Are you feeling safer now?
As always, after a controversial police shooting, the police investigate themselves, and -- always-- always!-- find themselves innocent, and, in fact, commend themselves, in this case, for hearing the word "bomb" in English or Spanish, at the front of the plane or the back of the plane, while he was running down the aisle or later, or earlier, or sometime during the course of events....
The police and the Air Marshals and all the other armed "authorities" aren't stupid: all they have to do to convince most Americans that they need to shoot people occasionally is include the words "bomb" and "threat" in their reports, state that certain things are facts that are not facts, and award themselves medals. Most importantly of all-- hear this-- the suspect must be identified as not one of us. In this case, Rigobert Alpizar-- just look at the name!-- came from Ecuador. [additional entries May 2008]
December 5, 2005
Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House transportation subcommittee on aviation, after a disturbed unarmed man was shot dead by sky-marshals: "This should send a message to a terrorist or anyone else who is considering disrupting an aircraft with a threat."
If someone is reported to be carrying a gun or a bomb, do all of our law enforcement authorities consider it good policy to shoot first and ask questions later?
Actually, I'm not all that sure that they don't, in America.
The surprising thing is that we don't consider that Rigoberto Alpizar was sick enough to need help, instead of a bullet, but we consider John L. Mica sick enough to elect to federal office.
Has the FBI conducted a study yet--- please tell us, how many suicide bombers announce, to the sky marshals, that they have a bomb?