Showing posts with label Protecting America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Protecting America. Show all posts

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Read the Final Chapter of Mark Levin's Liberty & Tyranny Now


Author and radio host Mark Levin generously gave permission for anyone to reproduce the final chapter of his best-selling book Liberty & Tyranny. I have converted the scanned chapter from the PDF to JPG images here for ease of reading.

Pass it on.


























Other Items of Interest

Somali Coast Cruise Brochure
Dealergate: 40 Democrat-friendly Dealerships Become 42
Star Trek: The Stimulus Doomsday Machine
Rx for Disaster
An open letter to Colin Powell
Illustrated Results of Barack Obama's Community Organizing
True Life Fannie Mae Testimony
Jamie Gorelick, Mistress of Disaster
The Bidens: Hedge Funds, Hair Plugs and Ponzi Schemes
Unintended Consequences

"Surviving Disaster" and how to audition for Hollywood


Navy SEAL Cade Courtley stars in Spike TV's new series "Surviving Disaster".

"Surviving Disaster" graphically illustrates worst-case scenarios -- making them highly realistic -- and educates the viewer on survival techniques: "The show asks us, 'what if, on the daily subway commute, a bio weapon is released? Or a fire is blazing in the 12th floor office and the only way out is blocked?'"

Courtley says that he demonstrates how one might survive "the 'worst day of your life' from a Home Invasion, Fire, Nuclear Attack, Avalanche, Bio-Chemical Attack, Lost at Sea, Hurricane, Earthquake and my favorite - Mall Attack."

How was he selected for the show?

Back in 2002, I was part of Mark Burnett’s TV show called “Combat Missions.” On the set was a PA that, fast forward, would become a creative executive at Spike TV.

I was in Iraq as an "independent contractor" when I got an email from him asking me if I wanted to be in this new show called “Surviving Disaster.”

I told him I was a little busy, but he convinced me to send him a two minute tape introducing myself. So from a HUMVEE at full speed, I gave an intro and said "if you want me, make an offer, otherwise leave me alone."

Just then an IED coincidentally exploded somewhere in the distance. Needless to say, I got the gig.

The series premieres on Tuesday, September 1st (10:00-11:00pm ET) with "Surviving a Hijacking".

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Townhall Sign o' the Day


Hat tip: I forgot who to credit for sending me this photo (email me to update).

Friday, August 21, 2009

Dayam! Sweet Bike Raffle to Benefit Fallen Heroes


Bubba alerts us to a sweet ride that you can call your own. Best of all, any raffle tickets you purchase not only get you chances at a wicked bike... they also go to benefit fallen American heroes.

We built this bike last year for a Military Bike Build Off against 3 other builders, which it won. Next we took the bike to the 2008 World Championships and it placed 3rd in the production class.

A customer of ours (who is a combat vet and would like to remain anonymous) purchased the bike for the sole reason that we raffle it to support the troops.

Our beneficiary is the Intrepid Fallen Heroes fund. They get 100 percent of the raffle ticket proceeds.

We have had several challenges and set-backs as we naively thought we would have an easy time working with the military (gov) to promote this endeavor. Thus, we are fast approaching the deadline of raffle in October and barely scratched the surface of our goal of $50,000 in ticket sales for the troops.

Schaa-wing!

Throw a few bucks into the raffle. And, if you win, the opposite sex will take to your new bike like bees to honey. You can thank me later.

Monday, July 27, 2009

No Apology Necessary (From Sgt. Crowley)


Guest post by David H. Martin.

If anybody should apologize for the arrest of Harvard Professor Louis Henry Gates, it is President Obama, not the arresting officer.

