Reply from Mayor's Office
Howdy Folks!
I found the reply to an email letter I sent to the mayor's office. I believe it is even more necessary to write a physical letter to the office of the major based on this response. It is not from the mayor himself, but one of his aides:
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Thank you for taking the time to contact the Mayor with your concerns about the police incident on June 2, 2012. The Mayor asked that I respond to you on his behalf. You might recall you and I spoke about this matter last night.
There have been a wide range of reactions about what occurred that day and think it is important to share a summary of some of the facts. Despite sharing much information with them, some media reports of this event have been incomplete and even inaccurate, and this has led to misunderstandings as to what occurred. I hope this summary might provide you with better understanding and insight:
o An armed bank robber had just terrorized 12 people at a local bank, pointing a gun at them and stealing about $25,000.
o Aurora police officers had specific, credible information and were certain that the armed bank robbery suspect was in one of 19 cars stopped at the intersection.
o Because of his disguise, the police did not have a good description of the suspect or a description of his car or possible accomplices.
o The police and the FBI worked as expeditiously as possible to identify the suspect and his vehicle. However, due to the nature of the search, this process still took a long time.
o Eventually, the police identified and arrested the suspect, in part through technology and in part through the goodwill and patience of the other citizens involved.
In the end, the process of identifying the suspect took longer than anyone anticipated. Police Chief Oates has publicly apologized for that.
The City Attorney is comfortable that the officers' actions were lawful, given the extraordinarily unusual and dangerous circumstances of the event. Nevertheless, the entire police response will be carefully reviewed and any lessons learned from this assessment will be applied to future operations.
It was the positive and cooperative assistance of our residents that day that led to the arrest of a very dangerous criminal who is now facing federal prosecution. Had he escaped, none of us know what terrible consequences might have occurred at a future bank robbery.
I hope you find this information helpful and that it provides a more balanced perspective on the matter.
Director of Communications
City of Aurora
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I only removed her name and my own from the text above for privacy/security reasons.
However, I have some real issues with the statement she sent to my attention!
1. An armed robber having terrorized 12 citizens at gunpoint in a bank does not justify police terrorizing some 40 people (many of whom were children) at gunpoint on a public street, where their antics were viewed by even more citizens who likely felt terrorized.... but we will never know because the number and identity of those who saw this event are unknown!
2. The police did not have credible information as to the sex, age, race, or any other characteristic of the bank robber, so were forced to harass and intimidate an entire cadre of citizens at gunpoint. If the information was so specific, and so credible, why was it necessary to threaten (at gunpoint) 40 other citizens of Aurora? The only thing the police knew was that the bad guy was in one of 19 cars. That fact does not give police license to dispence with the Constitutional rights of the citizens of Aurora who were threatened with deadly force.
3. The police, by the city's own admission, was not known by any description. So much for specific and credible information. Again, their lack of any clues to the identity of the robber does not give justification to police officers to arrest, detain, intimidate, threaten, and endanger law abiding citizens, stripping them of their rights under the Constitution of the United States and the Constitition of the State of Colorado! You cannot threaten innocent people at gunpoint!
4. That the FBI also broke the law and violated the Constitutional, rights of law abiding citizens does not absolve the City of Aurora from both Civil and Criminal culpability for their actions on that day. It only illustrates that the police state mentality at work can be seen at various levels of government.
4b. While the law allows for a brief detainment, this circumstance defies any definition of brief, considering that people were held for more than 2 hours!
That the police chief apologized does not mitigate police thrashing of the Constitutional rights of every citizen stopped, detained, arrested, threatened at gunpoint, endangered by police who aimed weapons at them, and terrorized Aurora citizens and their children! The very fact an apology is necessary indicates a wrong took place, and the chief knew it!
That the outlaw was subsequently arrested is not justification for stripping citizens of their Constitutional rights under either Federal or State law.
It is hardly surprising, considering the law enforcement community of Aurora Colorado, has set itself above the Constitutional rights of the citizens of Aurora Colorado, because that's the way tyrrany works. When a junta is in power, the rights of the people under their control vanish. That the city attorney endorsed the extraConstitutional behavior of police in violating the rights of citizens is hardly surprising. He works for his paycheck for the same city that hires police to behave in a manner outside the rule of law or the constraints of the Constitutions of the United States and State of Colorado. He is hardly an independent observer, nor a very good attorney if he believes no citizen rights were violated. The simple, basic, elemental fact you cannot dismiss is that innocent men, women and children were threatened with terminal force at gunpoint while lawfully going about their business.
When the Constitution of the United States is cast aside for expediency,
And the Constitution of the State of Colorado is thrown out in favor of government domination of the citizens at gunpoint,
it no longer is an America we grew up in.
It is a militarized dictatorship where citizens rights have become optional at the whim of government.
Can detention camps be far behind?
Blessings,
M-Taliesin