The Wind at Mt. Carmel

I don’t know why I had to go there, but I had to go there. I had to see Mt. Carmel, the site of the Branch Davidian compound where 80 or more people died in a botched raid by the ATF and FBI. We were traveling down to Austin to visit my mother and our route took us through Waco. Mt. Carmel isn’t actually in Waco; it’s a few miles to the east of town. There are no signs which might direct tourists to the place. You have to know where you’re going. I’m sure the town of Waco would be more than happy to forget that Mt. Carmel ever existed, and to escape the linkage of their town’s name with tragedy. It won’t happen anytime soon.

It was a sunny May morning in Texas. The temperature was already climbing into the nineties. The sky was clear blue and the land looked lush and fertile. Golden rolls of hay sat in green fields of grass. Lush young corn stood in rows. This is good farmland, not the postcard cliché of desert so often associated with Texas. My son, Alex drove the car and I followed the map, navigating us into one of the darkest moments in American history.

My anxiety began to rise as we neared the place. Would the gate be locked? Would someone come out and run us off as a couple of sick vultures come to poke around in the bones of the dead cult? What would be waiting for us there? As it turned out, the only things there to meet us were the wind and our own dark visions.

We drove right to the site. I’m pretty good with maps. I remember thinking that I could have found it without a map – just follow my intuition. I grew up on little Texas roads like that. The gate was open. We drove in slowly. There’s a tree in the middle of the gravel road with a stack of granite stones, each with the name of a slain Davidian, stacked on either side of the tree. A little office building stands to the right of the road and double-wide a little further in. We looked at the windows and waited for someone to flag us down or come out to ask us our business. No one did.

They have built a little church there, more or less in the center of where the compound stood. We drove up to the church and stopped. I opened the car door and put my right foot out, and suddenly a strange apprehension hit me: I was about to put my foot on hallowed ground, un-insulated by the shiny Nissan Maxima. It was a weird sensation. I put my foot on the ground. Nothing particularly remarkable happened except for the sense of reverence that swept over me.

We immediately began to walk, simply walk, and look at the ground, this earth where so much happened. From the church, the first remnant of the compound you see is the swimming pool. It still has water in it, but it’s rainwater, green like any natural pond with bulrushes growing in it. In the southwest corner of the pool is a pile of concrete rubble pushed into the pool by FBI bulldozers eager to cover up the evidence of what happened there.

I would like to say, “I don’t have a dog in this fight.” I’m no fan of renegade federal police units with murderous intentions, but on the other hand, I don’t care much for apocalyptic cults with kinky sex practices. I didn’t like the Clinton administration under which the attack occurred and I didn’t like the Bush administration before it, under which the action was initiated. I think Koresh was a sexual deviant with messianic delusions. There aren’t many good guys to be found in all of this, except perhaps the Texas Rangers. But, I do have a dog in this fight, and it’s the same dog that every American has. We have a right to be secure in our homes and personal effects. We have a right to worship as we see fit. We have a right to a fair trial. We have a right to not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. We have a right to live free of the mind control of self-appointed messiahs. It has been 15 years since the flames consumed Mt. Carmel and these things are still unsettled. We have a dog in this fight.

Just after noon on April 19, 1993, a friend of mine called and said, “Turn on your TV.” I did and watched with millions of others as the Mt. Carmel complex burned to the ground, and only one survivor, Clive Doyle, was seen coming out of the building. The attack fueled the most intense anti-government sentiment in this country since the Vietnam War. Two years later, the Murrow Building in Oklahoma City was bombed in retaliation for the Mt. Carmel massacre. The litigation and investigations went on for years. “Remember Waco” became the battle cry of the “militia movement.” Even to this day, what actually happened and on whom the blame falls remains in dispute. Clarity has never really been reached.

Now, I was standing on this hallowed ground with nothing but the wind to talk to me about what happened there. I had bought a white straw cowboy hat to keep the sun off my head. The wind would suddenly gust up and whip the hat off of my head as if to say, “Take your hat off in this place.” The sun was hot and I put it back on.

