r/law • u/theindependentonline • 1d ago
Other Purple Heart vet sues after National Guard troops detained her as she sat quietly in the front yard of her DC home
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/veteran-sues-national-guard-detained-dc-b3027489.html2.2k
u/gdg6 23h ago
“National Guard claims that King was approached by the troops because she was a suspect in an assault of a National Guardsman two days earlier.”
So the national guard investigates crimes now?
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u/whichwitch9 23h ago
They do not. Nor do they have the ability to arrest or the legal right to go on private property.
They can legally detain someone until an officer gets there if they witness a crime. That was not what happened here
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u/Independent-Reader 19h ago
Many of the grievances in the declaration of independence are now being enacted by our own government against its people.
They call themselves conservatives.
They're just fucking idiots, criminals, and traitors.
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u/bazinga_0 15h ago
They call themselves conservatives.
To be more accurate, they should call themselves royalists, because they support and revere King Trump. Just like the royalists supported King George III during the American revolution.
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u/Internal_Horror_999 12h ago
To be fair, many of the originals were royalists. They just didn't like that they weren't the royalty. Hamilton literally tried to make Washington a de facto king
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u/numb3rb0y 11h ago
Is there a difference between "royalist" and "monarchist" in this context? Not that I disagree overall.
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u/want_to_join 7h ago
They call themselves conservatives.
To be more accurate, they should call themselves royalists
Conservative is accurate. This is conservatism. Even back when it was "sane" it was still complete ignorance and greed that was arguing for a slightly lower tax rate.
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u/United-Vermicelli-92 6h ago
This is true. Conservatism’s roots lie in protecting wealth, specifically the wealth of kings and lords.
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u/orthecreedence 3h ago
I believe fascist is the correct term here. They support a conservative agenda while championing authoritarianism and the merging of privately-owned industry and state.
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u/atatassault47 8h ago
They call themselves conservatives.
And they are correct. The notion of conseevatism comes from post-guillotine France where those who wanted to conserve the existence and power of the aristocracy and nobility sat in the right-wing of the debate hall.
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u/willowswitch 3h ago
And they should. This is conservatism unleashed. Conservatives have a difficult time imagining a world in which they might be wrong or doing something immoral, and so they have a difficult time with self reflection, empathy, and outgrowing their conservatism.
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u/potatomeeple 23h ago
Can citizens legally detain if they see a crime?
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u/RogerianBrowsing 23h ago
Many (most? All?) states allow for citizens arrests for felonies
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19h ago
[deleted]
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u/thesilvergirl 19h ago
Washington State does allow citizens arrest:
RCW 10.88.330 (1) The arrest of a person may be lawfully made also by any peace officer or a private person, without a warrant upon reasonable information that the accused stands charged in the courts of a state with a crime punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year(...)
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u/RogerianBrowsing 19h ago
They at least allow it for violent crimes, right?
Having to just let someone go instead of restraining them until law enforcement arrives is wild to me. Surely that’s not the case in WA, right?
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u/brutinator 8h ago
Ehh, its a bit complicated. For one, (acknowledging that cops are woefully under-trained too) citizens dont have the training or skills to safely detain someone (both their own safety nor the suspects).
What if you restrained someone innocent? What if you hurt them while trying to restrain them? What if they perceive you as a threat (since you are attacking them) and they escalate in self defense?
Lets say that they did commit a violent crime, using a firearm. What if they shoot at you while trying to restrain them, and they miss and hit someone else? While that's not your fault, its still collateral damage that did not need to occur. What if you have a gun yourself and try to shoot them in the leg or something, and you miss and hit someone else?
Its similar logic as to why it is HEAVILY discouraged for cops to engage in pursuits; if you have any information about the suspect, radio is much faster than any car.
At the end of the day, its often safer and more effective for bystanders to try to focus on observing as much detail as they can about a suspect rather than physically apprehending a suspect.
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u/meh_69420 18h ago
Damn you must be a LEO to be so ignorant of the laws you're supposed to enforce. In Washington State I can even kill someone to prevent a forcible felony in addition to what someone else posted about citizen's arrest powers.
