Justice.
We all claim to seek it in one form or another, but in the actual practice of enforcing the law, justice all-too-frequently takes a distant back seat to something else, and this column has never quite been able to define what that “something else” is. Certainly, it involves the pushing of political and social agendas. Definitely there are differing and clashing philosophies in the mix.
But that “something else” is hard to pin down. We will take a stab at it, and likely miss the mark, while encouraging readers to weigh in below in the comments section.
In New York – the state from whence anti-gun-rights Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn hails – a man named George Grier last Sunday was arrested for ostensibly defending his home and family from a rather large group of people thought to be members of the MS-13 gang. If so, they are very bad people. Grier, a black man, fired four warning shots from a semi-automatic rifle (once again misidentified as an “assault rifle” by reporters) after members of the crowd, apparently all Hispanic, allegedly threatened to kill him and his family. All Grier did to incite these thugs was to ask three guys to take an argument out of his yard and go somewhere else because Grier’s wife and child were in the house sleeping. My esteemed colleague, David Codrea, writes about the incident here, and my friend, former Congressman Bob Barr, writes about it here. The Liberty Belles have taken up Grier’s cause, and the story has gotten coverage all over the map, including New York's WCBS (below).
The trio was quickly reinforced by more than a dozen of their associates, according to various reports.
‘Grier was arrested on reckless endangerment and weapons possession charges. He was released on $10,000 bond after his arraignment Monday, his sister said.
He says the weapon is a semi-automatic rifle with a pistol grip. He says media accounts that he had an assault rifle are inaccurate. The gun does not require a permit in the state of New York.
What Grier did was probably wrong for any number of reasons, but now in New York, he faces Class D felony charges because the police and local prosecutor evidently need to go after somebody. Grier is disarmed (he owned the rifle and a handgun legally, something that says much about his character since this caper happened in New York) and the people who threatened him are apparently still on the loose. If they decide to carry through on their threats now, Grier will not be able to put up much of a fight, and if his wife manages to get police on the phone as such an attack commences, the cops may arrive just in time to put a white chalk outline around his corpse.
Even Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly thinks this is an outrage, but one must temper that with a a bit of common sense.
One simply does not fire “warning shots.” It is not clear whether any of the mob was armed, and even Grier acknowledges that. It is clear that they allegedly threatened him and his family with death or at least grave bodily harm, they were in a position of close proximity to carry out that threat, and Grier was vastly outnumbered.
In a situation like that, what would you do? (Reply below)
Contrast Grier’s case with that of the recently-departed Cal Coburn Brown, a waste of humanity if ever there was one. He died Friday morning by lethal injection at the prison death house in Walla Walla as members of his victim’s family looked on. He didn’t apologize for brutalizing, raping and killing 21-year-old Holly Washa in 1991. Instead he launched a diatribe about the death penalty and how it is administered inconsistently here in the Evergreen State.
While George Grier did what many are calling the “right thing” and is being swiftly prosecuted for it, Brown did a horribly wrong thing and it took 16 years of trials and appeals to put that piece of human garbage out of our misery. One observer suggested he died rather peacefully, which is hardly the way Miss Washa died 19 years ago.
One of Brown’s attorneys, Jeff Ellis, is quoted in Friday’s Seattle Times, declaring that his client’s death will not change things, will not prevent other murders, will not make us safer, and so forth. He is probably correct, but at least Cal Brown will not kill again, and he has been justifiably, albeit belatedly, deprived of the only thing he had that was of any value to him: his life.
‘Brown carjacked Washa, 21, at knife point near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on May 23, 1991, and forced her to drive to a bank to withdraw money. He then held her for 34 hours at a motel where she was repeatedly raped, robbed, tortured and then slashed to death.—Seattle Times
We are reminded about another vicious, remorseless Evergreen State killer, Charles Rodman Campbell. Convicted of raping Renae Wicklund in her Clearview home in 1974, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He served six years, got out of prison unbeknownst to Wicklund, and returned to her Clearview home in April 1982 where he raped and sodomized her, and slashed her throat. He was still there when Wicklund’s 8-year-old daughter Shannah arrived home from school. Her throat was cut as well. He killed neighbor Barbara Hendrickson, who just stopped by to visit, also slashing her throat.
Campbell sneered and wagged his tongue at the press, prosecutors, courts and the community for 12 long years until his appeals ran out. In the end, reduced to sniveling cowardice, he had to be carried from his cell with a board strapped to his back to the gallows. He resisted having the hood placed on his head and likewise, the noose. He had no last words, and when the trap sprang open, he dropped five feet into Hell.
This is not a perfect world, and hardly the Utopia that gun prohibitionists yearn to create by just taking all of the guns away from people. Such plans invariably disarm the wrong people, and Utopia is a far place from the kind of world in which only thugs and killers are armed. Death penalty opponents are either one and the same as gun rights opponents, or they at least drink from the same well.
