Lt. Saundler is to be commended. Strong language is not out of place at a political convention. But when that thug followed Michelle for hundreds of yards, yelling slanders and threats, the police should have stopped him and made clear that he must either shut up or face arrest. She is after all small and clearly was trying to avoid a clash and get away, while he was large, intrusive, and threatening. And for yelling “Kill Michelle Malkin” he should have been arrested on the spot, taking care not to release him until the convention was over. Freedom of speech doesn’t permit calling for someone to be killed in a crowded public space.
My suggestions: Michelle should file charges, so the city of Denver can prosecute this guy, giving him a criminal record in the city. And she should also file an internal affairs complaint with the Denver police department over their failure to act. But her complaint should be written in such a way that it helps the police respond better the next time rather than to punish the city or the police.
Keep in mind that in incidents like this, the police tend be tilted in one direction or the other. In a bar district, they’d be tilted toward a quick arrest, before an argument leads to violence. In political demonstrations, they’d be tilted toward not acting, even when it was justified, as here. They fear an ACLU lawsuit.
I had that happen to me. A couple of years ago, I was walking down a Seattle street when suddenly, in front of me, a man as deranged as this thug started banging on the side of a car and yelling at the driver. I missed the triggering incident, but apparently the elderly driver, without doing any harm, had backed ever so slowly into the thug’s car in the parking place behind him. I did nothing, to my regret.
Later I concluded that I should have spoken to the guy, staying calm and refusing to be threatened. I should have told him that what he was doing was disorderly conduct and that if he did not stop, I would call 911. As I was doing that, I’d be waving that elderly man to drive away. Once he was gone, I could walk away.
Why didn’t I do that? Because my mind wasn’t primed to act that way. I was primed to slip by and do nothing like most people.
In a similar fashion, the police need to be primed to imagine themselves acting in these sorts of situation rather than standing by. If I were as pretty and articulate as Michelle, I’d offer to help turn that video-taped incident into a video that could be shown to cops in training across the country. The incident could be shown, she could be interviewed about how she felt, and then the police department could explain what should have been done by the officers on the scene. The result would be positive and helpful.