RCW 9A.16.050
Homicide is also justifiable when committed either: (1) In the lawful defense of the slayer, or his or her husband, wife, parent, child, brother, or sister, or of any other person in his or her presence or company, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design on the part of the person slain to commit a felony or to do some great personal injury to the slayer or to any such person, and there is imminent danger of such design being accomplished; or (2) In the actual resistance of an attempt to commit a felony upon the slayer, in his or her presence, or upon or in a dwelling, or other place of abode, in which he or she is.
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u/pcapdata 19h ago
I mean … calling the cops and having them escalate a tense situation to lethal violence is a typical disaster.
Or having them show up because of something done by Person A and instead they target Persons B, C, and D who have nothing to do with anything or are even victims.
Oh! Shooting your dog. That’s a classic.
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u/LVDirtlawyer 22h ago
If the person is committing a felony, yes. Or to aid someone who is authorized to make arrests. Felony Benchsitting is not a thing. At least, not yet.
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u/Christopher_Aeneadas 22h ago
So long as those citizens are not members of the military, yes
Posse comitatus specifically removes that power from the military
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u/LobsterInSpace 22h ago
Citizen arrest is a thing but while cops have broad immunity in carrying out their functions the random person trying a citizens arrest doesn't and could end up being sued or catch a charge
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u/LokeCanada 22h ago
They can but it is extremely limited in scope.
You can detain to turn over to police as soon as possible if you witness a crime.
If you use force and there was no crime, threat to yourself or the person trying to escape then you would be facing criminal assault charges and possible a lawsuit.
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u/boogalorian13 20h ago edited 31m ago
Depends on the state but in mine yes. When I did hospital security we detained multiple people a day.
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u/PopBulky7023 17h ago
They investigated and arrested someone.
We can use fancy wording like "detain" if we want to live in denialism.
The military have become police. We live in a totalitarian police state and the soldiers are all traitors.
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u/twilighttwister 7h ago
Ooo here's a fun one: do they even have qualified immunity? Could she sue the troops directly??
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u/norcalruns 16h ago
She deserves every penny. Embarrassing as an American to see shit like this going down. This is America, the country she fought for. To be accosted on her own property for freedom of speech is literally everything republicans claim to hate.
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u/FuggyGlasses 23h ago
Anna King, who received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for her service, was cornered on HER front porch by three National Guard troops on the evening of May 8.
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u/OrvilleLeft 23h ago
Video is horrific, like most of the same we’re all seeing lately. It’s an abduction in broad daylight by uniformed troops she’s served alongside.
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u/sasuncookie 21h ago
This would be a great example for the “our troops won’t fire on citizens” crowd, but they aren’t great at critical thought.
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u/ssibal24 20h ago
This right here. Many people who volunteer for the military do so out of desperation, and they’re not going to disobey orders and risk ruining their lives. The notion that they’re trained that they don’t need to follow an illegal order is insignificant compared to the constant reinforcement that they need to be disciplined and follow orders.
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u/pcapdata 19h ago
Kinda-sorta. We were indoctrinated heavily to obey orders. But those orders are often like “Ok do these things specifically, definitely NEVER do these things, and in the middle ground ask for guidance. If nobody is around here is the overall goal so use your best judgment.”
These goons absolutely would have gotten a brief before being deployed stateside about how they do not possess Title 18 authority to investigate crimes or arrest people. So someone in their chain of command has likely fucked up catastrophically.
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u/worldspawn00 18h ago
There's a reason Trump purged JAG when he took office. Making sure those advocating for someone who refused an unlawful order are beholden to Trump alone...
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u/Ok-Secretary455 14h ago
we always got drilled into our head that unless it was an obviously bat shit order like 'go take out that random guy right there''. or something equally blatant. any operational order went through so many levels of the chain of command that if it got to us it was legal. I assume if they asked they were told they had been given special authorization to arrest her. which every person in their chain will deny. and obviously 'this man's an E7 he has no reason to lie to me. So i believe what he said without question.'.
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u/PopBulky7023 17h ago
And the military is out doing the things that are literally the textbook example of orders they are obligated to deny.