The facts bear out that experienced Sgt. James Crowley acted totally within the bounds of proper police action. Here's what occurred. Sgt. Crowley responded to a call from Lucia Whalen reporting that a break-in was in progress in a neighborhood in Cambridge that had experienced several daytime burglaries. In fact the very house where the suspected burglary was taking place had a defective front door due to a forced entry a month earlier. When he arrived at the house rented from Harvard University by Professor Gates, Sgt. Crowley asked Lucia Whalen, the citizen who had reported that two men were trying to break into the house, to wait outside while he approached the house. [Ed: Updated per police tape]

From outside, Sgt. Crowley observed a man inside the foyer of the house, and asked him to step out on the porch so they could talk. The man, later identified as Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. replied, "No I will not" and demanded Sgt Crowley's identity. Sgt. Crowley in full uniform advised Professor Gates, in a reasonable tone, that he was a Cambridge police officer, told him his name, and that he was responding to a report of a burglary in progress. Before Sgt. Crowley could finish, Professor Gates opened the door and, in an agitated tone, yelled "Why? Because I'm black man in America?"

Despite Professor Gates' confrontational attitude, Sgt. Crowley calmly continued to do his duty, asking "Is anyone else in the house?" - information Sgt Crowley needed for his own safety and for the safety of Professor Gates. Professor Gates yelled, "It's none of your business!" and initially refused to show Sgt. Crowley any identification, although he eventually did produce a Harvard University ID. Sgt. Crowley called to advise his communications office that Professor Gates was with a man who appeared to be the resident, but was very uncooperative, and requested that the Harvard University Police respond.

At this point, Sgt Crowley was prepared to leave and walked out to the porch. Professor Gates hollered at Sgt. Gates to identify himself yet again, saying arrogantly, "You don't know who you're messing with!" He also called Sgt. Crowley a "racist" police officer. Sgt. Crowley advised Professor Gates that he had already identified himself and that if Professor Gates wished to speak further, he should come outside. Professor Gates continued to scream at Sgt. Crowley, repeatedly calling him a "racist cop," and then rudely yelled a demeaning invective: "I'll speak with your momma outside." (By this time another Cambridge policeman, Officer Carlos Figuerosa, was on the porch listening to Professor Gates' tirade and confirmed what Sgt. Crowley later reported.)

Unrelenting, Professor Gates followed Sgt. Crowley outside the house and continued to shout about "racist cops." After calmly warning Professor Gates to calm down a second time, Sgt. Crowley advised Professor Gates that he was going to have to arrest him. Professor Gates continued screaming, and Sgt. Crowley arrested him for disorderly conduct.

Had Professor Gates simply remained in his house or kept his composure, he would not have been arrested. But because of his bizarre and outrageous behavior, there is no question that he was arrested properly and according to established police procedures. Had Professor Gates displayed some emotional control and listened to Sgt. Crowley and understood why Sgt. Crowley was there and that he was required to investigate any call for a crime in progress he would have had no reason to be outraged.

Sgt. Crowley followed proper procedures -- those that any experienced and professional police officer would have done -- asked reasonable questions of Professor Gates and did not respond in kind to Professor Gates unreasonable tirade of race baiting. It was Professor Gates who played the race card and used race as an excuse to harangue an officer attempting to do his duty.

Police Officers have a duty to investigate calls from citizens suspicious of a crime in progress. They have a sworn duty to determine if a crime is being committed, if the area where a crime is alleged to be in progress is safe for themselves and citizens. Police work is a dangerous profession, often thankless and unrewarding. We should all give thanks that we have citizens like Sgt Crowley who accept their jobs and do their heroic duties day in and day out without regard for their own safety.

Both the governor of Massachusetts and the Mayor of Cambridge (both African Americans) made apologies. But Sgt. Crowley has nothing to apologize for. The Chief of Police should support this fine officer, despite the fact that the politically- correct lawyers for the City cowardly dropped the charges against Professor Gates. Instead, apologies should come first from Professor Gates for his racist tirade.

It is unfortunate that the President of the United States saw fit to comment on this case, admittedly without knowing any of the foregoing facts, and even more unfortunate that he tried to expand the concept of racial profiling as a common practice among police forces is also unfortunate and untrue. The President is the one who should apologize, not only to Sgt. Crowley, but to every policeman in America.


David H. Martin is Chairman of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund of Arlington, Virginia.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Semper Fi, Sir -- a Tribute to Colonel Ed McMahon!


