By Scott Tibbs, July 9, 2013
Last week, a 20-year-old woman was leaving a store in Virginia after buying some flavored water, and was met by Alcoholic Beverage Control agents, who suspected she had purchased beer. What happened next should be a concern to all Americans and a call to action to protect our endangered civil liberties.
She was approached by a group of plainclothes agents, one of whom drew a gun. Another jumped on the hood of her car. In fear for her safety, she attempted to flee, and in the process "grazed" an agent. She was charged with several felonies, but the case will not be prosecuted.
Let's set aside the fact that she had purchased flavored water when she was approached by armed agents of the state. Let's for a moment assume they were right, and she had beer. What would have been wrong with having a couple uniformed officers approach her and deal with the matter? Why was it necessary to ambush her in the parking lot, making her fear for her safety to the point where she fled for her life? These stormtrooper tactics are completely unacceptable in a free society. Is this the USA or the USSR?
This kind of nonsense could have easily ended in tragedy. What if this show of force was used against someone who carried a handgun, and felt the need to use it to defend herself? She would have been gunned down by law enforcement, having committed no crime and perhaps never knowing why she was killed. It is lucky for all involved that she only attempted to escape, and no one was hurt or killed.
Last Thursday was the Fourth of July. If we truly want to honor this nation's founding and the liberties she was created to protect, then we need to stand against this kind of abuse of power. The state should terminate the employment of all of the officers involved in this fiasco, as well as their supervisor.
