Category: Crime

Marlon Alvarez went to court today and, you know, I could tell you about it, but here’s Broward Judge John Hurley instead;

“You allegedly went into that pawn shop and removed an AK-47 rifle on display and stuck it down your pants,” the judge read from the arrest report. “After a while, [you] pulled it out, put it back, then grabbed another assault rifle off another display [and] put that down your pants.”

Then young Marlon tried to leave the store, despite a pronounced limp. The owner confronted him outside and recovered the firearm and Alvarez went on the lam, forgetting that folks who sell firearms have really good security cameras which helped police arrest him later. Now the youngster is resting comfortably in the Graybar Hotel waiting for someone to scrape together $25,000 bond. The judge also revoked bail from an arrest less than two weeks ago.

Daniel Lee Marshall Jr., the fake Ranger who had insinuated himself into the Marcus Luttrell family circle while the SEAL was missing in Afghanistan, was sentenced last week to sixteen months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm according to the Houston Chronicle;

In 2005, when Luttrell was the sole survivor among a group of SEALs is a clash with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and was temporarily missing, Marshall got close to the sailor’s family.

Five years later, Marshall was first accused of taking a pistol from the Luttrells’ ranch. About the same time, Rangers became suspicious of Marshall’s claims of military service.

Authorities who searched Marshall’s trailer found an Army dress uniform with ribbons he did not earn and a pickup with a Purple Heart license plate that he did not deserve. They also copied photos found on the Internet that show Marshall in a uniform with a Ranger patch.

Marshall did serve in the Army, authorities said, but only briefly and did not deploy overseas.

The Chronicle says that he faced ten years in prison for the charge, to which he pleaded guilty back in September so I guess he got off easy.

In related news, Texas just stiffened the penalties for stolen valor from a class C to a Class B Misdemeanor with the governor’s signature yesterday;

Senate Bill 835 increases the penalty for such crimes from a Class C misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a $500 fine, to a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $2,000 and up to 180 days in jail.

Today, Time Magazine published a response from Pam Geller, whose organization sponsored the cartoon contest in Dallas that attracted two jihadists, to her critics;

So, why are some people blaming me? They’re saying: “Well, she provoked them! She got what she deserved!” They don’t remember, or care to remember, that as the jihadis were killing the Muhammad cartoonists in Paris, their friend and accomplice was murdering Jews in a nearby kosher supermarket. Were the Jews asking for it? Did they “bait” the jihadis? Were they “provoking” them?

Are the Jews responsible for the Nazis? Are the Christians in the Middle East responsible for being persecuted by Muslims?

Drawing Muhammad offends Islamic jihadists? So does being Jewish. How much accommodation of any kind should we give to murderous savagery? To kowtow to violent intimidation will only encourage more of it.

Now, let me say up front that I wouldn’t draw any cartoons of Muhammad, nor would I attend an event which has that activity as it’s focus. Then again, I wouldn’t attend a similar event related to a similar activity involving Jesus, Buddha, or any other religious figure. But, that’s just me. I don’t oppose your attendance or any number of your friends, however. I respect everyone’s beliefs, religious and otherwise.

If you warned me about stepping on a crack in the sidewalk, or walking under a ladder, I’d thank you and avoid doing that, not out of fear, but out of respect for your beliefs.

To me, there are too many other things that I can be vocal about.

The other day, someone wrote in our comments that this wasn’t a First Amendment issue because the government didn’t attempt to silence Geller’s group, but it is, because every terrorist attack is meant to make a political point – to influence government policy. More than a few critics both inside and outside of the US are urging the US government to take action to prevent more cartoon-drawings of the Prophet. That would interfere in our exercise of the First Amendment.

According to the Associated Press, even the Council on American and Islamic Relations, an organization I usually have no use for, condemned the violence, although I wouldn’t use their language;

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement Monday that a violent response is more insulting to the Muslim faith than any cartoon. The council said “bigoted speech” can’t be an excuse for violence.

Leaders emphasized the American Muslim community’s support for open speech and condemned acts of terror.

The one belief that I can’t support is the one from that part of the world who thinks that everything carries a death penalty. I don’t agree with the gay lifestyle, but I can’t support throwing a gay person off of a building and then stoning them. I don’t like people burning or walking on the US flag, but I wouldn’t advocate shooting everyone at an event that focused on doing that particularly provocative activity, either. While I agree that they probably deserve some sort of punishment, whoever is administering that punishment should probably stop short of physical harm or death.

Yes, Pam Geller provoked a reaction from the two jihadists, along with millions of other American Muslims, and that was her intent from the moment she conceived the notion, but neither she nor her acolytes deserved to die for it. We should also remember that millions of US Muslims didn’t climb in their cars and drive to Dallas to kill the folks at the provocative contest.

I intentionally provoke people every day, and although there are some who pray for my untimely death, they don’t act on those desires, mostly because they know that it would be a difficult endeavor, and that’s the message that the police officer in Dallas sent to jihadists when he sent the two to their reward with his .45 caliber Glock.

Of course, all of this hand wringing about Pam Geller’s contest is diluting the intent of that message.

Several people have sent us this link to a story about how Marana police officer Michael Rapiejko took it upon himself to stop Mario Valencia, who was on a crime spree that began at the local WalMart where he stole a rifle and some ammunition.

According to police, the crime spree began with a theft at a convenience store at Columbus Avenue and 29th Street, then the Tucson Baptist Temple at 1525 S. Columbus Avenue was broken into and was damaged by a small fire. Finally, there was a home invasion and car theft reported on the 3900 block of East Paseo Dorado, near 22nd Street and Alvernon Way.

While other officers tried to talk Valencia into surrendering, he pointed the gun at his own face, the police officers and he even fired a shot in the air. Then police officer Michael Rapiejko used his police vehicle to incapacitate Valencia, striking him and tossing the criminal several feet in the air. He was treated and released from his injuries a few days later.

I’d like to compliment officer Rapiejko for defusing a situation that would normally end with someone’s death. He had a tough decision to make and chose the safety of the community.

Tucson News Now