From: nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 01:33:24 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Bullshit! / Re: in defense of Lon Horiuchi
Message-ID: <199709111703.TAA07565@basement.replay.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Zooko Journeyman wrote:
>  Anonymous <anon@anon.efga.org> mumbled:
> > It's amazing that Freeh would admit that shooting an unarmed
> > woman holding an infant is what "he was trained to do" and was "within
> > the scope of his authority" and that he "reasonably believed [it] was
> > proper" to do so.  What are they teaching at FBI school nowadays?

> Anonymous, above, would _like_ you to think of the FBI sniper
> Lon Horiuchi as a murderous baby-killer who chuckled gleefully
> when he saw his opportunity to take out a toddler. 

Personally, I think you are both 1/2 full of shit, for a grand total
of Bullshit!

It is fortunate that, in my position of Chief CypherPunks Spokesperson,
I am able to set you both right in the interests of Truth, Justice, and
an Uzi in every pot (bag).

I have no problem with people who enter law enforcement with the 
genuine intention of attempting to serve the ends of equal justice
being applied among the citizens in a reasonable manner.
I *do* have a problem, however, with the fact that the high level
of integrity and responsibility that *should* go hand in hand with
that manner of _public_service_ has in many ways been abandoned to 
serve the convenience (*not* "legitimate needs") of law enforcement
agencies.

We all know that if we had approached the FBI before they found the
guy, and *guaranteed* that if they gave us six men for thirty days
we would bring their man into custody, they would gladly have given
us what we asked, if the alternative was to let him go free.
When it comes to avoiding the loss of innocent lives, however, the
motivation to "do whatever it takes" seems to be more lacking. To
me, this is unconscienable.

A good example is the many lives that have been lost over the years
in dangerous high-speed chases over nickle and dime bullshit, merely
because the 'good guys' main interest was to get a good adrenaline
rush in their pursuit and capture of their prey, however small-fry
that prey might be.
Only when enough blatantly senseless tragedies had taken place, was
there any attempt to introduce the discretion of the "reasonable
man" in the slightest manner such as it is applied to the normal
citizens in the judgement of their actions according to the law of
the land.

The fact that the victims were killed by a 'missed' shot which went
through a door, does not lessen the responsibility of the agent who
chose to use deadly force to understand the potential of the weapon
he was using.
If Zooko shoots a cop by firing into a steel wall with a cannon, he
is unlikely to get cut much slack by saying, "It never occured to
me that could happen."

I don't know the FBI agent who fired the fatal shot. He may be one
of the nicest and most well-intentioned people in the world. However,
I have personally known too many law enforcement personnel who had
far more interest in exercising egoistic authority, or getting an
adrenaline rush from risky situations, than in bringing the end 
goals of law enforcement to a safe and just end for all involved.

I find it hard to believe that the end result of the standoff was
not the result of impatience and convenience rather than the way
things truly needed to be.

TruthMonger