Jasmine sent this one in.

Today's edition of the Chronicle is filled with page after page of accolades spewing forth about the greatness and complexity of Michael Jackson. The other day, they had a couple of paragraphs on Ed McMahon's Hollywood career and aptly noted he died a pauper. Something wrong with American journalism?

COLONEL ED HAS DIED
He wanted to be a Marine fighter pilot. The US was building up their military force, but they were not at war yet and the Navy required all its potential Navy and Marine pilots to have two years of college. So Ed started classes at Boston College.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked the Army and the Navy both dropped the college requirement and Ed applied to the Marines. His primary flight training was in Dallas and then he went to Pensacola, Florida. He was carrier qualified, which means he knew how to perform a controlled crash of his single engine fighter, onto the rolling deck of a Navy floating runway.

It took Ed almost two years to get through all the Navy flight training. His problem was he was a very good pilot and the Marines needed flight instructors. He had a great command presence and public speaking ability, which landed him in the classroom, training new baby Marine pilots.

His orders to the Pacific fleet and the chance to fly combat missions off a carrier came in the spring of 1945, on the same day the Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Of course his orders where changed. He never went to sea and he was out of the Marines in 1946.

Ed stayed in the USMC as a reserve officer. He became a successful personality in the new TV medium, after the war. His Marine command presence helped. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He never got to fly his fighter aircraft, but he saw his share of raw combat. He flew the Cessna O-1E Bird Dog, which is a single engine slow-moving unarmed plane. He functioned as an artillery spotter for the Marine batteries on the ground and as a forward controller for the Navy & Marine fighter/bombers who flew in on fast moving jet engines, bombed the area and were gone in seconds. Captain Ed was still circling the enemy looking for more targets, all the time taking North Korean and Chinese ground fire.

He stayed with the Marines as a reserve officer and retired in 1966 as a Colonel.

The world knows Ed as Ed McMahon of the Johnny Carson, Tonight Show. One night I was watching the show when the subject of Colonel McMahon earning a number of Navy Air Medals came up. Carson, a former Navy officer, understood the significance of these medals, but McMahon shrugged it off, saying that if you flew enough combat missions they just sort of gave them to you. McMahon flew 85 combat missions over North Korea; he earned every one of those Air Medals. The casualty rate, for flying forward air controllers in Korea sometimes exceeded 50% of a squadrons manpower. McMahon was lucky to have gotten home from that war.

Once a Marine, always a Marine.

When the public was spitting (taking their personal safety into their own hands) at Marines on the streets of Southern California during Vietnam, Colonel McMahon was taking Marines off the streets and into his posh Beverly Hills home. I spoke to a retired Marine aircrew member the day Colonel McMahon died and he personally remembered seeing McMahon at numerous Marine Air Bases in California in the 1960s. He was known for going to the Navy hospitals and visiting the wounded Marines and Sailors from this countrys conflicts, even in the last years of his life.

Colonel McMahon presented awards and decorations to fellow Marines and attended many a Marine ceremony and the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball. He stayed true to his Corps as a board member of the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund and as the honorary chairman of the National Marine Corps Aviation Museum. After retiring from the Marine Reserve, one night on the Johnny Carson show, members of the California Air National Guard came on stage. Colonel McMahon was commissioned a Brigadier General in the Air Guard in front of millions of Americans who watched it happen live. You will not see anything like that on TV anymore.

The three core values of a United States Marine are; honor, courage and commitment. This is what a Marine is taught from the first day of training and this is what that Marine believes. That was Colonel Edward P. McMahon Jr. USMCR Retired. Before he was a national figure he was a true combat hero and a patriot the nation needed then and this country needs now.

Your war is over. Thank you Colonel McMahon.
Semper Fi Sir.
23 June 2009
Major Van Harl USAF Ret.


Sunday, July 12, 2009

19-years old and dying 12,000 miles away from home


You're a 19-year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley. The date is November 14, 1965. You're lying near LZ X-ray in Vietnam.

Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 to 1, and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is halfway around the world -- 12,000 miles away -- and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it...

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load two or three of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.

And, he kept coming back... fourteen times in all... and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died in August 2008 at the age of 80, in Boise, ID. May God rest his soul.


Via: Burning Platform and Larwyn. Related: Crandall and Freeman win Congressional Medals of Honor. Post edited: to correct a date, per commenter David.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

'Conveyer belt to terrorism' to host conference in Chicago


Delightful news out of Chicago. The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that the pro-Jihadist group Hizb-Ut-Tahrir America (or HT) plans on raising its profile in the U.S. by hosting a conference in one of the metro area's suburbs. What is HT?

HT has been banned in Turkey and Germany for distributing literature that includes incitement to hatred and violence against Jews...

...In a paper for the Manhattan Institute, Gruen pointed to one leaflet distributed by the group titled: "And Kill Them Whenever You Find Them, and Turn Them Out From Where They Have Turned You Out." It stated that:

"Jews are a people of slander. They are treacherous people who violate oaths and covenants. They lie and change words from the right places. They take the rights of the people unjustly, and kill the Prophets and the innocent."

According to IPT, some of HT's literature also encourages "martyrdom operations" (e.g., suicide attacks) against Jews in locations unspecified. Presumably that includes here in the U.S., like at the mall or the corner pub.


Further, HT preaches the establishment of Sharia (Islamic) law and the eradication of both the U.S. Constitution and our legal system.

The duty of the State is to implement Islam as a whole and to deem its implementation upon the non-Muslim as an invitation to Islam for them, because Shari’ah is ordained upon mankind; thus the State implements it upon every country that comes under its authority with the aim of conveying the Da’awah to it, because the secret behind the Islamic conquests is to carry the Da’awah to Islam.

      -- The Concept of Hizb ut Tahrir, page 30

As for the useful idiots who believe the cavalier exhortation that Jihad is a spiritual battle within oneself, HT helpfully clears that matter up quite succinctly.

...supplication is an action that achieves a spiritual value and Jihad is a physical action that achieves a spiritual value. However, although supplication is a physical action, it achieves an impalpable result, which is the reward, though the intention of the performer is to achieve a spiritual value. This is in contrast with Jihad, which is fighting the enemies and is a physical action that achieves tangible results, such as the conquest of a fortress or a city, or the killing of the enemy...

      -- The Concept of Hizb ut Tahrir, page 31

Just in case the message wasn't clear, another of HT's readings spells it out in blood:

...Jihad is the quality that should become second nature to the Islamic Ummah because it is the method of carrying the Da'awah to the world. The question that may be asked here is: will the struggle be with all these states at once, which is not a wise policy, or will the struggle be with some of them while the others will be covenanted, lest all the forces gather against us?

...The answer to this is that the struggle with the Kuffar takes two aspects, the first is the intellectual struggle, which is known as the political conflict, and the second is the bloody struggle, which is the actual war, which is Jihad. As for the intellectual struggle, i.e. the political conflict, this must be with all these states at once and no truce will be concluded with any state with regard to this conflict, because the nature of the contradiction between the ideology of Islam and the Capitalist ideology necessitates this confrontation...

      -- The Duty of Islamic Ummah, page 7

Further, HT's agenda is codified quite nicely:

...Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a political party with Islam as its ideology. Its objective is to resume the Islamic way of life by establishing an Islamic State that implements Islam and carries its Da’awah to the world...

      -- The Concept of Hizb ut Tahrir, page 44

Put simply, the mission of HT is to overthrow the United States government and replace it with Sharia (Islamic religious) law.

On July 19th, the group Responsible for Equality And Liberty (REAL) will be protesting the conference in Oak Lawn, IL. The conference is scheduled to run from 11AM to 5PM (CT) at the Hilton Hotel Grand Ballroom, 9333 South Cicero Ave., Oak Lawn, IL 60543.

If you can join or support REAL, please email realpublic@earthlink.net before July 18th.


