...who are legally and openly carrying unloaded firearms or exercising their 2nd Amendment rights in California. Is that hard to believe, it was for me. That was when I read about it on a firearms forum. Then I read a news article about it.
As per the article, Gun Rights Advocates Target California Detective Following Facebook Posts, the statements made by the detective indicate he was talking about shooting someone for that person having had exercised 2nd Amendment rights. This was all in a FaceBook posting specifically with regard to people in California legally carrying unloaded firearms in the open.
""Sounds like you had someone practicing their 2nd amendment rights last night!" Tuason wrote. "Should've pulled the AR out and prone them all out! And if one of them makes a furtive movement … 2 weeks off!!!" -- referring to the modified duty, commonly known as desk duty, that typically follows any instance in which an officer is investigated for firing his weapon."
Being an LEO, and being someone who believes in upholding our Constitution and our rights as U.S. Citizens and being an ardent supporter of our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms, that got me pretty riled up. So I sent off an email to the East Palo Alto Police Department voicing my disdain regarding such hatred and bias allegedly coming from a police officer. If you value your 2nd Amendments rights, and all other rights, then I suggest you do the same.
Now, some may say that Detective Tuason was exercising his right to free speech when he allegedly wrote those words. That may be so, but as part of his employment he has no such freedom to exhibit bias and hatred toward others, and is likely not allowed to advocate what would amount to murder for someone exercising their rights under our Constitution. That should go for off duty conduct as well as on duty conduct. Masking the reason for shooting someone by saying that they should be shot because they made a furtive movement after they were ordered into the prone position by a police officer is an abhorrent statement and seems to me only to be suggestive of premeditated murder in which the officer is just waiting for some excuse to kill a law abiding gun owner. Remember, in such a situation as he allegedly described, the person would have been carrying legally and should not have been ordered to lie down in the first place simply for carrying a weapon openly. Even if that could be justified he then said the person should be shot if they made a furtive movement - mind you not a threatening movement. If this statement was actually made by the officer, not only is the statement abhorrent but it is, in my opinion, a good indication that this officer is not fit to serve because he either intends or desires to violate the law and is encouraging others to do so and that violation includes killing of a law abiding citizen. Such statements alone should be grounds for his removal from any position as a sworn law enforcement officer as I see it. I let the East Palo Alto Police Department know just that in my email to them.
If you would like to contact the East Palo Alto Police Department, you can do so via this link:
http://www.ci.east-palo-alto.ca.us/contact.html
I encourage you to do so regarding the intolerable statements allegedly made by Detective Tuason.
All the best,
Glenn B
