WTF! Glad Eric McDavid had friends that cared about him, or he’d still be rotting in prison.
“Anna”, wherever you are, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your bed.
This sounds very similar to this episode of Criminal.
A man was charged with conspiracy based solely on a CI approaching him out of no where with a fake drug stealing scheme, and ultimately sentenced to 25 years, because sentencing in drug trials is based on the quantity of narcotics involved. And in this case it was a “couple of kilos of coke” - despite being wholly imaginary and non-existent in the first place.
It always seems to me that these CI cases aren’t targeting actual criminals… so much as people that are easily duped.
Yep, they even target developmentally disabled students who aren’t drug dealers: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-entrapment-of-jesse-snodgrass-20140226.
This is just like the Red Scare during the Depression when police departments had Red Squad agents provocateur that infiltrated unions to incite violence and extremism as a way to discredit them.
So whats the purpose here? Clear the streets of the not-so-bright kids on the streets? I guess its easier to go after them than the actual criminals/
Clearing cases and securing arrests make you look successful and good at your job. I think this is what happens when you’re interested in “results” rather than justice. There’s probably a lot of cold-hearted rationalization that goes into it, i.e. “if they’re stupid enough to get caught in a trap, then they deserve to go to jail” or “they would have eventually done something wrong anyway.” And a lot of alcoholism and self-loathing, I imagine.
TV Announcer - San Quentin: This is the first execution to be held under the new law passed by the board of legislators that extends capital punishment to traffic offences. Francis Narrows (?) is about to pay the ultimate price for making an illegal left turn. Besides me is Lorraine Newbound, head of the Miami chapter of the league against non capital punishment. Now, Ms. Newbound, you are of course in favor of this new law.
Ms. Newbound: Absolutely. I just wish they would go one step further and include non moving violations.
TV Announcer - San Quentin: Parking offences?
Ms. Newbound: Well, a crime is a crime. Why should we pay good money for jails just to keep criminals alive? Death to all crooks! [smiles in joy]
…“In the old days there were endless debates among experts about how to fight crime…but when the average people took over the government they realized they weren’t smart enough to come up with a way to fight crime. So, they decided to just fight criminals.”
IMNSHO, perhaps the most undersung TV flick of the 90’s. High five!
I’m just gonna leave this here for the curious. Think of it as Idiocracy, the prequel!
this reminds me of the point in the mid-50s when the fbi had so many paid informants in the u.s. communist party that hoover considered getting them to take over the party.
p. 224, “from the palmer raids to the patriot act: ahistory of the fight for free speech” by christopher finian.
That reminds me of a common saying on the internet in the 90’s that every 13 year old girl on the internet was an FBI agent.
- Envy is the source of all conflict,
- This envy is caused by differences in ability,
- If ability is reduced to the lowest common denominator, harmony will be achieved.
Wonderful movie, thanks for sharing!
I saw the headline, and was like “which one is this” and it turned out to be a new one. They do this shit on a regular basis, including in two towns I’ve lived in.
Seems to be happening everywhere. We got a couple of hapless anarchists in a local prison on a similarly pretty much meritless cause that also involved such informants.
Wow. I didn’t even know this was a thing. I shall watch it later. Thank you.
It worked - that’s terrifying!!!
- Has America always been the evil empire, or am I just waking up to it as I age?
It always seems to me that these CI cases aren’t targeting actual criminals… so much as people that are easily duped.
Gotta make quota!
Actually, now that I think about it, they’ve done this in three separate towns that I’ve lived in. One at least twice. Two involving muslims and two involving anarchists.
Google is failing me… but I remember a case of an FBI informant having a relationship with a woman and fathering a child and then just disappearing… I think it was in the 70s… they found out years later when the now-adult child went looking for their father. I think. Dammit google!
not the case you mentioned but Mark Kennedy is a quite infamous police officer, “working”* undercover in left circles
*) i.e. had sexual relationsships
eta: did you mean this one? Not the FBI but again a British officer. Probably influenced by James Bond…
From the stories that make it to the news, it sounds like many prosecutors are simply politicians sociopaths who do not care how many lives they ruin as they climb the ladder. The law enforcement goons who help them have thrown impartiality out the window - if they ever were impartial - in their embrace of a gung-ho mentality where every citizen is a criminal, or at least highly suspicious.
