. My one question of any city official is when did POTENTIALLY preventing a violent situation supersede our constitutional rights?
Thursday on the Bryan Suits show, where you can listen to live over the internet by going here, the hope is someone from the City will be on to discuss this topic in further detail. Also, its Led Zeppelin Thursday, so get your request in early.
If anyone has any additional information, clarification or corrections, please post them in the comments and I will update accordingly.
You basically called me a liar when I had already stated that there were riots in Vista, Los Angeles, and Santa Ana, CA on Monday. Yet, now YOU are offended when I tell you to shut up if you don't know what you're talking about. What a piece of work...
It was reported on Lou Dobbs that one of the CNN trucks was rocked back and forth by the marchers. That is a little bit violent for me. I don't want anyone rocking my car.
I'm sending her a copy. I think she may need more than one.
Good for you for contacting the mayor, but I think you just talked to an assistant. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is a man, but it has not confirmed he is genetically a man. He is quite the whiny liberal metrosexual and a rabid gun-grabber. He and the Chief of Police just this week came out with a plan to take guns away from everyone.
What you said! Hear, hear!
If the car's arockin' don't come aknockin'
Those detained did not violate any laws, that is the point.
Hey y'all, check out this little story. Can any of you add detail? ;o)
Thank you for posting that, so many people do not realize illegals do have rights in this country.
Thank you also for your service in the Border Patrol.
I was simply asking a question (which was never answered). To answer your question, however, I don't know that they violated any law, but they were arrested for SOME reason (which could include reasonable investigation or even to just protect themselves or the police). We are still waiting for the police report from above. Would you agree that anyone brandishing a weapon in these circumstances, or otherwise inciting a riot, should be arrested?
See my post # 69.
Yeah, but that's CNN.
Lighten' up, Frances.
According to Packing.org, in the State of Washington, you must inform law enforcement when carrying:
RCW 9.41.050
(1)(b): Every licensee shall have his or her concealed pistol license in his or her immediate possession at all times that he or she is required by this section to have a concealed pistol license and shall display the same upon demand to any police officer or to any other person when and if required by law to do so.
http://www.packing.org/state/washington/#statenotify_officer_law
We have what is called a Shall Issue concealed weapons permit law. That is, if you ask for one and are a citizen, not a felon, and not insane, you MUST be issued the permit. They have a blank on the form asking why you want the permit. I wrote "Because" in mine. A friend left his blank. We both got our permits.
You have the right to open carry without a permit, but in cases like this, they could arrest you or ask you to leave the area for "menacing" or some such thing as it could be seen as initmidation. I think that is what you're getting at.
In my ideal world, in this situation, they would have been asked to present their concealed weapons permits and when they were shown to be valid, I would have left them to their business, provided the officers assessment of the situation was that they were not going to cause trouble. They were not breaking any laws. I probably would have left an officer or two there to make sure things stayed in order, but I certainly saw no reason to detain them.
I reserve the right to change this should more information come out to contradict what has been told so far.
I'll have to go with "The Immigrant Song." ;o)
Knife carry law summary (ne mnetion of blade length though):
RCW 9.41.250 Dangerous weapons -- Penalty.
Every person who:
(1) Manufactures, sells, or disposes of or possesses any instrument or weapon of the kind usually known as slung shot, sand club, or metal knuckles, or spring blade knife, or any knife the blade of which is automatically released by a spring mechanism or other mechanical device, or any knife having a blade which opens, or falls, or is ejected into position by the force of gravity, or by an outward, downward, or centrifugal thrust or movement;
(2) Furtively carries with intent to conceal any dagger, dirk, pistol, or other dangerous weapon;
http://www.packing.org/state/washington/#stateknifecarry_law
Would you please send them to me. I'd like to see them. Thanks! :o)
Thanks for the info - I live in California.
No. Millions of invaders, organized by Marxists, marched in our streets since 25 March waving the flags of the foreign nations to which they swear their loyalty. Those same invaders are responsible for more American deaths annually than the 9/11 terrorists (4,400 murders, 4,800 deaths by illegal alien drunk drivers according to Rep. Steve King). They're getting increasingly brazen and violent. Our government, our president, our representatives, and even our local law enforcement are not fighting the invasion, but enabling it. How can anyone "lighten up" in the face of this situation? Then you come on here, not knowing what you're talking about and trying to downplay the violence that took place on Monday in a thread about a handful of law-abiding Americans who were detained by police for no reason at all except that they were standing up against the invaders. I'm not going to lighten up and neither should anyone else. Wake up!
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