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| rita |
 Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:01 am |
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Joined: 28 Jun 2007
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This is from www.stopthedrugwar.org:So far this month, drugwar soldiers have, apparently proudly, killed at least four Americans in their quest to save us all from evil, illegal, dangerous drugs. In New York City, 49-year-old Shem Walker stepped outside his house to smoke a cigarette and was gunned down by an undercover NYPD officer. The officer was part of a group that was using private property without permission to do a "buy-and-bust (where cops break the law in order to create more crime, thereby furthering their own careers) a few doors down from Walker's home.
Outside Holden, Louisiana, 42-year-old Donel Stogner was pulled over and choked to death by a deputy who suspected that Stogner might be trying to swallow a baggie that may have held an illegal substance. The Livingstone County Sheriff's Department expressed "no regrets," and called the officer's actions "appropriate." Chief Deputy Jason Ard told reporters that the officer "wasn't trying to choke him, he was trying to keep him from swallowing evidence that could potentially kill him." They even released the dashboard video of the incident, saying that it would "vindicate" the officer. It does nothing of the kind.
Also in Louisiana, in Marrero, 33-year-old Demarco Washington was killed by police after a car chase following a drug investigation. We all know about "drug investigations," right? Anonymous phone calls, followed by window-peeking, wire-tapping, door-breaking, garbage rummaging and urine-sniffing? And car chases, completely unnecessary in this age of instant communication and helicopters, and which serve only to make cops feel like John Wayne and endanger everyone in the vicinity? Last I read, the police SAID Demarco had a gun, or maybe they just THOUGHT he MIGHT have a gun, which, for a cop, is just as good a reason as any for murdering anyone suspected of using or possessing evil, illegal drugs.
In Gwinnett County, Georgia, another man was shot and killed by police in a predawn drug raid. Cops SAY that they "knocked and announced" and were met (surprise!) by man pointing a gun at them. Not surprisingly, they shot him dead. For those of you who have never had police protection from dangerous drugs, "knock and announce" means, in cop-talk, that they used a battering ram on the door while screaming like banshees. That way, any neighbors who might be interviewed later will say that THEY heard the word "police", but inside the house, all you hear is your door breaking, dogs barking and kids crying. In fact, you probably WON'T hear the word "police" until you're face down on the floor with a gun to your head. God forbid you try to exercise your legal right to protect yourself or your family from the unknown intruders. Anyway, since when does simply "announcing" one's intentions to do so give anyone the right to enter another person's home? Oh yeah, since our police became soldiers in a war against us. Not drugs, us. And not just those of us who use marijuana. ALL of us.
The "war" mentality is too deeply ingrained in American law enforcement to stop by degrees; legalizing only marijuana will just serve to turn the full force of the war against the rest of us. Nor will "diverting" drug users into treatment stop the violence; if anything, the pretense of "helping" suspected drug addicts by attacking their families and destroying their lives only makes the murder and mayhem more reprehensible. People who advocate legalizing only marijuana while leaving the rest of the war machine in place are the same kind of hypocrites who support the war -- saying, in effect, that while THEY deserve to have freedom of choice, the rest of us don't. The reality is that, as long as even ONE drug is prohibited, none of us has that freedom. As long as even ONE drug is prohibited, all of us will be subject to random, increasingly violent invasions of privacy. There is nothing "reasonable" or "compassionate" or "just" about legalizing only marijuana. There is no "reason" or "compassion" or "justice" in forcing certain drug users, at gunpoint, into treatment, or in killing people to keep them from hurting themselves. The only drug policy possible based on "reason, compassion and justice" is no drug policy at all.
The only thing that I, and most people I know, want from our government is to left alone. If ever we need help, we know how and where to seek it. In the meantime, we don't need strangers deciding for us what our problems are or what our lives should be. We don't need our medical decisions made by politicians or our life-styles scrutinized by police officers or judges, and we don't need treatment that comes under threat of imprisonment. And we don't need cops whose idea of a good time is pointing assault rifles at little kids or whose idea of "appropriate" behavior is killing unarmed civilians. What we need is a complete, immediate and final end to the so-called "war on drugs." |
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| weirdharold |
| Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:06 pm |
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I hear every day, "Police are putting their lives on the line every day to protect you" Well I say, do not protect me and my family from drugs, witches, and old black men trying to get into their own homes.
Added on 7/27/09 I put the same thought on a forum on BostonGlobe internet story about the Gates 911 call. It was taken down. Wow |
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Harold W. Ard |
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| rita |
| Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 3:18 am |
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| So far this year, a whopping 73 police officers in the US have died "in the line of duty," a description that includes heart attacks, auto accidents and being the victim of a crime while off-duty. Only half of the officer deaths were the result of deliberate action by suspects; one assault, 8 vehicular assaults and and 28 were shot. Two officers were killed during "vehicle pursuits", in other words, their deaths were their own stupid faults. Not one cop so far this year has died enforcing drug laws. I guess that's because, more and more often, they go in shooting. In the interest of "officer safety." Because "putting their lives on the line" is as big a myth as "if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have to worry." |
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| weirdharold |
| Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:34 pm |
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| and please stop trying to protect me from hookers, but maybe a little effort could be to into stopping the Wall Street crooks that are willing to steal a hot stove. |
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Harold W. Ard |
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| rita |
| Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 3:38 pm |
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A few weeks ago, in Toccoa, Georgia, 2 undercover police officers attacked and killed 29-year-old Jonathan Ayers in a convenience store parking lot. Police say that the officers had purchased cocaine from an unidentified woman, whom they later saw getting out of Ayers' car. They followed Ayers to the store and waited while he went inside, came out and got in his car, then they rushed at him with guns drawn. Ayers, understandably trying to escape the armed attack, back his car up and hit one of the cops. He then drove forward, away from the attackers, at which point the surveillance video shows the cops shooting into his car. As he's driving away.
Ayers didn't get far; he crashed his car, and died at the hospital. The police SAY that they fired because their lives were in danger; but the video clearly shows them shooting Ayers as he's driving away. They SAY that they "identified themselves" as they attacked; like, we all know that it's against the national carjackers' code of ethics to pretend they're cops, right? They also say that they "had their badges around their necks"; but seriously; they were undercover; did they have their badges around their necks when they bought the cocaine? And isn't buying cocaine ILLEGAL?
What's really disturbing is that, when I wrote about this on my blog, a number of people commenting actually DEFENDED the police; Ayers, after all, was seen in the company of a "drug suspect." Since she was a drug suspect only because the police had bought drugs from her, doesn't that make THEM "drug suspects" as well? Why don't these yahoos shoot each other? Oh, THAT would be serving the public; and serving the public is one thing that public servants simply cannot be expected to do. |
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| weirdharold |
| Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:36 pm |
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| They should have bought CDs from Bernard Madoff & R. Allen Stanford. |
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Harold W. Ard |
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| rita |
| Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 8:46 pm |
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| Yeah, if they're gonna throw so much of our money away, better they hurt only themselves. |
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