BushMcHitler Military Takeover In Alabama!!1!111

That would have been the headline had this happened a few months ago.

“On March 10, after a report of an apparent mass murder in Samson, Ala., 22 military police soldiers from Fort Rucker, Ala., along with the provost marshal, were sent to the city of Samson,” Harvey Perritt, spokesman for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) at Fort Monroe, Va., told CNSNews.com on Monday.

...Jim Stromenger, a dispatcher at the Samson Police Department, confirmed the MP’s presence in the town, telling CNSNews.com that the troops “came in to help with traffic control and to secure the crime scene”--and the department was glad for the help.

“We’ve been getting a lot of calls,” Stromenger said. “They weren’t here to police, let me make that clear. They were here to help with traffic and to control the crime scene--so people wouldn’t trample all over (it).”

Stromenger said the town needed help--calls had gone out to all police departments in the area.

“We only have a five-man police department,” he told CNSNews.com. “We had officers from all surrounding areas helping out. There were a lot of streets to be blocked off and there had to be someone physically there to block them off. That’s what these MPs were doing. I don’t think they were even armed. The troops helped keep nosy people away.”

At this point there's no word on who authorized the troops to do take part in this situation. From the report it seems clear the DoD didn't authorize it and neither local police nor the Governor made any request for Army help. It's likely a local initiative on the part of someone at Ft. Rucker.

There are a lot of good reasons for federal troops not to do get involved in a situation like this, namely it's (possibly*) in violation of several laws and long standing traditions. Laws and traditions that are in place for very sound and important reasons. Given that I can understand people saying throw the book at whoever made this happen.

On the other hand, I don't think a wanna be military tyrant is hiding in the heart of any American soldier. Likely someone saw an emergency and figured they had the means to help and that's what they did. It's a very American reaction and one to be expected from the kind of people who volunteer to serve and protect our nation.

Hopefully when all of this shakes out the powers that be will find away to make it clear to everyone this kind of thing shouldn't happen again but in a way that doesn't involve hanging someone or some group of people who were just trying to help.

*I had originally added a qualifier but it was accidentally taken out when I edited a typo. I wanted to put it back but recognize it wasn't in the post the whole time it has been up.

posted by DrewM. at 10:52 AM

| Access Comments