New York, NY—Selling
cigarettes on the street cost a man his life.
Think about it for a moment.
Trying to make a meager living in a miserable economy by selling a legal
product deserves death now in New York.
That’s precisely what
happened to an obviously overweight (350 lbs.) and unhealthy man last
week. A squad of cops investigating this
tax transgression approached Eric Garner. Garner actually begged the cops to
leave him alone. Soon Garner began to
shun the cops and resist being handcuffed and the cops piled on him. All too quickly, Garner was dead.
Was it the long banned
chokehold? I don’t think so. I suspect positional asphyxia was the actual cause
of death. Does it really make any
difference how they killed him? Garner
was killed not by policemen in the true sense of that noble occupation but a
gang of government extortionists.
This was not about anything
more than the attempted evasion of an outrageous tax on a legal product that millions
consume in America.
Our greedy politicians expand
their power and the government monster by overtaxing anything they can. We all know that this was about money rather
than evil, violence or simple public safety.
Cops used to be there to
protect and help us from evil. They all
signed up to help their fellow man, not to become extortionists. However politicians changed the game decades
ago by feeding the government monster with fines for minor offenses.
Along the way our politicians
stayed wide-awake nights dreaming of the creation new petty offenses and
raising the fines on the ones already on the books. They all need to bribe contractors for crap
we don’t need for reelection campaigns.
That takes money and new creative ways of taking it from the public.
Parking enforcement and
meters led the extortion parade. Today unconstitutional
Photo traffic enforcement has provided billions of illicit dollars to local
governments.
Most Americans don’t have a
clue that they only way to convict people with photo enforcement and collect
fines flagrantly violates our Sixth Amendment rights to confront and cross-examine
witnesses against us.
Where there is no live
witness to a transgression courts must rely on long banned hearsay testimony to
admit photo and computer data evidence into court. You can’t cross-examine and ask the
photograph about errors or equipment malfunctions. Was the equipment actually tampered with to
make it appear there was a violation by greedy equipment manufacturers selling
government on this garbage?
The whores in local politics
appoint the judges and they know they better side with those that feed
them. Again, those sworn to defend it
have trashed our Constitution.
You can of course appeal the
fines to higher courts where the judges owe nothing to local politicians. However that red light ticket conviction will
cost as much as a house to appeal to your state Supreme Court and a couple of
million more to get a shot at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The cost of court appeals
denies all of us justice facilitating the tyranny of or politicians. If we somehow had the money it still takes
decades for these cases to be litigated and decided by the courts. It’s truly a case of justice both denied and
delayed.
The only real remedy is
through unimaginable self-help by violent revolution. The Second Amendment was designed to that we
the people would have arms parity with the government. We’ve allowed the government to disarm the
population and any arms we do have are not remotely comparable to those military
grade arms.
Today Americans could not
stop a rogue President much better than Germany or Russia could stop Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin.
As long as it’s only the
government breaking the law that’s seems okay with today’s Americans.
Politicians know Americans
cannot possibly afford to seek justice against rogue politicians and they
expect us all to simply shrug off the tyranny.
Our forefathers would have simply found and killed all these
bastards.
How soon we forget that we
revolted against the British over a 3% tax on tea. Have we forgotten that Americans began to
kill those that dare extort from them?
Have they forgotten that they became free of their corrupt oppressors by
chasing the ones that survived back to the UK?
Cops are not nor should they
be they ever become hated tax collectors.
However the Communists and Socialists we’ve elected have a different
idea and like in every totalitarian society the cops are never on the side of
the population.
The very reason we demanded
our politicians and public officials take an oath to the Constitution was to
prevent what we’ve allowed our nation to become.
We now have a full-blown
police state. We have more people
imprisoned per capita than any other nation on earth that proves the point.
Slowly they’ve promoted the
snitch system where our neighbors and children can be rewarded to turning us in
to the authorities.
It’s only a matter of time
before the death penalty will be used against anyone criticizing politicians or
government tyranny. They of course will
claim this is necessary for public safety and a large percentage of the
population will actually believe it.
Those that love the idea of
giving politicians to power of the death penalty need to rethink their
position.
We better get used to the
idea of many more killings like Eric Garner’s.
That’s even if they prosecute those NYPD officers for excessive
force. The cops are no longer here for
public safety but simple extortion.
No one set out to kill this guy so I think you are overstating the intentions of the involved officers. Sometimes people make poor choices in their lives. That is on THEM not the police.
ReplyDeleteThe fact remains:
#1) If this guy is not breaking the law, he is still alive today.
#2) If this guy does not resist the police, who were NOT there to physically harm him, he is still alive today.
#3) If this guy is offering to cut peoples lawns or wash storefront windows instead of violating the law, regardless of the severity of the law, he is still alive today.
If it's okay for this guy to resist and/or fight with the police, then is it okay for thieves, robbers and murderers to do likewise?