I don’t know how much time passed before I remembered the cameras. This trip was about pictures. What I saw, I shot. I went back to the car and fetched the Lowepro two-camera backpack. It carried the space-age Nikon D70s digital SLR and the 1980-vintage Nikon F3 35mm. I carried the backpack to the edge of the swimming pool and unzipped the main compartment. The wind gusted up and threw the cover back. “Photograph this place,” the wind said. I pulled out both cameras and shot a few quick frames of the pool and “the underground bunker” before I gave the digital to Alex. I went to work with the F3 shooting color slides.

Fifteen years have passed since tanks and choppers roared across this land. Nature, in its way, has covered the scars with grass and pink and white flowers. A memorial grove of fruit trees stands to the south of the compound site. The Davidians have built a plain little church approximately where the tower and “the concrete room” once stood.

Alex first noticed the ant hills. The top of the soil is white, perhaps from some chemical leeching from the ground. But when the ants bring up soil as they build their ant hills, the earth they bring up is distinctly ash grey. The FBI tried to bury what happened here with their bulldozers but the ants won’t allow it to remain buried. They bring the ash to the surface. It is the ash of a community, of a building, and perhaps it is the ash of human bodies incinerated here.

When you come to this place, you feel powerful things. I have seen so many film clips of the assault that I could visualize the building, where the tanks were, the desperate gun battle, and the fire. Strong emotion sweeps over you like the Texas wind. I certainly don’t approve of Timothy McVeigh’s action, but standing on this blood-soaked ground I could understand his rage. David Koresh may have been a bastard – I don’t know, but I do know that 80-some people didn’t deserve to die like this.

I walked the foundation line of the building that once stood here. It is still visible. Finally, we shot all the pictures we could think of and felt the feelings that the place evokes. It was time to go. Cameras again packed into their case, we fired up the little car and drove away. A part of me is still there, haunted by the memory, unable to let go of “the worst day in the history of American law enforcement.”

Syd Wheedon

Published with author's premission.

Misplaced Priorities

The killer of a father, who murdered the unarmed man in front of his children, is back in jail. While out on $7,500 bond for the slaying of Tim Watson, Terry Fennessee was arrested and charged with two unrelated drug offenses in Cass and St. Joseph counties, Indiana. In Cass County, he posted $30,000 with the help of a bondsman and in St. Joseph he posted $3,000 cash. Judge Jane Woodward Miller revoked his bond.

It is indicative of a misplaced set of priorities that a drug offense would receive a higher bond than a cold blooded murder. Fennessee will remain locked up until his trial on July 14, 2008.

Rogue or Sell-Out?

Former Shreveport police officer Wiley Willis had received at least two other excessive force complaints prior to allegations that he beat Angela Garbarino to a bloody, unrecognizable mess during a DUI arrest. An unrelated lawsuit, filed in Caddo District Court in 2006 by Shreveport resident Darlene Atkins, alleges Willis put his service weapon to the head of her son, Dillon Freeman in 2005. Atkins claims Willis threatened to shoot Freeman if family members came closer to the pair. Her lawsuit states the incident happened after Willis pursued Freeman, who was riding a scooter, to the family’s home.

Another lawsuit, filed in 2006, alleges Wiley Willis arrested Shreveport resident Tomeka Bush and had her car seized as retaliation for a complaint filed against him about the incident involving Freeman. Bush’s lawsuit says she’s related to Atkins and Freeman. The lawsuit states video shot by Willis’ patrol car camera was available to the Police Department for review. Bush said the department investigated but didn’t discipline Willis.

Both lawsuits are pending. The city has denied Willis acted inappropriately in either case.

Willis, a four year veteran, was placed on paid administrative leave Jan. 24, 2008. Willis was fired during a predisciplinary conference with Police Chief Henry Whitehorn. "Officer misconduct will not be tolerated within the city of Shreveport. And all allegations of misconduct will be thoroughly and completely investigated," the police chief said during a news conference. "We will not tolerate violations of departmental policies and procedures." The Shreveport Police Department did not file charges against Willis. Willis is appealing the action.

Bill Flanagan, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Louisiana's Western District has stated federal law on police officers' use of excessive force gives the U.S. attorney and FBI authority to investigate. The Caddo Parish district attorney and the U.S. Justice Department will investigate the case.

Police union President Michael Carter asserts "This investigation is rather unorthodox. We wondered why there was a firing if there is no criminal case. You're not talking about some rogue cop. We ask for people to keep him in their prayers."

