Here’s the thing. The Free Republic is a true conservative site and the true conservatives believe in law and order along with everyone living by one set of laws; the US Constitution.
I would venture to guess 99% of us believe most cops are good and decent which is why when something like this happens; it feels like a back stab. This isn’t how good LEO’s operate. For all we know; every LEO there was good and decent and just made the mistake of following some very bad orders. All that has yet to be determined.
At some point in the NEAR future we need honest answers to this fiasco that left 9 people dead and another 18 wounded by gunfire. It really isn’t anymore complicated than that.
Honest answers about who shot whom in the span of just 2 minutes and why another 177 people on top of those 27 had their lives ruined because of it.
For those who keep saying the bikers are/were criminals, etc; none of that is at issue here. As a LEO you don’t get to be the judge, jury, and executioner regardless of how you feel about anyone. If that were the case we wouldn’t need lawyers, judges, and grand juries.
A LEO’s job is simple. Uphold the law. That’s it. LEO’s don’t get to choose which laws they want to uphold. They don’t even have the luxury of having an (open) opinion about who they are asked/told to protect or arrest. That is for others to do.
Here is what I don’t get about some of those who have been trying to justify what happened on the LEO side of that fateful day that left 27 people either dead or wounded.
LEO’s are civilian counterpart soldiers in a way. They have an extremely difficult job without all this drama. Why would they pile on those who would normally support them by blowing them away or wounding them? Bikers are on average some of the most patriotic and lawful folks in America. We generally support Law Enforcement because many, if not most, of us have been in uniform before and respect the job LEO’s do.
If this isn’t resolved correctly; LEO’s will no longer be looked upon as the good guys like they have for so long.
The tables will have been turned and LEO’s will be the guys who shoot innocent people. In other words; shoot first and ask questions later. That’s a huge shift in Law Enforcement as we know it. Not just for us non LEO’s but for the LEO’s too.
I have to wonder how many LEO’s will stay in Law Enforcement if this is the new normal for them.
If I were a LEO; I would want the truth to come out on this issue even more than I do as a motorcycle rider.
It’s a tipping point issue at this point; wouldn’t you agree?
“If I were a LEO; I would want the truth to come out on this issue even more than I do as a motorcycle rider.”
From some of the bikers at the scene:
Bikers on the scene commend the police for their actions.
Peter Graves, Bandidos officer and TCOC president at the Waco shooting, says they respect the police for doing their job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_sCRg69TQE
(Big John Snyder, Vice president of the Boozefighters at the Waco shooting) “The police were professional, considering the situation they were in. They were professional and doing their job,” he said.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-waco-biker-20150519-story.html
We have also heard from a biker family member that the police probably saved lives at Waco.
“I would venture to guess 99% of us believe most cops are good and decent which is why when something like this happens; it feels like a back stab. “
Can’t quite make out what you are saying. The cops have been stabbed in the back by being labeled executioners for stopping a gang war?
I have to commend you, most of that post was very well thought out.
The trouble is when you noted “Bikers are on average some of the most patriotic and lawful folks”, which is undoubtedly true, except within the specific situation at Twin Peaks.
Those arrested, had bond set and were not released uncharged, were either active participants, armed, held on prior charges or appeared to be involved (suspicious actions, appearance, etc). From eye witness reports there was a significant number of people stashing weapons and trying to hide. Given all the inter-gang shooting going on, of course the smart thing to do would be try to hide, but that also could be perceived as suspicious.
This shootout was indeed a BIG DEAL, with 9 dead and 20 wounded. Even WPD, likely the DA’s Office and courts were pushed to their function limit.
Now, once the pre-trials and trial start, if we are all still in the dark, then yes we could be having a Constitutional problem, but to jump to the easiest conclusion gets nowhere.
Most of us here want this to be resolved so those innocent are freed and there is no chance one of the actual shooters or someone likely to continue the war will be released to endanger the public.
I'm a romantic, I know, but there's truth in the romantic notion that the soldier goes after enemy soldiers, but the lawman goes after the individual who's dangerous and bad.
Patches, insignia, marked the "enemy" for the troops that stormed TP. For all we know, they sincerely believed they were going up against hardened Sons of Anarchy and their Spawn, instead of the Sunday biker crowd that was mostly there. Although it's a stretch, maybe they really are that out of touch with the real America.
Lawmen were absent at Waco that day.
The further we get into this, the more obvious it is to me that LE are being and have been used as tools by Abel Renya. I think that he thinks that this case could be his way forward to bigger and better jobs than McLennan County has for him.