Okinawa Government Concerned About Viral Video Showing Military Police Bodyslamming American Tourist
The American tourist was a former Marine Captain visiting Okinawa who was out past curfew which the military police had no jurisdiction over. The civilian could have defused the situation by showing his ID as requested, but when he refused the MP should not have body slammed him. I wonder if an assault charge could be filed with the Japanese police?:
Two Okinawa government officials urged caution amid a review of street patrols by U.S. military police in nightlife districts following a viral video of a U.S. civilian’s violent arrest. Two videos totaling four minutes show what appears to be a U.S. military police officer body slamming a man in civilian clothes onto the sidewalk along Gate 2 Street in Okinawa city outside Kadena Air Base early on Nov. 23. A patrol consisting only of U.S. military police stopped the civilian outside a bar in Okinawa city, according to U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Air Force Col. John Severns by email Wednesday. The civilian was not connected with the U.S. military, he said.
USFJ commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost ordered unilateral patrols by the U.S. military paused while an investigation of the incident takes place, Severns said. In neighboring Chatan town, Mayor Masashi Toguchi told reporters Thursday that “mistaken detentions like this should never happen, and we strongly urge a careful response,” a town spokesman said by phone Friday.
You can read more at the link, but what is even more concerning is that this MP was saying they can detain Japanese civilians if they wanted to. Clearly some retraining needs to happen. You would think simple things like who you can and cannot detain or body slam would have been clearly understood before sending these MPs out on patrol.
Arguing with men with guns never ends well. I have little sympathy for fools who tempt fate. A former Marine Captain of all people should have known better.
It is 100% not anybody’s duty to tell town patrol jack shìt (unless they are subject to the rules of town patrol).
Giving in to their illegal demands just empowers them to make even larger and more illegal demands.
Anybody remeber why Osan town patrol got their pistols taken away?
Resistance to overreach is the only thing that limits overreach. And the more traumatic it is for those overreaching, the better anf longer-lasting limit it is.
Compliance with the petty demands of petty tyrants will eventually see you used as a a lab rat for connected pharmaceutical companies to test their concoctions while your middle class lifestyle is intentionally eroded.
…but that could never happen, right?
@Chickenhead you are bringing back memories of the Osan Shakedown Scandal.
Ah, the event I am referring to is years after that.
The music shop owner who had been there for decades was unloading music equipment from his vehicle in front of his shop long after curfew when suddenly the biggest priority of town pratrol was anti-terrorism enforcement.
Suddenly he was being dogpiled.
A few locals saw this as a bit unjust and things escalated from there.
Town patrol always had an 18 month institutional memory and cycled between disiplined “To Protect and Serve” and “We don’t just run the Ville, we own it!” (Their written quote, not mine.)
Lesson: If you are right, there is video, and you can take an àsskicking, never comply with the bullshìt demands of petty tyrants.
Did nobody learn how to deal with bullies by the first half of elementary school?
There’s a time and place for non-compliance with bullshit. Risking escalation when clearly in a disadvantaged position over minor bs is not something I would ever recomend.
And maybe I’m too cynical after news story after story where they selectively edit videos to portray one side as completely innocent, but I’m jaded enough to suspect it there was generally bad behavior on the retired officer’s part that did not help.
There are several issues here which should not be confused.
– What battles do you choose?
– Was he completely innocent?
– What does compliance mean?
– What are the duties, rights, and authority of everyone involved?
Should this battle have been chosen?
That depends on a personal risk and reward assessment. I sleep well knowning that I’m not a little pansy-àss wuss giving in to every bully with a demand. On the flipside, I have wussed out like a 7 year-old with a skinned knee many times in life when the penalty for doing what was right was far greater than the benefit.
In this case, based on what we know, his action was legally and morally correct. His penalty was a bit of roughhousing. There will be some backend payoff that we will never know about. I would completely have done the same thing. And with a camera running, I would have hissed smack about all their mothers never having time for me when BLM is in town.
Was he completely innocent?
Absolutely. He was not violating any sort of curfew that did not apply to him in any way. Was he a dìck? Doesn’t matter. He has no obligation to be cooperative or polite to bored and petty tyrants making illegal demands. If he was engaged in a real crime, it is a job for Japanese police and there are many ways town patrol can legally assist them.
Ethically, it is incorrect to have the attitude of “well, he was innocent for that but he was guilty of something” but we all love to see career criminals go down even if it is through unrelated charges or legal trickery.
But there is no indication this guy was anything more than a civilian American tourist having a good time and uninterested in whatever internal silliness goes on in the War on Curfew.
What does compliance mean?
It would have absolutely been easier to show a passport. But military guys have passports too and have even used them to beat town patrol. So maybe the hassle ends there. Maybe it doesn’t. Not his issue.
If you comply with every demand put upon you, it will never end. You owe it to yourself as a man and you owe it to your civilization as a citizen to show there are limits to the power over you. The people with demands don’t understand limits unless they are forced upon them.
What are the duties, rights, and authority of everyone involved?
The victim has no duty to interact with town patrol. He has the right to ignore them. They legally cannot detain, block movement, require answers, or compel cooperation. They can only call the Japanese police who might be able to do this… if there is a crime… and violating American military curfew is not a crime.
Checkmate.
Bonus: This also applies to active duty out after curfew as well.
This is the SOFA Zone Law Enforcement Paradox.
Town patrol has authority over service memebers but there is no lawful way to distinguish them without ID and it is illegal for town patrol to compel identification off the military base.
The entire town patrol scam works because of ignorance, cooperation, and soft power.
What town patrol can do is watch for the guy to come back on base in the morning, check CCTV, ask around like a real cop, etc. And then they are screwed.
The entire system relies on self-enforcement and fear of concequences rather than legal authority.
GI Dumdum has to do a personal risk assessment. Show ID and face the concequences or tell them to fùck off and maybe walk or maybe face worse concequence.
We have see guys respond all across this spectrum with varying levels of success.
Town patrol goes through cycles where they know these rules and work well within them, both doing their job and not overstepping.
Then they get lazy, forgetful, ambitious, egotistical, and untrained, and see their easiest tool is a big hammer and every interaction is with worthless little nails.