>The article is focused on Pat Wright, serving jail time on charges related
>to possession of a ferret, ... and that he allegedly wielded a knife at
>officers.  I am not trying to incite any anger or hostility here but as
>much as I support ferret legalization in CA, I cannot/will not support the
>measures that Pat Wright allegedly took.  I, personally, do NOT want to be
>viewed as a fanatic ferret owner that will take up arms in the face of
>being caught breaking the law.  IMHO, there is no excuse for having a knife
>in hand in such a situation.  Unfortunately, I think that his actions cast
>a bad light on other ferret owners... that we are as compulsive and
>foolhardy as the little furballs we love.  What a shame.  His demonstration
>was not constructive or conducive to the ferret community.  When one
>willingly and knowingly breaks the law, what gives that person the right
>to grab a knife in their defense (or that of their animals)?
 
 ...and once again, people are espousing opinions, without paying close
enough attention to what was said, nor thinking about how things happen
in the real world.
 
The article (which I read) stated that when the policeman confronted Pat,
he had a "kitchen knife" in his hands.  He was in his house and was in
possession of a kitchen knife.  That statement was never clarified.  For
all we know, it was a butter knife.  We also don't know if he was
confronted while he was cutting up a piece of chicken, chopping lettuce,
or using it as a screw driver.  That's the first piece where people are
making assumptions.
 
The second, is that police are a funny lot.  They tend to see threats where
none exist, and not respond to threats that are real.  The fact that it was
never clarified as to just what sort of knife Pat was holding (again, it
may have been a steak knife, a butcher knife, or a butter knife...it was
never stated just what Pat was holding), nor what he had been doing with
it.  Nor was there any specific mention that he used the knife to threaten
anyone.  It also wasn't stated just how the policeman got into his house,
or if he had been outside, or anything else.  There is a great deal NOT
said in this case.  The glaring lack of information should have been a clue
to anyone, that things were left unsaid for a reason.  In many cases,
police tend to leave out very important information that could negate the
idea that they were threatened (for instance, a recent local new story
stated that a woman had been arrested earlier in the day for pointing a
loaded gun at an officer.  It turns out that the office had snuck up behind
her to see what she was doing.  She was picking up some toys that her kids
had dumped in her garden.  The "loaded gun" was a clear, flourescent-red
squirt gun filled with water.  That fact wasn't mentioned until the court
hearing.  The charge was immediately dismissed.).  If the office had
surprised Pat while he was using the knife in a legitimate manner, then
proceeded to tell him that he was going to do this, that and the other in
the name of the law (like confiscate and murder his ferret, for instance),
it could be quite possible that Pat was simply livid with rage and wasn't
listening to the officer's statements to put the knife down.  However, it
was never stated anywhere in the article that the knife was used to
threaten the officer.  Nor did Pat say anywhere that he had any intentions
of using the knife as a weapon.  Since police are known to lie about all
manner of things in order to get the courts to see things their way, it
would be surprising to learn that the situation wasn't anything like what
really happened.  Also, don't forget that Pat never condoned using a weapon
against the authorities, nor did he ever connect the knife to his beliefs
about ferrets.
 
The moral of this story?  Don't believe things you read, see or hear in the
media.  Don't believe that just because someone is a police officer, that
they will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...it
WON'T happen that way.  And most of all, don't just to judgement of
someone, if you weren't actually there yourself and saw what happened.
We've all been in situations where what we did looked really bad to someone
else, but that other person simply misunderstood what was going on.
Finally, don't go around calling people "fanatics" when you don't know
anything about them.  It's not fair.
 
Todd and the Fuzzbutt Rodeo Clowns.
 
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[Posted in FML issue 2971]