Posted on 07/13/2016 9:49:10 AM PDT by b4its2late
A hotly-contested decision by law enforcement to use a drone robot to blow up a U.S. citizen, who allegedly carried out the murders of five police officers in Dallas, just got exponentially more controversialbecause, according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown, the whole idea was improvised in about 15 to 20 minutes.
Already igniting fury around the country for neglecting any semblance of due process, the use of the Remotec model F-5 to deliver a pound of C-4 explosive to decimate suspected shooter Micah Xavier Johnson as he targeted police in a sniper-style attack, has been revealed by the police chief as a hastily-plotted whim.
Browns disturbing offhand comment came during a press conference in which the model of the mechanical tactical droneclarified as the Remotec Andros Mark V-A1″was finally made public, in an apparent attempt to quell constitutional rights advocates ire over the unprecedented move by police.
While Johnsons cold-blooded attack on random police officers in one of the most progressive and reform-minded forces in the country landed an official black mark in the annals of American history, theas many advocates warnegregious violation of his human and constitutional rights as the first U.S. citizen blown up in this manner earned police, themselves, a similarly notorious mark.
Obviously, the controversy doesnt end with a model namethe drone isnt the issue for most people outraged over its use; rather, the fact a citizen was bombed without so much as a nod of consideration for his human, civil, or constitutional rights that has people steamed.
As Daniel McAdams for the Ron Paul Institute keenly noted, following the now-apparent improvised and hasty decision by law enforcement to explode Johnson:
The media and opinion leaders are presenting us with a false choice: if we question the use of drones to kill Americanseven if we suspect they have done very bad thingswe somehow do not care about the lives of police officers. That is not the case. It is perfectly possible to not want police officers to be killed in the line of duty but to wholeheartedly reject the idea of authorities using drones to remotely kill Americans before they are found guilty.
Noting police originally suspected a different person altogether of perpetrating the attacks, McAdams implored the country to consider the ramifications of setting such a precedentand, considering the disclosure of the nearly impromptu decision to use this drone, that warning should be an imperative.
Perhaps we all need to familiarize ourselves with this drones mechanics now that this dystopic precedent has been set.
Manufactured by the military-industrial complexs darling, Northrop Grumman, this tactical robot is driven by a human via remote control, weighs 790 pounds and has a top speed of 3.5 mph, as the Washington Post described. It carries a camera with a 26x optical zoom and 12x digital zoom. When its arm is fully extended, it can lift a 60-pound weight. The hand at the end of the arm can apply a grip of about 50 pounds of force.
Interestingly enough, the $151,000 tactical robot provided a far more life-affirming service just one year ago.
According to Metro UK, the same model once assisted the California Highway Patrol when negotiations with a man threatening to kill himself by jumping from a San Jose overpass failedby delivering a pizza.
Technological advancement, though overwhelmingly positive, is only as beneficent as those who put it to useand how they choose to employ it.
In just one year, a pizza-delivering robot with the potential to save human life during bomb threats or similar situations became a casually-deployed, due process-stripping weapon of war against a U.S. citizen.
It would be prudent we take more than just a minute to critically consider that.
BTW, Ron Paul is selling a food dehydrator on the radio now...weird.
Yeah, but they didn't spit on the C-4 before they put it in the bag.
Blowed up Real Good !
I thought I could get away using him/he as gender neutral and save me from having to click through.
Agreed. If he had chosen to surrender to the cops, like they asked him too, instead of choosing to go out in a blaze of "glory", he would have been taken before a judge, charged, and prosecuted.
The judge, after all wasn't at the shootings. He has to listen to the lawyers and the testimony and determine what happened. And once this mug made it into the court system, he would be considered to be innocent until proven guilty.
But first he has to surrender, because if he chooses to continue the firefight, he will lose. As long as he's an an active shooter, he is a threat to the public and to the officers trying to arrest him.
He decided to turn this into a "shoot to kill" situation, not the cops. The cops decided they'd rather send a robot than waste any more LEO lives. At that point, his life was pretty much forfeit.
And if it took the cops 20 minutes to make the decision, I bet 19 of those minutes were taken up by the cops arguing over who was going to get to and drive the drone, and another minute of "rock, paper, scisssors" to decide.
I’m quite pleased they killed him. The means matter not a whit. A bullet, buckshot, or a small explosive charge, or a missile backed by an explosion (that’s all a bullet is, right?) is fine. If they could kill (they could legally do so, without question) using unconventon means is fine unless designed to punish by cruel and unusual means rather than kill. Completely constitutional.
Excellent point. I love the robot.
If he possessed the bombs claimed, or control devices for IED remote detonation, the shaped charge weapon used would increase odds of removing that particular threat. Allegedly materials were found at his residence backing his claims of producing explosive devices.
Rainbow stripes?
Breaching round to open a concrete wall?
Another FReeper posted a pic of a t-shirt with that on it.
It would be a great fundraiser for the officers and families, IMO.
That’s another reason I question the “pound of C-4” fact. If he had explosives on him, a blast of 450g of C-4 could have triggered a much bigger explosion.
A small shaped charge would have reduced that chance.
Close enough for government work.
No white police chief would ever get away with what happened to the Dallas suspect.
Don't forget at least three minutes to eat the Whoppers so the bag was empty.
Big deal.
Over a hundred years ago, the Pinkertons threw a bomb into Jesse James’s house and blew up his mom. He wasn’t home at the time and you might say it kind of ticked him off just a scouch. And they weren’t even LEO’s.
My only serious questions: Was the robot badly damaged?
Did the have a printout of the old FR Standard “Well, Bye” taped to the robotic arm?
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