Whether this is a case of a rogue cop losing his composure, intimidating and beating the citizenry, or a case of a police chief selling out his officers who were performing their duties with professionalism and competence is a matter that only a few know for certain. What is certain is it is a polarizing incident that often tells more about the viewer than that which is viewed.

Update: A $400,000 settlement has not settled whether Shreveport police officers violated Angela Garbarino's civil rights. More.

Blood on the Floor

This is tough to watch. November 17, 2007. Shreveport Louisiana. An upset Angela Garbarino repeatedly asks Officer Wiley Willis to use the telephone. She states she is glad her booking for DUI is being videotaped. He turns the camera off. When it is turned back on, Garbarino is seen lying in a pool of blood, being assessed by another officer, and finally being taken away on a stretcher. Willis was recently fired. His lawyer, Eron Brainard, claims Garbarino tripped and fell. In the process she cut her face, broke her teeth, broke her nose, and gave herself two black eyes. He states the video tape was turned off "in accordance with normal practice."



Perhaps this is normal practice for the Sheveport police. They have refused to file charges against Willis, stating nobody really knows what happened because the video tape was turned off.

It is true that Angela Garbarino was being booked for DUI after an automobile accident, circumstances unknown. It is true that a broken nose may occur as the result of two separate impacts, one significantly later than the first. It is true that eyes are blackened after a severely broken nose.

The president of the Shreveport police officers' union, Michael Carter, is defending Willis' actions. "He followed what I can say is over a decade of standardized practice inside that room. Why did she force a police officer to handcuff her; physically restrain her? That officer did not depict her behavior. He did not script or choreograph her behavior that night; she did. If he was trying to cover something up, why would he turn it back on?" Carter wonders, referring to the video tape.

What is peculiar is the tape was turned off, not that it was turned back on. Yep. It's tough to stomach as well.

The Live Leak video is abridged. The total video can be found here.

Unspeakable

If there are not criminal charges to prevent this from ever happening again, justice has failed.

If this community does not absolutely shun these miscreants they are culpable.

Read Megan's story at the risk of never viewing MySpace in the same light again.

CNN's Gary Tuchman video report.

The Strong Did Not Stumble

"This is not euthanasia; this is plain and simple homicide," declared Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti, Jr. in July 2006. A New Orleans surgeon and two nurses were arrested and accused of second degree murder in the deaths of four critically ill patients under their care at Memorial Medical Center during the desperate days following Hurricane Katrina. The surgeon was led away after a long day of surgery in handcuffs by four armed agents. One nurse was arrested in a similar fashion on the floor of the unit where she worked, the other nurse in front of her children at home. The arrests left patients without primary care providers. Attorney General Foti kept himself in the media limelight, and just two days after the arrests, he hosted a lavish political fund raiser.

During the aftermath of Katrina, there was no electrical power. For five days Memorial Medical was isolated by flood waters, with no rescue in sight. Nursing and medical staff were exhausted, spent. Profoundly ill patients were rapidly deteriorating in horrid 110 degree heat and humidity. At least 40 patients ultimately died at the eight story, 317 bed hospital, which turned into a sweltering refuge for hospital staff, their families and patients.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti Jr.'s allegations that Dr. Anna Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry were conspirators in the second degree murder of four critically ill patients was a stark reminder of the responsibility placed on health care workers in dire circumstances. The integrity entrusted to professional health care providers is only needed more at those times.

The DA had already declined to prosecute the nurses, in order to compel them to testify before the grand jury, granting them immunity, and leaving Dr. Pou as the only person accused of murder. Today an Orleans Parish grand jury refused to indict Dr. Anna Pou.

Last week, Dr. Pou brought suit against Charles Foti, stating he played politics with the dead of Hurricane Katrina and with her career, making her a scapegoat in an attempt to direct scrutiny away from the incompetence of many others in the blame days following the disaster.

Good show Dr. Pou. Give them hell. May your place never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

From The Dr. Anna Pou Defense Fund:

Statement by Dr. Anna Pou
July 24, 2007 - CNN
The last 23 months have been very challenging and painful not only for Cherie, Lori and me but also for our families and the family members of those who died at Memorial Hospital during and following Hurricane Katrina. This is not a moment of triumph, but a moment of remembrance for all those who lost their lives during the storm.