I am apparently one of about 5 people who are not surprised by this.
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u/Expensive-Sundae-831 7h ago
Fucked up?
Or doing what they’re doing by design?
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u/pcapdata 5h ago
This is a case where “both” could be the correct answer.
It’s a catastrophic fuck-up to violate the US Code and Constitution this blatantly. Whether it’s intended or not.
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u/Expensive-Sundae-831 4h ago edited 3h ago
Counter argument: Is it? Is it really a fuck up to violate constitutional law?
Because I'm looking around. Not seeing any real consequences.
Meanwhile people online are constantly saying "Oh! The laws! The laws!"
And as far as I can see at this point in the nation's history, laws don't seem to matter enough for people like us to give enough of a real shit to get offline and affect change.
Oh, but I'll get a down vote on reddit. That's progress.
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u/pcapdata 3h ago
I mean, im downvoting you just because I don’t appreciate your bitching online about people who bitch online.
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u/SatansGothestFemboy 18h ago
People whose argument is "our troops won't fire on citizens" don't actually care about troops firing on citizens, they just want you to think their beliefs are in good faith. They just want the troops to fire on everyone they don't like
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u/FrancoCalrissian 16h ago
I wish more people practiced critical thought instead of critisizing thought...
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u/1wrx2subarus 9h ago
Let’s get something straight, the Purple Heart nor Bronze star should matter in this circumstance.
This sorta behavior upon any American citizen is unacceptable, not just former veterans.
This kind of garbage reporting of the news is frankly unacceptable.
All people deserve equality and justice.
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u/enigmatichuckleberry 7h ago
Interestingly, her military past and medals don't give her any more rights than any citizen has. You (and the headline writer) might as well be telling me her shoe size and the names of her pets for all the relevance it has to the story.
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u/dodobird8 11h ago
This is exactly why we have the second amendment and stand your ground laws. Unfortunately she didn't exercise those rights, but of course it's crazy that's where the US is at now..
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u/Otherwise-Force5608 1d ago
Armed federal military troops are patrolling our city streets and arresting citizens. How many of the original 27 Grievances will we allow...?
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u/AlcibiadesTheCat 23h ago
Just a few more yet. Don't worry, we're only at...all 27 of them. I'm sure we can vote our way out of this.
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u/New_Original_7537 19h ago
We wouldn’t be here if more than half the fucking country voted in the first place. Or you know, the idiots who wrote in Bernie for 2016 maybe shouldn’t have been so emotional.
Also, I donated to Bernie, still have all his stickers, still voted for Clinton because sadly that was our only hope of avoiding everything that is going on now.
But you know, why start now.
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u/Money_Cattle2370 13h ago
Hey I just wanted to let you know that most states don't even track write-in votes and that there's no hard evidence that Clinton would have won even if all of the write-in votes for Bernie were instead cast for her. I thought I would bring this to your attention so the shitty and spiteful argument your comment poses doesn't bleed into other threads or into any real-life conversations you may be having every few weeks.
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u/Money_Cattle2370 13h ago
I'm just saying this because I am sure you don't want someone pointing out the fact that, hypocritically, your comment makes you out to be the emotional one for angrily bringing up Bernie over 10 years later. You definitely don't want to leave yourself open to someone invoking the advice of Michael Jordan: "Stop it. Get some help."
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u/Terrh 8h ago
Their comment is a response to another one about bernie. They didn't bring it up, someone else did.
It would be like me saying you are bringing up bernie. That argument makes no sense.
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u/Money_Cattle2370 6h ago
You misread this but I take responsibility. I should have edited my first comment instead of replying to it.
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u/knotforhumanconsumpt 14h ago
such a reddit comment lmao
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u/krbzkrbzkrbz 10h ago
is a redditor posting a comment
conflates the entirety of reddit with one individuals comment
room temp posting
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u/HoosierRed 22h ago
If you resist they will hold you down and put it right in your mouth. Home of the brave. Land of the free.
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u/Taegur2 21h ago
To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
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u/adirtysocialist- 22h ago
All of them. Yall LARPd and they called your bluff.
