The Miriam Carey scandal illustrated

As Barack Obama was delivering his State of the Union Address, a 68-year-old man led Capitol Police on a high-speed chase through the streets of Washington, nearly hitting officers, refusing to stop for almost eight minutes.

When he finally did, he was tackled to the ground, handcuffed, frisked for weapons and released.

I would like you to compare the treatment of this suspect in a robbery to the way Miriam Carey, a dental assistant and mother with her 1-year-old in tow who was not suspected of any crimes. She was killed in a hail of police gunfire after apparently making a wrong turn near a White House barricade in October 2013.

There's a lot of noise out there across the country about excessive force by police, the militarization of the police, the federalization of the police and racial profiling by police.

What I don't understand is why no one – Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, liberals, blacks, whites – seems to be the least bit interested in why Miriam Carey was killed in what could be legitimately described as a public execution.

The behavior of police in her case is not just questionable, it's scandalous. There's been a major, official cover-up of the details – perhaps to keep a lid on the potential for outrage. Yet, the very people who have enflamed passions in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York – like Eric Holder and Obama – have systematically buried the facts and the truth of what happened to Miriam Carey.

How is it that one suspect, evading the police at high speeds in the nation's capital, not only lives to tell the story, but is let go without even being arrested, while another non-suspect in any crime is simply gunned down on a public street when her vehicle, never approaching high speeds, is stopped?

I don't get it.

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And I don't understand why no one – no constituency from civil libertarians to limited government activists to those promoting hysteria over black victimization – is up in arms about Miriam Carey. Why am I seemingly alone in experiencing sleepless nights over this unfortunate victim of excessive force by the Capitol Police? Why is WND the only news organization that has relentlessly and unceasingly covered this story?

Last May, there was another incident at the White House checkpoint: An unauthorized driver followed a presidential family motorcade inside the complex – and lived to tell about it!

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 confusion, survived this incident confirms the shocking death of Miriam Carey at the hands of Capitol Police was a ghastly overreaction.

The 34-year-old mother was fired at numerous times at least 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 directed 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 16 months since Miriam Carey was killed.

There's been no real official explanation.

There's been no mea culpa.

There's been no meaningful report to the public.

There have been no charges filed against anyone.

There's been no release of videotapes.

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.

Why am I so preoccupied about this? 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.

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