Should cops expect or deserve to be cursed, assaulted, spit on, beaten or shot and killed every time they stop someone who is breaking the law?
Come on, Paul. You were a cop. You didn't get to pick and choose which ordinances, rules or laws to enforce if you were assigned to enforce them.
While I totally get your disgust with politicians and their endless taxing of the population, I think you've spent waaay too much time among the wacko extreme liberals on the wacko left coast of this socialist/progressive turning society. You're beginning to talk like them.
I hate to agree, but unfortunately, cops have indeed been turned into "Judge Dred" characters.
ReplyDeleteMany resist this indoctrination, but increasingly, their orders require it, and especially in this economy, wherein everyone is a captive, what's a hired gun to do?
My appreciation to every cop who honors his oath (have you thought about Oathkeepers?), and encourage every cop tempted to follow illegal orders... don't do it!
It's high time Americans refuse to comply with illegal demands and orders. It should have been done years, decades, perhaps most of a century ago; that refusal will provoke a powerful response from the tyrants, probably a murderous one. At that point, self-defense will be justified.
I wonder: what will history's judgment of this generation of Americans be? I fear it won't be kind.
You cannot resist an arrest, not even an unlawful arrest. That's why we have courts of law. He shouldn't have resisted.
ReplyDeleteLooking at his size though I imagine I would have used three sets of cuffs on him. I learned long ago about the peril of positionl asphyxia and always keep that in mind. Too bad the arresting officers didn't.
Citizens may resist unlawful arrest to the point of taking an arresting officer's life if necessary.” Plummer v. State, 136 Ind. 306. This premise was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case: John Bad Elk v. U.S., 177 U.S. 529.
DeleteJust because the cops can make an arrest doesn't mean it's a good idea. The best way would have been to give the guy a non-traffic summons to appear. Had I chose to make that bullshit arrest I'd have convinced the guy that he is going to be arrested and that he could expect to argue the matter in court rather than the street. I also would have told him that I didn't like the petty law I'm being forced to enforce. I'd have had him laughing on his way to be booked.
ReplyDeleteThere is actually a very well-defined right to resist unlawful arrest, through the use of lethal force, where necessary. The undisturbed Supreme Court precedent in this case is Bad Elk v. U.S. (1900).
ReplyDeleteHere are a few additional citations:
“One has an undoubted right to resist an unlawful arrest, and courts will uphold the right of resistance in proper cases.”
United States Supreme Court, United States v. Di Re, 1948.
“The right of personal liberty is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed to every citizen, and any unlawful interference with it may be resisted. Every person has the right to resist an unlawful arrest, and in preventing such illegal restraint on his liberty, he may use such force as necessary.”
State v. Stowe, Louisiana Supreme Court, 1994
"...under the long-standing Louisiana rule, [the] defendant had the right to resist an unlawful arrest."
State v. Sims, Louisiana Supreme Court, 2003
There may be prudential reasons to submit to the unnecessary injury of an unlawful arrest, but it is not a legal duty. To assert otherwise is to assume that we live in a prison society in which our liberties can be suspended at the whim of overpaid, privileged bullies in government-issued costumes.
Post a withdrawal of passive or tacit consent anywhere and everywhere to how it is.
ReplyDeleteCONSENT OF THE GOVERNED?
This guy did nothing wrong, but in the eyes of the sanctified order of stupidity, he did.
ReplyDeleteNot submitting to implied authority gets you death in any circumstance, regardless of identity or citizenship. The right to resist arrest, unlawful arrest at that, is within us all, not some ignorant badge wearing, gun carrying, pepper-spray toting belligerent. What's never clear to these sanctimonious goons is the fact that we out number them 100 to 1, and when TSHTF they will be first in line for the pitchfork people.
Putting your lives on the line? Don't make me "lmao" on you, your profession(if can be called that) doesn't even make it into the top 15 most dangerous jobs.
Arms parity? I disagree. The government to was to have NO standing army, but was to call up the milita in times of national emergency. The Constitution only allows for a Navy. Atleast, that's how I read it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr Grigg for your comments. Of course we have a natural right to resist unlawful arrests as we do all forms of aggression. The question is whether such resistance is prudent.
ReplyDeleteJohn Bad Elk v. United States, 177 U.S. 529 (1900), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that an individual had the right to use force to resist an unlawful arrest and was entitled to a jury instruction to that effect. In 1889, a tribal police officer, John Bad Elk, shot and killed another tribal police officer who was attempting to arrest Bad Elk without legal authority to do so. The Supreme Court reversed his conviction, noting that a person had the right to resist an unlawful arrest, and in the case of a death, murder may be reduced to manslaughter. This case has been widely cited on the internet, but is no longer considered good law. Most states have, either by statute or by case law, removed the unlawful arrest defense for resisting arrest.
ReplyDeleteDo your research and be careful.
