Pirate's Cove

So, yesterday this article was available at the Raleigh News and Observer

A boy’s parents said a day care worker dragged him into a classroom. Video told another story.

A preschool teacher no longer faces a criminal charge after video from a day care center failed to back up a story from the boy’s parents that she scratched and bruised the boy’s neck dragging him into a classroom.

A Wayne County District Court judge dismissed a charge of misdemeanor child abuse against Joshelyn Parker, a former teacher at the Goldsboro Family YMCA.

Her lawyer, Darrell K. Brown, said he was uncertain what Parker would do next. The state suspended Parker’s teaching certification after the charge was filed, Brown said, and he did not know whether she would seek reinstatement.

You know, it’s a day and age when tons and tons of people want to be victims, where they want to make accusations against others of misconduct. Sure, this has always happened, but, a big difference now is that it always seems to make the new, that it is a Big Deal, and that people will take to social media to make complaints. All so often without evidence, and so often the story is made up. Because so often we see video being released that blows the accusatory narrative.

Body cam footage contradicts woman’s claim trooper sexually assaulted her; lawyer apologizes

The lawyer for a Texas woman who accused a state trooper of sexually assaulting her during a traffic stop apologized Wednesday on behalf of his client, saying that newly released police body cam footage did not corroborate her story.

Lee Merritt issued a statement saying the evidence “directly conflicts with the accounts reported to my office” by Sherita Dixon-Cole. The woman had accused Officer Daniel Hubbard of sexual assault during a traffic stop on Sunday.

How many times has a story come out and we’ve found out later that it was false? Back after 9/11, there was a big upsurge in claims of Islamophobia hate crimes, and so many were proven false. They didn’t go away, but, there was less reporting during Obama’s years, until Trump started catching fire in the primaries, then they were put back on the front page. When proven false, they were a much smaller headline on the web, and on a back page in the dead tree editions.

We saw a big uptick in accusations against police officers, and white people, during the rise of Black Lives Matter. Which were often blown up by video. During the time of NC’s SB2, the so-called bathroom bill, there were plenty of accusations. There was a big one where a gender confused went into a Durham transit building, then said she was told to use the men’s bathroom (she’s a guy) by a janitor and escorted out by two security officers. Thankfully, video blew up her narrative, a good on WTVD here in Raleigh for calling her/him on it. Without the video, might the janitor and security guards been fired, and have their lives ruined? There can be real consequences for people manufacturing outrage and being Offended.

Raleigh woman said she was offended by ‘racist’ Walking Dead figure on bank employee’s desk

A Raleigh bank is responding after a woman said she was offended by a “racist” figurine on a bank employee’s desk.

Stacey Smith wrote a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, saying she was halfway through a transaction at the State Employee’s Credit Union on Louisburg Road when she noticed “a black doll with a noose around its neck and hands tied between its back” on the employee’s desk.

Now, if you hit the link you can see a picture of the doll. Really, it might not have been appropriate for the workplace, but, still not a big deal. But, people have to be Offended and Let Everyone Know About It, and demand that Something Be Done. State Employees Credit Union said in a statement that “the actions of one of our employees fell far short of our expectations and we took immediate steps to address this personnel matter.” Was the person fired? Disciplined? Spoken too? Or just told “get rid of the doll”? Certainly, the people in charge of the branch should have known, right? Might this person have been fired for something so tiny?

But, see, in this day and age, besides simply making things up, too many seem to take things that are anthills and turn them into Mt. Everest. And it can happen to anyone at any time. I work with the public all day. People will manufacture outrage at time in order to demand a bigger discount. But, how does this all lead to red flag laws? This was also a story right near the first one at the Raleigh N&O Wednesday

NC Democrat pitches ‘red flag’ gun law. In less than a day, it goes to where bills die.

….

On Monday, days after the Texas shooting raised new questions about how to make schools safe for the children who attend them, Marcia Morey (D-District 30, a section of very violent Durham) filed a bill calling for a red flag law in North Carolina.

By Tuesday afternoon, with no discussion, House Speaker Tim Moore, a Republican from Cleveland County, sent the bill to the rules committee, where lawmakers say “bills go to die.” (snip)

Her proposal would set up a procedure through which judges have a tool similar to a domestic violence restraining order to get weapons quickly and temporarily out of the hands of people exhibiting threatening or dangerous behavior.

Under her proposal, family members or law enforcement officers who have first-hand knowledge of someone behaving in a threatening manner in possession of or with access to a firearm could petition a district court judge for a gun violence restraining order.

And this is, on the surface at least, one of the less burdensome red flag laws filed around the country.

“The gun violence restraining order is not a solution to gun violence, but it can be a huge first step in the right direction to stop future tragedies,” Morey told a roomful of reporters and supporters from Moms Demand Action, an organization formed in 2012 after the Sandy Hook school shooting.

“It is saying to people that if you see something, not only do you have the power to say something, you can now do something.”

This is where it can break down. Because people make false accusations all the time. People could simply report things to the police and watch the dominoes fall. How many times have accusations of sexual assault and rape been made on Democrat run college campuses, then, after the accused has had their life destroyed, we find that the accusation was false. These red flag laws would have people see their Constitution right taken away willy nilly on possible false or overblown accusations. What methods are present in any of them for people to regain their rights? Most say the accused will get a judicial hearing. How long with that take in our over-burdened judicial system? Justice delayed is justice denied.

What happens if certain judges and/or law enforcement have a very low standard for removing a Constitutional right? What measures are in place to hold them accountable?

What happens if the accusation was false? Will the accuser be held liable? Will there be measures to apply criminal and/or civil penalties? For some who are thinking “this is no big deal, you’re overthinking this, making it too big”, well, just imagine we’re talking about the ability of government to temporarily, or even permanently, take away your ability to speak out, to protest peaceably, to petition for redress of grievance. You good with that?