re: "Militarization of the Police" discussion

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That's not a gotcha, it is an extreme outlier. Just because .000000001 percent of issues may require a humvee that can take a RPG to the side doesn't mean you NEED it.

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Armed Man Opens Fire on Marion County SWAT Team


WILLISTON, FL –A Marion County man says he intentionally shot at deputies during a standoff Sunday because he was protecting his constitutional right to bear arms.

It happened around noon Sunday at a home on the 17100 block of Northwest 162nd Terrace where 35-year-old Dustin Heathman was staying.

While reading off the list of charges including 10 counts of attempted murder on a law enforcement officer, the judge told Heathman he could be facing life in prison if convicted on those charges.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit at the Marion County Jail, Heathman stood before the judge with a bruised face after the violent standoff with Marion County’s SWAT team.

Deputies said they received a tip from Heathman’s family, saying he was violent and had many weapons with him.

When deputies went to the home with a warrant for his arrest, they said he refused to come out of the house and called in the SWAT team.

Deputies said Heathman shot at an armored vehicle, along with the deputies outside of it. No deputies were injured.


THERE ARE PLENTY of these stories online.

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Wouldn't an armored car and body armour provide a useful layer of protection that the police would not have otherwise with standard street cruisers and daily uniforms? Are the police not entitled to extra protection in such a hostile environment?

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It does. And they are. I don't have a problem with protecting themselves. But they haven't arrested any number of people who clearly should have been arrested. That's bipolar.

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Because, as I asked at the beginning, is it the way they LOOK or is it what they are DOING? No one has answered that.

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You are being intellectually dishonest. Many people have answered your very simple questions. You clearly have an agenda but you cowardly hide behind "I'm just asking questions, sheesh!".

But I'll answer you flatly: it's what they're doing. Like this idiot with an AR-15 with a simple 3x magnifier propped up like he's Chris Kyle. I've got better optics on pellet guns.



Or any of the other hundreds of photos of police behaving like idiots from this thing. Or stories of them manhandling reporters for no reason. Or the fact that a curfew is a First Amendment violation. I know you think they're in the right. You've made that clear. But I want you to know that you're an idiot.

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Why do y'all keep saying this like they're using live ammo? They are loaded with rubber bullets, bean bags or in the case of the paintball guns, pepper balls. Just curious?

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Tell you what. Go draw a Sig 229 on a stranger in the street. When the cops arrive explain that there were rubber bullets in it and that she had no reason to be afraid. They definitely won't charge you with assault with a deadly weapon then.

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THERE ARE PLENTY of these stories online.

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No, there's not.

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Tyler, TX — Howard Tod Granger was surrounded. Lenco BearCat G3 at his front gate, sheriff at the back, helicopter in the sky, and a sniper in the yard. The body was buried in his shed: Benjamin Gill Clements, former governor’s son, millionaire from Dallas. Clements, 69, purchased tracts of land like other men bought cattle. Granger’s five acres in Henderson County had been surrounded by the retired CEO’s metal fences, private lakes and planted pines for years before the police encircled Granger on Oct. 22. That afternoon, the law called out for Granger. He stepped out of his little blue house and answered with an AK-47. Police say Granger unloaded 30-plus rounds into the Lenco BearCat G3 before a sniper shot him dead. And sometime between the first bullet and the last, they heard him scream what likely were his last words.

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If you dont understand that you just argued against your own point by posting this insanely minute example, then I dont know what to tell you. 99.9% of the time, SWAT units with itchy trigger fingers will not be called for this. They will be called to apprehend a guy in a Cabelas cap or some podunk herb dealer.

Hurts like a mofo.

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Hurts like a mofo.

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Well, yeah. So does being beaten with a baton.

Glad I missed this discussion.

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You asked what happens when you get shot by a beanbag

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No, I didn't.