Saturday, June 10, 2006

Burn him!

This article is about the arrest of a man in Denver. Reason has an excellent post of his own about this. He has additional links to more articles and a PDF version of the affidavit.

To summarize, the man was arrested by the FBI for selling a machine gun to a confidential informant. The following is a series of excerpts from the article about his arrest, followed by my commentary in [brackets.]

According to the arrest affidavit, the firefighter, Stan Taran Ford, has "anti-U.S. sympathies and has ties to an unknown domestic terrorism organization." [Let the demonization begin. What exactly is the pertinence of his “sympathies?” If you read the affidavit, you will find no evidence to support the “domestic terrorism” claim. He’s probably just a life member in the NRA…]

A federal official told 7NEWS that Ford, 34, is interested in militias, and that the terror organization is more like a domestic hate group than an international terrorist organization. [When did being "interested in militias" become a crime? Oh, right it's not. And what's this backtracking about the nature of the "terror organization"?]

A source told 7NEWS that Ford refused to get a Colorado driver's license for some time because he felt that the government could track him that way. That same source said Ford was a "gun enthusiast" who would show up at fire department events with lists of guns that he had available for sale, 7NEWS reported. [“And what else is made of wood?” “Witches! BURRRRRRN HER!!!!”]

A search of his home after his arrest brought about several more weapons, 7NEWS reported. [You think? He’s a gun collector. Again, pertinence please. Did these other weapons have big red “sold” tags hanging off the trigger guards? I'll bet they found a kitchen drawer full of spoons, forks and knives, but that's not a crime either.]

The investigation into Ford began more than two years ago after the El Paso County Sheriff's Office learned that Ford was allegedly trying to buy sensitive military communication systems and night vision goggles from a military base in Colorado Springs. [BUUUUURRRRN HIM!!!! Would someone please tell me what this has to do with the case against this guy? Oh, right, right. We have to make him look like a wacko. Otherwise someone might figure out just how stupid and unconstitutional the NFA is…]

According to the affidavit, investigators also developed information that Ford and his associates had obtained Chinese military weapons. [Were these “Chinese military weapons” measured in megatons? If not, then shut up about it. Again, where’s the crime? Ooooooooh, he had an SKS!!! I’m surprised they left out the obligatory “…capable of firing dozens of rounds per second when sprayed from the hip. These guns are widely favored by criminals.”]

7News said that other people are also under investigation in the case. [Including the Special Agent, I hope. He sure spent a lot of taxpayer money and ink swearing to the fact that Ford committed several non-crimes.]

What bothers me the most here is the persistent demonization of this man for things that had nothing to do with the actual crime he committed. (Things, that is, that are not illegal.)

No matter which way I think about it, I keep coming back to the Monty Python scene. This time, however, we've got a group of Feds standing around some poor guy they've slapped a fake nose and witch costume on.

BURN HIM!

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