A year ago today, John was shopping in Arvada, Colorado, when someone started shooting. So Johnny went to the direction of the gunfire and shot the shooter.
For days, the @cityofarvada tried to make it sound like Johnny had been killed by the shooter, but after multiple FOIA requests and investigations, they finally owned up to the fact that their officers killed him.
Johnny was a hero, and one of the leaders of @WeAreChangeCO, an independent media group who seeks to, in their words "expose the fraud of the left/right paradigm & reveal that the world truly functions on a top/down hierarchy that threatens to destroy free society as we know it."
Months later, the government announced that no one would be held accountable for Johnny's killing, despite the fact that Johnny's killer never even attempted to positively ID him as the shooter, or even tell him to put his gun down before killing him.
"This incident illustrates the nearly unfathomable decisions society asks our police officers to make as they go about their everyday work."
It wasn't unfathomable for Johnny. He just identified the shooter & killed him. Apparently that's too much to ask from the Thin Blue Line.
"We hope our decision not to file charges will bring a small piece of closure to those affected and that in this finality there is some healing."
Imagine killing someone and telling their loved ones you hope your decision not to be held accountable brings them closure & healing.
Worse yet, the shooter apparently hated police and was attempting to kill as many as possible. Johnny saved the lives of Arvada Police officers, they killed him for it, and government protected his killers.
Whomever killed Johnny should have been punished to the fullest extent of the law, just like they would if a civilian killed one of them.
Johnny Hurley was a hero, even before he saved lives. The Arvada government isn't fit to clean his shoes, and we will not rest until the impediments to holding government accountable for their crimes are removed.
On this day, I ask that you take a moment to remember Johnny's heroism, and the absolute travesty in how his killing was handled by the Arvada government.
Here's a photo of Johnny at a police accountability protest a few years ago.
He held up a mirror at the police, for them to look at themselves.
The people who are reading this thread, and concluding that the solution is to only allow the bad guys with badges to own firearms like this, should probably re-read it.
Johnny was killed by the very people who these folks think should only have these weapons legally.
"Well I guess that means good guys with guns can't fix this."
No, it means the good guys don't wear badges, and you've wanted to disarm the wrong people.
In gun-grabber utopia, the gunman would still have a gun (illegally), he'd still kill the officer, Johnny would still kill him, police would still kill Johnny, and then all they'd have to say is "well, Johnny shouldn't have had a gun."
And hoplophobes would gleefully nod along.
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I wish that the violent abuse of Joshua Rohrer, or the callous mistreatment of Pastor Moses Colbert, were ugly exceptions to how the @CityofGastonia government treats people.
But the sad fact is, harming folks is a long-running legacy of that government.
In the 80s and 90s, there was a Gastonia PD unit who called themselves the Eagle Team. Their "job" was to harass and assault homeless people in Gastonia.
Only a fool would think an entire police unit in a small city could terrorize people for years without anyone else knowing.
One of their victims was a man named Norman "Ben" Hannah. He came forward to expose the Eagle Team's actions, which resulted in lawsuits, firings and federal trials.
Ben helped break up the Eagle Team, but he also paid for it with his life.
Donald Trump ordered bump stock and suppressor bans, advocated for red flag laws and further gun regulations, and still got the support of the @NRA.
Gun control is not a D vs. R problem. It's a ruling class vs. We the People problem.
Who can forget this gem, where President Trump lamented that going through due process before disarming someone who hasn't committed a crime can take a long time, therefore government should just go to their house and "take the guns first".
And yet, the NRA continues to endorse him, and many other anti-2A Fuddlicans, because they aren't actually a gun rights group. They're a GOP slush fund that relies on corporate media to present themselves as a gun rights group to their well-meaning donors.
That is the number of US military personnel who have died at war.
Today is Memorial Day, a day for us to remember and honor those who have fallen.
Let's truly honor them by ending the wars that are sending more to join them.
For many, this is a day for cookouts, fireworks, vacations and spending time with loved ones.
For some, this is just another day to mourn their lost spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend.
Let's be very clear: the best way to honor them is to stop more families from suffering.
Millions of Americans, some of the best salt-of-the-earth people in this country, swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. They join to protect Americans and our freedoms, with promises of financial and educational support.
Last month I spoke with Joshua Rohrer & Pastor Moses Colbert to Gastonia City Council. We called on them to allow Pastor Moses to feed & shelter Gastonia's homeless population, & Gastonia PD to release bodycam footage of the use of force against Joshua & his service dog Sunshine.
Here's what's happened since last month:
- Joshua's trumped-up charges have been pushed back even further, with no set date. This is for a misdemeanor panhandling charge, even though Joshua wasn't panhandling.
- Gastonia PD have refused to release body cam footage has still not been released for the public to see.
- The Council is still keeping Pastor Colbert from properly caring for the Homeless.
- Six homeless people have passed away in the last two weeks alone.