Sen. Coburn Thinks Police Should Shoot Drug Suspects in the Back
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), last seen trying to undermine state medical marijuana laws, seems to think that police should be allowed to shoot fleeing drug suspects:
These people could turn out to be innocent like Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., a goat herder who was shot from behind and killed by marines who thought he was a drug-trafficker.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Border Patrol agents should be allowed to shoot at fleeing drug traffickers, a Republican senator suggested Tuesday.Um, yeah. The reason you don’t shoot people for running away is because they might not be worthy of getting shot.
The patrol's deadly force rules were questioned at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing concerning the conviction of two agents who shot a fleeing, unarmed drug trafficker and covered it up.
"Why is it wrong to shoot the [trafficker] after he's been told to stop?" asked Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma.
Johnny Sutton, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said the Supreme Court has ruled that using deadly force in that way is illegal. Agents also may not know if the fleeing person is a trafficker, he said. [CNN]
These people could turn out to be innocent like Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., a goat herder who was shot from behind and killed by marines who thought he was a drug-trafficker.
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Does anyone have heart left?
Seriously, how cold do you have to be? At what point did people like Sen. Coburn stop thinking of these people as...well... people?
The Reason You Don't Shoot Fleeing Suspects
is because they aren't a threat to you. Deadly force or even rough non-lethal force is a power allowed to officers/govt. agents as a means of protection. The reason you don't use deadly force to subdue a fleeing suspect is because we (the people) believe that every life has merit, even a drug dealer's life. Very few crimes (murder, rape) warrant using deadly or life threatening force just to make an arrest.
Unfortunately, that notion is getting swiftly brushed under the carpet by our government . . . from the President, to Senators and Congressmen, to the lowest-level agents . . . it is shown by the force demonstrations of S.W.A.T. teams the draconian measures of federal agents and the "everyone must kiss the dirt because I decreed it," mentality of local and state police officers.
Something must be done, but I'm afraid, as a nation, we can't muster the outrage necessary to promote widespread changes. Still, it does help that people are picking up on stories like these.
Thanks,
Drug war will never end !!
Although I am not a supporter of complete legalization of all drugs, I do support the release of non-violent offenders from prisons.
Unfortunately, this will never happen. Why? It's always the same old "Why?"
Money...The prison system is mostly a private industry contracted to the fed.gov. These prisons have a vested interest in keeping the cells full and the investors pockets full as well. Meanwhile, keeping drugs "illegal" provides an endless pool of unlucky souls to fill these prisons.
So It is not surprising, nor is it a new trend, to find out that corrupt LE facilitates the drug war by providing drugs to the masses.
If you hear about one cop getting busted for corruption, then there are a hundred more out there that will never get caught.
This is big business. Dont ever forget that!!
It's not about the children, or rascism, or the grand ol' flag.....it's about money.
Something to think about: The DEA has been around for about 30years.
By their own admission, the drug problem is at "epidemic proportions" througout the US and getting worse. Check out their website.
So what have they been doing for the past 30 years?? If you or I were that ineffective at our jobs we would be fired!! If we submitted an annual report to our bosses and stated that we are getting further and further behind and you dont see an end in sight....wouldn't we be fired? I think so. We can be fired for a lot less. Seems that they are a part of the problem and offer few solutions. God help us !!
abe
ya right!
Like you said, there is NO INCENTIVE for authorities to wipe out drug use, even if it could be done. The only incentive for the drug war organizations is to renew their budgets. The only way to ensure the taxes keep flowing their way is to a) make the electorate believe there is a problem still to be solved ( one only their agency can solve) and b) do not solve the problem. LOL. Gotta love politics.
fuck this
let ppl live their lives
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