CA Officer posts interesting Facebook comments about Open Carry

Oh, somehow I have a hunch that his life and career are going to be in the toilet for the foreseeable future...

Once something like this goes viral, it will be all over the internet for more than a few days.

He'll be hearing about this from both friends and non-friends for a long time.

Poetic justice...
 
Wether it was intended as a joke or not, this officer is very disturbing and is somone whom I feel should be removed from his position.

Its not police that I have a problem with... Its the officers that know they have cops like the one mentioned in this article working with them and chose to do nothing about it.
 
So, does anyone know if he is guarding the evidence room yet?

I sent a note to their Chief and the council members.

Then I posted a link to the article on MY facebook wall:)
 
You really don't know?

IMHO... All to often the police forget who they actually work for.
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What does that mean?

"Most" police officers I've had dealings with for one reason or another have been great. Regular guys, doing their jobs and taking pride in their work. I'd say about one out of ten is a major A.. Hole. I understand that police officers put up with a lot of crap and generally deal with the underbelly of society. The thing is they need to realize that most of us are NOT the underbelly of society and that a badge doesn't make you smarter, stronger, faster or superior to the rest of us.
Those of us that are working, paying our taxes and trying to live our lives on the right side of the law don't appreciate the minority of cops that think it's OK to not treat people with dignity and a little respect.
 
1st amendment rights eh?

Im sure they would be kicking down the door of a citizen who posted they would shoot an officer on facebook. The good ole double standard in play IMHO.
 
After looking around the internet and watching some videos concerning the California open carry laws I have learned that many police officers know the law and are choosing to push their boundaries. Know your rights! You don't have to explain yourselves. They are bound by law just as much as you are whether they think so or not. I am not particularly interested in open carry for myself, but I highly respect those who do, especially in Cali where there is a standing order to harass law abiding citizens who do choose to carry openly.

Nothing bugs me more than the few LEO's who think they are above the law and represent law enforcement in a negative way. The public doesn't need to have their faith in law enforcement diminished even more.

Thanks to the LEO's who enforce the law and respect the rights of individuals.
 
Glenn Dee said:
It means that the police work for the people. The police derive their power from the people... NOT from the government.
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Even if they derived their powers from the government, guess where the government gets their powers from? :)
 
That is pretty sad there. I hope they put this guy on parking enforcement, preferably with a flashlight & some pepper spray only, preferably a pretty pink barbie flashlight. This doesn't sound like the comment of a person i would want to enforce the laws of my community with a salary paid from my tax dollars. This guy needs some humble pie & i think a few years of unarmed parking enforcement work in some nasty neighborhoods should help him with that meal.
 
My google alert for the "second amendment" just picked up the story, which means it's still getting bigger. it will be interesting to see how the MS media deals with it, if they don't just look the other way.
 
Well, Ricky,

Even if the MSM does look the other way, it's pretty much viral now. The "wurld.wyde.weeb."has him now and unless I miss my mark on this one, the bloggers won't let him go without worrying the wound for a bit...
 
It may have been a joke..it may have been sarcasm...

But the comments to me show a man who revels in the power of his badge, uniform and his gun. He may be a supporter of the right to keep and bear arms, for himself, at least. But he considers people who open carry to be idiots, who need to be taught a lesson. Even though within the law, he thinks its a stupid thing to do, something that will cause him trouble, and possibly more work.

He's the "man" and if we do something he doesn't care for (even inside the law), he's going to flex his ego, and his authority, to teach us a lesson. To "prone us out". And if we give him justification, to shoot, for his own safety, of course. And he seems pretty confidant that after a couple weeks paid leave, he will be found blameless!

I don't know him, or anything about him, except what has been posted here, he may be a quite different person, especially to his friends and social group (most likely brother officers and family), who understand his humor, and share the "us vs them" mentality so prevalent in these communities. But thats not what I got from his comments, at all.

I agree this officer ought to suffer some form of punishment, socially. Not legally, he broke no laws. But some kind of crap job assignment, preferably one that does not involve dealing with the public, or being armed in the course of those duties. Not for what he said, as I understand the gallows humor cops and others use to deal with the stress of their jobs, it often becomes a way of life and intrudes into all their speech. HE should not be censured for that (if that's what it was), but he should be for being stupid enough to say it online!

That particular lapse of judgement calls all his other actions and decisions into question. Let us hope that this arrogant, trigger happy "officer of the law" doesn't get involved in a shooting, either on the job or off. He certainly has stacked the deck against himself, if he does.
Again, I am judging him by his own words, as presented here (and possibly out of context, although some context was included). But ask yourself, do we really need someone who talks like that in public, walking around in public with a badge and a gun, and the legal authority to use them at will?
 
Do something about it!

I just went to the East Palo Alto Police department website and found the "Contact Us" page

http://www.ci.east-palo-alto.ca.us/contact.html

I mentioned that it is not a police officer's job to decide whether or not he agrees with the law, It is his duty to uphold the law and to protect the citizens of East Palo Alto. I suggested that perhaps a position in unarmed parking enforcement would be better suited for this particular officer.

