I'm not the only one! (sorry, Melissa)

Air traveler choked to death in police custody at Phoenix airport after being handcuffed, detained

So you think I'm overreacting by accusing the USA of having become a Police State?

Read the above link. When I first read the story this op piece refers to, I thought that there must be more to it. After all, I used to own a pair of handcuffs, and have had my hands cuffed behind my back. There just ain't no way for you to strangle yourself with your hands cuffed behind your back, short of being a professional contortionist, or having both arms broken. One of the reasons that hands are cuffed behind the back is to prevent harm TO SELF or others. Just ask a cop.

Now, after having read the above article, I don't feel so alone in my initial discomfort with the official "explanation" given for this woman's death. A third party's involvement is a LOT more likely than what has been offered as an explanation. Especially since disturbing the peace is not likely to cause life changing punishment. The now DEAD woman had no reason to commit suicide, and I have very serious doubts that she would have been able to overcome the pain needed to dislocate her own joints in order to strangle herself.

Someone is lying, and the only ones talking are with the government goon squads. She can't talk. She is dead.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "Once you have eliminated the impossible, what ever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." It is certain that the probability of someone (with authority) killing this woman is much higher than the probability that she killed herself. I think it is impossible for her to have done so.

It wouldn't be the first time that color of authority was used to commit murder, or to escape responsibility for it. But it would be the first recorded example of suicide by handcuff that I've seen.

Update 10/05/2007 00:30

News reports indicate that a private investigator hired by the deceased woman's family has disclosed that there were multiple bruises on her body, some of which showed patterns consistent with the chains on her restraints. He did not expound on the specific locations of the bruises. Some of the bruises were not consistent with the chains, but may have been caused during her arrest. No report of possible sexual abuse. Determination of cause of death is awaiting toxicology tests.

I still want to know how she managed to asphyxiate herself, given that the ability to maintain a choke hold would not persist after unconsciousness.

The original report and subsequent report say that she was "shackled" to a bench. I don't understand how someone can maneuver their hands from behind their back to the front and then strangle themselves while shackled to a bench! Even just handcuffs behind the back are difficult to move to the front, but to do so while chained to a bench is unbelievable.

There has to be more to this.

conhed

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More abuse of power - And you still think it won't happen to you.

60 year old woman arrested, strip searched for questioning powerline surveyors

She wants to talk to surveyors about power lines set to cross her property and gets arrested for disorderly conduct. A deputy says she made threats.

What? Did she threaten to get a lawyer to preserve her property rights? A 60 year old woman is going to make physical threats against a group of men?

She's lucky she wasn't tasered to death, I guess.

This deputy needs a talking to, preferably by his boss, in no uncertain terms.

People DO have a right to question authority and petition the government for redress of grievances. Saying you are considering taking action to preserve your rights must not be allowed to be construed as a threat. I don't know what she said, but it sure looks like more police state shenanigans, doesn't it?

conhed

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People and Positions -Politics!

No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other.

Jascha Heifetz (1901 - 1987)

Corollary- Sometimes, you take a position on an issue that you know will be consistent with the position of people you don't generally respect.

Such is my position on Police Brutality. It seems that most people who express condemnation of the impending police state are "liberals" or "progressives." I get this impression from reading commentary on news stories and blogs.

So, how does that make the Conservative Hedonist feel? Pretty good, actually. It means that my beliefs in personal freedom are shared by them, if not my beliefs about personal responsibility for one's actions. No doubt there are times when I view those to the left of me with disdain. This is usually because they are saying stupid things or engaging in ad hominem arguments that serve no constructive purpose.

It does not mean that they are bad people, only that I find some of their ideas repugnant and childish. I dismiss them, but I do not disrespect them, neither do I disrespect a child with imperfect understanding. There is always a chance to grow and learn more. I, too, began as an idealistic young person, but I grew up to understand the need for rational debate and gained the willingness to listen and learn.

I have no interest in power over other people. It's hard enough to run my own life. I only want to be able to pursue my own interests without interference from those who believe they have the moral right to "correct" my behavior, behavior that is completely non-threatening to them, but does not conform to their view of the world.

The powers-that-be now seek to use the police to force conformance with "moral" codes that are not supported by the Constitution or the lawful statutes; that are, in fact, contrary to the law and the Constitution. This is not a problem of Republicans or Democrats, it is a problem with power hungry politicians who know that their power rests upon their control of the citizenry.

If someone sees this as a left wing view, or being against Republicans, then they are completely missing the point. There will be no such thing as political division when the police state is complete. Whoever becomes the leader will set the views for everyone. Anyone who disagrees will disappear. Read history and look at any tyranny. Dissent is squelched by the POLICE.

It requires only two things for this police state to become real - that power may be used without fear by the police, and that a division exists that places the police at odds with the citizens. Giving the police the ability to intimidate and torture people insures that the second condition becomes true. Making sure that they are not punished for those tactics serves as feedback into a vicious circle of increasing violence against the police and even more violent police actions to suppress the violence.

Once the police are sure that they are the only good guys and that all citizens are criminals, the deed is done. Fait accompli. Freedom has been destroyed. Of course some citizens will resent being labeled as criminal, but their resentment will only last until they are "caught" and "corrected." People who continue to believe that they have rights will disappear as soon as they try to exercise those rights.

This is not to say that the police are bad people either. They are getting paid to do a job according to the law. Most of them do an excellent job considering that the people who write the laws, continually and with malice aforethought, design those laws to ensure the rift between the police and those they are sworn to "serve and protect." One cannot blame the police for being told to use illegal force to protect themselves while enforcing laws that are unconstitutional. They are victims, too. Ones that should know better, nonetheless.

This isn't about being a liberal or a conservative, a democrat or a republican, atheist or Christian. It is about having the choice, or not having the choice. It is about right or wrong. You choose. Freedom or slavery.

But choose soon. Or lose the opportunity.

Remember that power hungry people can make your family starve, take your children away, rape your wife or husband, manipulate your financial well-being, and make you beg to lick their hand for a stale slice of bread while thanking them for letting you live another day.

As for me, when that day comes (not IF!), suicide by police won't even be a problem. They will be more than happy to accommodate. It will be their job. And they will be good at it. Then they will go home to their families, happy and safe. But not free. And that will be their fault.

And ours.

conhed