Obviously the big news is the fact that some white guy in Moncton New Brunswick shot and killed three RCMP officers and wounded two others. The suspect, Justin Bourque has been found and arrested. Still no word on a possible motive for the murders. He did have an interesting link on his facebook to the number of guns Canada sells to terrorist countries. CBC posted an interesting article on the matter. Nevertheless, shooting RCMP officers is off the hook as in messed up.
Update: Blog readers have been trying to discover a motive that would make Justin Bourque target police officers. One possible theory is the murder of Daniel Levesque who was shot and killed by Moncton RCMP in 2013. Daniel was accused of trying to break into a car and he was shot dead by police. The police investigation claimed Daniel was killed by a previous stab wound not by the police shooting. It's kind of hard to visualize how someone would break into a car with a fatal stab wound. The media co-op suggests that Justin Bourque was friends with Daniel Levesque.
If that was the case, then it would reveal a double tragedy. First is the murder of Daniel Levesque which went unpunished. The second is the murder of three other police officers who were likely not unloved in that shooting. It reminds me all too well of the Belfast / Jerusalem dilemma. You kill one of ours and we kill one of yours. That logic fails.
The old law of an eye for an eye never meant that if someone commits murder then you execute some other innocent person from the same race, religion or in this case occupation. Natural justice means if someone commits murder, that person is charged and tried not someone else. Indeed, as Martin Luther King would say, that definition of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
I think a lot of Canadians would be surprised to learn that Canada manufactures weapons for export at all. Yet Canada is the 12th largest exporter of military equipment in the world, 7th largest for export to the third world.
ReplyDeleteCanada is prohibited by Parliament from selling to Columbia, so Bell Canada "sold" helicopters to the US, who refitted them for military use and passed them on, allowing that restriction to be bypassed.
The human appetite for weapons is near insatiable, always has been. The history of our species, our technology, and our weapons are so interlinked as to be inseparable. Actually I have little against weapons sales, I just hate hypocrites.
The stupidest liars are those who can lie to themselves and be believed.
Indeed. Brian Mulroney and Trans World Arms were tied to Iran Contra.
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ReplyDeleteIt's kind of hard to imagine how Ian Bush could be shot in the back of the head by an officer who testifying that he himself was being held from behind in a choke hold, but it "happened"......even though the country's top blood spatter evidence expert (Edmonton Police IIRC) also testified it could never have happened the way Constable Paul Koester said it did. For "some reason" none of the camera's in the detachment that would have shown what really happened were working..... :rolleyes:
While I take your point about "eye for an eye", it's unrealistic to expect people to tolerate such arrogant, brutal behavior without retaliation. If it were a question of seeking justice through the system, that would be OK, but we all know that is not going to happen, the "fix" is in. The police obviously have zero qualms about faking evidence, filing false reports, and lying in court, especially when it comes to protecting themselves from the consequences of their own misdeeds. That being the case, what other options for justice exist? The "day of judgement" is a little too far off for some folks, and far from certain.
While you make a good point about holding the exact individual responsible to account, when it's group against group, blooding "their side" is often all you're going to get. Typically the RCMP will transfer "members" involved in such incidents to the other side of the country or to some other post ITMOFN, and it's a little hard for the average civilian to locate an individual police officer without tipping their hand. And if one is going to go that route, you might as well go big. "After the first one the rest are free".
There are too many arrogant, stupid police officers out there. Apparently being delegated some authority has that effect on a lot of folks. If they really understood how easy it is to successfully attack a police officer, (they should be paying some attention to that concept right about now, if for only that lesson) they'd be a lot more respectful of the people who gave them their jobs. Quite frankly I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. If my son had been murdered by a lying coward, or three drunken off-duty cops had robbed and beat the shit out of my father, I'd be hunting them in the street like it was deer season. And if you're on the side of the guys I'd be looking for, you can take that ride on the night train along with them.
"After the first one the rest are free."
@ trailrunner don't forget Charles McGillvary, a severely handicapped man who was choked and beaten by Toronto city police while he stood outside a pizza joint greeting people while his elderly mother was in the store grabbing him a slice. Why? Because his handicap prevented him from answering the GOOFS who were bullying him while in uniform because they thought his behavior was strange...as usual, no charges brought against the scumbag cops! if any deserved the same treatment it's these ones as well.
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