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Texas bans shooting immigrants from helicopters

TheDemSocialist

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Officials in Texas announced on Thursday that State Troopers would no longer be allowed to open fire on suspects from helicopters after the recent killing of two immigrants.While announcing the new policy, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw insisted that the ban on aerial shootings had nothing to do with the October 2012 death of two Guatemalan immigrants, who were gunned down by troopers in helicopter while they were hiding in the back of a speeding pickup truck near La Joya.
“I’m convinced that now, from a helicopter platform, that we shouldn’t shoot unless being shot at, or unless someone is being shot at,” McCraw told the state House Committee on Appropriations. “Last Friday, after a review of the policy and looking at all of the different things, and this is not a reflection of what happened there, I’m a firm believer they did exactly what they thought they needed to do.”


Read more @: Texas bans shooting immigrants from helicopters | The Raw Story


Yup... Only in Texas...
 
If only Che Guevara operated within the same manner from a helicopter some of his murder victims would still be alive...or would they?

Well, that is the most ridiculous non sequitor in history.

So yeah, shooting people from a helicopter is bad. That is one of those common sense things.
 
Nods. "Only what they had to".. yeah, they had to gun down 2 immigrants probably just trying to escape abject poverty.

Most immigrants entering the country through the mexican border are doing so illegally. That makes them criminals. Motive then is unimportant. Don't make gunning them down a good move, but poverty does not make entering the country illegally justified.
 
LOL - ok . . . you know. They allowed them to shoot them from helicopters . . . didn't they think that at some point one of them would die from this practice?

Something's in the water in Texas and it aint piss
 
Yeah. Only in America would something like this be outlawed.
 
Most immigrants entering the country through the mexican border are doing so illegally. That makes them criminals. Motive then is unimportant. Don't make gunning them down a good move, but poverty does not make entering the country illegally justified.

If your family was dying of starvation and you knew the only way you could get them food was to go to another country illegally to earn some money, your view on whether it was justified might be a little different. If you haven't seen "Under the Same Moon", you may want to see this preview:

 
LOL - ok . . . you know. They allowed them to shoot them from helicopters . . . didn't they think that at some point one of them would die from this practice?

Stands to reason. I think the real question that should be asked is whether they cared. Anyway, someone cared once it actually happened, or else this ban probably wouldn't have happened.
 
Read more @: Texas bans shooting immigrants from helicopters | The Raw Story


Yup... Only in Texas... [/FONT][/COLOR]

Yeah. Only in America would something like this be outlawed.

I think just to be clear we shouldn't call this a ban on shooting from helicopters, its apparently a ban on shooting from helicopters unless being shot at or to protect someone else from bodily harm. It doesn't say anything about shooting to disable vehicles and the like but I'd presume that's still allowed if you're given the proper authorization, think shooting a smuggling boat's engines for example.
 
I think just to be clear we shouldn't call this a ban on shooting from helicopters, its apparently a ban on shooting from helicopters unless being shot at or to protect someone else from bodily harm. It doesn't say anything about shooting to disable vehicles and the like but I'd presume that's still allowed if you're given the proper authorization, think shooting a smuggling boat's engines for example.

Certainly. I'm just pointing out that shooting at people, from helicopters or otherwise, is a pretty standard border patrol practice in most of the world and the fact that Texas got around to outlawing it isn't a sign that Texas is backwards-- it's a sign of how civilized and compassionate Texas is.

Too civilized and compassionate for my tastes. Smuggling yourself into this country should be dangerous. If we can't stop illegal immigration, we can at least make sure we get a better class of illegals.
 
Certainly. I'm just pointing out that shooting at people, from helicopters or otherwise, is a pretty standard border patrol practice in most of the world and the fact that Texas got around to outlawing it isn't a sign that Texas is backwards-- it's a sign of how civilized and compassionate Texas is.

Too civilized and compassionate for my tastes. Smuggling yourself into this country should be dangerous. If we can't stop illegal immigration, we can at least make sure we get a better class of illegals.

There is this pretty important concept known as due process. Shooting people from helicopters kinda is not following due process. In point of fact, since Germany reunited, shooting people crossing a border isn't common in th ed civilized world.
 
There is this pretty important concept known as due process. Shooting people from helicopters kinda is not following due process. In point of fact, since Germany reunited, shooting people crossing a border isn't common in th ed civilized world.

You're equivocating here. Police leveraging force to stop illegal immigration, while legal channels remain open, is hardly comparable to what was going on in east Germany under an authoritarian govt.
 
Well, that is the most ridiculous non sequitor in history.

So yeah, shooting people from a helicopter is bad. That is one of those common sense things.

But of course, droning them along with 50 innocent bystanders would be perfectly okay, right?
 