Monday, July 06, 2009

Denninger: a Real Gameplan for the GOP


Karl Denninger writes for the outstanding Market Ticker blog, mostly on economic issues, and his predictions have been eerily prescient. Eerily, I say.

Once in a while, Denninger weighs in on political matters and yesterday was such a day. He offered his take on Sarah Palin but, most interestingly (for me, at least, which is all I really care about) is his roadmap for GOP victory in 2010 and 2012.

The formula is as clear-headed and easy-to-follow as any I've read (emphases mine), which is probably why it will be discarded by the same GOP leadership that brought you John McCain and who believe Sarah Palin is less qualified than, say, one Barack Obama.

I have heard exactly nothing out of The Republicans since the election that shows me that they "get it"... Here is what the [party leadership] put forward as the Republican Agenda:

1. Tax relief to stimulate the economy.
2. Domestic energy exploration.
3. Full funding for border security and missile defense.
4. Support for small businesses that create jobs.

Nice rhetoric. Note that we did #1 under George Bush and it was ineffective in preventing the mess. Note also that #3 was claimed after 9/11 but in fact wasn't done, but there were multiple attempts to pass "in the dark of night" amnesty for the illegal aliens, when in fact it would take nothing more than computer verification of SSN records to start sending out thousands of ICE workers to arrest and deport illegals. #4 is a nice premise too, but let's face it - "small business" and "illegal immigrant labor" are joined at the hip, and this is yet another codeword for amnesty...

What's important is what's missing from this missive.

* Any understanding or admission that it was fraud that fueled the economic mess, not "too high taxes", and yet The Republicans have steadfastly refused to demand that those who committed that fraud go to prison.

* Any understanding of the fiscal realities of a $2 trillion budget deficit that came about due to too much spending, and that cutting taxes, while it sounds nice, just makes that worse.

* Any admission that Gingrich promised among other things to rid us of the Education Department; instead The Republicans more than doubled its size and George Bush allowed Senator Kennedy to write the Education Bill in the last Congress.

* Any admission that Medicare Part D was the largest single entitlement program ever passed by any Administration in the history of the nation, and George Bush was its proponent and chief architect!

If The Republicans want to gain in the 2010 mid-term elections and have a shot at unseating President Obama in 2012, they need to do all of the following:

* Begin pushing hard for investigation and prosecution of everyone, individual and corporate, who did and still is falsifying any form of accounting or other financial matter... The Republicans are supposed to be the party of law and order... let's see special prosecutors, investigations, indictments and prison sentences.

* Demand that those who made bad investments in insolvent firms be forced to EAT THEM. This means no more bailouts - instead, it means cramdowns. Lots of cramdowns. If pension funds are caught short by this (including PUBLIC pension funds) then they are.

* Demand that PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES be cut back to the same standards as PRIVATE SECTOR employees, both for retirement benefits and current working benefits and salary. The "gold-plated" games MUST END as WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY. This includes but is certainly not limited to Representatives and Senators.

* Return ALL entitlement and education programs to the states and END THEM at the federal level. The Department of Education should be dissolved; there is no Constitutional mandate for same. Social Security and Medicare are not properly federal programs and it is their federal locus that makes them non-portable, unowned by the individual and impossible to fix. No citizen would accept a Social Security system at the state level that disappeared if they moved; they would instead insist on individual ownership, vesting, and investment of that account in actual assets (e.g. Treasury bills or notes) and they'd get it too. The Federal Government is able to steal the contents of Social Security annually (and does) precisely because it is cheating on the accounting - that is, the entirety of the program as currently constituted is a lie! STOP IT.

* Cut Federal spending to match the budget. Yes, I know, you'd have to lay off thousands upon thousands of "government employees" in Washington DC and elsewhere. So what? Let's cut The Federal Government back to 1990 levels of employment and spending - right now, today. "Spending cuts" are not decreases in the rate-of-increase - they are actual cuts! Practice what you preach - if we don't have the money, we can't spend it. Period.

