Monday, July 14, 2008

This just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser.

This just seems to get more and more strange. A 20 year old Irish national comes to America to live out the American Dream, hitting the road to see the country. Instead, he ends up gunned down in the small town of Silverton Or. by the local police. The real question is how did this dream go so awry?
According to the AP, the family described the young man as mentally ill. While staying with his sister and brother-in-law he was in the habit of banging on their door when he wanted in. He may have gotten confused and knocked on the wrong door. The police were responding to a possible burglary attempt.
Many questions remain. First, why was it necessary to shot the man seven times? Was he armed? Did he pose an eminent threat of danger? Doesn't there seem to be just too much use of deadly force lately? Does every incident have to end in tasering or shooting?
Second, why is a mentally ill man allowed to come to this country with no means of support to just wander around? Why was he allowed to overstay his visa by 6 months.?
To complicate matters, the officer involved in the shooting has now been accused of sexually abusing a girl. This just keeps getting more and more unreal.

No comments: