Thursday, July 02, 2009

What really happened in Webster Texas?

Texas is my favorite state. It’s full of overzealous cops and over-the-top pastors. When the two collide, the side with the biggest gun wins. In Texas, you never know who has the bigger gun.

According to the AP, Pastor Jose Elias Moran attempted to assist a stopped driver and ended up being hit with a Taser by Officer Raymond Berryman, who went on to use pepper spray on church congregants.

An incident report on the Webster police department's Web site said Officer Raymond Berryman tried to calm Moran and arrest him. But police say he pushed the officer, went inside the church and returned with 40 other congregants.

The congregants say Moran fled into the church when the officer grew angry and began to yell, and Moran's family disputes that the pastor touched the officer.

Moran's son Miguel said 30 witnesses saw the officer turn aggressive and repeatedly kick the church door. Several members were hit with pepper spray and children were present, Miguel Moran said.

The AP left a few important facts out of the story. For example, using the word “assist” when “interfere with a traffic stop” is what happened leads one to assume only good intentions on the part of Moran.

The AP left of the racial nature of the incident. Moran is Hispanic. I assume Berryman is non-Hispanic. Could race have been a factor? Did Moran think the cops were profiling his flock?

The AP reports “congregants” returned to confront the cop. congregants is one way to describe the situations. However, “mob” is also an excellent way to describe 40 adults leaving a building to confront a cop over an attempted arrest.

The phrasing of “pepper spray to disperse the congregants”, leaves one to assume that Berryman used pepper spray on peaceful Christians. But what really happened? After attempting an arrest, Moran fled into his church and returned with 40 adults to back him up. Berryman dispersed this mob with pepper spray and subdued Moran with a taser in order to arrest him. If you tell the story this way, it actually sounds like Berryman was just being an overly aggrieve but within his rights cop (I’m biased, don’t like Texas cops much).

What if you tell the story as if it were happening at a bar. Replace church with nar and congregants with party goers. I’m willing to bet the story would not have even made the news.

Nice going AP – lets create a few martyrs.

Here is another account:

According to Smiley, an officer was talking with a motorist in the church parking lot when he ran a registration check and discovered the man had no car insurance.

Moran approached the officer and began yelling at him, demanding to know why a member of his congregation had been stopped, the police chief said.

“He said we were on private property and wanted us off the property,” Smiley said. “He was pretty aggressive.”

When Moran refused an order to leave, the officer told him that he was under arrest. Moran pushed the officer as he tried to handcuff him, Smiley said, and fled inside the church.

Moran later came out with a group of about 40 people who surrounded the officer, Smiley said. The officer, fearing for his safety, used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

When backup officers tried to make the arrest, Smiley said Moran pushed another officer, who used his Taser to subdue him.

It sounds a little different when you tell it this way. Right?

I don’t need to mention that this story is all over FOX news, right?

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