City Riots vs Biker Gang Shootouts
May 21, 2015 Commentary, Law Enforcement
There is an article on the local CBS affiliate website that tries to draw comparisons to the way the riots in Ferguson MO and Baltimore MD have been portrayed in the media with the biker gang shootout that occurred in Waco TX.
The article discusses these events and concludes that riots that damaged property (which the author notes can be replaced) but where no one was killed received more coverage than a biker shootout where nine died. It is further noted that during the riots the police showed up in riot gear, used tear gas and made mass arrests while they were shown in their normal uniforms in Waco in what the article describes as nonchalant.
The article also points out that the riots had live media coverage whereas that did not happen in Waco.
The point seems to be that when predominantly black communities riot there is outrage and the rioters are viewed as thugs but when white bikers have a shootout there is not as much coverage and the incident is viewed as an isolated incident.
These items involve two entirely different crimes and this article only serves to further push a race narrative where one does not exist.
Yes, most of the rioters were black but the cities involved have mostly black populations. There were some white people there and they were attacked by the rioters. There is no doubt that some white folks participated in the unrest.
In Waco most of the bikers were white but there were some people of color. It was reported that there were some black and Hispanic bikers involved.
Perhaps the reason there were not cameras and live play of the gunfight is that it happened spontaneously. The police were aware that some trouble was brewing but the police do not call the media in every time there is a threat of violence. I am not sure how much media is available in Waco but the issue in Ferguson simmered for weeks giving the media plenty of time to show up and Baltimore has many major news outlets in or near the city. The media would have been present because there was unrest (read that as thugs attacking people and breaking the law) on Saturday and the riots occurred on Monday. The media had time to gather.
Since the gang shootout happened there has been word there will be some sort of retaliation. You can bet the media is there now.
As for the police. They anticipated violence in the cities and were dressed appropriately. In Waco they had information something might happen. The big difference here is that the police in Waco were involved in the shootout. They were shot at and they returned fire. They then arrested hundreds of bikers. During the riots, particularly in Baltimore, the police were continually attacked and DID NOT fight back. They were ordered to give the rioters room. Perhaps if the police in Baltimore had started attacking those who were breaking the law and arresting them in droves we would have seen pictures of police officers being nonchalant as they walked around hundreds of handcuffed protesters.
Since the police in Waco were allowed to do their jobs they had all the bikers under control and were able to be more “nonchalant” than the police in the rioting cities.
The only thing these incidents have in common is that they both involved people who were breaking the law. The idea that the rioters had a grievance so their behavior can be excused especially since no one died is ridiculous. They were breaking the law and they were destroying property. No one died but scores of police officers were injured.
The bikers felt they had a grievance as well but their actions are no more excusable than those of the rioters. The big difference is that the police responded to the violence in Waco.
And for those who think there is disparity, there is. The rioters in Baltimore who happened to get arrested complained about high bail amounts. Every biker arrested in Waco had bail set at one million dollars far above any amount reported from Baltimore.
The thugs in Waco will get what is coming to them just like the thugs in Baltimore eventually will. And yes, both groups are thugs. Despite what the author wants you to believe, the bikers were referred to that just as the rioters in Baltimore were.
When people stop trying to excuse any kind of bad behavior and start holding everyone accountable society will be better off.
And then people will have no excuse for race baiting articles…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: baltimore, biker gang, crime, ferguson, riots, shootout, waco
Freddie Grey Was No Hero
May 5, 2015 Law Enforcement, Political
Let me start off by saying that Freddie Gray should not have died in custody. Even if he hurt himself in that van he was able to do so because he was not belted in. If he had been belted in then he probably could not have hurt himself (if that is what happened). No matter what, he should still be alive.
However he is no hero. The people in Baltimore and around the nation who are (still happening in some places) rioting, protesting and attacking police officers are acting as if Freddie Gray was some sort of hero. He was a drug dealer/user with a long arrest record. He should not have died but he is no hero.
[note]Baltimore, and likely many other places, will have more civil unrest when some or all of the police officers are found not guilty of the most serious, and maybe all, of the charges.[/note]
The community and its so called leaders from Mayor Blake to the race hustler Al Sharpton are all praising Freddie as if he cured cancer.
The cold hard facts about him are that he was a criminal and he ran afoul of the law a lot. PERIOD.
Once again, that does not mean he should have died while in custody. It is likely that he died as a result of his own actions (unless they can prove the driver deliberately gave him a rough ride) and while the police are complicit in his death (they should have buckled him in) they did not set out to murder the man or to do him lethal harm.
Freddie is the result of liberal policies that suck the soul out of people and drain them of their will to live and thrive. The reactions to his death in the violence (not the legal and peaceful protests) perpetrated by thugs is also a result of those same liberal policies.
While I think the police need to be held accountable (in all of their duties) I do not think that holding Gray as an angelic figure to unite around does anyone any good.
Given his lifestyle of drug dealing and use it is likely he would have ended up as a statistic sometime in the future and you can bet your bottom dollar that the city would not be holding him in high regard in that case.
If people want to change the animosity between them and the police they need to ensure they are in the right and fight the police in the legal system. Police officers who are alleged to have done wrong need to be investigated by independent agencies and if found in the wrong, held accountable.
Allowing them to investigate themselves makes no more sense than allowing the people they arrest to conduct their own trials and determine their own outcomes.
What happened in Baltimore is a shame and reflects the unease people have with an increasingly militarized police force that is often not held accountable for misdeeds particularly when coupled with an environment of failure that has been built by decades of liberal policies of dependence and victim hood.
