Posted on 07/30/2006 6:11:23 PM PDT by familyop
ALLEGATIONS that police in Malibu tried to cover up an anti-Semitic outburst by Mel Gibson are to be investigated by an independent review body.
The actor and director was stopped for alleged drunk driving early on Friday. A bottle of tequila was reportedly found on the back seat of his car.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said that Mr Gibson had been pulled over while speeding at 87mph (140km/h) and arrested “without incident”.
But according to a website, the arresting officer’s original report said: “Gibson blurted out anti-Semitic remarks about ‘f***ing Jews’ [and] yelled out ‘The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,’ then asked: ‘Are you a Jew?’ ”
Mr Gibson, 50, who directed the controversial film The Passion of the Christ — interpreted by some as blaming the Jews for the execution of Jesus — has already apologised for his “despicable” behaviour.
However, the apology was overshadowed by the publication of a section of the arresting officer’s handwritten report. The extract, on TMZ.com, suggested that the original report had been heavily edited.
James Mee, the arresting officer, wrote that Mr Gibson’s behaviour was highly emotional from the moment he pulled him over. His report says: “Gibson angrily stated . . . ‘My life is f***ed’ . . . [and] became fixated on his notoriety and the concern that this incident was going to be publicised. In order to calm Gibson’s concerns, I directed [him] to the back seat of the patrol car, telling him that, if he remained co-operative, I would interview him without handcuffing.”
At this point Mr Gibson appears to have attempted to flee.Deputy Mee wrote: “Gibson bolted . . . as he said ‘I’m not going to get in the car’.”
The officer caught Mr Gibson, who stopped resisting but is reported to have begun verbally abusing and threatening the officer, saying: “You motherf***er. I’m going to f*** you. You’re going to regret you ever did this to me.” The tirade allegedly continued inside the car, where the anti-Semitic outburst allegedly took place.
Mike Gennaco, head of the Office of Independent Review, told the Los Angeles Times that an investigation would begin today into the apparent editing of the report. “All that stuff about favourable treatment is something that needs to be looked at,” he said. “I’d like to see if there was a legitimate law enforcement reason for asking that the report be altered.”
He added that he would also look into Mr Gibson’s financial links to the department. In 2002 Mr Gibson served as a “celebrity representative” for the Star Organisation, which provides financial aid to the children of Sheriff’s Department officers killed while on duty.
Sheriff Lee Baca told the newspaper there was no cover up, saying: “Our job is not to [focus] on what [Mr Gibson] said. It’s to establish his blood-alcohol level when he was driving and proceed with the case.”
Mr Gibson issued a lengthy apology over the weekend.
Not true.
This is not fun.....for him, his wife, his 7 children.....and folks who admire, like, support him.
These are real people, durasell.
They have hearts, souls and conscience...and they feel pain....just lke you and me.
Oh please. The guy has been in the public eye -- under the spotlight -- for most of his life. People who live (by their own choosing) in the public eye tend to develop fairly thick skins in regards to media attention.
This added nothing new to much that has already been posted. Sorry, but I agree with those who say this post was unnecessary.
I was responding to the "Jews killed Jesus" vs "other's killed Jesus"
All humans did it. *I* did it!
Here's a link to a copy of the original police report (as it was before parts were alledgedly edited out by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department--apparently from a photocopy of handwritten document). TMZ.com is owned by CNN parent company Time Warner.
http://cdn.digitalcity.com/tmz_documents/gibson_wm_docs_072806.pdf
(PDF--adobe acrobat file)
Here's the news piece that it was linked from.
http://www.tmz.com/2006/07/28/gibsons-anti-semitic-tirade-alleged-cover-up/
The original police report was linked on FR the first day this was reported. There have been several threads on this topic...your posting added nothing new...that's all.
I always found the whole "Jews killed Jesus" issue tremendously confusing. Wasn't the whole point of God having a Son to sacrifice him for man's sins? If Jesus hadn't been crucified, there would have been no sacrifice and man would not have had a saviour.
Isn't the whole Christian message that Jesus overcame death and saved man from his sins, promising eternal life. He didn't come to make heaven on earth, but rather to open the gates of heaven for those who would follow Him.
Or, is there something I am totally missing from the logic here?
no, i think we are using 2 different perspectives, i was looking at it from the historical and political perspective versus a religious perspective which, as you note, might render the question moot.
Ok. In that case it is a question of individual versus collective guilt. My tendency is to see the crucifiction as a totally local issue. I have read historical accounts which indicate (and plausibly so) that it is unlikely that Pilot even had anything to do with the approval of Jesus' execution. There was likely a standing order to crucify any "politician" who might create trouble during passover.
Indeed, it would seem that local priests would have had a very good motive for having Jesus arrested. If one would like to lay guilt upon anyone, it should be those priests or local leaders.
Whereas in Democratic society at least the leaders represent the people to some extent, at the time, the "masses" certainly could not be given collective guilt for a miscarriage of justice. Of course, was it really a miscarriage of justice? Wasn't Jesus actually guilty of the crimes for which he was accused? If so, then his execution was perfectly legal.
Any thoughts?
Why is everyone only talking about the Anti-Semitic remarks? Sounds like he has another problem.
you have summed up very well my general thoughts, and your specific knowledge is greater than mine. modern political issues and religious/social sensitivities and biases are the issue here when the question comes up. Life was vastly cheaper in this time period in the early roman empire, particularly for non-citizens, and I have often wondered if his execution really got much notice locally at the time. the fact that jews do not view him as even a footnote or a martyr indicates that it might not have.
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