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91 lines
5.0 KiB
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* Michael R. Burhans - Out Of My Mind *
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* A Weekly Electronic Column *
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* April 5, 1994 *
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Drug War Collateral Damage
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Or
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"You have the right to remain silent... forever."
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Friday night the twenty-fifth of March the nation's war on drugs
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claimed another innocent victim. The Boston Police Department's SWAT
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team acting on an informant's tip, raided the apartment of the
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elderly Reverend Accelynne Williams. The Reverend, noted for being
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quiet and shy in his personal life and for his dedication to helping
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people get off of drugs, was understandably shocked when without
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warning his front door exploded open and a team of helmeted men in
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full body armour armed with military style weapons came screaming
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into the room. While for most people such a moment of sheer terror
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would only lead to years of nightmares, pain and therapy, for Rev.
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Williams it was his last moment. These ninja suited drug warriors
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literally scared him to death. We can only imagine what terrified
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thoughts ran through his mind in those last moments. His family,
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friends, and parishioners are left behind wondering how this could
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possibly happen in America. It is a valid question that we should
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explore.
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The first question that we must ask is just what lead to this bust
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in the first place. According to the spokesman from the Boston
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Police they got a tip from an informant that cocaine was being sold
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from that building and he mixed up the apartment number. They lay
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all the blame for this homicide on this unnamed snitch. I beg to
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differ; what kind of police department stages a full scale SWAT raid
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on a single uncorroborated tip? Doesn't the Boston Police Department
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employ detectives? Do they not bother to utilize even a token amount
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of investigation or surveillance? Is it standard operating procedure
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to stage a full scale raid on each and ever drug tip that they get?
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Think of the abuse such a policy is prone to. Say you break up with
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your lover and want to make them miserable? Call in an anonymous tip
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that they are dealing cocaine and sit back and watch the fun as a
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dozen drug warriors destroy their property and piece of mind. Hey,
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you might even get lucky and have Officer Rambo-wannabe accidently
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shoot them! You just got fired? Call in an anonymous drug tip and
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watch your former place of business get torn apart! It may be days,
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weeks, or even months before they recover, perhaps even never.
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Haven't we lost enough of our rights in the name of this drug war
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already? When I was a small boy we were taught that one of the things
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that made the United States great was that a person's home was their
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castle. In America, we were told, roaming squads of police did not
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kick in people's doors and drag them off without a well investigated
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legally issued warrant. Now it seems this view is outdated, no
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investigation is needed. The police act on the merest scrap of
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suspicion, even single uncorroborated tips. Judges turn their back
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on the Constitution and what is right, and simply issue any warrants
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the police ask for. In this unthinking bureaucratic process all
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semblance of justice and rights are lost. Innocents die in their own
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homes; victims of Drug War Death Squads who should be more at home in
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El Salvador or Communist China than here in America.
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It is time for the people of the United States to stand up and
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reassert our roles as the rightful rulers in our society. This war
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on our rights must stop before the body count rises any higher. The
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law enforcement community must be put back into its proper place.
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Our Constitutional guarantees of freedom must once again be followed,
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or the entire fabric of our society is doomed. So far our leaders
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only plan to repair the societal chaos resulting from this usurping
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of our rights is to limit, and even remove more of our rights. This
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is unacceptable.
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Lastly I was struck by the closing comments the Boston Police
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Department's spokesman made. In reference to the death of Rev.
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Williams he said words to the effect that they would, "...make this
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situation right again." We can only be amazed at this level of
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hubris. It seems that the Boston Police Department has become so
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full of itself that it has decided that not only do the rules of
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proper Constitutional law no longer apply to it, but it seems neither
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do the rules of natural law! I for one will anxiously await to see
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exactly how they plan on resurrecting this good man that they so
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cruelly and unjustly killed.
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************************************************************
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*(c)1994 Michael R. Burhans\24th Century Society Publishing*
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*Permission for unaltered reproduction and dissemination is*
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*granted as long as it is not for profit & with this notice*
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* internet-michael.burhans@f1004.n239.z1.fidonet.org *
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************************************************************
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