We need to remember the magnitude of human suffering that occurred in the city of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina so that we can ensure that this never happens again— and that no health care professional should ever go through this again.

I hope to return to work, doing what I love to do best and hope that the city and medical community continue to heal now that this is behind us.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported me through this trying time—my family, friends, colleagues, patients and total strangers—for their generosity, their love and their prayers and I ask that they continue to pray for all victims of the storm, for our city and for us, as we try to rebuild our lives.


Statement by Rick Simmons
July 24, 2007 - CNN
An Orleans Parish Grand Jury returned a “No True Bill” to allegations against Dr. Anna Pou brought to District Attorney Jordan by Attorney General Charles Foti. This finding by the Grand Jury fully and completely vindicates Dr. Pou of any criminal wrong doing in the wake of a miserably inept response by government at all levels to Hurricane Katrina.

For Dr. Pou and her family, today’s announcement represents the end of 23 months of pain and uncertainty, the hallmarks of which include suffering along with her colleagues, acutely ill patients, and far too many others in the sweltering heat and chaos of Memorial Hospital while local, state and federal governments wrestled and wrangled and twiddled their thumbs as more than forty people succumbed to third world conditions inside the hospital.

Another hallmark of the past 23 months for Anna includes emerging from a day long cancer surgery at Baton Rouge's Earl K. Long Charity Hospital only to be arrested as a common criminal; despite a prior agreement with the Attorney General that she would be allowed the dignity of self-surrender should an arrest become a reality. It should long be noted by anyone who questions the character of Dr. Pou that once arrested; she used her only telephone call to make arrangements for another physician to attend to her cancer surgery patient in her absence.

Yet another hallmark of these past 23 months came just hours after her arrest when Dr. Pou's mug shot was splayed across the screens of televisions around the country with the words "accused of murder" imprinted beneath it. Clearly, for Dr. Pou, it’s been a helluva 23 months.

Today’s events offer no comfort whatsoever for those whose loved ones perished at Memorial Hospital under circumstances falsely described by the state's Attorney General as murder.

The sad reality is that Mr. Foti has done a terrible injustice to the families of those who died at Memorial and other hospitals by building false expectations of having all the answers and by rushing to judge three of the most respected and dedicated medical professionals this city has ever known. It should not be lost on anyone that those who lost loved ones at Memorial suffer still while their search for answers goes on. Our hearts go out to them.

Our thanks go to the Grand Jury, to District Attorney Jordan for viewing this case impartially and to all who have shown such generous support for Dr. Pou for so long.

Rick Simmons
Counsel for Dr. Anna Pou
New Orleans, LA
July 24, 2007


The Man in the Arena- T. Roosevelt

Man Fired For Righteously Bearing Arms

Jacksonville, Florida--------When a neighbor screamed she'd been shot, Colin Bruley grabbed his shotgun, found the victim and began treating her bloodied right leg. Tonnetta Lee survived Tuesday's pre-dawn shooting at her Jacksonville apartment, and her sister and a neighbor praised Bruley's actions. But his employers, the same people who own the Arlington complex where Bruley lives, reacted differently. They fired him.

Bruley, a leasing agent at the Oaks at Mill Creek, said he lost his job after being told that brandishing the weapon was a workplace violation, as was failing to notify supervisors after the incident occurred. He'd worked at the Monument Road complex since December and for the owner, Village Green Cos., since 2005. Bruley said he was too shaken to call his supervisor immediately after the incident, which occurred just before 2 a.m., but planned to eventually do so. He also said he was acting as a citizen, not an employee, and shouldn't have been punished for trying to protect himself and others. He never fired the shotgun.

"I was expecting work to give me some kind of commendation," said Bruley, 24. "I was totally blown back. It was a crisis that most people don't go through."

Andrea Roebker, the company's director of public relations, said "We're not in a position to discuss any employment issues outside of [with] the employee. She declined to comment further, citing confidentiality rules.

A complaint Bruley said was given to him by his supervisor Tuesday said he violated several company policies found in an employee handbook. Those procedures were also explained in a recent meeting and an e-mail, the complaint said. One policy prohibits any type of weapons being used in the workplace. The complaint cited him for "gross misconduct." "Colin demonstrated extremely poor judgment in responding to this situation," the complaint said. "Colin's failure to immediately report this incident ... could have serious ramifications to the property, its associates and residents."