* Push HARD to institute The Fair Tax. Yeah, I know some people don't like it. Here's the facts folks: It inexorably ties federal income to GDP and is the only way to do so transparently, containing the tax code for individuals literally in one line of text. It bankrupts nearly all of the lobbying interests on "K" Street immediately. It incentivizes capital formation (no tax on capital gains) and dis-incentivizes going into debt, as there is no tax advantage to taking on debt. It removes all federal tax burden from those who earn less than a poverty level income and eliminates hundreds of billions of dollars of embedded compliance cost in every good and service produced in this nation. It makes America the manufacturing and business tax haven of the world, and will bring millions of jobs back from overseas overnight...

* STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND SEND ALL OF THEM HOME. Period. This begins with MASSIVE enforcement against employers of these people; send them all to PRISON. We have some 16% of our population out of work (U6) and more than 20% of our youth. These are US Citizens who want jobs and can't find them - it is an outrage that we have illegals in this country taking jobs from these citizens primarily on the basis of working under the table for less than minimum wage, paying no taxes, then showing up in the emergency room for free treatment when they shoot a nail through their own foot!

If The Republicans want to win, this is the populist message that will win elections.

I agree -- and I'm a centrist.


Sunday, July 05, 2009

The Sum of All Fears


Radio Equalizer has the exclusive reaction from the CEO of Excellence In Broadcasting.

And that begs the question: which ticket would p**s off the moonbats worse: Limbaugh-Palin or Cheney-Rumsfeld?


Saturday, July 04, 2009

"Palin is running for president, get used to it"


The Internet rumor mill is afire with speculation on the reasons for Sarah Palin's resignation as Governor of Alaska.

The usual cadre of deranged lefty bloggers hatched dozens of Troofer-esque theories, ranging from impending "embezzlement" charges (alleged ethics accusation #16) to an "Iceberg" scandal (don't ask).

Eh, no one tell the deranged leftist bloggers that all politicians operating under ethical clouds hang relentlessly onto power until it is clawed from them (see exhibits: Conyers, Dodd, Feinstein, Frank, Jefferson, Mollohan, Murtha, Rangel, Reid, Pelosi, Waters, et. al.).

The left's psychoses revolve around one characteristic: fear of Palin. She drives them absolutely nuts. They have hatched feverish story lines, plots, ambitions, conspiracy theories and "damning" evidence of her inability to serve as a credible candidate for high office. Their inordinate attention betrays their fears.

And recall that these are the very same rocket scientists who predicted -- for roughly 72 months running -- that Karl Rove was about to be "frog-marched" out of the White House.

At last count, Mickey Kaus had 14 theories.

Here are the facts on the ground:

• She could not build a campaign organization and a core team of contributors from Alaska;

• She could not relentlessly campaign for conservative candidates in 2012, which would build up her war-chest of owed favors;

• She could not sustain the endless series of ethical accusations, which cost enormous amounts of money both for her personally ($500,000) and the state of Alaska ($2,000,000). Of 15 ethical challenges, she has been cleared in all 15 cases. As an aside, note that these tactics are eerily reminiscent of those used by Barack Obama in having four of his Illinois challengers disqualified from office. It wouldn't be surprising, therefore, to discover that Obama's ACORN shock troops, Rahm Emanuel and/or David Axelrod were operating behind the scenes in these cases.

• She could not easily kick the asses of her many detractors in the mainstream media from Alaska. Consider that all of the major network news anchors were on vacation this week. This timing may have been purposeful; Palin will be old news by the time they return. I believe she's prepared to go on offense against a "media" that provided the most unbalanced coverage of two candidates (Obama versus Palin) in the history of American politics. Simply compare the questions ABC's Charlie Gibson asked of both in his one-on-one interviews to understand the callous disregard the media has for American voters. She reduced David Letterman to a quivering tub of goo; look for that to occur in other venues now.

Ever astute, Mark Levin listed but one reason for her announcement: Palin is running for president, get used to it..


Update: Patriot Room finds similar sentiments.

