Comments on: Comments on 1930

Post number 1930

Steven Den Beste — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 17:21:10 -0800

Didn't I see this in True Lies? Life imitates art.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 17:29:43 -0800

Well it worked. Any individual who turns to using a gun to plead his case has already lost the argument. He can hold as many hostage or kill as many as he likes. Makes no difference. Might does not make right. What concerns me is this: if a member of the media were to pose as a law officer, he'd be thrown in jail. However, police can pose as the media and this doesn't throw into question any legal implications? Fortunately I'm rarely in a position where anyone in media wants to 'shoot' me, but if a camera ever gets thrust into my face, now I may just duck for cover.

By: starduck

starduck — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 17:50:42 -0800

I want to see a picture of this camera

By: mathowie

mathowie — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 18:32:00 -0800

guns don't kill people, cameramen do...

By: baylink

baylink — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 19:58:19 -0800

Those *morons*. The police, as soon as this gets widely disseminated to the media, will cease to get any cooperation that they may have ever gotten from the media. They've just mortgaged those peoples *lives*. What assholes. There is a *reason* that it's against federal law for intelligence operatives to cover as reporters...

By: baylink

baylink — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 19:58:54 -0800

And yes, I know; it was in Europe.

By: wendell

wendell — Thu, 01 Jun 2000 21:54:22 -0800

This trick reminds me of the old Looney Tunes gag about the auditioning vaudevillian who drinks gasoline, chews a stick of dynamite, then swallows a lighted match and explodes... Nice act, but you can only do it once.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 02 Jun 2000 11:23:29 -0800

I'm with baylink; all props to the cops because it worked, but it may make it more difficult and dangerous for the media in future crises. There was a similar hostage case in France about six-seven years ago where a policewoman exchanged herself for several of the child hostages. That took incredible courage. And I believe that was resolved peacefully.

By: cCranium

cCranium — Fri, 02 Jun 2000 11:44:47 -0800

The ol' use the media to get the crook unawares has been used before, also, but in a much riskier fashion. I don't remember many of the details (and no, it didn't happen to a friend of a friend of mine :-) but there was a hostage situation, with the crook holding a handgun to the hostage's head. Nozzle on temple type deal. A cameraman walked in for a close-up, and with the camera right in the crook's face, suddenly grabbed the gun hand, forced it against the brick wall behind them and saved the day. The cameraman was, as you've probably guessed, a cop. Still seems awfully risky.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Fri, 02 Jun 2000 12:47:06 -0800

Everybody rips off Kurosawa. Something similar to this happens in the early part of "Seven Samurai", only instead of pretending to be a reporter, he pretends to be a monk.

By: baylink

baylink — Fri, 02 Jun 2000 13:08:34 -0800

Well, *that's* ok. I don't mind clergy getting offed. </joke>