Ian Bush in-custody death: Stand by your convictions
A couple of days ago, I got a comment on this blog regarding my May 31 post, Ian Bush Inquest overdone but not over or done that took the side of Const. Paul Koester (see comments below).
This is interesting and good. Finally, someone willing to stand up and dispute all the outpouring of grief and disbelief surrounding this event.
Oh wait, I take that back. The writer of the comment did not stand up. It’s easy to post something anonymously, it’s something altogether to put your name to it.
I think I’ve covered this story in as balanced a way as possible considering the deafening silence that accompanied the RCMP’s side of this tragedy until Koester himself testified nearly 19 months after-the-fact.
When I have voiced an opinion, you’ll notice my name and even my picture goes along with it.
This blogger, who signed on as RK, made some interesting accusations against Ian Bush that, if true, would certainly shed new light on the situation, if not explain the very questionable manoever the officer allegedly pulled off to to kill him.
The author also made a very dangerous philosophical assertation: “How dare anybody question this police officer’s version of the incident,” RK wrote.
To me, that reads: How dare anybody question authority. It is that kind of attitude that leads to regimes like Nazi Germany.
It is our job in the fourth estate to question authority. I don’t know what happened in that room on Oct. 29, 2005, but I do know that nobody, including cops, want something like this to happen. Putting “them” above “us” is no way to run a justice system. I do know that not questioning something is complicity.
Shortly after I broke the story of who the officer involved was, Houston Today, Feb. 22, 2006, I was accosted on the streets of Houston by an irate woman. She gave me a tongue-lashing about our coverage I won’t soon forget. That is fine. Although I was quite taken aback, I was eager to have another viewpoint because, up until that point, we only had Bush family’s and friends’ reaction to the shooting.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“That’s not important,” she said.
Actually, it is more important than her opinion. Without a name behind it, it’s moot. Without context there is no perspective. Without relationship there can be no compassion.
The reason Linda Bush is so compelling is because she is Ian’s mom. The reason the RCMP are not is because Staff Sgt. John Ward and Cpl. Pierre Lemaitre are professional media hacks trained in obfuscation.
It must be very frustrating for supporters of Koester’s to feel so handcuffed, to be bound by duty or association to abdicate their Charter right to free speech, but that is their choice.
I respect any well-informed opinion, but I cannot and will not give any credence to words crafted in anonymity.
Please, people, have the courage to stand by your convictions, put your name forward or forever hold your piece.
