Words Vs. Weapons -- When Government Seeks Justification To Kill
Filed by A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.
Agitator-In-Chief
On 1 December 2012, the Baltimore Police were hoping to kill me and get away with it.
They came with one mission, to kill me. |
My home was surrounded by a full scale, military assault weapon equipped, death squad, SWAT team. There were even snipers on the roof.
Backed up by nearly 100 officers and a helicopter, the press and public were told it was because I issued "threats" to police via twitter and posted pictures of a weapon on this blog.
Looking back, I appreciate the lofty assessment of my writing given me by police and the State's Attorney. It's true, apparently my words are so powerful, so deadly, that the only effective retaliation requires lethal weapons. Lot's of them!
A screen grab from blog entry prophetically posted several days before the infamous 1 Dec 2012 incident. Anyone with half a brain would not interpret this as a threat. But Baltimore Police did. And mainstream media believed them. |
While the tweets were never directed specifically at anyone, they were indeed angry expressions of how I felt at the time. Is that a crime? If you think words are weapons, please stop reading right now! I'd hate for you to feel your life was in danger, then try to "stand your ground" and come kill me or something.
Is free speech a punishable crime? No one was yelling fire in a crowded theatre. Amazing to me that the greater issue, the blatant violations of civil liberties were overlooked by a media more interested in thrashing my character, then seeking the truth. I still run across people who have the story all wrong as a result of the misinformation they read or heard in the media.
MacArthur, a long time advocate for increased professionalism
of police, pictured on right. Former Baltimore Police Dept.
Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III in the middle.
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There were so many outright lies, and subtle mistruths told by the government, through the police and prosecuting State's Attorney's office. Did the media investigate and check them on their facts? No, not really.
Instead what we got was a regurgitation of pure pablum put out by an authoritarian regime. A crooked, corrupt regime, intent on maintaining power at all costs. A regime that would think nothing of "neutralizing" anyone, no matter how small or insignificant, that spends their time waking people up to the truth.
Could it be that besides being a frequent and vocal critic of corrupt government and police, I also regularly attack the press for abdicating their duties, and failing to fully inform and enlighten? This was their chance to swing back at me. There were far more deceptions put out by media than I'll even attempt to detail in this story right now.
Original T-shirt designed by James MacArthur several years ago,
in response to rising police killings of unarmed citizens.
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Sure, they COULD have been assembled into a weapon, but that's simply not what police found. There was not a functioning firearm in the residence, therefore no threat was posed to police or anyone.
They've yet to produce a picture showing what they told the media was an illegal gun. Nor was one even produced for the courts as "evidence," because they know what was actually found, versus what's been falsely claimed in their public statements.
The components present in the house in of themselves were not illegal. Nor was I prohibited from possessing any of them, as has also often been reported repeatedly. Check the court transcripts, eventually prosecutor Katie O'Hara herself acknowledged this. Some may find this hard to believe, but it's just the facts.
There certainly was no reason for the resulting thrashing of my property, including the smashing of windows front and back, long after I'd already walked out and was taken into custody, WITHOUT incident. What about the confiscation of thousands of dollars worth of broadcast, production and recording equipment? Was that to protect the public against the supposed grave threat I posed? There'll be much more on this and other abuses suffered at the hands of the government in my book Innocence Isn't Free.
READY FOR BATTLE
BearCat armored personnel carrier, complete with rotating
gun turret and shooting ports on every side.
Just what's needed for domestic law enforcement.
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The worse stories in the media on me didn't come out till I was spending six months in jail, without bail. I couldn't return fire at the bilious bastards, charged with being the people's last safeguard against abusive government.
The fact that police think my generic rantings on social media are about them, to me hints at some sort of institutional paranoid schizophrenia. This is quite scary. Not everything said is about you!
A closer examination of the posted "weapon" from the blog, would reveal it was put up as anything but a threat. The picture of an clearly unloaded pistol, was posted as an illustration basically saying, HEY GUYS, I DON'T HAVE ONE OF THESE. Yet to this day, many in media, along with mindless individuals misled by them, still attack me, saying I had it coming by posting a picture of a weapon. Keep in mind, people with this kind of analytical skill are the ones you trust to keep you informed on complex issues of serious importance.
It's amazing how quickly people jump to conclusions without properly attempting to understand and comprehend all information available. Especially when its obvious and in your face. This is particularly disturbing, when an intentionally misread blog is used to justify making decisions threatening the life of a law abiding citizen, under the guise of law.
Making matters worse, the lie continued all the way into court documents and evidentiary filings. Everyone mentions a "posted picture of a gun," but no one shows the picture or its context. Once again, mainstream media was complicit in perpetuating a government initiated lie. Rather than real reporting, they simply repeat. Whose side are they on anyhow? Certainly not the common man.