Folk Hero Sheriff could face criminal charges

[terstorm1012]

Was I saying what he did was legal? No, he broke the law by interfering with the federal officer (as in the guardsman) by handcuffing him. But the ice got to where it needed to get to.

lol - preaching to the choir here!!! But as my mother used to say two wrongs don't make it right.

yea its a clear "darned if you do darned if you don't" situation...well I wouldn't use darn...but you know what I mean.

[sunny]

Was I saying what he did was legal? No, he broke the law by interfering with the federal officer (as in the guardsman) by handcuffing him. But the ice got to where it needed to get to.

lol - preaching to the choir here!!! But as my mother used to say two wrongs don't make it right.

yea its a clear "darned if you do darned if you don't" situation...well I wouldn't use darn...but you know what I mean.

I do know what you mean. I just don't agree with cuffing the soldier. It was the WRONG thing to do. Those soldiers were out there to try to help, this one did not deserve to be cuffed!!

[Dionne]

It's a cut and dry sort of deal. If the sheriff gets popped for a federal offense he becomes a convicted felon. Which means he can no longer hold his elected office.

He is extremely popular. His actions are already legendary.

I suspect we will eventually find that the ice trucks were within his jurisdiction.

Notice that we do not have alot of background on the cuffed guardsmen. Where were the MP's?

[sunny]

It's a cut and dry sort of deal. If the sheriff gets popped for a federal offense he becomes a convicted felon. Which means he can no longer hold his elected office.

He is extremely popular. His actions are already legendary.

I suspect we will eventually find that the ice trucks were within his jurisdiction.

Notice that we do not have alot of background on the cuffed guardsmen. Where were the MP's?

I would imagine he is popular around there. But it doesn't change the fact that what he did was against the law. Regarding the guardsman, what does his background matter? It sounds to me like his orders were to guard the truck: In the process, a National Guard soldier who tried to stop the hijacking was handcuffed. He was doing his job in did not deserve to be cuffed! Period!

[greeng13]

i believe interfering with a federal officer is a pretty "heavy" charge.

for one it takes it from a statutory "crime" to that of "felony" i would think

but this article seems to say otherwise:

http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=5&id=29469

McGee had worked out a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of interfering, intimidating and impeding a federal officer, but U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton withdrew from the case without explanation and the Justice Department sent it to federal prosecutors in Louisiana.

except that now it is in the hands of the Justice Dept in Louisiana...like i said "federal"..this article explains what the charge would have been had he not plead guilty to the "misdemeanor":

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060224/NEWS01/602240303/1002

"I was told that I could either plead to this misdemeanor or I and my deputies would be indicted on felony charges," McGee said. "I've asked the government on three separate occasions to indict me and leave the deputies out of it because they were only acting at my direction."

and what still might occur:

Lampton's background in the National Guard - he is a retired judge advocate - and political pressure are factors in the case, McGee said.

"I feel like he's probably getting some pressure from the Mississippi National Guard," McGee said. "He told me the governor personally demanded I be prosecuted for this

i'm with mr ortt on this one...although with a "heavy heart"...mainly because at the bottom of the other article it lists the "chain of events" (supposedly).

either way...federal law (even national guardsmen---run by the state but under federal control i believe) "trumps" state laws in a state of emergency let alone "county" laws of which this sherrif represented.

like i said it is with a "heavy heart"...but the law is the law...and you do not handcuff (and arrest and take to the station) a Captain in the National Guard if you are a county Sherrif...FEMA maybe.

When the soldier refused to get off the truck, he was handcuffed, placed in a patrol car and driven to the sheriff's office where he was cited for interfering with an officer and released.

if you search for "interfering with a federal officer" in any search engine there are several articles that come up dealing solely with this case..

[sunny]

For the record, I sympathize with what the sheriff did. He wanted to help his citizens. But you simply cannot do something like this without some sort of consequences!! Because these guardsmen were there to help as well, and for them to be treated that way is just simply unacceptable.