A police report said the shooting followed a domestic quarrel involving Lee, 24, and her boyfriend. Bruley said he was dozing off in his apartment when he heard Lee's screams. He said he then grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun he uses for protection and hunting. Bruley said he found the woman bleeding heavily. He handed the shotgun to a neighbor, tied a tourniquet around her right leg and waited for police and rescue to arrive.

"I was kind of in a state of shock. I had blood all over my body," Bruley said. After emergency officials took Lee to the hospital, Bruley returned to his apartment and tried to settle down, eventually falling asleep. He said he could have called his supervisor but didn't think she could do anything at the time. He said he was called into the office about 9:30 a.m., gave his account and then left. He said he was called back that afternoon and told he was fired.

Neighbor Kevin Courson joined Bruley at the crime scene when he saw Bruley had a gun for protection. Courson said he is incensed by the dismissal. "Here was a guy trying to do a good deed. He wasn't trying to hurt nobody," said Courson, 31.

Erica Jenkins, Lee's sister, said Bruley should still have a job. Lee couldn't be reached to comment despite several messages left with her sister and mother. "If it wasn't for him ... she could have lost her leg or died," said Jenkins, 19. "He put his life in jeopardy for someone else."

Bruley said he is considering contacting a lawyer about his dismissal, but will first look for another job and possibly another home. He promises he won't shy away from aiding others in need. "If I'd lose my job again for helping some girl's life ... I'd do it over and over," Bruley said.

jim.schoettler@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4385

Curious Consequences

On the evening of April 15, in South Bend Indiana, Tim Watson had just returned home from dinner and a movie. His two daughters, ages 3 and 13, and his 10 year old niece were with him. Watson's younger daughter needed to use the restroom, so they went inside their home. They were being watched.

When they came back outside, Terry Fennessee confronted Tim Watson, accusing him of having a relationship with his estranged wife. Watson asked to put the children in his car before speaking with Fennesee. Then, he turned his back on the man.

Fennesee pulled a gun and shot Watson in the back. Watson fell to the ground, and his assailant stood over him, aiming the firearm at his head. Watson pleaded with Fennesee, "Don't kill me in front of my babies!"

His three year old daughter was crying "He shooting my daddy! My daddy dead!" Fennesee responded with obscenities and shot Tim Watson again and again, in the head, back and chest.

Fennessee later told his sister, Tina Clump, that the shooting was in self-defense and that he fired at Watson because he believed the man was reaching for a gun in his vehicle. Police found no weapon in Watson's car. Fennesee is charged with one count of attempted murder, a Class A felony. At a court appearance last month, Fennessee told a reporter that he never meant to hurt anyone and that he was innocent of the charges against him. He posted $7,500 bond the same day he turned himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail.

Fennesee is presently free on bond. Watson is gradually recovering from gunshot wounds to his back, shoulder, rib cage, head and the side of his chest. He has sustained nerve damage and brain damage. He still carries a bullet lodged in his lung. Watson's children have suffered untold mental trauma. Tim Watson is in hiding, fearing for his safety. Apparently, a trial date is set.

This felonious and vicious attack raises several curiosities.

How was Fennessee able to claim self defense and post bond when he was on Watson's property, apparently lying in wait, and Watson had no means of self defense? Hell, Watson was shot in the back, and then again and again as he writhed and pleaded on the ground, in his own blood. While children watched and screamed. Witnesses attest to this fact. Why the hell was Fennesee allowed to turn himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail? Don't officers of the law still form manhunts? Or does that just occur when a fellow officer is shot? Seven thousand five hundred dollars bond? Was this judge smoking something? Finally, why the hell must Tim Watson and his children hide in fear while their rabid attacker walks free? Why is this son of a bitch free at all? Why?

By God, I'm glad I still live in a place where peace officers still have dogs and shotguns! This, this is why I carry a gun.

Need?

In 1960, Everette Simpson hacked his wife, Virginia Hudson, to death with a butcher knife. He spent nine years in a California prison, convicted of second degree murder. After nine years, he was released.

In 1983, Everette Simpson again found a woman in his life, Ruby Richardson of Shreveport Louisiana. He chopped into her body with a knife and a hatchet and then smothered out her last gasps with a pillow. For her death, he served 11 years of a 21 year sentence at Angola , on a manslaughter conviction. In 1994, he was paroled.

