Saturday, September 20, 2014

American Gun Culture: Rambo Wanna Be Kills Cop and Flees into Mountains


During the ongoing decline of America there is never any shortage of tales of people and institutions doing crazy things and there is a doozy from Pennsylvania.  The bizarre story of one Eric Frein, who is described as an "anti- law enforcement survivalist" ambushed and murdered a Pennsylvania State Trooper and wounded another before melting away into the woods of the Pocono mountains. Frein, according to an acquaintance is possibly reenacting the movie "Rambo: First Blood" in his psychotic fantasy.  He is just another American who has become unable to separate the difference between TV, movies, violent video games and reality as the lurch towards economic, social and moral collapse continues.

According to a story from the website of a local paper, The News Eagle which is entitled "Details revealed on State police crime scene":

As was widely reported, Frein was charged on Tuesday as the suspect wanted for the murder of Corporal Bryon Dickson and attempted murder of Trooper Alex Douglass outside the Troop R, Blooming Grove barracks of the PA State Police. The manhunt for Frein continued into Thursday.
According to the affidavit, on Friday, Sept. 12, Cpl. Bryon Dickson was working the 3 p.m.- 11 p.m. shift and was in full uniform. At approximately 10:50 p.m., Cpl. Dickson was exiting the front door of the Blooming Grove station towards his vehicle which was parked in front of the station. As he exited the door, he immediately dropped to the ground, where he remained motionless.
These actions were observed on the station surveillance system.

About five minutes previously, PCO (Police Communications Officer, a civilian employee) Nicole Palmer arrived at the station to start her shift. She entered the front door and was on her way to the communication room. She said she observed Cpl. Dickson walk through the lobby towards the front door.
"Palmer states that she heard a noise which she related sounded like a firecracker," the affidavit reads. Looking out a window she saw Cpl. Dickson on the ground. She went outside and approached him, asking him what had happened. Cpl. Dickson was still alive; he informed her that he had been shot and needed help.

While attending to him, another shot was fired in the direction of the front entrance. Palmer saw a cloud of white residue on the lobby floor. She went back in to try and call 9-1-1 but was not successful. Shewent back to Cpl. Dickson; he asked her to get him inside but she was not able. She went back in to call for assistance.

Trooper Alex Douglass, also in full uniform, was just arriving for the 11 p.m.- 7 a.m. shift. Walking to the entrance, Tpr. Douglass saw Cpl. Dickson on the ground, who laid motionless. Douglass looked towards the station lobby, and immediately fell to the ground.

Tpr. Douglass was able to crawl into the lobby. Trooper William Fells, who was inside, retrieved Tpr, Douglass and brought him into the secure part of the station.

Video surveillance indicates there were four shots, which took about 90 seconds.

Members of the State Police Patrol Unit attempted to rescue Cpl. Dickson. Using a marked patrol SUV as a shield, they began to render medical assistance to Cpl. Dickson. He was subsequently declared deceased at the scene by the Pike County Coroner's Office.

massive police manhunt is currently under way for the shooter and I can pretty much guarantee that this is not going to end like it did in the movie. Frein has an obvious vendetta against law-enforcement and a history of anti-government and anti-police postings on the internet. Pennsylvania State Police have stated that the Frein has a "personal battle with law enforcement".

Now I am sure that there will be those whose knee-jerk reaction to this story will be to conflate legitimate critics of the American police state to being the equivalent of the nutball Frein. There will also be those who will point to this as justification for the militarizing of the police under the 1033 Program - because Hell,  if that police barracks would have just had an MRAP none of this would have happened. 

Nothing could be farther from that truth though and such comparisons only serve to normalize an obvious lunatic who is obsessed with movie violence and has run amok. The real truth is that there are legitimate concerns about the American police state. This is particularly evident with the rise in incidents of brutalitydepravity and dog shootings as well as the ongoing militarization of local police. In a way Frein may be a symptom of that very problem in that the rise of the police state only reinforces the existing pathology within such extremists.

My standard disclaimer is that when you live in a culture with the worship of guns borders on that of a religion is that you should never be surprised whenever there is an incident of a deranged individual using a gun to kill others. 

Living in the USA baby! 

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