Stonewalling is the order of the day at Justice

The Attorney General of the United States appeared on 60 Minutes this week.  In a laugher of an interview with Scott Pelley, the AG was asked a series of leading softball questions.  (You wouldn’t break the law, would you?)  Any seasoned investigator knows how to question a suspect, and offering them the answer in the question is a serious violation which leads to false confessions.

There was, however, one serious and emotional moment.  Garland was asked about the threat of political violence (which Pelley blamed solely on Trump of course).  Garland then evoked the Holocaust in his answer, making a good point and growing quite emotional.  I think this was a genuine display, and not crocodile tears as some have claimed.  The Holocaust was an unimaginable horror and Garland lost family members in the genocide. 

The AG teared up as he shared that some members of his family were able to escape Europe and come to America.  He preached that the United States “guaranteed that they could practice their religion” and his family survived.  Garland stated that United States Department of Justice has a responsibility to ensure that civil and religious rights continue.

Doctor, heal thyself.  Merrick Garland’s FBI recently proposed a domestic surveillance campaign against “traditional Catholics.”  When asked by Congress about the threat from traditional Catholics, Garland could not define the term and prevaricated on the motivations behind these investigations.  He used his family’s history regarding the Holocaust to obfuscate and dodge. 

FBI’s Richmond Field Office released a memo in January 2023 titled,  ‘Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.’  This document points out three heavily redacted or insignificant reasons to start investigating “radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC)” groups such as the Society of Saint Pius X.  It warns of discrimination and antisemitic ideologies and the potential for political violence leading up to the next presidential election. 

Based on this poorly cited six-page document, the FBI should endeavor to develop confidential sources within these Catholic churches, engaging in social media monitoring and other secret and clandestine forms of engagement.  After all, these lunatics say mass in Latin (which was Catholic practice worldwide until 1964), are anti-abortion, and don’t believe in gay marriage.  Some members of these groups even go so far as to exercise their rights under the 2^nd Amendment. 

There is no doubt that there are some people who would be considered “outside the norm” in the Catholic Church – as there are in any large demographic (never mind the institutional child abuse).  So then, if this DOJ plan is actually necessary, they should be able to show good cause and provide an explanation, right?  Nope – total stonewall.  The FBI under threat of subpoena finally turned over a redacted copy of the document to the House Judiciary Committee.  Merrick Garland stated to Congress that he and the FBI director were both “appalled” by the FBI’s RTC memo.

There was nothing further.  No mention of internal discipline or training for the author, no internal investigation as to how this made it past supervisors if it was so “appalling,” and no real answers.

So we here at The Ops Desk ask now: Is this course of conduct against a major religion still ongoing? 

More mental health chaos

This week in New York City (and probably your city as well) there were several random attacks by mentally ill people against innocent bystanders.  On Monday Ryan Carson was stabbed to death in a random attack by a deranged (and un-apprehended) man as he waited for a bus in Brooklyn.  Another attack on the Upper East Side of Manhattan left a man stabbed.  Even the deranged CUNY professor who chased a NY Post reporter with a machete is free and back to work educating our children.  I myself just saw a ranting and raving man on the street who had been so recently released from a city run hospital’s psych ER, he still had his hospital gown and ID wristband on.

So where is our mental health response system?  People have been decrying the police response to mental ill individuals in crisis for years.  But every day we see examples of people who are not being taken care of.  Co-response teams that were touted as a solution are not fully rolled out or are proving ineffective.  Hospitals release the dangerously mentally ill back out on the streets almost immediately.  Judges have allowed people to engage in urban camping that leaves sick people living in their own filth. 

These people should not be left to the police to deal with.  They should not even be left to the criminal justice system to handle at all.  We need answers as to what the plan is.  We need new laws to help these people get institutionalized when necessary.  NYC alone has spent billions on mental health, with much of this money completely unaccounted for – see Chirlane McCray and Bill De Blasio’s ThriveNYC scam (and where is Alvin Bragg’s investigation into that boondoggle?).

Until a more holistic, effective approach is devised and implemented, the police will continue to respond.  EMS will continue to bring these poor people into revolving door psych centers.  When the cops must use force on, or God forbid shoot, one of these unhinged people, they will be vilified.  The Monday morning quarterbacks will be out in force.  District Attorneys like Alvin Bragg and Darcel Clark will break out their indictments and the media will camp out on a cop’s front lawn.  But the police will still be there, holding the bag for the failures of systems and society. 

What do you do here?

Check out the situation this officer is in.

Clearly, he is not having a good time at work.  There is a group surrounding him and touching him and his equipment.  He is inching closer to the edge of the subway platform. Have you ever seen what a moving subway train or contact with the third rail does to a human body?  This cop probably has.   

What is the intention of this group?  Obviously, nothing good, but do they plan on hurting him?  Are they committing a crime? If he tries to arrest them or move them back, will they retaliate and assault him?  What will Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg think of the officer’s use of force?  Will Bragg’s office prosecute these perps, and if not, will the officer be left liable in CCRB or civil court?  A lot of questions to answer in a short amount of time. 

It is situations like this where cops feel most alone.  Many feel they are not supported, and it leads to scenarios like this that I would argue are dangerous.  Who would take a job where you are subjected to this type of behavior?  A lot of questions here.  Please think them through and leave your comments below. 

Thanks for reading The Ops Desk!