Perhaps we should all have a say on this?
 
That particular lapse of judgement calls all his other actions and decisions into question. Let us hope that this arrogant, trigger happy "officer of the law" doesn't get involved in a shooting, either on the job or off. He certainly has stacked the deck against himself, if he does.
Again, I am judging him by his own words, as presented here (and possibly out of context, although some context was included). But ask yourself, do we really need someone who talks like that in public, walking around in public with a badge and a gun, and the legal authority to use them at will?
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Would a cop who said something like that ever be taken seriously on the witness stand again? Any good defense attorney would have a field day with that.
 
If he only gets 2 weeks off for a shooting then what will he get for his postings, 5 minutes in a time-out chair?
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Oh, please. :rolleyes:

I believe the "two weeks off" is intended to mean the time taken to fully investigate a shooting and return with a "justified" ruling so the officer can return to normal duty assignments. It's not punishment. He's reassigned and continues to draw a paycheck. It's supposed to be a safeguard. In the case it is ruled "not justified", the dept would need to explain why that officer was on duty, armed, in the same environment, during the time that passed between the shooting and the time the ruling was issued. They err on the side of caution.
 
It almost made the news. But it was on Fox anyway.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585807,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r5:c0.081535:b30653910:z0


Gun rights advocates have a California police detective in their crosshairs after he apparently posted comments on Facebook advocating that "open carry" supporters should be shot.

East Palo Alto Police Det. Rod Tuason apparently posted the remarks on his Facebook page in response to a friend's status update, which suggested that gun advocates who carry unloaded weapons openly — which is legal in California — should do so in places like "Oakland, Richmond and East Palo Alto" and not just in "hoity toity" cities.

"Haha we had one guy last week try to do it!" Tuason replied. "He got proned out [laid face-down on the ground] and reminded where he was at and that turds will jack him for his gun in a heartbeat!"

Several comments later, the detective suggested shooting the gun rights advocates, some of whom have carried firearms openly in recent weeks in California's Bay Area, particularly at Starbucks locations.

"Sounds like you had someone practicing their 2nd amendment rights last night!" Tuason wrote. "Should've pulled the AR out and prone them all out! And if one of them makes a furtive movement … 2 weeks off!!!" -- referring to the modified duty, commonly known as desk duty, that typically follows any instance in which an officer is investigated for firing his weapon.

Those comments caught the attention of a California attorney and blogger, as well as a Virginia man who started a Facebook group calling for Tuason's termination.

John Taylor, whose Facebook group had 54 members as of midday Friday, said the Facebook thread confirmed gun owners' worst fears.

"Any sworn officer who suggests shooting law-abiding citizens for exercising their most basic constitutional rights deserves the full wrath of America's gun owners," Taylor told FoxNews.com. "It's an affront."

California's Penal Code makes it illegal to carry concealed weapons without a county-issued license. But it is legal to carry an unloaded weapon in plain view in a holster. In most cases, it is illegal for an unconcealed weapon to be loaded.

Taylor, of Arlington, Va., who has a concealed weapons permit in his home state, said he planned to write a letter to the East Palo Alto Police Department demanding that Tuason be fired.

"The targeting, harassment and intimidation of law-abiding citizens who are peacefully agitating for their rights by a police officer is an abomination to the Constitution, and is in fact the exact reason our Founding Fathers created the Second Amendment," Taylor said. "Police officers who think they are going to get between law-abiding Americans and their Second Amendment rights are going to find themselves in the line of fire."

Tuason's comments were first noticed by California attorney Kevin Thomason, who posted a screen grab of the detective's remarks on his Web site on Sunday.

"[Tuason] didn't realize that actual PRO-GUN people also read Facebook," Thomason wrote. "Amazingly, he posted the following comment about law abiding gun owners on a friend's page. Basically, he's saying 'prone them out' (face down on the ground), and if anyone moves, kill them. I don't make this crap up."

Thomason, a member of the National Rifle Association, wrote that Tuason's comments were "worth a call" to the East Palo Alto City Council, as well as to his superior officers.

Tuason, who has since removed his Facebook profile, did not return messages seeking comment on Friday. He is reportedly being investigated by the police department's professional standards division regarding the Facebook remarks.

East Palo Alto Police Sgt. Rod Norris said he was unable to comment on the matter, but Capt. Carl Estelle told the San Jose Mercury News that police officials must be careful not to violate Tuason's First Amendment rights, since the comments appeared on his personal Web site.

"In no way are his personal comments reflective of any policies or procedures here at the department nor does he speak for the police department," Estelle told the newspaper.
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The CalGuns Foundation has stepped up to the plate and sent a letter to the EPAPD Chief, to turn this into a teaching moment. Here.

Considering what CGF has been doing lately, you folks from CA might want to help them out: CalGuns Foundation
 
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