Am I the only one disgusted by the hundreds of anarchists and criminals masquerading as protesters who take to the streets of America at any opportunity to wreak havoc? The latest of these, taking place in St. Louis, has injured 11 police officers as of last count, blocked streets and vandalized property and businesses. Am I the only one disgusted by the kid gloves and lack of enforcement shown by government officials, as these unlawful assembly protests continue to increase in number, severity and violence. What is it exactly everyone is "protesting"?
From what I’ve read about the St. Louis case, Anthony Lamar Smith was a heroin dealer who had heroin in his car at the time of the incident, and was almost certainly armed. Anthony Lamar Smith is the one who, when police attempted to make contact, didn’t roll down his window and say, “Yes, officer,” but instead, rammed his car into a marked police car in an attempt to flee. It was Anthony Lamar Smith who led the police on a high-speed chase showing his willingness to endanger not only the officers, but also the entire community. It was the actions and decisions of Anthony Lamar Smith to commit criminal activity, coupled with not complying to instructions from officers that ultimately led to his demise.
As I’ve discussed many times in my book—From Boy To Blue, and in my weekly podcasts and articles, these situations take some time before all the facts are revealed, but the end results are very transparent. I urge you to read the 30 page written decision issued by Judge Timothy Wilson, which is available for public consumption. His logic and rational is very detailed, combining the facts and circumstances of the case, the evidence, testimony, and applicable laws. Judge Wilson then looks at each argument presented by the prosecution, and using all the evidence obtained through investigation, is able to conclude that their case didn’t meet the burden of proof.
When many people hear that prosecutors “failed to meet the burden of proof” they assume that means the officer is guilty, but there just wasn’t enough to prove it. That conclusion involves faulty logic. That’s what judges and attorneys have to say because there’s always a possibility that more evidence could come forward at a later time; it’s legalese.
I’ve read this decision and in my opinion, the state was so far away from having a legitimate case that I’m astounded this incident even saw the inside of a courtroom. I urge you to read it and see how no unbiased, reasonable person could draw any other conclusion than what Judge Wilson did.
I’m willing to wager that the vast majority of the people protesting in St. Louis don’t even care about this case. They are simply looking for any and every opportunity to be disruptive, be violent, promote anarchy and spawn chaos.
To the very few legitimate protestors who wanted to gather and show their disapproval of the outcome of this case, have you read the decision? Are you just going by snippets you’ve heard on the streets or on the news? Where exactly do you take issue? How do you read the same facts and circumstances that I just did, the applicable laws, and come up with a guilty verdict?
Are we as a society trying to get to a place where our only criteria for whether or not a police officer's use of force is justified, hinges solely on the race of everyone involved? Do the facts and circumstances of a case not mean anything? Are we trying to get to a place where anytime an officer is required to use deadly force, he should be fired and thrown in jail? It feels like that’s the direction this bus is facing.
How long of a leash are we willing to give people who don’t follow the rules with regards to protests and assembly, commit law violations, injure officers, and destroy property? Why are local officials so afraid to act swiftly, aggressively, and decisively against anyone who is creating riot situations in America’s streets? They fear their enforcement will be perceived as trying to snuff out people’s free speech, but free speech is not what we are seeing in St. Louis and across the country.
If you have an issue in this country there are always legitimate ways to speak your mind and affect change. There are always appropriate venues and actions that can be taken so that every voice can be heard no matter what the problem is. None of those include smashing in police car windows and injuring people. When will enough be enough? Have you had enough yet?
** I’ll go over details of the case and in Judge Wilson’s decision during this week’s live podcast on Wednesday at 8:00pm EST at www.SteveWarneke.com **