[Tspud1]

He should have identified himself. Can't blame the officers for doing their jobs and protecting him. I don't think he should have published their names.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Awwwwwwww. I hope the post didn't waste the ink to print this.

[MineralMan]

Well, perhaps he should have called the 800 number. Who knows?

This should be an interesting thread, I'll bet. It'll provoke responses of all kinds, from warnings about jack-booted thugs to people saying it was none of his business what that box was.

I'll be following it closely.

[r9etb]

Both officers carried 9mm semiautomatic pistols, Mace and batons.

All drawn, no doubt. I'm shocked that the reporter didn't have them mounted on armored, rabid rhinoceroses covered long, poisoned spikes. And the radioactive goggles -- can't forget those.

Jeeze -- what a whiny little sh*t.

[CrimeOf73]

Eight officers responded to the call for backup. One told me that, legally, I was not being arrested, just subject to "investigative detention."

That can't be legal, can it?

[cgk]

Or was it that an African American -- whom someone may have mistaken for a Middle Easterner -- was asking them?

That's as far as I got in the article, sorry. I have no respect - no matter what someone does - if the chip on their shoulder suddenly gets its own voice.

[dead]

Reporter doesn't like questioning

Chose a pretty stupid career then.

[discostu]

Perfect cutoff point for your excerpt. Right at the paragraph where he decided to get lippy with guys with guns. I don't understand why people would give crap to cops then get upset when the cops don't put up with it. If he was apporached by two Hell's Angels packing heat would he give them lip? If you can't respect the man, respect the side-arm.

[dead]

I hate people (like that idiot in the mall with the "No War" shirt on) who deliberately go out and try to get into a confrontation with the police, only so they can feign outrage when it happens.

BTW, the jerk does look like a terrorist:

[Fester Chugabrew]

Police: "Are you looking for trouble?"
Milloy: "Yeah. Which way did he go?"

[TruthNtegrity]

I don't blame this guy at all.

Two weeks ago, there was a unmarked chemical/gas tanker stopped on a bridge over I95. No blinkers, no nothing. Looked strange to me.

I called the Fairfax Police who took all my personal information and then insisted on my staying on my cellphone. I explained that (a) I don't have unlimited daytime minutes (b) I had given them all of the information I had (c) I might go through an area where I'd get cut off (d) I needed to make another call.

This "dispatcher?" was insistent that I stay on the line while they "checked this report out". I insisted that I didn't need to stay on the line - I had reported everything I knew, that there wasn't any driver around and that it bothered me that there weren't any lights blinking on the truck, etc.

I disconnected, and shortly after that, the dispatcher called me back, saying "I told you to stay on the line". This time I hung up and turned my cellphone off.

I resented being treated like an idiot, and I resented that they thought I should burn all of my daytime minutes while they checked this out.

To my mind, if they think it was a "crank" call, they certainly have my address, my name, where I live and both my home telephone number and cellphone.

I'm tired of being treated like an idiot for reporting "suspicious" activity, and will think real hard about doing it in the future. Truth is, if I think it is something that bears investigating, I will make the call, but I know I will not be treated with respect or patience.

Just a warning for those who want to do the right thing and make the call when they see something that they think needs to be reported. The people at the other end of that call will not be nice, and they will insist that you stay on the line while they check it out.

[weegee]

ping

[lilylangtree]

The twit should have been reminded that the state of the country is "red" which means high alert.

[scott7278]

It's obvious from the second sentence of the article that this is a smart-aleck reporter who went looking for trouble and found it.

This is like one of those immature, MTV-like stunts where people are trying to do their job seriously and some nitwit comes up -- in a time of war and heightened security -- and acts like an idiot.

He got off easy, IMHO. Those officers showed great restraint, because in these times punks like this are endangering other people. He was baiting the officers -- and using "life, liberty, and the pursuit of hapiness" as his justification. Played the race card, too.

[Pagey]

So, this sorry excuse for a reporter,wasted an hour and a half of their time to get a story and HAD to ask (and infer ) if he was being detained because he was black? When he could've told them who he was immediately and gone on his merry little way.Some types of people will never change.

[U S Army EOD]

I don't think the woman turned him in, I think he set off the air quality alarm because the guy stinks.

I sent him an e-mail telling him this.

[Michael.SF.]

"I could have told him right then that I was a journalist.

But instead you decided to lie, thus wasting their time and getting you this crappy story.

I pointedly asked whether I had been detained because I was African American or whether I looked Middle Eastern.

Liberalism 101 - Play the race card play it often, play it loud.

This guy is real lucky he ran into some very nice officers, who did their job in a professional manner. A lot of Policemen would have ran his sorry ass downtown in a proverbial NY minute for being such a smart ass. And they would have been justified in doing so

Washigton Police should bill the Post for the time this jerk wasted.

[Jhoffa_]

I got a stupid "sign up" link when I tried to read the rest of the story.

However, from what I have read here it appears that the police state doesn't appreciate the curious.

His tax dollars helped pay for that stupid box. If he wants to take pictures of it or ask what it's for, that's fine with me.

[Iron Eagle]

Good to hear that people and our police are alert and attentive. I only live about 4 miles from the Nation's Capital. Not a surprise that Court Milloy would try to find someway to be a victim. And, less of a surprise that he plays the race card.

This guy is an insufferable Bush hating liberal. Post runs his column just to keep Republican Blood pressure up. He is so absurd on some issues, I wonder if it isn't a put-on.

[Beck_isright]

If he did identify himself as a Washington Post reporter, I would have tasered or maced him. But then again, I'm more protective of our nation than many others.

V

[zip]

He should have identified himself. Can't blame the officers for doing their jobs

I'm afraid that this is typical of these leftist idiots. They just "don't get it" that we are at war and that playing little games with the LEO's can bring trouble upon their puny little heads. I know he thought it was "cutsy" to answer questions with a question and play the race card but people, this is serious business and time to stop the games. Any problems he encountered were of his own making. An honest response and identification would have ended the questioning. period