Assault With a Deadly Weapon: Your Index Finger
Crazy? Not in Virginia.
A man in Fredericksburg was arrested for assaulting two police officers. With what? His index finger.
He did it twice, the cops say, so he is charged with two counts.
He has no previous criminal record.
Then the cops threw in intimidation and two counts of obstruction of justice.
Police spokesperson Natatia Bledsoe claimed Loveless made a gun gesture at police officers, but Loveless denies making any kind of gesture at all."I don’t see how I was pointing my finger,” Loveless told ABC7. "If anything I was reaching into my pocket to get a pack of cigarettes. If that’s what they saw, they have a vivid imagination.”
What is a citizen supposed to do? Sit there and shut up.
He will have to pay a lawyer to get his name cleared. This will be very expensive.
The article continues.
Last year we reported on a case in which Dayton police tasered, pepper-sprayed and beat a mentally handicapped teen and then charged him with assault because the officers took the boy’s speech impediment as “a sign of disrespect”.17-year-old Jesse Kersey was charged with “assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing official business,” after he became confused when police started asking him questions. Kersey was tased and punched as cops threatened to arrest neighbors who tried to tell them the boy was mentally handicapped.
Then there was this:
Last month, a city council had to pay a Nevada man $158,500 dollars after police beat him up for “resisting arrest” when in reality he was having a seizure as a result of a diabetic shock.
When citizens are treated in this way, it’s time to elect new politicians and new sheriffs.
Local law enforcement is not about protecting salaried bureaucrats — cops — from feeling unwanted. It is about enforcing the written laws.
Continue reading on www.informationliberation.com.
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Published on April 2, 2012. The original is here.