Might as well get used to it dear readers -- incidents like this are on their way to becoming the norm as opposed to being rare events. And a lot of innocent Americans are going to lose their lives as a result:
MARCH 14, 2014, 2:50 PM EDT
Dashcam video released this week shows a South Carolina deputy breaking down in tears after shooting a 70-year-old man during a traffic stop last month.
York County, S.C. deputy Terrance Knox fired at Bobby Canipe after mistaking Canipe's cane for a shotgun, according to the Associated Press. Knox had pulled Canipe over for an expired tag, and the dashcam video shows Canipe pulling over quickly after Knox put on his lights and siren. Canipe then gets out of his truck, and reaches for his cane in the truck bed. Knox can be heard yelling as Canipe swings the cane and points the end of it in his direction.
Knox ran up to Canipe after shooting him. According to the Associated Press, another officer arrived a few minutes after the shooting, and at that point Knox began to sob.
"I promise to God I thought it was a shotgun," Knox said.http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/deputy-shooting-cane-crying
Why does The Gadfly say that events like this will become more routine?
Here's one reason:
Soon gun owners in the state of Georgia may be allowed to pack heat almost anywhere—including K-12 schools, bars, churches, government buildings, and airports. The "Safe Carry Protection Act" (HB 875) would also expand Georgia's Stand Your Ground statute, the controversial law made famous by the Trayvon Martin killing, which allows armed citizens to defend themselves with deadly force if they believe they are faced with serious physical harm.
The bill could pass as soon as next week, before the current legislative session ends March 20. It is the latest effort in the battle over gun laws that continues to rage in statehouses around the country. It is perhaps also the most extreme yet.http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/03/georgia-guns-concealed-carry-stand-your-ground
While the gun goons in the NRA will go blue in the face denying it, the tragic shooting of this elderly man is a direct byproduct of conservative, NRA gun-goon legislating that basically has a hard-on for having our entire society armed to the teeth at all times and in all places. Not only are they making it much easier for private citizens to murder with impunity, they are also creating an environment where law enforcement people need to be suspicious of and expectant that every civilian they come in contact with is packing heat. And thus you have a trooper shooting a 70 year old man for pulling his walking cane out of his car.
This is the kind of society that the right wants though. It is a society based on fear, distrust and sociopathy - for the type of people that thrive in such a society are the ones that conservatives can most easily manipulate emotionally and psychologically. More to the point - the leaders of conservatism cannot compete with sane, intellectual, reason-based thinkers - and so they aim their appeal to the lowest common denominator boors among us. And unfortunately this country has quite a lot of those types and their gullibility is an inexhaustible commodity.
Frankly, The Gadfly is confident in stating that it truly is just a matter of time before a police officer is shot and the shooter invokes stand-your-ground as a defense. Yup - just a matter of time . . . . . . Oh wait!! Shit!! Well - you can't say The Gadfly didn't call it . . . :
Friday, March 7, 2014 13:00 EDT
A Pensacola, FL court is set to decide on Friday whether 24-year-old Keenan Finkelstein is criminally liable for shooting a deputy sheriff in the leg in March of 2013. According to the Pensacola News-Journal, Finkelstein and his defense team are pinning their hopes on the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.
On the night of March 20, 2013, Escambia County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Shedrick Johnson and other police officers were searching on foot for a robbery suspect in the Scenic Hills area of Pensacola. A robbery victim told police that someone from a home located on the 8800 block of Burning Tree Road had stolen marijuana and a handgun from his residence.
Police converged on the home and saw Finkelstein — who was not the subject the police were searching for — emerge from the house’s garage. Sgt. Johnson said that he emerged from a hiding place behind a tree and identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy.
Finkelstein produced a gun and fired, striking Johnson in the leg.http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/07/florida-man-invokes-stand-your-ground-after-shooting-sheriffs-deputy/
If you're the Wall Street gambling type, it just might be the opportune time to start investing your money in to death care industry portfolios. All signs point to the potential of forthcoming and boundless opportunities to make a killing (pun intended).
----TFG
No comments:
Post a Comment