The Walter Scott shooting in South Carolina and other abuses of authority should serve as a lesson: whether at home or abroad, governments cannot and do not keep us safe.
The Walter Scott shooting in South Carolina and other abuses of authority should serve as a lesson: whether at home or abroad, governments cannot and do not keep us safe.
The Walter Scott shooting in South Carolina and other abuses of authority should serve as a lesson: whether at home or abroad, governments cannot and do not keep us safe.
Hello everybody and thank you for tuning in to the Ron Paul Liberty Report.
Today with me is Daniel McAdams who is the executive director of the Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
Daniel, glad to have you back to our program.
Yes, good to be back.
Good.
You know, the biggest thing in the news right now is a very important issue and I wanted to talk about a little bit and that is the gunning down of an individual.
We can't say he's totally innocent of all problems, but I'll tell you what, he did not deserve, of course, being shot by a policeman.
And the fortunate thing is it was caught on tape.
So this is a big issue and it's awakened a lot of people because most of the time, you know, governments aren't caught in the act and they don't get punished.
But I'm sure you saw this video.
What was your immediate reaction when you saw this?
I thought it was horrible and it's always difficult to judge the entire situation, but we do know that the police were about to report that he was trying to reach for a weapon or something.
And then this tape showed up that really showed him shooting this gentleman, Walter Scott, in the back several times and then handcuffing him and leaving there with his face in the dirt.
You know, when I looked at it, the thought came to me.
First, you know, we have a white policeman, a black man was killed, and it has racial overtones.
And believe me, I think that that exists out there, whether it's Ferguson.
Of course, in Ferguson, I explained that I thought entitlement ideas and poverty played a role in it.
This, I don't know about the other things, and racism may well be there.
But that sort of, you know, is minimal compared to this ruthless brutality of a policeman.
It seemed like he was sort of oblivious to it to go over and after shooting this guy, go down and say, put your hands behind your back.
I want to put handcuffs on you.
It seems that they're so far removed.
And the idea, where are these guys?
After all the news about the police brutality, you think, you know, no matter how inclined you are to this, that maybe, oh, I better be a little bit careful.
But anyway, we're facing this in many different ways.
I think to me, this epitomizes abuse by government, you know, and the punishment of people without due process of law.
And there are other death penalties.
This is a death penalty on scene.
But what about the death penalty of some of the individuals in this country that are put in prison for life?
You know, for drugs, IRS problems.
And we know of one case where the gentleman is probably in his 70s now.
And he defended on principle that tax, the IRS and the taxes are unconstitutional.
He was making some pretty strong points and never committed a violent crime, but they put him in jail like for in prison for like 30 years.
So he'll die in prison.
So this approaches police brutality too in a generalized sense, when you think.
Absolutely.
And Irish Schiff, I think, as you were talking about, you know, he's the father of a good friend of ours, Peter Schiff.
And it is essentially a life sentence for a philosophical crime, challenging the state.
Yeah, and governments, generally, they don't get caught like this guy got caught, and he deserves to be arrested and tried for murder.
But most of the time, when we hear that the police or our government abuse the law and end up killing people, what about, some people suggest that our government has been involved in war crimes, heaven forbid.
But what about fighting unconstitutional wars and fighting wars on lies and a lot of people dying from it?
But that's, you know, irrelevant.
They never seem to bother it.
But I think, if anything, people want to wake up and see this as just not an isolated incidence and local because there's a bad cop overreacting.
I think this is a mental status that we have in this country of abusive big government because I think what has happened is we as a nation have accepted the notion that government is supposed to protect us, make us safe and secure, economically secure, and protect us and make us safe.
And, you know, we were advised early in our history that if that is the goal of government, you'll neither have your safety or your security and you won't have your liberty.
And for me, if we would hone in on this idea that the existence of government is not safety and security, they wouldn't be everywhere making us safe and secure and getting out of control.
That if we had done, if we do that, I think we would have a lot less of this.
And I think that's one of our big problems.
Yeah, don't you think that 9-11 really accelerated this idea that, you know, first everyone was in a panic, everyone was concerned, and then the idea came, we've got to keep you safe.
So we've got to pass the Patriot Act.
We've got to destroy the Fourth Amendment.
We've got to do all of these things, and we're going to keep you safe.
And people, I think, wanted to believe this, and they embraced this.
And you can understand the emotions, but what is lost is if we're to have a government in a republic, the government's role ought to be to protect liberty.
And we as a free citizen should have some responsibility for protecting ourselves.
You can't have a policeman at our house because once they think they're in charge, you have things like this happening.
So I think there's a lot of responsibility for our economic security and our physical security.
And you're absolutely right.
I was so disappointed about right after 9-11 that we would have people come to the congressional office and say, Ron, I agree with you, and we should be careful.
But there are times when you just have to give up your liberties.
And one of the characteristics time when people are more willing to give up liberties is when there's a war.
And now we're in perpetual war.
Yeah, I was going to say, don't you think that's related to being in perpetual war, you know?
But one of the silver linings in this dark cloud really is that people, in a way, are liberating themselves through the use of video cameras.
They're videotaping their government.
Not just brutal crimes like this, but in all ways they're videoing the government at these stops, these DUI stops, the border stops.
And I think it does put some power back into people's hands.
Of course, the police don't like being videotaped and they're fighting against it.
But there are also organizations springing up on the internet that are monitoring government abuse, monitoring government violence, putting up videos.
And while I think there's a danger that people will overreact and view all police as the enemy, which just increases the tension and could really explode society, at the same time, it is good for people to have that ability.
You know, and then there's this recent case also by the CPS, Child Protective Service, in Texas.
And there's a video there for a cop going in under just vague suspicion that there may be violence in the home, say, well, we've got to get the children out.
We've got to get the children out.
Once again, who are the parents, the government or the parent?
No search warrant, no rule of law, no due process.
And they come in, oh, there he is, there is.
Just grab him.
And then the mother resists, which is what she should do and is a natural thing to do.
And here this cop is impounding away on her.
I mean, this is just way out of control.
So you have the agencies of government, not only policemen with uniforms and the military and NSA and TSA and all these other people, but you have local people because usually CPS is a state organization.
They can be very ruthless.
It's such a tragic story.
Remember, as the story points out, the woman was 38 weeks pregnant.
She was ready to deliver.
And thankfully, the family had a video surveillance in their home and they showed him punching her in her stomach, you know, which is which is outrageous.
The other thing is, you know, the parents, I guess, had some problems, as families do, and we don't know all the details.
It could be bad.
But as you point out, she said, where's the warrant?
Show us the warrant.
And then the kid, I guess, talk to someone at school and said, my parents are fighting or something.
The teacher ran to the government and, you know, just like something out of East Germany.
Almost makes a case for homeschooling or private schooling, doesn't it?
No, it's a real shame.
And it's a mental attitude of an understanding of what the role of government ought to be.
And it seems like it's epidemic.
And although a lot has started and it's in the federal government, it just moves way down.
But it's still the people's responsibility because if they want to be safe and secure, they have to grant more policing powers to the government.
And the government's going to make mistakes.
How about asset forfeiture?
What a wicked system.
You know, you encourage asset forfeiture and police get to keep the stuff they steal from the people without due process.
So it is out of control.
Complicated Liberty Rights00:00:35
And, you know, it's so complicated and so many people involved and yet liberty is not complicated.
People have a right to their life and their liberty.
They have a right to work and keep what they earn.
So it's not that complicated.
And people are so frightened that they can't achieve peace and prosperity under that system.
They think only government can take care of us.
So that's why I really enjoy your work that you do with the Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
That is our goal.
It not only involves foreign policy, but domestic policy as well.