The current policy of "Obey or Die" is a Totalitarian policy just like the policy of "zero tolerance" is a Nazi policy. How did this country, the former land of the free, become the world's leading Police Prison State? Gun Control. In a free society with unrestricted access to the means of self-defense (guns), the law makers and their enforcers would not be able to herd millions of the young, poor, and politically unconnected into their prison gulags like they do today. It would be like a million nazis trying to arrest fifty million armed Jews. In fact, in a free society, all the thug-scum who are currently in power would not exist. Everyone of them would have been slapped down long before they reached their current level of violent lunacy.
ReplyDeleteFor all the brain-washed and brain-dead masses who don't know that justice is above law, here are a few facts: No one is bound to obey an unjust law. Human beings who exercise their natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not criminals, no matter what any man-made law says. A criminal is a person who violates the natural rights of another human. All prohibitionists such as drug fighters, gun grabbers, and other illegalizers are criminals because they kill, assault, rob, and arrest peaceful human beings. They are also terrorists because they target civilians.
The people who founded our country were smugglers, gun owners, and tax resistors. Those defenders of human freedom did not recognize the authority of any government to interfere with honest trade, peaceful behavior, or the right to bear arms. Ultimately, they refused to be stopped and searched for guns and contraband. These facts are the origin of the Second and Fourth Amendments, the heart and soul of this Republic. Thus, in addition to being violent criminals and terrorists, gun grabbers, drug fighters, and other illegalizers are also traitors.
-- Rick [Freedom_First (at) verizon (dot) net]
As a former Police Officer I can appreciate this article.
ReplyDelete"Not submitting to implied authority gets you death in any circumstance, regardless of identity or citizenship. The right to resist arrest, unlawful arrest at that, is within us all, not some ignorant badge wearing, gun carrying, pepper-spray toting belligerent. What's never clear to these sanctimonious goons is the fact that we out number them 100 to 1, and when TSHTF they will be first in line for the pitchfork people.
ReplyDeletePutting your lives on the line? Don't make me "lmao" on you, your profession(if can be called that) doesn't even make it into the top 15 most dangerous jobs."
July 22, 2014 10:19 AM
This poster is an obvious cop hater. I'm a retired State Trooper, and yes, I put my life on the line every day that I went to work. I've been punched, kicked, spit on, pushed, threatened, and shot at. I've also narrowly avoided being run over by careless motorists more times than I care to remember. When was the last time you had to worry about your physical safety when you went to work, 10:19am?
I do agree with some of the other posters though. The cops should have left this guy alone and concentrated their efforts on those who are a public menace. I'd be too embarrassed to bother someone for selling loose cigarettes.
Lastly, some posters sound like sovereign citizens who don't believe that most laws apply to them. In my state you cannot resist arrest, even if you believe it is an unlawful arrest. That's what the courts are for. You cannot leave it up to the citizens to determine whether an arrest is lawful or the whole system will collapse and cops will be shot daily for doing their jobs.
To Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI have seen people go inside of their house, bring out a pillow to put under the head of a horse or a cow that fell down and couldn't get up...
Do you mean to tell me that the policeman in green T-shirt, #99, kaki pants. was doing a Pro job when he used his entire upper body strength to pin Garner's head against the concrete pavement? You want me to believe that when that green T-shirt policeman, #99, brought Garner down in the choke-hold like a Boa constritor,he didn't have murder on his mind? Well. it is as sad as it is lamentable that black Americans will not step up to the plate and assume the duty and obligations that destiny, geography and history picked them to carry out. You have to wonder if black Amreican men ever craved a little human dignity.
Just because the cops can make an arrest doesn't mean it's a good idea. The best way would have been to give the guy a non-traffic summons to appear. Had I chose to make that bullshit arrest I'd have convinced the guy that he is going to be arrested and that he could expect to argue the matter in court rather than the street. I also would have told him that I didn't like the petty law I'm being forced to enforce. I'd have had him laughing on his way to be booked.
ReplyDeleteJuly 21, 2014 3:45 PM
Come on, Paul. I agree with 5:34 am and it is your blog, but you have been off the streets way too long to arm chair quarterback like this. You may have been able to bamboozle several people into "thanking you" for your treatment of them during their brief encounter with you, but I am quite sure that not ALL of your arrestees were that compliant.
Whether you agree with the law or not, it is a LAW. We (as Law Enforcement) are sworn to uphold the law. We are also not required to back down from an arrest and it would be a great disservice to do so (to both fellow law enforcement and to the citizens that we are sworn to protect). I am not saying that this OFFENDER should have been sentenced to death for his crimes, however it was his choice to resist this LAWFUL arrest. Not having been there, I can only base this on the video at hand-and so should you.
If you are going to put someone in a choke hold. After they go limp, let go , and put them in a recovery position(after cuffing them first)
ReplyDeleteCops are necessary people,the corporate laws are not,we are focusing on the wrong problem.we have a corrupt government.most cops just want to go home at night.
ReplyDelete