Strickland Shooting Deputy Fired

New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey has fired one of three deputies who have been on paid leave in connection with the shooting death of 18-year-old Peyton Strickland.

“Christopher M. Long was dismissed from employment with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office today,” Causey said in a terse news release faxed to the Star-News at 4:49 p.m.

The reason for Long’s dismissal was not explained in the release. But it did state that “a criminal investigation is being conducted by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the District Attorney,” apparently a reference to the ongoing investigation into the Dec. 1 shooting.

As Alice observed, "Curiouser and curiouser."

Parker v. DC Oral Argument Transcript

K-Romulus attended and wrote down a "rough transcript."

Great job! Nice "exclusive"!

And remember--you got the scoop from a blogger, not an "authorized journalist."

We're the Only Ones Irresistable Enough

In the passenger seat, Whitehead trembled and stuttered when Hires asked for his identification and ordered him out of the truck. He screamed when Hires threw him against the truck, beat him with a police-issued flashlight -- and then tased him while he ran back to the woman's house, the records say...

Whitehead, 27, wound up in the hospital so doctors could remove the Taser prongs from his arm. Then he was booked into Lake County Jail, arrested on suspicion of resisting a police officer with violence.

Where do you think Whitehead would be right now if he had resisted--with the appropriate level of force?

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

This is All it Takes

[Use BugMeNot to bypass site registration]

It was Fabian Sheats' third felony drug arrest in four months. But on the afternoon of Nov. 21, according to a police report, he was looking to curry favor, so he told officers they could find a kilogram of cocaine in a house at 933 Neal Street N.W.

That encounter led police to the home of Kathryn Johnston, an elderly woman who lived alone behind burglar bars and kept a rusty revolver. When officers burst into the house just three hours after talking to Sheats, a shootout ensued that left the woman dead and three officers wounded. No cocaine was found.

Rely on the neighborhood Gollum and use that as justification to raid an innocent woman's home. That's some police work.

[Via Uncle, via Balko]

We're the Only Ones Excessively Forceful Enough

Two of the three deputies involved in Friday's deadly shooting of a Wilmington teenager have been the focus of prior investigations for use of excessive force.

I agree with Tomato 7:

It keeps getting better.

[More on Peyton Strickland]

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Wayne Fincher Update

Wayne may be contacted via U.S. Mail at:

Hollis Wayne Fincher
c/o Sebastian County Jail
801 South A Street
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901

I just pasted copies of every WarOnGuns post about his case into a Word document and am mailing it to him today, just to let him know he hasn't been forgotten, especially knowing how agonizing it must be to be separated from those you love at this time of year.

If you have a blog where you've written about him, I encourage you to do the same--or if not, just a note of encouragement or a Christmas card would be nice gestures.

I'm also sending him some paper, envelopes and stamps--we'll see if they let him keep those.

Wrong Question

In a case that could shape firearms laws nationwide, attorneys for the District of Columbia argued Thursday that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applies only to militias, not individuals...

Silberman and Judge Thomas B. Griffith seemed to wrestle, however, with the meaning of the amendment's language about militias. If a well-regulated militia is no longer needed, they asked, is the right to bear arms still necessary?

No, the proper question is: "Where the hell do you get off thinking you have authority to determine need?"

This, of course, is the case that NRA tried to horn in on and sideline. Perhaps it will find its way to SCOTUS--I understand they're looking for something to do right now...

We're the Only Ones Opportunistic Enough

Goshen — The Orange County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether a member of its command staff misused his position to sell privately owned guns that the agency was holding for safekeeping or destruction.

Land o' Goshen, imagine that! (Sorry, couldn't resist. Some day, I hope to have cause to use "Jumping Jehosaphat!")

Meanwhile, rich wretch Mayor Bloomberg focuses his treasonous wrath on out-of-state private dealers who sell their own property.

I got this one from Declan, who observes:

[T]his is my local sheriff's office...where I had to be interviewed by an investigator to determine if I was worthy to receive a New York State pistol permit...

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Off the Cuff Enough

A veteran police officer was arrested Thursday for investigation of assaulting a handcuffed boy, 16, in a videotaped attack...The police chief says Meade assaulted a youth who had been arrested about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in Chinatown for a curfew violation. He said the teenager was in a juvenile holding cell at Central Station and did not provoke the attack.

I've been looking around to see if any "authorized journalists" have posted the tape--so far, nothing. I'll keep an eye out, and if anyone else runs across it, please let me know.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Cutting Enough

Two Rhode Island police officers are in hot water from their superiors as they've been accused of using their authority to cut into a long line of people waiting to buy a launch day PlayStation 3.

Maybe they were just trying to keep dangerous game controllers out of the hands of potential arrestees.

The automatically assumed arrogance...anybody think this is the only time and way it has manifested itself?

Can you imagine what would have happened-- on the spot --if a couple mere citizens cut in front of a line of "The Only Ones"?

This Day in History: December 8

Beginning on this day in 1775, Colonel Benedict Arnold and General Richard Montgomery lead an American force in the siege of Quebec. The Americans hoped to capture the British-occupied city and with it win support for the American cause in Canada.