 [17] NORML (1:375/48)  NORML 
 Msg  : #5226 [86]                                                              
 From : Michael Burhans                     1:239/1004      Wed 06 Apr 94 01:50 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : 4/5-MRB-Out Of My Mind                                                  

         *************************************************************
         *            Michael R. Burhans - Out Of My Mind            *
         *                 A Weekly Electronic Column                *
         *                       April 5, 1994                       *
         *************************************************************



                      Drug War Collateral Damage
                                  Or
           "You have the right to remain silent... forever."


  Friday night the twenty-fifth of March the nation's war on drugs claimed
another innocent victim.  The Boston Police Department's SWAT team acting on an
informant's tip, raided the apartment of the elderly Reverend Accelynne
Williams.  The Reverend, noted for being quiet and shy in his personal life and
for his dedication to helping people get off of drugs, was understandably
shocked when without warning his front door exploded open and a team of helmeted
men in full body
armour armed with military style weapons came screaming into the room. While for
most people such a moment of sheer terror would only lead to years of
nightmares, pain and therapy, for Rev. Williams it was his last moment.  These
ninja suited drug warriors literally scared him to death.  We can only imagine
what terrified thoughts ran through his mind in those last moments.  His family,
friends, and parishioners are left behind wondering how this could possibly
happen in America.  It is a valid question that we should explore.

  The first question that we must ask is just what lead to this bust in the
first place.  According to the spokesman from the Boston Police they got a tip
from an informant that cocaine was being sold from that building and he mixed up
the apartment number.  They lay all the blame for this homicide on this unnamed
snitch.  I beg to differ; what kind of police department stages a full scale
SWAT raid on a single
uncorroborated tip?  Doesn't the Boston Police Department employ
detectives?  Do they not bother to utilize even a token amount of investigation
or surveillance?  Is it standard operating procedure to stage a full scale raid
on each and ever drug tip that they get?
Think of the abuse such a policy is prone to.  Say you break up with your lover
and want to make them miserable?  Call in an anonymous tip that they are dealing
cocaine and sit back and watch the fun as a dozen drug warriors destroy their
property and piece of mind.  Hey, you might even get lucky and have Officer
Rambo-wannabe accidently shoot them!  You just got fired?  Call in an anonymous
drug tip and watch your former place of business get torn apart!  It may be
days, weeks, or even months before they recover, perhaps even never.

  Haven't we lost enough of our rights in the name of this drug war already?
When I was a small boy we were taught that one of the things that made the
United States great was that a person's home was their castle.  In America, we
were told, roaming squads of police did not kick in people's doors and drag them
off without a well investigated legally issued warrant.  Now it seems this view
is outdated, no
investigation is needed.  The police act on the merest scrap of
suspicion, even single uncorroborated tips.  Judges turn their back on the
Constitution and what is right, and simply issue any warrants the police ask
for.  In this unthinking bureaucratic process all
semblance of justice and rights are lost.  Innocents die in their own homes;
victims of Drug War Death Squads who should be more at home in El Salvador or
Communist China than here in America.

  It is time for the people of the United States to stand up and
reassert our roles as the rightful rulers in our society.  This war on our
rights must stop before the body count rises any higher.  The law enforcement
community must be put back into its proper place.  Our Constitutional guarantees
of freedom must once again be followed, or the entire fabric of our society is
doomed.  So far our leaders only plan to repair the societal chaos resulting
from this usurping of our rights is to limit, and even remove more of our
rights.  This is
unacceptable.

     Lastly I was struck by the closing comments the Boston Police Department's
spokesman made.  In reference to the death of Rev.
Williams he said words to the effect that they would, "...make this situation
right again."   We can only be amazed at this level of
hubris.  It seems that the Boston Police Department has become so full of itself
that it has decided that not only do the rules of proper Constitutional law no
longer apply to it, but it seems neither do the rules of natural law!  I for one
will anxiously await to see exactly how they plan on resurrecting this good man
that they so cruelly and unjustly killed.




     ************************************************************
     *(c)1994 Michael R. Burhans\24th Century Society Publishing*
     *Permission for unaltered reproduction and dissemination is*
     *granted as long as it is not for profit & with this notice*
     *    Internet-michael.burhans@f1004.n239.z1.fidonet.org    *
     ************************************************************

 * SLMR 2.1a * Michael R. Burhans - Out Of My Mind

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