A Robbery of a Different Kindby
Eric Peters Recently
by Eric Peters: Some
Random 'Car Stuff'
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. (See here for the ABC News story.) 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!” The Accosted apparently agree. So far, according to news reports, none of the 40 has so much as filed a complaint. This is an incredible thing. A lurid testimony as to the current state of the American mind – cowed, in awe of “law enforcement” – and utterly indifferent to the inevitable consequences of countenancing such thuggery. And thuggery is precisely the right word. Because thugs use violence to intimidate and get what they want. They do not care how they get what they want. Just so they get what they want. June 12, 2012 Eric Peters [send him mail] is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities and Road Hogs (2011). Visit his website.Copyright © 2012 Eric Peters
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