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Jackbooted Thug of the Month
(Award & Unpleasant Graphics Explained)
Officer Gary Kingsbury
(Send your congratulations on Officer Kingsbury's JBT award to his boss
(City of Mitchell, South Dakota, Public Safety Chief Doug Feltman) at
dfeltman.cityofmitchell@midconetwork.com.)
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Officer Gary Kingsbury, while on vacation and sixty miles outside of his normal jurisdiction, went above and beyond the call of Thuggish duty to evict and arrest an official candidate for Governor of South Dakota from a purportedly open debate with the candidates.
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As an added bonus, Kingsbury is Samizdat's first
JBT winner known to have personally drawn blood
from his victim in the course of earning his award.
View Officer Kingsbury's Jackbooted Thug certificate.
Send your thoughts regarding Officer Kingsbury's actions to his superiors on the Mitchell city council
Merely arresting Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Nathan Barton probably would have earned Kingsbury a place on Samizdat's Jackbooted Thug rolls, but that wasn't enough for this over-zealous enforcer of the will of the entrenched powers-that-be.
- Kingsbury personally listed himself as the official complainant and arresting officer, completely bypassing the attending local Huron law enforcement officer (who for some odd reason, within his own jurisdiction, did not bother to arrest Mr. Barton for the heinous act of speaking out at a public debate at a public event on public property).
- He explained his actions with the statement: "I don't like you and I don't like what you are saying."(1) Officer Kingsbury isn't going to let little things like Constitutional law (he knows it's dead) and ethics get in the way of enforcing his brand of coercive peace.
- The officer further justified the arrest by claiming: "I'm just a little cog in a big wheel and am taking my orders from the big guys."(2) The claim that 'I vass only followink orderz' is in the very best NAZI war criminal tradition, as demonstrated at the Nuremberg Trials, and earns Officer Kingsbury extra JBT Brownie Points.
- Cuffing Mr. Barton for daring to commit a nonviolent crime like public speaking wasn't going to get the State-approved point across by itself, so Kingsbury pressed the point by further damaging an existing injury; no doubt Mr. Barton will remember his lesson every time he tries to use his hand.(3)
- And as a probable unintended side benefit, Mr. Barton's doctor is likely to remember the same lesson, which he found ground into the candidate's wrists via improperly applied handcuffs.(4)
- And lest you think this was an isolated demonstration of uniformed bravery in the face of individual rights, rest assured that Kingsbury has made a habit of such behavior: Libertarian candidate for South Dakota Attorney General Bob Newland reports that Kingsbury has threatened him with arrest for having the audacity to pass out political literature at the State Fair. In that case though, Kingsbury's unwavering courage... umm, wavered when Mr. Newland expressed his intent to publicize the attempted intimidation.(5) Or maybe that time he remembered that such an arrest would itself violate the law. Or laws. Or even other laws. I suppose even the biggest schoolyard bully of a JBT has to show his cowardly colors sometimes.
- When it comes to exceeding his authority, Kingsbury isn't going to allow trite slogans like 'for the children' to sway him either. With the courage of his lack of convictions (else why blame his own actions on the "big guys"?), he happily abandoned Mr. Barton's two minor children at the Fair, unattended, while he hauled off their dad.(6)
The South Dakota State Fair (and hosting city Huron, SD) and the City of Mitchell must be proud to have such a man working for them; a man who will stop at nothing, no moral, no law, no ethics, in order to enforce the arbitrary edicts of the approved powers. They can rest easy knowing that Officer Kingsbury is hard at work stomping out free speech and other individual rights, ensuring that criticisms will go unheard and that the entrenched sorta-semi-Two Party (Dems and Reps, naturally; keep those nasty Libs and indies out of it) system will rule the days. And the serfs, of course.
Naturally, fear of this sort of arbitrary and Constitutionally (Hee, hee! It's dead in SD!) illegal harassment, arrest, and brutality will draw plenty of tourists to the State Fair and Mitchell's own unique - and sole tourist attraction - Corn Palace. Certainly no one would even think of boycotting those State-approved moneymakers out of fear for their civil rights and hides.
Hmm. Makes one wonder what would happen to some oblivious tourist silly enough to ridicule that Corn Palace within the hearing of one of Mitchell's finest. Such free speech clearly isn't high on their list of favorite things.
NOTES:
1 - Reported by Nathan Barton. Witnessed by Gareth Barton and other law enforcement officers.
2 - Ditto.
3 - Nathan Barton.
4 - Ditto.
5 - Bob Newland
6 - SDLP Press Release
Copyright © 2002 by Samizdat. All rights reserved. Permission to redistribute this article for noncommercial purposes is herewith granted by the author, provided that it is reproduced unedited, in its entirety, appropriate credit given, and that the author is informed and his home URL is included. Contact the author regarding commercial use.
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