I Hope They Shoot Him Again Next Time
Yesterday at an airport in Miami, Federal Air Marshalls shot and killed a suspected bomber and now their actions are being disected by the media and others claiming they were wrong to do so.
Let's look at the situation and information the Marshalls had at the time of the shooting.
1. Rigoberto Alpizar, a 44yr old man from Costa Rica, makes threatening statements on an airplane stating he has a bomb. (of course they didn't know his name, age and country of origin, they just saw and heard a middleaged man doing this).
2. The man proceeds to frantically run down the isle with a bag.
3. A woman runs behind him screaming that it is her husband and hasn't taken his medication.
4. Marshalls draw their weapons and repeatedly order the man to stop, drop the bag and lie on the floor.
5. The man refuses and starts reaching into the bag that he says contains the bomb.
6. He is shot and killed.
Now lets look at what was found out AFTER it was over.
1. Rigoberto Alpizar was bipolar and off of his medicine.
2. There was no bomb in the bag.
Ok...so...lets take a look at the arguments they are using to disect the Marshalls actions:
1. Why did they not listen to his wife behind him saying he was sick and off his medicine?
----Well let's see, how did they know it was his wife? How did they know she wasn't involved in a terrorist act to blow up a bomb with him? Besides, if she knew he was bipolar why was he off his medicine and why the hell would she let him on an airplane? This is bullshit and it is HER fault, not the Marshalls who had seconds to make life or death decisions and do their job of protecting the other passengers, the plane, the airport terminal, the people in the terminal and themselves.
2. Why did they use deadly force instead of shooting him in the leg or using a tazer on him?
----First off if you use this argument your an idiot. Shooting a man in the leg or using a tazer (which who even says they had?) will NOT stop someone reaching into a bag to set off a bomb from detonating it with their finger. Also this isn't the old west movies, very few people can hit a running man in the leg, Federal Officers are trained to shoot for the bulk of mass which is your torso. If you run through an airport with a bag and say you have a bomb in it an reach inside, you are going to get killed. His death wasn't the Marshalls fault, it was his job.
3. He wasn't even in the airplane anymore, why did they have to shoot him?
----Um...would you be asking such a stupid question if your child was standing inside the terminal at that gate? Blowing up a bomb will actually kill alot of people even if it isn't done IN the airplane...no, really.
These men were doing their damn job. They were completely justified in shooting this man. Yes, it is sad that he was mentally ill and that he was not a terrorist bomber but being sad does not change the circumstances. Just like the ends do not justify the means, the end also does not unjustify the means (is unjustify a word?).
What do you think the reactions would be if:
1. He was a terrorist bomber.
2. The woman with him was a distraction.
3. The bomb went off and hundreds of people were murdered.
4. The Marshalls said "well some woman was saying she was his wife and he was just sick"
You know damn well what the reactions would be and that these Marshall's would be crucified by the same media and people who are now bitching because they killed this man.
I'm sorry an innocent man was killed. I would imagine the Marshall's are sorry they killed an innocent man. None of that changes the fact that they were right in what they did and God help us if this criticism makes them hesitate next time when the man does have a bomb, and your there.
Let's look at the situation and information the Marshalls had at the time of the shooting.
1. Rigoberto Alpizar, a 44yr old man from Costa Rica, makes threatening statements on an airplane stating he has a bomb. (of course they didn't know his name, age and country of origin, they just saw and heard a middleaged man doing this).
2. The man proceeds to frantically run down the isle with a bag.
3. A woman runs behind him screaming that it is her husband and hasn't taken his medication.
4. Marshalls draw their weapons and repeatedly order the man to stop, drop the bag and lie on the floor.
5. The man refuses and starts reaching into the bag that he says contains the bomb.
6. He is shot and killed.
Now lets look at what was found out AFTER it was over.
1. Rigoberto Alpizar was bipolar and off of his medicine.
2. There was no bomb in the bag.
Ok...so...lets take a look at the arguments they are using to disect the Marshalls actions:
1. Why did they not listen to his wife behind him saying he was sick and off his medicine?
----Well let's see, how did they know it was his wife? How did they know she wasn't involved in a terrorist act to blow up a bomb with him? Besides, if she knew he was bipolar why was he off his medicine and why the hell would she let him on an airplane? This is bullshit and it is HER fault, not the Marshalls who had seconds to make life or death decisions and do their job of protecting the other passengers, the plane, the airport terminal, the people in the terminal and themselves.
2. Why did they use deadly force instead of shooting him in the leg or using a tazer on him?
----First off if you use this argument your an idiot. Shooting a man in the leg or using a tazer (which who even says they had?) will NOT stop someone reaching into a bag to set off a bomb from detonating it with their finger. Also this isn't the old west movies, very few people can hit a running man in the leg, Federal Officers are trained to shoot for the bulk of mass which is your torso. If you run through an airport with a bag and say you have a bomb in it an reach inside, you are going to get killed. His death wasn't the Marshalls fault, it was his job.
3. He wasn't even in the airplane anymore, why did they have to shoot him?
----Um...would you be asking such a stupid question if your child was standing inside the terminal at that gate? Blowing up a bomb will actually kill alot of people even if it isn't done IN the airplane...no, really.
These men were doing their damn job. They were completely justified in shooting this man. Yes, it is sad that he was mentally ill and that he was not a terrorist bomber but being sad does not change the circumstances. Just like the ends do not justify the means, the end also does not unjustify the means (is unjustify a word?).
What do you think the reactions would be if:
1. He was a terrorist bomber.
2. The woman with him was a distraction.
3. The bomb went off and hundreds of people were murdered.
4. The Marshalls said "well some woman was saying she was his wife and he was just sick"
You know damn well what the reactions would be and that these Marshall's would be crucified by the same media and people who are now bitching because they killed this man.
I'm sorry an innocent man was killed. I would imagine the Marshall's are sorry they killed an innocent man. None of that changes the fact that they were right in what they did and God help us if this criticism makes them hesitate next time when the man does have a bomb, and your there.
posted by ~Gate~ at 9:44 AM
3 Comments:
I have to agree. When law enforcement officials have seconds to react to a situation, there simply isn't time to second guess. If they ignored the man and he did have a bomb which blew up, then people would be screaming about how the system failed and these guys didn't do their jobs.
It's too easy to criticize when looking back. You have to judge what happened in terms of when it happened and what information these guys had at the time.
I think they made the right call.
Right on Gate....total agreement
But...in all reality we both know that no matter what the "Authorities" do it's going to be wrong.... it the old saying personafied.."I'm damned if I do...I'm damned if I don't.. The law will always be under attack by some. But thank the power that be there will always be thinkers that actually have a brain...good to see that you are one of them.
ndn (Taylors mom)
There are time that the american people embarass me. This is one of them. The threat in this situation was real. No matter that it turned out the man had no bomb. NO ONE else knew that but the wife and her involvement at the time is obviously questionable. No matter that she turned out to be telling the truth.
Bi-Polar or not the man should not have taken such actions. I'm Bi-Polar and You would never see me doing some crazy shit like that. I think it could be very likely the man was suicidal and no one knows it.
It is terrible that he died. I think it's wonderful the Air Marshals were there and did their job. I pray for their peace of mind, and that their nights are restful. My sympathy to the man's wife her tragic loss should not be dismissed.
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