It must be nice to live in a world where you get to change the reality if the facts aren’t running in your favor. It must be nice to be above questioning. And it must be nice to be able to dismiss as an “idiot” anyone who dares to try.
Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs said what he said and now is attempting to hide from it. Here is what he said verbatim to a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat:
“I think we have a defendant here who is lucky to be alive, because the officer should've shot him and taken his life for his conduct.”
Antonio Givens, 21, was sentenced last week to 11 months on attempted aggravated assault on a law-enforcement officer on Dec. 3, 2007.
Givens led officers on a car chase. Once stopped, he got out of the car and ran. He then pointed a gun at an officer, and the officer shot at him twice, hitting him in the mouth.
Meggs is now saying what he meant was the shot to the face could have killed Givens, so he is lucky to be alive and that any other interpretation is out of context.
Sorry, but that just doesn’t wash. Re-read the quote. It’s pretty straight forward. Key words: “the officer should’ve shot him and taken his life for his conduct.”
That seems to run contrary to the notion of using the least amount of force necessary to restrain a suspect. It’s not what the officer did but what Meggs said about it that is drawing criticism.
Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor criticized Meggs for the comment, calling it a “serious breach of decorum” in a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist. That’s when Meggs said Proctor should mind his own business and said he was “tired of responding to idiots.”
Presumably, he meant Proctor, but now that I think about it, he could also have meant the newspaper or the reporter, or maybe the public at large. He didn’t say, but we’ve questioned him from time to time.
Whether you like Proctor or think he’s the worse thing to happen to local government is not the point: The man is not an idiot. Say what you want about Proctor, but don’t underestimate him or try to dismiss him with a one-liner.
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1 comment:
Gabordi, you are correct... Proctor is not an idiot. I'm hopeful - too hopeful at times - to think Tallahasseeans would not elect idiots to office, or opportunists! Meggs needs to learn tact. As a public figure he is always scrutinized (rightfully so). The point that truly needs to be made; lead police on a high-speed pursuit, carry a gun, drop a gun, act in any threatening manner... you're lucky to be alive!
Sadly, if Mr Givens were white and/or the cleared-officer were black, Proctor and the Tallahassee Chapter of NAACP would never have said a word about Meggs' comments!
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