Manns Medium

At first glance, this story reeks of an over-zealous Sheriff Deputy who clearly got far too excited with his authorization to use deadly force.  In the article titled “Deaf man killed by deputy: Deaf man shot 6 times 'failed to follow' cop's orders.”  as reported by Linsey Bald for News Examiner with assistance from the Huffington Post.  In the article it states “A deaf man was killed by a Florida deputy after an altercation at a towing yard went terribly wrong. Two deputies, undercover and in plain clothes, heard an argument occurring outside Fryer's Towing Company on Saturday afternoon in Daytona Beach. On approach, the deputies saw 52-year-old Edward P. Miller, deaf from birth, with a gun. When he failed to comply with the orders of the cops, they shot him dead.  Reports the Huffington Post: “Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson said Miller was ‘brandishing a firearm’ outside when Deputy Joel Hernandez and another unnamed deputy arrived. Hernandez, 35, fired his ser...

I ask this question because there are so many stories surfacing now about the over-reach of police and the blatant assumption that they can do whatever it is they want and not have to worry about responsibility.  It used to be something you would only see in some of these police shows on television or in a Cops episode but now I guess its life imitating art. Take as an example this article from the Associated Press reporting that “a northern New Mexico sheriff was arrested Friday on charges he cornered a driver at a dead end, threatened him with a silver revolver as the driver begged not to be shot and had him falsely charged with assault.  U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez announced Rio Arriba County Sheriff Thomas Rodella, who has had brushes with scandal throughout his career, and his son, Thomas Jr., were arrested by FBI agents at their Espanola homes in the March confrontation that left the driver injured. Authorities didn't detail the injuries.  The driver was arres...

With the recent shooting of an unarmed black male in Ferguson, Missouri all over the news these past few days.  The question is not about the events which lead to this shooting but more about the tactics being employed by the Ferguson County Sheriff and local law enforcement officers there.  Many in the media wants to know why they feel the need to use military type equipment in an urban environment and why they appear to ignore the rule of law, honor the rights of their fellow citizens and even trample all over the constitution.  Well in order to understand their mindset, one need only to take a few steps back and look at the growth pattern of this surprising occurrence.  Begin with the seed in order to understand how that very large tree got there and then you will understand just how to remove that enormous scene-stealing tree. To do that let’s do this.  Think about the overwhelming sense of unfairness when a town, a city, a community is governed by a gr...

A story by MSNBC.com Staff reporting that Fulton County sheriff’s deputies refused to evict a 103 year old woman and her 83 year old daughter should remind us about what this nation is really about.   It is not a nation of greed but a nation of each for another.   No one will stand in anyone’s way of making a better life for them and their families but failing to see people instead of profit should demand a loud cry from all of us. The story reported that “Fulton County Sheriff’s deputies and a moving company hired by the bank showed up at Vita Lee’s Penelope Road home on Tuesday, according to a report on WSBTV.com.   But when the men saw the frail woman, they opted to leave instead of carry through with the forced move.” Nothing says more about the strength of this nation than that.   While it may be true that those ordered to carry out this task did not do their jobs, it must also be said that true and sincere convictions of a people is not and will never be...