Rick Barker | A Resounding Yes

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
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In re: Arthur Saginian, “Criminals in Eye of the Beholder?” letters, Jan. 11. 

As most of us already know, the U.S. criminal codes and each of the state criminal codes have volumes listing all of the crimes and punishments for specified activities deemed to be illegal by statute. Persons violating these laws are by logical definition criminals even if they and others think what they did was justified. 

Since the infamous riots in D.C. on Jan. 6, numerous people rightly or wrongly (pick one) were arrested, charged and ended up in the slammer. 

The only verifiable death associated with these riots was that of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a capitol police officer, Lt. Michael Byrd, when she was climbing through a smashed-out window beside a barricaded door into the speaker’s lobby. I am in no way justifying that shooting, but despite how her actions have been described by some on the far right, she was not a peaceful demonstrator just wandering around inside the capitol building who got shot for no reason. Watch the video of the event and verify what happened. Had she not climbed up and jumped through the smashed-out window she would very probably not have been shot.  

Mr. Saginian asks: 

1. Were the folks who dressed up as Indians and dumped British tea into Boston Harbor in 1773 criminals? 

2. Were the men who joined and fought for the Confederacy criminals? 

3. Were the guys who fled to Canada to avoid being sent to Vietnam criminals? 

The answer to all three is YES for the simple reason that each action violated the law[s] on the books at the time. 

So, Mr. Saginian, it isn’t “criminals in the eye of the beholder.” It is “criminals in the eye of the law!” 

Rick Barker 

Valencia

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