We need police reform and we need reform in the liberal run cities.
But holding Gray up as the model for that reform makes no sense at all.
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: greddie gray, liberal policies, lies, police, riots, thugs, wrong doing
The Cost Of The Damage Is Higher Than Their Bail
Apr 30, 2015 Law Enforcement, Political
By now most of the people in the US know what is going on in Baltimore. The people who have been raised to be victims who are entitled to everything are upset because a black man named Freddie Gray died while in police custody. There is an investigation into the death but there are no results yet*.
On Saturday people were peacefully protesting the death when civil unrest and violence took hold of the crowd and the police had to step in. On Monday high school students initiated a purge and that purge ended up in a riot. Cars and buildings were burned and businesses ransacked and looted. The police were attacked by people who threw rocks and bricks at them.
The police did not clamp down on the rioters. They watched as the city burned and it has been reported that this was on orders from the mayor. Eventually the National Guard was activated and a curfew instituted. Things have been much quieter since then but there are rallies scheduled for this weekend so there is no telling how peaceful things will be.
It is also possible that the findings will show the police were not responsible for Gray’s death. If that is announced I suspect the city will light up again.
[note]Protestors say Gray deserved due process and did not get it. These same people have already convicted the police without due process. If the cops are responsible they should be dealt with harshly. Unfortunately, they might never get due process. Public pressure might land them in jail even if they did nothing wrong.[/note]
Over 200 people have been arrested for their participation in the destruction and violence. Their legal system is working to get them processed but the state of emergency and numbers of people is making it difficult for rapid processing so many are being held longer than the 24 hours allowed.
Attorneys for those who have been arrested are complaining that their clients have excessive bail and are unable to get out of jail. Those attorneys were pushing for bail amounts of $25,000 but the judges have been putting those bonds at $100,000 and $500 of it must be cash.
It appears as if many of them can’t come up with bail and might well spend months in jail awaiting trial for their crimes.
I find it hard to have sympathy for people who have high bond amounts when they caused millions of dollars in damage and are costing the city and state millions in resources. If they can’t afford the bail then they can sit in jail until their trial dates. That will at least keep them off the streets and prevent them from causing more mayhem.
Perhaps they should have thought about the consequences of their actions before they broke the law. If they did not want to worry about bail money they should have stayed home instead of committing crimes.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. The police have thousands of images of people breaking the law. They have license plate number and photos of people looting. They will eventually hunt those people down and arrest them. There will be a heck of a lot more people with high bail amounts before this is all over.
I don’t blame the judge or the legal system for imposing high bonds on people who had no regard for property or the lives of the people in their city.
Jail is where they need to be to keep them off the street.
*(Just released) Preliminary Results indicate he broke his neck in the police van during his arrest.
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: arrests, bail, baltimore, crimes, freddie gray, police, riots
What If There Was No Video?
Apr 8, 2015 Law Enforcement
I do not want to rush to judgement on the video of a South Carolina police officer shooting a man in the back. From all I have seen it appears as if the officer, Michael Slager, murdered the suspect but the officer will get his day in court and perhaps there is some valid reason for what happened. From what I saw it seems like it will be hard to find that reason.
I heard Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee on Sean Hannity’s show on the way home. Clarke and Hannity were discussing this shooting and Clarke stated he would not allow this shooting to be used to put down all other cops in America by any person.
Strong words there sheriff. You don’t get to decide what people use this shooting for. If they want to use it to indict all cops that is there business and nothing you can do will change that. How many cops use incidents by a few people to label all people of a certain group as bad? How about we work to make sure they don’t do that?
I like Sheriff Clarke and I agree with many of his views. I think that he probably used a poor choice of words and his intent was that he would not entertain that kind of thinking. I doubt, given his views, he meant that he would not allow people to express themselves as is their right.
In any event, I think people should question what took place in this incident. This police officer appears to have really crossed a line. It should be looked at and viewed from a wider angle.
I would ask a few questions. First, what would have happened if this incident had not been recorded? I think we know the answer to that. The police report filed by those involved showed it as a justified shoot. The officer lied on the report. It is unclear if the second officer lied because there is no way to know what he saw since he arrived later.
The officer lied and the police were ready to call this a good shoot when the recording arrived. Some guy walking to work saw it and recorded it. The recording contradicts everything the officer said. So I ask again, if there had been no recording what would have been the outcome?
He would have been free and clear. It would have been ruled a clean shoot and he would be on the street today. The recording made the difference.
To address Sheriff Clarke the second question would be how many times has something like this happened and it was ruled a clean shoot because there was NO recording? How many times have police officers gotten away with murder simply because there was no recording, the report was a lie and there were no other witnesses (though realistically a witness is useless when questioning the police as their word is always regarded as more truthful)?
I know there are plenty of good men and women in the police force who try to do a great job everyday and many of them are disillusioned by ticket quotas that are nothing more than revenue generators. But there are bad ones and lots of them. They get away with things because they lie and because the other officers will not speak up against them. The blue line is think and most officers will not cross it to do the right thing. When they protect the ones doing bad things they all get a bad rap.
As they should.
In this incident the police officer was fired and has been charged with murder. I think that is a correct thing to do and he will get his day in court. I know if I shot some guy running out of my house in his back and killed him this officer would be the first to arrest me for murder. His badge and uniform do not shield (see what I did there) him from the consequences of his actions.
At least not when there is recorded evidence.
Otherwise he would have walked…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: david clarke, murder charge, police shooting, recording, south carolina