You're equivocating here. Police leveraging force to stop illegal immigration, while legal channels remain open, is hardly comparable to what was going on in east Germany under an authoritarian govt.

Not quite what I said. Most governments do not shoot people just for crossing the border.
 
So you're against President Obama's indescriminate murder of Americans and other nationals using drones. Good to hear.

I said that where? Are you going to argue my words, or are you going to keep making faulty assumptions?
 
I said that where? Are you going to argue my words, or are you going to keep making faulty assumptions?

So, your point is what? You said shooting people from a helicopter was obviously bad but your both not okay with drone killings or you are okay with drone killings, you just won't say. Slamming Texas is a great American liberal passtime but challenging a liberal President is impossible. It really is interesting watching an Obama supporter twist out of shape trying not to say anything bad about their hero.
 
So, your point is what? You said shooting people from a helicopter was obviously bad but your both not okay with drone killings or you are okay with drone killings, you just won't say. Slamming Texas is a great American liberal passtime but challenging a liberal President is impossible. It really is interesting watching an Obama supporter twist out of shape trying not to say anything bad about their hero.

I am opposed to using drone strikes to kill people entering the county illegally. Drone strikes for other purposes are irrelevant to the topic since they are used for, you know, different purposes. Hint: this isn't about Obama. Not every topic is. Bringing in irrelevancies is diverting, not discussing the, you know, topic.
 
I am opposed to using drone strikes to kill people entering the county illegally. Drone strikes for other purposes are irrelevant to the topic since they are used for, you know, different purposes. Hint: this isn't about Obama. Not every topic is. Bringing in irrelevancies is diverting, not discussing the, you know, topic.

Sounds kind of narrow minded to me, and convenient, to so restrict your focus as to avoid comparing what you referred to as "due process" for those entering your country illegally to the lack of "due process" for those your President murders indescriminately using drones.
 
Sounds kind of narrow minded to me, and convenient, to so restrict your focus as to avoid comparing what you referred to as "due process" for those entering your country illegally to the lack of "due process" for those your President murders indescriminately using drones.

I am a firm believer in judging events and actions on their own merits. If I judge an action based on another action that is a little alike, but a lot different, I will likely end up making the wrong judgement. There are plenty of places to bitch about Obama, but he is irrelevant to this thread. What you are doing is trying to insert it into this thread to divert away from the topic. Also, oddly, despite your claim that liberals like to bitch about Texas, I am actually praising Texas for making the right decision. You are letting your ideological partisanship form a set of preconceived notions that have no bearing in reality.
 
I am a firm believer in judging events and actions on their own merits. If I judge an action based on another action that is a little alike, but a lot different, I will likely end up making the wrong judgement. There are plenty of places to bitch about Obama, but he is irrelevant to this thread. What you are doing is trying to insert it into this thread to divert away from the topic. Also, oddly, despite your claim that liberals like to bitch about Texas, I am actually praising Texas for making the right decision. You are letting your ideological partisanship form a set of preconceived notions that have no bearing in reality.

Let's see, the truck was fleeing at unsafe speeds, there was a tarp covering the bed. The Troopers thought there was drugs in the bed of the truck and did not intentionally target the people in the bed. It's easy to sit back and criticize the Troopers decision but there's some nasty **** that goes on on the border from the drug cartels. I guess from now on, when a fleeing vehicle is getting close to a highly populated area, troopers and law enforcement shouldn't make any attempt to stop them?
 
I am a firm believer in judging events and actions on their own merits. If I judge an action based on another action that is a little alike, but a lot different, I will likely end up making the wrong judgement. There are plenty of places to bitch about Obama, but he is irrelevant to this thread. What you are doing is trying to insert it into this thread to divert away from the topic. Also, oddly, despite your claim that liberals like to bitch about Texas, I am actually praising Texas for making the right decision. You are letting your ideological partisanship form a set of preconceived notions that have no bearing in reality.

I didn't originally bring up Obama - I simply asked your view on the use of drones to murder without due process and you shut down because you don't want to criticize your hero - I'll accept that - what I won't accept is the duplicity of claiming Texas troopers shooting from helicopters at illegals entering your country is "bad" because the illegals aren't given "due process" but somehow, the lack of "due process" given both Americans and other nationals when murdering them using unmanned drones is not an equivalent, just a partisan shot not on topic. And don't try to claim you're "praising" Texas for making the right decision when you fail to condemn the equivalent use of drones elsewhere.
 
If your family was dying of starvation and you knew the only way you could get them food was to go to another country illegally to earn some money, your view on whether it was justified might be a little different. If you haven't seen "Under the Same Moon", you may want to see this preview:

Oh my God.....here we go......
 
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