.............................................................. >From the New Paradigms Project [Not Necessarily Endorsed] Note: We store 100's of related "conspiracy posts" at: http://www.msen.com/~lloyd/oldprojects/recentmail.html From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [smashthestate] Govt License to Kill: The "007 Standard" Date: Tuesday, September 05, 2000 7:27 PM -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/9068/8/_/525270/_/968196424/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> >>From http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/2000/09-11-2000/vo16no19_007standard.htm Vol. 16, No. 19 September 11, 2000 The "007 Standard" by William Norman Grigg In the aftermath of the Waco and Ruby Ridge bloodlettings, it is becoming clear that federal paramilitaries enjoy something akin to impunity in the exercise of lethal force. In 1768, amid escalating tensions between the British government and independence-minded "radicals" in New England, two full regiments were deployed in Boston as peacekeepers. Benjamin Franklin warned that the deployment was akin to "setting up a smith's forge in a magazine of gunpowder." A random spark was set off on March 2, 1770, when a British soldier got into a shouting match with a local resident; within hours a melee had broken out between Redcoats and "radicals," but no blood was shed. Three days later, a contingent of armed Redcoats under the command of one Captain Preston was set upon by what one American historian called "a crowd of disorderly loafers and boys of the town." In his 1789 chronicle of the American Revolution, David Ramsay recalled that the British troops "were pressed upon, insulted and pelted by a mob armed with clubs, sticks, and snowballs covering stones. They were also dared to fire." One of the soldiers obliged, and six of his comrades quickly followed suit. Three American colonists were killed, and five more were critically wounded - and the "Boston Massacre" became a revolutionary rallying cry. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this tragedy was the response of British colonial authorities: Captain Preston and his subordinates were jailed and eventually put on trial for murder, where they were capably represented by "radical" attorney John Adams. The jury, "in defiance of popular opinions," found mitigation in the fact that the soldiers had been "insulted, threatened, and pelted, before they fired," wrote Ramsay. Two of the soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and subsequently branded. The trial, Ramsay concludes, "reflected great honor on John Adams, and [his assistant] Josiah Quincy … and also on the integrity of the jury...." The colonial government's willingness to subject its soldiers to such a trial offers an instructive contrast to the arrogant lawlessness of our contemporary federal government. In the aftermath of the Waco and Ruby Ridge bloodlettings, it is becoming clear that federal paramilitaries enjoy something akin to impunity in the exercise of lethal force. Last June, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi, who played a role in both of those episodes, could not be charged with manslaughter for killing Vicki Weaver, who was struck in the head by a round from Horiuchi's rifle during the Ruby Ridge standoff. In its decision, the court cited "Supremacy Clause immunity" as its rationale for dismissing the charges against the FBI sniper. Judge Alex Kozinski, in a scalding dissent, denounced the court's decision for creating a "007 standard" - a reference to James Bond's discretionary "license to kill." "Because the 007 standard for the use of deadly force now applies to all law enforcement agencies in our circuit - federal, state, and local - it should make us all feel less secure," concluded Judge Kozinski. "In an effort to protect a defendant who lost his head and acted in a patently unconstitutional manner, the majority has materially weakened the standard and heretofore constrained all law enforcement personnel in the Ninth Circuit." Kozinski errs only in saying that the "007 standard" applies to "all law enforcement agencies"; apparently, only federal agents are thus consecrated. When law enforcement officers at the state or local level are accused of brutality or other serious crimes - particularly in racially charged episodes, such as the Rodney King arrest and the tragic shooting of Amadou Diallo - they are generally required to answer the accusations in a court of law. In the Rodney King case, an acquittal in the original trial provoked the feds to circumnavigate the Constitution's double jeopardy provisions in order to send two of the four Los Angeles police officers to prison. While Horiuchi enjoys "Supremacy Clause immunity" for killing Vicki Weaver, the same Ninth Circuit Court ruled that he and four other FBI agents enjoy no civil immunity from a lawsuit filed by Kevin Harris, who was wounded by the same shot. In the event the lawsuit makes it to trial, the feds can be expected to invoke the same "discretionary function exemption" that they claimed in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Branch Davidian survivors and families of the victims of the 1993 Mount Carmel holocaust. That exemption, notes one legal commentator, "gives federal officials room to make judgment calls and carry them out without fear of being sued, even if their decisions prove to be bad." If federal agents who make such bad decisions are beyond the reach of both criminal and civil accountability, what protection does the citizenry enjoy from "judgment calls" that go awry? In a recent interview, retired FBI agent Byron Sage, who led the Bureau's negotiation team at Waco, excoriated critics of the federal government's actions at Mount Carmel. "They have so inflamed elements of the American public that there has been irreversible damage done to the trust that the public has had in the past - and should have now - in the integrity and professionalism of law enforcement," complained Sage. But that trust reflected an understanding that those who enforce the law would be accountable to it as well. However alien this concept is to those who preside over the modern federal leviathan, it was understood, and honored, by the British authorities who permitted Captain Preston and his men to stand trial. The contrast is instructive and unsettling. ---------------------------------------- All the Wants You Waste All the Things You've Chased When It All Crashes Down And You Break Your Crown And You Point Your Finger But There's No One Around Just Want One Thing Just to Play The King But The Castle Has Crumbled And You're Left With Just a Name Where's Your Crown King Nothing? -- Careful what you wish careful what you say Careful what you wish you may regret it Careful what you wish you just might get it Metallica _King Nothing_ Load ---------------------------------- Smash The State WWW http://freakpower.homepage.com/smashthestate Forwarded for info and discussion from the New Paradigms Discussion List, not necessarily endorsed by: *********************************** Lloyd Miller, Research Director for A-albionic Research a ruling class/conspiracy research resource for the entire political-ideological spectrum. **FREE RARE BOOK SEARCH: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ** Explore Our Archive: <http://a-albionic.com/a-albionic.html> <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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