On April 3, of 2007, in Covington Louisiana, Everette Simpson succumbed to smoke inhalation in a house fire. His body was found in a bathroom after firefighters extinguished the conflagration. His third wife, Estelle Simpson, 69, and her brother, Allen Martin, 75, were incinerated in the blaze. Investigation revealed Simpson had beat them to death in their sleep prior to setting the fire to cover up his crime.

Relatives and neighbors expressed shock at the most recent crime, and disbelief at Simpson's past.

There is a lot about the Everette Simpson saga that one can use to express righteous indignation about. Hell, his legacy of murder demands condemnation. It would be redundant to even express my outrage over his murderous existence. Instead, I only want to point out one inescapable fact. Everette Simpson did not need a gun, but his victims damned sure did.

Details

Cory Maye update

Cory Maye has had his death sentence overturned, and a new sentencing hearing scheduled. Tonight, Cory Maye may not yet be free, but at least he is free from the threat of death due to prejudice and indifference.

Cory Maye's case is an affront to every law abiding gun owner. On December 26, 2001, Cory Maye's home was invaded. He woke from a deep sleep and fired his weapon to protect his children and himself. Cory Maye had no criminal record. The man he killed was the son of the local sheriff who broke down the wrong door during a drug raid.

Where are the usual advocates for racial struggles against majority oppression? Where is Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the NAACP coalition of idiots? Are they absent because a black man had the audacity to purchase a gun to protect himself and his family? When Cory Maye walks free, let the world know who were his advocates, and who turned a blind eye to his plight.

A running account of Cory Maye's struggle for justice in smalltown Mississippi can be found at The Agitator.

Video Doesn't Lie

Or does it?

Here is video of the Hudspeth shooting that occured in Shreveport, Louisiana about three years ago. Revealing ideed. More.

Justice is Coming

This man wants clemency and forgiveness. He says he's a born again Christian, his sins washed away by Jesus himself. "My deeds now are simple, for I'm a simple man. But (they're) honest, upright and come from a sincere heart," Morales told Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his handwritten clemency appeal. "Does this mean I'm perfect? Not hardly. But I'm definitely not the same foolish misguided person I once was."

Michael Morales is scheduled to be lethally injected at San Quentin Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006. He has avoided justice for over 25 years.

On Jan. 8, 1981 Morales strangled 17 year old Terri Winchell with a belt. When the belt snapped, he beat her in the head 23 times with a hammer as she fought to save her life. She struggled so hard patches of hair were torn from her scalp. Morales then dragged the unconscious girl into a nearby vineyard, raped her and stabbed her four times in the chest. Winchell's body was found two days later.

Morales is 46 now, twice the age he was when he arrived at San Quentin. His family and friends claim he is a gifted artist and beloved father who has used his mistakes to keep others out of trouble. Yeah. Right. Who gives a damn? The evil he has done far exceeds any smidgen of good he has attempted to do just to save his stinking skin. Senor Morales, I hope Mr. John Wayne Gacey is waiting to give you a few art lessons when the gates of Hell open to receive your raping murderous carcass in under 24 hours. Go to hell you inhuman waste of flesh.

Army Coughs Up Pimp Gun

Charles Honeycutt finally got his stolen gold plated Colt .45 back from the Army recently. This 2nd of 500 commemorative pistols was produced by Colt, and given to General Omar Bradley to honor his distinguished military career. When Bradley died, his wife Kitty gave the 1911 to Honeycutt, who had served with Bradley as a trusted aide and family friend. Honeycutt, in turn, allowed Kitty Bradley to keep the gun at her Rancho Mirage home so she could display it with other memorabilia honoring her husband.

Then Kitty Bradley died. She had willed her entire estate to the U.S. Army. They seized the pistol with the rest of Bradley's estate. Honeycutt said he told the Army that the gun was registered to him and should not be considered part of the Bradley estate since it had been loaned to the widow.

But it was taken anyway.

