Posted on 10/20/2002 7:48:19 AM PDT by SamAdams76
The photos above currently on the Drudge site concern me. I followed the link and the article clearly stated that nobody was arrested last night.
Why then, do we have drivers of white vans, innocent civilians, evidently being pulled out vans at gunpoint and treated like dangerous criminals? One photo shows a man on the ground, evidently in handcuffs, with police officers standing over him as though they have just captured Whitey Bulger. When I first saw the photo, I figured the man was obviously a wanted criminal that police just so happened to come across during their search. But since there were no arrests last night, this man was obviously released and was no criminal after all.
The other photo shows a man by another white van with his hands in the air and a police officer has a gun drawn on him. Again, this was evidently just another innocent civilian who had the misfortune to be driving a white van on I-95 last night.
Now I understand the need for these roadblocks and for the police to be very thorough in their search for the sniper(s). But I cannot see the point of innocent people dragged out of their vehicles at gunpoint with no pretext other than the fact that they happen to be driving a white van.
Now maybe somebody here has an explanation why these two individuals were treated like criminals. Maybe they tried to evade the police or maybe they were driving stolen vans. But again, there were no arrests made last night. So what is the deal with our citizens being treated like Jesse James just for driving a white van?
No. Please explain the issue to me.
My guess is the "Don't look in my ashtray!" crowd will have him being shot in the head for having a roach clip on his dash.
No... a thousand words about what actually happened here would be worth a thousand pictures.
Because you saw two pictures, one cuffed on the ground and the other not, and you just made a whole series of assumptions to fit your spin. Now they both ate dirt and were held five hours. You just made that up!
Yep! This IS a national emergency!
If this proves up to be the work of terrorists, we haven't seen the worst of it.
When our military gets involved, even in a support role, it IS a national emergency!
You Ayn Rand idiots can squawk and scream all you want to about the destruction of your individual liberties, but it won't do you a bit of good.
Our law enforcement will do what it takes to find and capture this monster(s).
Yes, you are right, they will not be satisfied with any level of activity. It would be appropriate for ALL citizens to cooperate, but cooperation is appearantly not is their vocabulary.
They would rather bitch and whine.
I think the problem here is that the police in this case appear to be applying this to such a large number of "suspect vehicles" that you end up with a very large number of opportunities for something to go wrong.
I'm somewhere in between the two extremes (hard-core libertarians and hard-core authoritarians) that are displayed on this thread. Certainly, in a case like this, the police need to check out leads. But, if those leads are so vague that they cannot narrow their searches to a reasonably small number of vehicles, I think they have to take a less agressive stance towards vehicle occupants, in order to accomplish their ultimate goal, which is to ensure the safety of the general public, including those who happen to have the misfortune to drive white vans.
Obviously I could improve my IQ if only I took on your "brain." In your latent and most wildest dreams moron.
Is handcuffing and laying a person prone on the pavement because of the style and color of their vehicle legal? If they didn't cooperate that's different but I doubt that's the case. How 'bout excessive force? Or illegal detention? False arrest.
Yes,no,no and no
Of course not, the guy requested that position 'cause he likes layin' on the ground while he's waiting. He does it at the grocery store too.
The pic doesn't allow that kind of resolution.
"Where are the guns?
pic #2, the blonde's holding a stainless semi-auto.
Vague or not... They are operating in the hope and dread that the guy they are after is trapped in that backup. You tell the cop to walk up to those cars without someone ready to act if they've got him.
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