Update II: "It's On! Palin Counsel Plans to Pursue Liberal Blogs and Statist Media For Slander"

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Justice is Served in the Acquittal of a Police Chief


Guest post by David H. Martin

The Chief of Police of a small Nebraska town has been acquitted of second-degree assault in a case involving threats to his life, endangerment to the community, and a life-or-death decision that brought about the death of a local young delinquent. Richard Thompson, 56, the once-popular police chief of Crawford, Nebraska, has spent nearly two years of his life fighting a charge that should never have been levied. I believe that justice has finally been done in this case, albeit much too slowly.

What makes this case noteworthy is that Chief Thompson had a gun pointed at his head by a youth who was obviously resisting arrest. The fact that the suspect was a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent further justifies Chief Thompson's actions.

According to witnesses, Jesse Britton, who had been recently released from a youth correctional facility, had stolen a gun, was the leading suspect in series of robberies and a bomb threat, and had threatened to shoot his own girlfriend and Chief Thompson.

The fatal incident occurred on October 3, 2007, when Britton hid in an abandoned building to evade arrest. Chief Thompson, accompanied by other officers, hoped to get the young hoodlum to turn himself in. With back-up officers outside, Chief Thompson and park police officer Dan Kling entered the building. Searching the premises, they spotted Britton crouching behind a desk. "Police! Show your hands!" they commanded repeatedly. Instead of complying, the young miscreant jumped up and pointed a 22-caliber revolver at Chief Thompson's head.

What would you do if a wild-eyed youth who had already threatened to kill you pointed a gun at your head? While Nebraska is no longer the wild west as portrayed in John Wayne movies, nevertheless Chief Thompson had to make a split-second choice: either shoot in self defense or be killed. He shot one bullet, and his partner, knowing that the Chief was in imminent danger, also fired. Young Jesse Britton was struck and died.

Under Nebraska law, a grand jury must be convened when a person perishes while being apprehended. A number of questionable procedures occurred that resulted in the unfair charge, such as using an expert in the grand jury proceedings to influence the jurors to find that Chief Thompson was "reckless." Reckless? I am not sure what charges would have been levied at the suspect if Chief Thompson had been wounded or killed, but reckless is hardly the word to describe his actions that day.

But the special prosecutor choose the word "reckless" for a reason. According to Nebraska law, use of force is not justified if the acts involved are deemed to be "reckless."

Following the grand jury finding, Chief Thompson faced a second-degree assault charge which, if he had been convicted, carried a five-year sentence. In November 2007, he was suspended without pay from the police force pending the results of the prosecution and was facing a minimum of $100,000 in legal fees. His family had to post a $50,000 bond for his release.

Richard Thompson contacted me about this case last year. As a lawyer who is also director of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal defense fund that helps police officers who get in trouble for doing their job, I found this case to be typical of many throughout the country. We assisted Richard Thompson with funds for his defense.

Fortunately, justice prevailed and North Platte (Neb.) Judge John Murphy said that the "court can only conclude that (Thompson) was acting in self-defense in the situation that presented itself."

Judge Murphy also said, "It appears to the court that this event has had a traumatic affect, not only on the family of the victim, but on the defendant, and perhaps upon the entire community of Crawford. It strikes the court that it has come time to put this tragedy into the past for all involved and to move on with their lives as best they can."

The tragedy in my mind is that a policeman -- and not just an ordinary cop but a Chief of Police -- has had to suffer grievously through an unfair prosecution for doing his duty and defending himself. It was unfair because Chief Thompson had to make an instant decision to defend himself or be shot. He should not have been second-guessed by a prosecutor who reviewed the decision from the comfort of an office.

And even with the acquittal of the criminal charges, his ordeal is not over. The family of the juvenile has filed a wrongful death civil suit in the U.S. District Court. The middle-aged Thompson, not a wealthy man, has had his life turned up-side-down.

Is it any wonder that crime is on the rise in cities nationwide when law enforcement officers are prosecuted for acting in self-defense while enforcing the law?

David H. Martin is Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

Update: Thompson applies for reinstatement as chief