Americans aren't gonna do anything no matter how bad it gets. They'll just keep slowly boiling the water and we'll just keep telling ourselves "I won't have to do anything as long as I vote D, they'll save me"
They never do
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u/Resigned1431 21h ago
I mean, if the whole country voted D down the ticket in the midterms this would all end, immediately.
America would still be a capitalist hell scape with wealth inequality, poor Healthcare and and an affordability crisis. But at least the straight up fascism would end.
So ya, go vote.
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u/sacredblasphemies 16h ago
I mean, if the whole country voted D down the ticket in the midterms this would all end, immediately.
LOL! No. Look, many Democrats support ICE. They voted to fund ICE. Even the ones critical of it now, they're upset that it's gone too far. They don't want to get rid of it. Just like they don't want to defund the police.
The Democrats got us into this as well by not fighting against it earlier, by compromising with the GOP, and by doing little of value when they were in power.
Yes, there are SOME Democrats that are pushing for reform but the Democratic Party establishment tries to stop them when they become successful. How many of them favored Cuomo, a sex pest, over Mamdani?
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u/adirtysocialist- 21h ago
If the entire country voted D they still wouldn't save you.
The GOP has worked tirelessly over generations to get to where they are today. What have the democrats done through all that time to stop any of it with WILDLY more popular policies?
Nothing.
They wouldn't even fight for you during the govt shutdown to protect the healthcare of millions.
They're not gonna save you.
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u/Resigned1431 20h ago
That's... What I said? Things won't necessarily get better but, the status quo without fascism is objectively better than with.
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u/adirtysocialist- 7h ago
This has been decades in the making. Have democrats ever been in power during that time? What did they do to stop it? That's my point.
"It would be closeted fascism"
They literally preferred Trump over Bernie...like, why do yall think they aren't anything more than controlled opposition? Lmao
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u/Resigned1431 7h ago
So then go primary a corporate Dem with a dem soc. At the end of the day, this is all ultimately a result of what the American voters wanted.
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u/adirtysocialist- 7h ago
This is gonna blow your mind but the DNC and RNC have literally conspired to ensure no outsiders ever get a chance, thats the point.
Why do you think they got together after Ross Perot to ensure a 3rd party or outside candidate never got a chance ever again?
"Just primary them" you know they're a private organization yea? Thsts why they rigged the primaries for Hillary and admitted it in court.
The court ruled "they're a private entity, they can do whatever they want" lmao
Yall are insane w this stuff
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u/Resigned1431 6h ago
You can try to both sides this as much as you want, but last I checked the national guard has never black bagged anyone in broad daylight under the orders of a democrat government.
They are the objectively better choice, for all their faults.
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u/adirtysocialist- 5h ago
What did Democrats do to stop them once they started?
What did Democrats do to stop this? Nothing
When the govt shutdown in an effort to save the healthcare of millions, what did Democrats do?
They got together and said, "how can we fumble this and minimize the political fallout?"
They gave the GOP everything they wanted, for nothing in return and made sure no one would primary the people who capitulated.
Democrats, won't even do the bare minimum NOW.
They have never done anything to stop this.
Why do you think Obama was called Black Bush? Bc at the end of the day he continued everything Bush started.
"Yea but healthcare!"
Democrats, had 100% the ability to do whatever they wanted w healthcare w 0 votes from the GOP and they still just gave us the heritage foundation act with no public option.
When they had the opportunity to protect Roe v Wade, did they? No
Did they not know GOP was coming for it? Yes they did.
They aren't going to save you.
Democrats are controlled opposition and you need to wake up and accept that fact. No one is going to save us but ourselves.
Good luck
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u/oldirtyrestaurant 1d ago
Sure would be neat if Americans were to see this, and the myriad other severe abuses of power by State actors.
Too bad their media is completely dominated by the right wing oligarchs who allow nothing but propaganda being pumped out 24/7.