In hopes of getting the gun back, Honeycutt turned to an Arizona-based Web site, MilitaryCorruption.com, where retired U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Glenn MacDonald serves as editor-in-chief. The Web site advocates reformation of the military justice system and investigates military wrongdoing, MacDonald said, adding that Honeycutt's dilemma was a case worth following. "This is one of the most despicable things that I, as an Army officer, have seen," MacDonald added. It was only when threatened with a a federal lawsuit that the Army reacted.

"They shipped the gun back to California to the executor of the estate," Honeycutt said, adding that he had already filed a petition in Riverside County probate court for the return of his gun. Armed with affidavits from friends, acquaintances and military officials, Honeycutt eventually convinced a judge to order the gun returned to him. He picked the weapon up last week after it was shipped to R&R Gun Shop, 665 S. Palm Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. The owner of the shop, Ron Bowen, was one of those who had signed an affidavit affirming that Honeycutt owns the gun.

A retired U.S. Army transportation officer, Honeycutt said the incident has left him with bad feelings about certain Army officers he dealt with in Pennsylvania. "I've got congestive heart failure, and both my kidneys are operating at only 15 percent. I believe they thought they could just take the gun and I wouldn't fight it. Or if I did, they thought that I'd die before anything happened," he said. Officials with the Army did not return calls seeking comment.

Now that he has the gun back, Honeycutt said it will become a cherished family heirloom. He plans to pass it on to his son, who he hopes will hand it down to one of his own children. "I never forgot what the general told me. Even when I was down - at the worst times - I kept thinking about what Gen. Bradley said," Honeycutt said. "I never gave up."

It's a shame he did not stop by Wal-Mart, buy a value pack of Winchester White Box and shoot the hell out of that poor gun!

Hooligans on Bourbon Street

On October 8,2005, a man was beaten until he was laying on the ground, his blood running into the gutter at the intersection of Bourbon and Conti Streets in New Orleans, Louisiana. Law enforcement, although present, did not intervene to prevent this from occuring. Law enforcement provided the beating. On film.

Robert Davis was interviewed on our local news channels tonight. Shockingly, he does not blame the police officers, and states he believes this matter is not racially motivated. He believes the way he was dressed, in a white T-shirt and shorts with grey whiskers on his face made him look like a homeless person. He stated he may have had cigarette smoke on his breath, but no alcohol, and is sure the ER physician who attended him will acquit him of any charges that he was drunk from his bloodwork. I have to say that Mr. Davis is a gentleman of the highest order. His response is so unlike that of Rodney King, that he will prevail in this matter.

Some are saying the NOPD is operating under a great deal of stress. Excuse me. They are living on a cruise ship, working 12 hour days, five days a week. They are having to share cabins. To say these conditions are arduous is laughable to any man who served in the US Navy. Mr. Davis had recently returned to New Orleans from Atlana to check on property he owns. He and his family has been under a great deal of stress if anyone was. Operating under stress, assuming it is even present, does not give law enforcement license to beat citizens.

Mr. Davis asked a mounted policeman about the curfew time. Then another policeman smarted off to him, and Mr. Davis asked to be left alone. Mr. Davis turned to leave. For that he was beaten to the ground and falsely accused of public drunkeness, and the police had the audacity to suppress and rough up a journalist who filmed their criminal activity and now they want to justify it all. There is something very very wrong here, and it is NOT a black man with whiskers asking a mounted policeman about a curfew!

I usually give the police the benefit of the doubt. In this case, that is very difficult.
I have to say, as inflammatory as the statement may be, that this kind of uncalled for attack on a man's physical safety and life is exactly why many law abiding citizens carry a gun. I wonder..........If these attackers had not been cops, but Cripps, and Mr. Davis had pulled his Glock out and ventilated a couple of skulls, would he be held at fault? If not, then why are the police any different when they commit the same act?

The NOPD has still not dropped the Public Drunk charges against Mr. Davis, evidence that the NOPD is standing behind it's officers. The attorney for the accused police officers has deemed Mr. Davis' beating "reasonable."

Some events elicit righteous anger and demand powerful statements of universal condemnation. When law enforcement fails to enforce laws to the point that law abiding citizens lay bleeding into a gutter, the public must demand justice. The beating of an old man in Vieux Carre, like the CHP attack on an old woman in New Orleans, are just such incidents. This is not police bashing. It's simply a civilized response to uncivilized conduct. Justice was demanded for much less in Abu Ghraib. Who cries for justice in New Orleans?

Update