Saturday, June 28, 2008

Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Stupidity?

Can you believe that this security guard, at one of the biggest trauma hospitals in Philadelphia made a video telling people how to kill Police Officers?

Not only did he make the video, but he had his twelve year old son holding the camera as he went off his idiotic tirade.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am all about free speech, but this is taking things a bit far. The video was pulled from Youtube, but not before they Philadelphia police used a battering ram to make entry into the man's house and take his dumb ass to jail for making terrorist threats and aggravated assault. Now, I don’t see the aggravated assault charges going anywhere; I know it wouldn’t hold weight here in Texas, but his ass did need to go to jail.
I am also not an advocate of people necessarily losing there jobs, but I think it was merited when the hospital suspended homeboy from his four year tour as a security officer.

I know I am going to get a bunch of rants from a lot of you who will cop bash and say that police are no better than anybody else, and that may very well be true. And some of you will make the ignorant comment about “leave it to a cop to appose free speech” or some shit like that. To you I say. “Fuck you!” My job is hella hard enough! I get to read about officers getting called out to areas only to be ambushed and killed and just yesterday we had an officer get harmed in a shoot out. And every time I put on my uniform, which I will be doing once I finish typing up this rant, I know about all the potential dangers that I will have to face and I face them gladly to try to get some of our more violent offenders off the street, if only for a short period of time. That said the last thing I need is some idiot, an idiot who wears a similar uniform, going on line and encouraging weak-minded individuals to use violence to solve whatever issues they have with the police. That shit is just crazy, and if you sympathize with him then your ass is crazy too!
Yeah, I said it…Now let the comments begin. (I Promise not to censor anyone, but let’s not get too rude or vulgar.)

-One Man’s Opinion. Peace.

And to think I was going to post on the lady who went into the 7-11 and bought two dollars worth of gas. TWO DOLLARS! Where the hell you gonna go on two dollars worth of gas? Didn’t it take two dollars worth of gas just to start the ignition? C’mon now!

17 comments:

arychtexas said...

he's an idiot what was the point? smh....

Curious said...

I saw another news cast about this last night and I thought about writing about it, but since the video was taken off of Youtube, there wasn't much to go on. If the man made a specific threat against someone or a group of people, police or not, he should be slapped with everything in the book, see what sticks and go with it. But if he just made a "how to" video, giving information and provocative insight then there's nothing there and the police are over reacting, probably because of the last officer being killed so recently and one being shot in the arm yesterday. But until the full evidence of what he said is out, how can anyone really make an informed judgement of the guy?

Oh yeah, the 1st Ammendment still rocks.

cathouse teri said...

I'm all for free speech, too. But something that invokes violence, especially murder, is certainly something that I feel should be taken seriously and not just as "someone spouting off." It's called a serious threat.

It makes it worse when the target spoken of is a police officer, yes.

And you're right. A policeman does have a tough job. I've made no secret of my general dislike for the police, but that is only when the power is abused. Which is, unfortunately, often. I also have a general dislike for anyone who abuses their power. This includes kindergarten teachers.

I don't believe I can get behind a You Tube video, though, promoting the murder of a kindergarten teacher. :)

Anonymous said...

You know I got your back as a cop, bro, but I'm with Curious. American jurisprudence is well-established on what constitutes specific threat as opposed to a general (though odious) sentiment. The First Amendment is not for editing, regardless as to the disgust one has one with another's speech. Those same 1st Amendment rights can be expressed by cops and police unions to counter idiot speech like that in the clip.

As a legal type, I agree with the late Justice Hugo Black:

"The word 'security' is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment." New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713

Does that mean that one of the top Supreme Court Justices of the 20th Century was a "terrorist"?

I've had some pretty shitty things said to me, being an OIF Veteran, moreso by black folk than white. Yet my military oath was to defend the United States Constitution (not the land, the people, political parties, but the CONSTITUTION) against all ENEMIES foreign and domestic; Defending and upholding the Constition as a cop or a troop means defending those rights even for idiots that personally (but legally) piss us off.

Otis said...

Its sad...whether he was talking about police or anyone..but the inernet is fill with hatred folks who constantly say things that could be criminal.

