WASHINGTON – Did Washington law enforcement learn a lesson from the killing of a mother who made a wrong turn near a White House gate last fall?
It would seem so from an incident this week, in which an unauthorized driver followed a presidential family motorcade inside the complex – and lived to tell about it!
Around 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, a 55-year-old man driving a gray Honda Civic entered the restricted area behind a motorcade that included Barack Obama’s two daughters who were coming home from school. Obama was inside the White House meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry at the time.
The driver was stopped by uniformed officers at the outer perimeter of a checkpoint at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and taken into custody, according to a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson. The Secret Service said driver was eventually charged with unlawful entry. He held a pass for the U.S. Treasury building, which sits next to the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.
That the driver, whatever his motivations or confusing, survived this incident suggests the shocking death of Miriam Carey last October at the hands of local police and Secret Service agents has had an impact on the psyches of law enforcement in the capital.
She was the 34-year-old mother and dental hygienist who apparently made a wrong turn outside the perimeter of the White House complex and didn’t live to tell about it. She was shot at numerous times at two different locations before five bullets struck her, including several in the back and the back of her head. Her 1-year-old daughter, strapped to her car seat, miraculously survived the volleys of rounds fire at the black Infiniti.
I know. You think maybe I’m obsessed with the shameful execution-style death of Miriam Carey. Maybe I am. I wish more people in this city were – especially those in Congress who have a responsibility for overseeing the governance of the District of Columbia.
But they are not. They don’t even seem to be concerned about the mini-police state atmosphere that has been created in the capital – all in the name of protecting the gilded princes of power.
It’s been eight months since Miriam Carey was killed.
There’s been no official explanation.
There’s been no meaningful report to the public.
There have been no charges filed against anyone.
No one has explained why police were so trigger-happy that day.
Yet, the press doesn’t seem to care, Congress doesn’t seem to care, and law enforcement keeps stalling in hopes the few of us who do care move on and forget about Miriam Carey and her daughter.
I won’t forget.
I have a very long memory.
I don’t want to see my wife or one of my daughters treated like Miriam Carey. I don’t want to see any American treated with such brutality and malice.
There’s no excuse for it.
I know terrorism is a reality in our country. I don’t dismiss the fact that elected officials need to be protected. But it’s also a fact that police knew Miriam Carey wasn’t a terrorist threat within minutes of their pursuit. I just want to see common sense and the rule of law prevail. I want to see justice done. I want to know that American citizens visiting their capital city are not treated like collateral damage in the battle to protect the anointed ones.
I hope you will join me in standing vigil for Miriam Carey, her daughter and other victims of reckless, inexcusable police misconduct.
Demand the truth. Speak up for Miriam Carey, who can no longer speak for herself. Speak up for her daughter who will never know her mother. Speak up for what is right. Speak up for the safety of the public who sometimes need protection from those to whom it is entrusted.
Read Joseph Farah’s previous columns on the killing of Miriam Carey:
Miriam Carey and the new police state
Rush to judgment killed Miriam Carey
Washington cops’ rules of engagement
The strange death of Miriam Carey
Where is Obama on Miriam Carey shooting?
Will Holder pursue Capitol Hill cops?
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].
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