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Philadelphia Archive

Thursday

19

May 2011

1

COMMENTS

Ignorant Cop Harasses Gun Owner, Prosecutors Blame the Victim

Written by , Posted in Gun Rights, The Courts, Criminal Justice & Tort

Continuing the recent theme of police abuses and outrageous legal decisions which demand we bend over and take them, comes another story of flagrant police abuse and disrespect for the law:

Mark Fiorino, a 25-year-old IT worker from suburban Montgomery County, was walking on the street in northeast Philadelphia on Feb. 13 with his handgun exposed on his hip — and an audio recorder in his pocket. A police officer driving by in a cruiser, Sgt. Michael Dougherty, stopped and called out to him, prompting a tense, 40-minute encounter.

“Do you know you can’t openly carry here in Philadelphia?” Dougherty asks, according to the YouTube clip. Fiorino responds, “Yes, you can, if you have a license to carry firearms. … It’s Directive 137. It’s your own internal directive.”

After some profanity-laced back-and-forth, other officers responded to Dougherty’s calls for backup. Fiorino was forced to the ground as he tried to explain that he had a firearms license and was legally allowed to carry his gun openly. He had his permit on him, along with his driver’s license.

Basically, because the Philadelphia police did not even know the law they are asked to enforce, and are also power-tripping a-holes, this man was harassed and threated at gun-point by the police. And contrary to this report, there was not a “profanity-laced back-and-forth,” as there was only profanity coming from one side: the police. We know this because the audio is posted on YouTube.

But this is even worse than a case of police ignorance and abuse of authority, both of which are fairly typical. It’s also a case of the legal system stepping on the law abiding citizen to protect said “law enforcement” personnel. You see, the a-hole DA, protecting his a-hole cop buddy, charged Fiorina with “disorderly conduct:”

Several weeks after the altercation, after it was posted on YouTube, Commissioner Charles Ramsey had detectives look into the case, Evers said. On April 21, Evers said, Fiorino was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person. The confrontation could have led to Fiorino getting shot and officers racing to the scene also could have been injured in an accident, police said.

On Saturday, several dozen gun-owners turned out at City Hall to protest Fiorino’s arrest.

Fiorino told the Philadelphia Daily News he plans to sue the city whenever his criminal case is resolved. His attorney, Joseph Valvo, said he thinks the move to file criminal charges against Fiorino was retaliation for posting the recordings on YouTube.

Fiorina “endangered another person” by apparently provoking a cop into displaying his abusive ignorance by trying to enforce a law that does not exist and pointing a gun at him. That’s about as legitimate as charging a rape victim for disturbing the peace.

Everyone should record every interaction they have with the police. To fail to do so is to invite them to lie about their abuses, and then blame their victims for it. While the post-incident harassment here is no doubt based on the fact that he exposed their behavior, it is only because of his recording that we know the truth. And more importantly, had he not been recording them – a fact which they discovered – they probably would have made up some other charges to hit him with.

Remind me again why so many conservatives are automatically deferential and assume that “law enforcement” can do no wrong in this country?

Monday

23

August 2010

0

COMMENTS

Philly Harassing Bloggers With $300 Licensing Fees

Written by , Posted in Free Markets, The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

This is a story any blogger should find outrageous:

For the past three years, Marilyn Bess has operated MS Philly Organic, a small, low-traffic blog that features occasional posts about green living, out of her Manayunk home. Between her blog and infrequent contributions to ehow.com, over the last few years she says she’s made about $50. To Bess, her website is a hobby. To the city of Philadelphia, it’s a potential moneymaker, and the city wants its cut.

In May, the city sent Bess a letter demanding that she pay $300, the price of a business privilege license.

“The real kick in the pants is that I don’t even have a full-time job, so for the city to tell me to pony up $300 for a business privilege license, pay wage tax, business privilege tax, net profits tax on a handful of money is outrageous,” Bess says.

This story doesn’t include the angle of politicians using these tools to silence opponents, but that potential is clearly there, as well.  What we have here is simply government greed.

I’ve  never been a fan of licensing laws, and will continue to proudly flaunt my status as an unlicensed blogger. This issue goes beyond just blogging, however. Licensing laws of all kinds are antithetical to the American spirit.  Owning a business is not a privilege granted by government, and should never be treated as such.  If I found myself living in the jurisdiction of any local government that so aggressive claimed otherwise, I’d pack up and move.  Flee these tyrannical jurisdictions as soon as possible, and then we’ll see what happens to their tax revenues.

Saturday

1

May 2010

0

COMMENTS

Mayors Daley And Nutter Cross A Line

Written by , Posted in Gun Rights

Despite having some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, violence in Chicago has gotten so bad that some local politicians are calling for deployment of the National Guard.  It’s bad enough when gun control advocates can’t recognize the failure of their own policies, but now Mayor Daley has taken the anti-Second Amendment agenda to a whole new level.  Literally.

Along with several other mayors across the globe, Mayor Daley and Philadelphia Mayor Nutter have signed a resolution which fails to recognize the Constitution as the supreme law of the land and threatens to undermine fundamental rights.

The resolution called for national governments, international human rights groups and public health organizations to help the world’s cities address global gun trafficking and gun violence. It also called on the U.S. to take a leading role “by imposing greater oversight and accountability of the gun industry” with stricter regulation and enforcement of gun trafficking.

The resolution vowed that wherever possible mayors would “seek redress against the gun industry through the courts of the world – including local, state and federal courts, and international courts – for damages caused to our countries, cities and communities by global trafficking of illegal guns.”

“Can you imagine what would happen if gun manufacturers were taken into the World Court and challenged on the issues?” said Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter.

Make no mistake, this is a direct assault on the right to bear arms in the U.S.  As elected officials within the United States, these mayors have an obligation to uphold and defend the Constitution.  Instead, they are attempting to subvert it by advocating appeal to world bodies that have no democratic accountability in this country.  There are few things imaginable that are greater grounds for impeachment.