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| Just a suggestion: If you are an ATF or ABC employee then on your off time, take a look at the myriad of bottled waters and sodas available so that you don't inadvertently pull a gun and make a total ass of yourself attacking a student for purchasing sparkling water marked PURE. (Above is an actual box of the sparkling water in question.) |
There are signs of tyranny in American government from the top all the way down now. The case of Brandon Raub and Eilleen Hart are just two. This is what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia on April 11, 2013.
Elizabeth Daly, a twenty year old University of Virginia student, and her two roommates made a brief trip by car to the Harris Teeter grocery store at Barracks Road in Charlottesville. It's a nice neighborhood and it should be safe. Daly brought bottled water and some cookie dough ice cream. On the way to her car Daly and her friends were accosted by three people. One pulled a gun and another jumped upon her car hood. They mistakenly thought that her expensive bottled water was beer or liquor. Elizabeth and her friends sped away and called police. Unfortunately for them, the three were apparently inept ATF agents who had failed to identify themselves to the girls. Some newspapers quote that these were Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents. Was this a joint operation between both groups ? Is this why so many of them went in plain clothes to harass twenty year olds ? When Elizabeth pulled over she was arrested and charged with two counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and one count of eluding police They also broke Ms. Daly's SUV windows.. She was jailed for a couple of days. She and her friends were terrified. Some accounts indicated that there were seven men and that they all spoke at once and that the girls understood only that this was an attempted abduction or robbery.
First of all, if you are inept enough that you can't tell the difference between the lovely array of bottled waters and their packaging, and beer, and this is your full time job, then you need to be removed from your post. Secondly, what happened to showing a badge and identifying yourself as a law enforcement officer ? Third, the girls did exactly what they should have done. This is only a block from where Morgan Harrington was abducted and then later found murdered. This is also the same location in which a young woman entered the Harris Teeter only to find the serial rapist whose picture had been up everywhere in Central Virginia, spraying vegetables in the produce department. (He has since been convicted and jailed.)
There are two men on the Richmond Charlottesville corridor who are pretending to be police, one in an attempt to abduct women, and one who robs people when he gets them to pull over. These young women should get medals for successfully eluding law enforcement who did not correctly identify themselves ! These young women thought they were about to be abducted ! They are traumatized and terrified.
Of course when the prosecutor found that the witnesses corroborated what the girls had said, the charges are said to have been dropped. I want more than the charges against Miss Daly dropped. They owe her more than a half gallon of melted ice cream and cookie dough ! In addition, I don't want to shop anywhere where ATF pulls weapons on people to check water.
Once again, law enforcement does not understand that they are there as public servants. You are there to keep the citizenry safe, not to harass and attack young girls who were buying things for a fundraiser. You just attacked the best and the brightest of our region. Don't be surprized when they become lawyers, physicians, and other professionals who don't have respect or time for the federal government or for local law enforcement. I hope these agents lose their jobs, and I hope ATF takes a good long look at their policies and procedures. Who is going to pay Miss Daly's legal fees ? What about the PTSD every time she sees a law enforcement officer ? What about her arrest record which could prevent her from holding some professional licenses or security clearances ? Sounds like this young woman and her roommates are due quite a bit of money.
My anger does not apply to my friends who are both federal and state law enforcement. They are just as outraged about this as I am. If this is what happened to three girls who bought sparkling water, imagine what would have happened had they bought Fresca ! It's even too horrible to imagine !
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/06/abc-arrest-watertoting-uva-student-under-review
http://www.policemisconduct.net/
http://www.libertariannews.org/2013/06/29/police-arrest-girl-at-gunpoint-over-bottled-water/
http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/student-charged-for-mistaking-plain-clothed-agents-as-attackers/