Any body recall Cool C and Steady B??....they killed a black female cop in Philly years ago from a bank robbery.


i may post that in a random "did you know" post lol

Brittany said...

I didn't hear about this. So dumb. Why are people so dumb sometimes.

Dave Van Buren said...

All I can say about this is that just because your allowed to do something doesn't mean you should. That's when you should use your good judgement. As my co-worker says "His mother raised him completely wrong" lmao.

Anonymous said...

Funny this is the topic of your post. In my Torts class, we are covering defamation and freedom of speech and the fine line between the two in addition to the Constitutional analysis of the decisions the Supreme Court has had to make on the subject.

I'll say this: I advocate free speech. Hell, I'm the most opinionated person you'd meet. There's stupidity all across the airwaves. Mediatakeout.com, TMZ.com, allhiphop.com, BET, MTV, Fox News somedays. It's a matter of what you do with the information.

Ignorance will always be around us. Either we can perpetuate it or eliminate it.

Unknown said...

It's sad...like someone said earlier, it has less to do with the subject of his hate and the fact that he used his 12 year old son to tape the video. Hey, we can all agree that there are some fucked up officers out there, but I have to hope that some are actually risking their lives for a shitty salary to keep some semblance of peace. Conversely, the guy is just talking smack and freedom of speech is one right we should be careful to dismantle...shoot, as much as we blog about things that annoy us, the last thing we need is to end up behind bars with a case for it.

Linda said...

*lol* Did she put it in her car then? I mean.. she could have filled a jug to put into.. I don't know.. the lawnmower or something?

Ad for the video.. internet gives everybody their 15 minutes of fame.. *sigh*

greetings from holland!

Madam Z said...

I'm torn on this one. "Freedom of speech" is probably the stickiest of all our rights. I don't know whether or not this guy should have been thrown in jail for his horrible, idiotic deed. But where does it stop? What if his video had been about how to torture and rape small children? Or how to conceal and detonate a bomb at a baseball stadium? I am definitely glad that the video was taken off of YouTube. There have to be some limits!

And once again, One Man, I want to tell you how much I appreciate and admire you and all your brothers and sisters in the Police Force. I just can't imagine what it would be like to put your life on the line, every single day. Where would we ordinary citizens be without you? Can you say, "Up the creek without a paddle?"

Anonymous said...

I get nervous whenever people trot out the "THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!" hyperbole. It's usually one of the first signs of despots and their blind followers trying to erase essential liberties under the guise of protecting innocents (think of how fascist do-gooders like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers have helped destroy a lot of our liberties of us non-DUI folk).

As Benjamin Franklin so powerfully stated it, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

But then again, I guess people in this super-hype age of scaredy cats, if you read the above quote to the average American on the Street, they would probably attribute it to Bin Laden not a Founding Father.

JayBee said...

mark this day. i actually agree with you about this. you know how i feel about the po-lice. but this is outlandish.

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

stupidity

cathouse teri said...

This You Tube fella who claims to have infected mass amounts of women with AIDS will certainly find an audience in our society of fear.

I think this could safely be called "inciting a riot."

One Man’s Opinion said...

I got JAYBEE...JAYBEE IS MY FRIEND.

Thank you Madam Z. Work was hella hard this week. LOL. It is the little things that bring me joy, such as kind words from you good folk on the blog.

Ieisha, you are on my short list of people I would like to actually sit down and have a serious conversation with.

Teri, I didn't know you didn't like police. I am shocked. I knew JB was a cop hater, but we still have love for each other, although I'd give him a ticket for speeding as well. LOL

Let me just say, which I think I addressed in my post. I am all for free speech and if this guy was just spouting out about how much he hates the cop and shyt, that would be all gravy. He has the right to hate who ever he wants to hate, I honestly believe that...but to tell people to go out and kill and then give them instructions on how to do so...well, that is going a bit too far.

Thembi Ford said...

Sadly, Im with you. One weak mind to another. Of course there are so many cops and soldiers with their own minds but those who need to follow orders will find a way to do so every day, and marching in a line can't hold a candle to filling out TPS reports or whatever other office jobs are out there...