Gay Conservative

Be sure to read Steve and Philip’s latest posts below…very well made points made by my boys!

The news here in Arizona has been re-playing a YouTube video by Tempe pastor Steven Anderson in which he tells the story of being beaten up and tazed by Border Patrol and Arizona DPS (Department of Public Safety, our state police) officers. Here’s the video:

It’s easy for us to see this story and immediately want some sort of justice against the officers involved. It seems pretty straightforward, right? His head is banged up, and if you see one of his other videos he actually has some of the tazer wires that he found in his car. I’d like to hear the officer’s sides, maybe read their report (I’ll probably try to find out if I can get a copy of it this week). The story repeated in the video above, however, gives a good look at what the biggest problem was, and it wasn’t the fault of the officers and agents involved.

Pastor Anderson openly admits that when asked where he was going and what he had in his vehicle, he refused to answer. Then he says that when they asked him to exit his vehicle he refused. Now I want to to watch this video, also made by Pastor Anderson of another encounter with police officers–this time in Minnesota:

Now you get an idea of the way he was likely behaving when border patrol agents were asking him questions.

Here’s my answers to Pastor Anderson’s assertions. First of all, the Fifth Amendment does NOT mean you can refuse to answer any and all questions a police officer asks. Here’s the entry in the Fifth Amendment that deals specifically with the issue at hand: “…nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” This Amendment says you have the right not to be forced to make self-incriminating statements. And the Supreme Court has never, in fact, interpreted that law to say that you can refuse to answer any questions an officer asks. A police officer’s job is to protect the public. When they see someone stopped and sitting in their vehicle on the side of the road, they may check to make sure you’re okay–and when they do, they may ask you other questions. You may know you’re not doing anything wrong, but THEY DON’T. They’re not mind-readers. To expect that an officer will just leave you alone at your say-so is ridiculous; if they always did that, the bad guys would never be arrested.

Second, the Fourth Amendment says, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause…” When you tacitly refused to answer questions or respond to simple requests, you gave those officers all the probable cause they needed. Border Patrol checkpoints are set up within approximately 100 miles of both land borders to check for drugs, people and weapons being smuggled in BOTH directions across those borders, so like a DUI checkpoint, those officers are working to make sure we stay safe here.

Put in the context of some of Pastor Anderson’s other videos, the story he tells makes a lot more sense. He seems to me to be the kind of person who likes to antagonize police officers and film the experience so he can get attention for it. Well, he has succeeded, although I’m not sure he’s going to like the outcome of the legal proceedings that are still to come. And I have something to say specifically to the good Pastor, a quote from the Word that we both love:

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.” –Romans 13:1-5