Prosecuting a guy like George Grier in New York while his suspected MS-13 tormenters go free is not justice in the true sense. Neither is heaping one appeal upon another in an effort to delay a legally-sanctioned, carefully considered death penalty.
This column can only hope that Mr. Grier’s defense attorney will have the same zeal as the attorneys who represented Brown, and even Campbell, right up to the ends of their miserable lives. Perhaps those attorneys should jump right in and defend Mr. Grier’s actions in defense of himself, his family and his home.
Once again, we’ve probably missed defining that “something else” which sidetracks genuine justice, but perhaps we have added a little clarity to the difference between justice and “something else.” And maybe, when we woke up this morning, the world we know is just a tiny bit better because there are people like George Grier, and one less individual named Cal Coburn Brown using up the oxygen.
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NOTE: Since this is Washington State - a universe away from George Grier's New York - a group of Open Carry activists will once again demonstrate this Sunday, Sept. 12, the difference between good armed citizens and Empire State gang thugs. The Open Carry group will be picking up litter along northbound I-5 from the Puyallup River bridge to Fife, 10-11 a.m. Show some support. Honk and wave as you drive by.
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Comments
It's far easier to persecute George Grier than to go after the gang banger thugs that were threatening him. I don't think I would have wasted 4 rounds shooting into the ground. But then, it's easy to play Monday morning quarterback.
This may be your best article yet Dave.
I would not have wasted 4 rounds either. NY has a 10 round magazine limit that would not be beneficial when facing that many threats.
I would however put 4 rounds into the first person that approached me in a "threatening manor", as the 'boys in blue' use to justify deadly force.
While I was not there and only understand the circumstances as described my the media, the only error that I can see that Mr. Grier made was as follows:
1) He should have made sure that a call was made to the police upon entering his house to get his firearm.
2) He should not have gone back outside his house with his firearm at any point.
3) He should have saved his four shots for the first "gangbanger" that entered his house.
4) He should have continued to do so until out of ammunition or they were all dead.
Go back inside the house.
Call the cops and tell them they threatened you, your wife, your kids.
Don't say the words "my gun" to anyone, ever.
Have your gun ready but very out of sight.
Don't let the cops inside your house if they ever do show up. Tell them you're happy they're there as you were in fear of your life and the bad guys said they had guns, but don't let them in without a search warrant.
Shoot any bad guy that tries to come into your house. Outside making noise and talking trash is not a threat to your life, entry to your house is.
I should add, if the cops start asking you questions that sound in ANY way like they might accuse you of anything, say only "I choose to remain silent until I can consult with my lawyer."
He should have stayed inside, weapon at the ready, and on the phone with police. If they attempt to enter then fire away, but not at the ground. It's his job to keep his family safe, it's not his job to remove unruly people from his front yard, the police can do that. By doing what the police should have done, he is now no longer able to do what he is supposed to do. I hope it all works out for him, but this case should be a lesson to others, you don't engage unless there are no other options. I'm not saying retreat, I'm just saying that had the same thing happen *inside* the house, no one would question whether or not he was justified, and he would likely still have his guns and his freedom.
In New York, Pursuant to Penal Law § 120.25, “a person is guilty of reckless endangerment in the first degree when, under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person”.
Firing shots into the ground does not fit the crime in my opinion. Malicious prosecution appears to apply in this case. "That something" is the constant behavioral modification of law abiding citizens.
Norm G has it precisely correct.
However, a felony charge is overkill.
Appropriate sentence? Assuming he had no criminal record: $500-$1000 fine and successful completion of a firearms safety/self-defense course which includes when it is legal to shoot.
You should have a right to defend your property, not just the interior of your home. The Fox News article said the mans cousin was still outside surrounded by the gang members which is why he went outside with the gun. He was wrong to fire warning shots but the prosecuter needs to use some common sense, you dont prosecute someone who was defending themselves from criminals.
Call the cops? GET REAL!!! They would probably show up half an hour later when the threat exists now! If they are on my property making threats to my family I would not have wasted four rounds on warning shots but wasted four gang members instead.
The crux of the issue is that regulators are out there blaming guns for gun crime when they should be blaming criminals for crimes. Trespassing is a crime, threats of bodily injury are a crime, and Greir was protecting himself that is not a crime.
I THINK I would have least remained in the doorway instead of going to the yard. I don't know all the particulars on where his cousin or any other relatives were, and neither does anyone else in this forum. The original group of gang members were joined by about 20 more as the altercation progressed, and apparently they were "working up" to the point of charging an armed man. The most frustrating thing in the world is trying to protect a family member who through fear or anger will not retreat or listen to any one trying to tell them to get the hell out of there.
In this case, he called their bluff, and no one got hurt. He did NOT fire into the air, which is where most idiots who fire warning shots seem to consider a "safe" direction. I suspect if he had started retreating to the house, they would have tried to rush him. The best tactical option, which would have been shooting the jerk who probably mouthed off something along the lines of "you can't get us all", would have been a one-way ticked to prison.
Bottom line, I think he handled it about the only way it could have turned out well for anyone.
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