Go to What Country Am I In?
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- Go to Shootout With 92-Year-Old Woman (Cont.)
And there's the central issue of it, isn't it, Blanche? How would we react
to an invasion, lawful or not, announced or not? Some of us may have reacted exactly the same way even if we heard them announce their presence, even if we were totally innocent. Home invasion, legal or not, is a serious matter in every corner of the world. Protection of self and home is paramount. And in this insane world of faux cops, how do you decide in just a few seconds?
posted by
saul_relative
on November 27, 2006 at 9:30 AM
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Well, in the long run, if it were to bring to light the things that NOBODY
talks about, how many SWAT team raids, done in the middle of the night, oddly enough the same time that Stalin and the Wehrmacht used to love to do home visits to round people up, have resulted in civilian deaths when those civilians attempted to defend themselves because they couldn't tell the difference between an unidentified group of SWAT police officers and other goons.
How could they know? How would any of us know? Would you?
posted by
Blanche.
on November 27, 2006 at 9:07 AM
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Believe me, Blanche, they're not gloating. They're doing the PR duck-and-
dodge dance. It reflects badly on the department, no matter what the true circumstances are surrounding this incident. Three trained officers shot by a 92-year-old. How did a 92-year-old get the drop on them? is what people are saying. Then there's the other side: they shot a 92-year-old woman; how could they? So, you see, laying low is their best defense. All's quiet so far, everybody on either side marshalling their forces, the police circling their wagons. This is going to get ugly fast, regardless of the innocense or guilt of any of the parties involved.
posted by
saul_relative
on November 27, 2006 at 9:01 AM
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It was her home she was defending, Saul and SW, the sacred American domain
the pretext for obtaining the warrant was so flimsy as to be untenable. I hope they get their butts handed to them on a platter in court, of course that will be cold comfort to Ms. Johnston's understandably irate niece. Her great-aunt was, to use her words, shot down like a dog in her own home.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition or Atlanta SWAT team, it seems. I"m not exonerating drug dealers, but for God's sakes the cops have to stop fantasizing their Dirty Harry in Magnum Force and stop taking out litle old ladies, and gloating about it.
posted by
Blanche.
on November 26, 2006 at 11:47 PM
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Oh, and you're right, SW, that's still good shooting for a 92-year-old...
posted by
saul_relative
on November 26, 2006 at 11:38 PM
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I'm in agreement there, SW. Someone told me the other day that the cops
had to be stupid to be shot by a 92-year-old woman. I told them they didn't know what they were talking about. The woman had home advantage, it was dark, she was shooting at three targets outlined in a doorway, etc....
posted by
saul_relative
on November 26, 2006 at 11:37 PM
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I say that's pretty good shooting for a 92 year old woman.
Hitting all three cops. Dang!
Age has nothing to do with the rest of the case. You shoot at cops, it's very likely you're going to take return fire. Pretty simple cause and effect.
posted by
SuccessWarrior
on November 26, 2006 at 11:28 PM
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I'm too damned cynical to be shocked, Blanche. Relieved that it wasn't
higher would probably be my reaction, or you must've missed a few...
posted by
saul_relative
on November 25, 2006 at 10:04 PM
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That was my first and worst fear, Saul, it happens, sadly, way too often.
I'd like to find out some stats on the number of civilian deaths due to mistaken police drug raids since the inception of the Drug War in the 90s, I'll bet it would shock most of us.
posted by
Blanche.
on November 25, 2006 at 10:00 PM
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It is, Blanche. What would be even more sad, and I'm beginning to think
this case could go this way, is that the drugs they bought off the guy "at her residence" may have only been hanging out on her porch. Then it would be a case of mistaken residential assumption -- one that turned deadly.
posted by
saul_relative
on November 25, 2006 at 9:56 PM
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Well, it's a start, Saul, let's hope it's not business as usual in the P.D.
and that it all gets shoved under the carpet. Dead is dead, and still it's sad to see a 92 year old woman get shot down like that. It's a hell of a way to go.
posted by
Blanche.
on November 25, 2006 at 9:50 PM
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