That Mysterious Gun with a Mind of Its Own Lives On?!?
The News-Gazette strikes again in its efforts to portray anything the police do as no worse than regrettable. In today's (Aug. 26, 2010) edition, a front page story by Patrick Wade continues the baffling stupidity of insisting that Officer Daniel Norbits didn't shoot Kiwane Carrington, his gun did!????
Interestingly, they are now able to admit it was a "police shooting" that killed the 15-year old in the first paragraph, but then return to their pattern of acting as if Norbits just happened to be there when it "discharged," killing Kiwane. With that sort of logic, since Chief RT Finney also was there when the trigger pulled itself, then why wasn't he also disciplined, since maybe he should also be failed with supervising Norbitts's gun? The newspaper can't bring itself to admit that it was Norbitts who pulled the trigger.
A gun doesn't fire without its trigger being pulled by someone. They are willing to concede that Norbitts "mishandled" his gun, while arguing it was no crime because he was cleared by his buddies who investigated the incident. The federal investigation has yet to weigh in, so Norbitts is not exactly in the legal clear here, even if Champaign County's justice system, aided and abetted by the N-G's editorial board, has a policy of leniency towards officers who kill in the line of duty without legal justification.
Make no mistake. Norbitts KILLED Kiwane. He did it with his gun, but the gun had no choice in the matter. It did not pull its own trigger, except in the twisted machinations of those who act as if it's no big deal. Why "no big deal"? Because that's what the Fraternal Order of Police insists about the 30-day suspension Norbitts received from the city for apparently not properly supervising his gun (never mind about Chief Finney's failure to supervise his henchman). The FOP thinks Norbitt's penalty is "pretty harsh."
Apparently, a kid getting killed by a cop is not so harsh, which is why Norbitts has yet to face charges over his reckless behavior with his gun that day. One can only hope that the Feds use a different standard than the one that is used by local officials to evaluate police in Champaign County.
- 704 reads
Guns Don't Kill, People Do?
Hmmm, I always thought that the News-Gazette was always on the side of the 2nd Amendment slogan, "Guns don't kill people, people do"? This sort of reporting kind of puts the lie to that.
Or is there a special exemption for police???
NG necon/tebag rag
We all know about the NG
What I'm flabbergasted at is the DA Julia Rietz who is a good personal friend of Chief Finney and didn't recuse herself. Also she dididn't think it was relevant to forensically test Kiwane's clothing and skin for powder residue/burns to support or not Norbits story about a struggle at close quarters when he shot Kiwane.
Whether Cops Like It Or Not
Whether they like it or not, cops have given their word through a solemn oath, to uphold, defend, support, and obey the US Constitution. Instead, we get road blocks and raids and sniffing dogs, beatings and tasers and stun guns and case after case of police brutality. Why? Because that's their training. It's good guys against bad guys. One may remember Finney's statement refering to Kiwane as a bad guy. Cops think they're here to enforce the law, and if they have to, force behavior. What if cops were actually taught the Constitution, the importance of the oath, and that adhering to it was more important than catching some snotty-nosed black kid trying to get out of the rain in broad daylight?
"Cops think they're here to
"Cops think they're here to enforce the law..."
Wow, why would they think that? Maybe because the profession that they are in is called "law enforcement".
Totally missed the writers point, as usual.
Cops do not make their oath of office to sergeants, chiefs, mayors, governors, etc.; they make it to the people and they owe it to the people to keep their word and keep them protected, even from silly laws that are not constitutional. Cops force people to wear seatbelts, but do not keep their oaths. Who then is guilty of the greater crime? Do we, constitutionally speaking, need our driver's license, registration, insurance, and state inspection in order to freely go about our lives? In Mack vs. Brady Bill it was determined, "But the Constitution protects us from our own best intentions." Seat belts are a great idea, but they are not constitutional. And then there's the war on drugs... what a fuckin' sham. The Constitution IS the highest law of the land; there is none other. Pick up on it. Enforce the Constitution!
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