I saw Twitter updates about this, but I assumed it was an Onion story that someone didn’t recognize as being from a parody news site. I was wrong:
The police state is not only here — it is being welcomed with open arms.
Exhibit A: In Aurora, Colorado, police searching for suspected bank robbers locked down an entire intersection, dragooned 40 random motorists out of their cars at gunpoint, handcuffed them and “asked” for permission to search their vehicles. [. . .]
Naturally, no one refused permission.
The action itself is startling: 40 people, guilty of nothing more than proximity, of being in the same general area where a suspected criminal might also be, are literally pulled from their vehicles, shackled and detained for more than two hours — even after it was obvious they were guilty of no crime at all.
Even more startling, however, than these over-the-top tactics is the fact that (apparently) every one of these 40 innocent people complied without a peep of protest. Not one said: “I’m sorry officer, but unless I’ve committed a crime I’d like to be free to go about my business.” Not one said, “I do not consent to any searches.”
None put up a fuss when the cuffs came out.
One woman interviewed by ABC News clucked happily: “Yeah, we all got cuffed (laugh) until they figured out who did what.” No doubt this woman will not object when a gang of armed men kicks in her door, invades her home and holds her family at gunpoint until they figure out who did what. After all, there are criminals about. They could be anywhere. Which means, anything is justified.
In the words of one ABC News blogger, “Sounds like the police did their job — and did it exceptionally well!” And another: “I think the police did a great job in an unusual circumstance and protected the people of the city from a dangerous criminal. Those people should praise the police, not sue them!”
It’s amazing that none of these people who were the victims of an insane amount of police overreaction seem to feel that the police did anything wrong. There must not be a civil liberty equivalent of the ambulance-chasing lawyer.
It’s amazing …
I don’t see that all forty were interviewed after the fact. I’d surmise that there are quite a few who are stewed about it now.
And .. during the rannygazoo?
I have the impression the cops did not stroll up, give a cherry ‘hello, howya doin’ and politely ask the motorist to get out of the car. I believe there were screeching cars, drawn weapons, lots of shouting.
It would take a _lot_ of courage for one to look into the muzzle of a shotgun, and decline to exit one’s vehicle.
Comment by Brian Dunbar — June 12, 2012 @ 22:46
Oh, I may talk big on the internet, but I’m not the confrontational type. Given an officer of the law (or ten) asking me to step out of my vehicle, I’m stepping out of my vehicle. I get that. I’m not blaming any of the victims here for co-operating at the point of one or more guns wielded by body-armoured boys and girls in blue.
What flat-out astonishes me is the lack of outrage after the initial moment of confrontation. Even here in “peace loving” Canada, I’d expect at least one of them to lawyer up or contact the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Comment by Nicholas — June 13, 2012 @ 07:50