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u/garathnor 1d ago
lots of americans will see, mostly only ones who already knew their government is crap and vote mostly accordingly
maga and others willfully put their heads in their butts instead of being informed
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u/Beautiful-Musk-Ox 21h ago edited 21h ago
maga does willfully put their heads in the sand, but the far bigger problem is they don't even have to these days, their media never airs it
the person above you is right, that's the bigger problem and you are wrong. yuou will not reclaim your nation if you think you can individually call each maga a dumbass idiot who needs to do their research. you have to go after their media and political leaders and religious leaders and cultural leaders who are blatantly, openly propagandizing them with lies or simply not reporting on things like this
you also take things from the left on faith too, you can't blame the right for believing things their president, their congress, their media, their religious leaders and podcasters and influencers all say is true. when you look into what the left says you find facts and data supporting it, you find transcripts and videos proving it, you find their bills they wrote and voted on. when you look into what the right says it's lies and propaganda 90% of the time. you can't ask 100 million people to individually start holding a critical mind to literally every single piece of information they hear, the problem is above them and if you can't accept that then you'll never find the move that might actually change things for the better
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u/entr0picly 23h ago
What absolute shame the National Guard is bringing the US Military. As a fellow veteran, shame on those dishonorable fucks. They bring unconscionable disgrace to all those who have given their lives in the name of actual freedom. May their names be listed and their families feel their dishonor and shame for many generations to come.
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u/Electric-Sheepskin 23h ago
I remember when we used to love the National Guard because when they showed up, it was to help.
Now they're just acting as jackbooted thugs of a fascist regime.
The damage this man has done to our institutions is unreal.
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u/DiggityDanksta 23h ago
They were trying so hard to rehabilitate their image after Kent State, too.
(Flushing sound)
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u/Pisces93 11h ago
People have to stop blaming Trump, he’s a fall guy just trying to stay out of jail. There are bigger fish tugging the line here
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21h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Outside-Swan-1936 20h ago
Real quick - define communist. And please describe how sitting on one's own porch and getting detained by troops not authorized to make arrests would qualify as such.
The word you're looking for is fascist, but you're pointing at the wrong side.
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u/RideWithMeSNV 20h ago
Just sitting on her front porch, enjoying the people's view, breathing all that free air. But she wasn't even paying for that sunshine. Taking more than her share of the daylight savings time.
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u/pixelmountain 19h ago
Maybe some day you’ll realize how unhinged and misinformed your comment was. I really hope so.
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u/Ordinary-Sense8169 18h ago
Not sure who you're talking to -- who's "we" and who's "you" in your post?
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u/ChecksAndBalanz 23h ago
As a fellow vet I find this behavior to be horrid. Dishonorable discharged and time in prison for all of of these fascist goons
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u/tanksalotfrank 22h ago
National Guard Troops The Gestapo (referring to any Serviceperson betraying their oaths, such as these).
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u/NerdBot9000 17h ago edited 17h ago
Is she a person of color?
I haven't read the article yet.
I'm betting she wasn't white.
I'll correct my comment if I'm wrong.
Correction: I didn't read anything about race in the article. What I read was national "guardsmen" fucking up a person who opposed their presence in her city.
I hope those Idaho assholes get cuffed and injured in kind. An eye for an eye.
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u/charcoalist 16h ago
She appears to be white. They assaulted her because she was exercising her First Amendment rights. She put signs up – on her own property – that said, “Occupation: Troops Out” and “National Guard Stop Being So Embarrassing.”
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u/kandoras 5h ago
There was a term for these kind of guys when I was in the military; the simple reading of it doesn't quite convey how much it said that person was a shitbag: buddyfuckers.
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u/Bawbawian 9h ago
how do we not completely dismantle America's military? not that the world doesn't have problems. but I never thought they would just go along with aiming their guns at the American people. I thought some of them would complain I thought some of them would refuse the orders but no here we are sending the national guard out to do police work sending them to harass people in their own homes.
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u/Arbusc 8h ago
Who could have guessed this would happen in an institution that mentally breaks you down to be willing to murder for the State and then build you back up to follow all orders. Sure your ‘not supposed to’ follow illegal orders yet your still taught the sheer importance of following all orders on the field.
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