[Dionne]

Something just does not ring true here. Why was a commissioned officer guarding an ice truck? Again I say.....where were the MP's? Why was the ice sitting there for 5 days when it was so desperately needed. I wonder how much ice Camp Shelby has the ability to produce in a 24 hour period? There is more to this story than we know. An officer in the Mississippi National Guard was witholding ice......the county sheriff went and got the ice and delivered it to those in need. If you had been in these disaster counties the first days after Katrinas landfall.....you might better understand why we support Billy.

[sunny]

Then we will have to agree to disagree here. Because in my mind, this sheriff was in the wrong. He had no right cuffing a soldier who was on orders to maintain control in a chaotic situation. Furthermore, how do we know this particular soldier was not an MP? The sheriff was wrong.

[greeng13]

i am not saying that i necessarily disagree with what he did...like i said "it is with a 'heavy heart'"

possibly something else is not mentioned here. but my point is that in a "state of national emergency" a county sherrif does not have the authority to arrest/handcuff/detain a national guardsman under orders from his superiors who are in turn under orders from both the governor of mississippi and the president of the united states.

heck i agree with what he did to a certain extent...just not the way in which he did it. i guess extreme situations do demand extreme measures and no i was not down there and cannot even fathom the situation. but from the artcile it seems to me that he over-stepped his bounds.

[sunny]

heck i agree with what he did to a certain extent...just not the way in which he did it.

I'm with you there. I am not a cold hearted person, and I DO understand people were in need. But you just don't cuff a soldier.

[Derek Ortt]

I agree something should have been done... that something is meet with the soldier's commanding officer.

I would not mind the sherriff getting LIFE to send an example that our brave soldiers will not be treated this way by local officials who simply do not agree with their orders from their superiors

[george_r_1961]

The Sheriff is sworn to protect the public and although he went about it WAYYY wrong at most he should be subject to misdemeanor charges and NO jail time. Im sure whatever fine imposed will be paid at least in part by the citizens of the county. I wonder how many lives he saved by his actions?

[rainstorm]

both parties should get together, shake hands and forgive and forget

[terstorm1012]

I agree something should have been done... that something is meet with the soldier's commanding officer.

I would not mind the sherriff getting LIFE to send an example that our brave soldiers will not be treated this way by local officials who simply do not agree with their orders from their superiors

Derek, you don't get life for handcuffing a soldier. Soldiers are wonderful people---I wouldn't be engaged to one if they weren't---but they are not Gods. It's a misdemenor.

[Dionne]

I'm still baffled. I want to know more about the soldier. Was he armed? Was he alone? Was he on duty? Did he allow Billy McGee to take his weapon and cuff him while on duty?

I am an Infantry veteran. Any soldier ordered to guard does not surrender his weapon unless ordered to do so via the chain of command. You stand your post and fulfill your orders. What we have here is a Mississippi National Guard comissioned officer that allowed himself to be taken captive on his own soil.

I don't get it?

If I was still active duty and anyone....a sheriff included.....attempted to usurp my authority and lose my ground.....there would have been a hostile situation.

Somebody, somewhere is witholding information. I want an answer.

Camp Shelby is a very busy location at this time. There is a war being fought and Shelby is one of the staging arenas before departing overseas. As any veteran knows.....there is always alot of confusion during mass transport. Let alone have Katrina come to visit.

I like rainstorms idea. Although it is unlikely that will occur.

[sunny]

What would have had the soldier do Dionne? Get into a fire fight? That would have been real good - really helped the situation.

[GeneratorPower]

I guess I don't understand why ICE is a life or death situation. Water for people dying of thirst, sure. Food for starving children, yes. But what good is some ice when the power's been out for six days? Is it going to bring all the spoiled food back to life?

[greeng13]

insulin

[george_r_1961]

insulin

Exactly. My father was a diabetic and if he needed ice for his insulin you can bet I woulda done whatever I needed to do to get it for him. In this situation its not a matter of convenience its a matter of life and death.

[rainstorm]

lets all get along here. the sheriff and soldier should come to an understanding