There's a thing I'm seeing.
Jun. 15th, 2016 09:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselking(cw: domestic abuse and the Orlando masssacre)
I keep seeing people calling for the ex-wife of the Orlando shooter to be charged as an accessory because she knew he'd talked about killing all those people and tried to convince him not to do it, but didn't call the cops.
That's..... so not good. Not good at all. Should she have done something different? MAYBE - but there's a critical point here I want to address.
You're asking the abused ex-wife, of a violent, armed man, who has committed no crime yet, to call the cops on him?
You know what's going to happen, right? They're going to show up and talk to him, maybe bring him into the station, maybe hold him for a few hours, and then they're going to release him. Because he's committed no crime, yet, and he's got a job in law enforcement, and he's presumably smart enough to deny or downplay her claims. And then, this armed, violent man, with a history of violence against his ex-wife, where she's his ex because he abused her? He's going to go over to her house to "address" why it was she called the cops on him.
And then she's going to die.
And she's going to die without knowing if he was ever REALLY serious about his ranting murder plans.
Other possibilities: The FLORIDA police show up and, having been informed that a non-white man is armed and dangerous, kill him in front of her, because these are AMERICAN POLICE. And she's not white, either - they'll likely kill her, too. Again, without her knowing if he's actually making plans or just making disturbing threats.
The only way "she calls the cops" works out is if he repeats his threats to the police, while in custody. And that's the LEAST likely result, damn near impossible, requires that he basically *try* to go to jail. The most likely result is "he's released, and she's dead", the next is "both he and she die", possible is "the police ignore it and do nothing". To actually stop the massacre by calling the cops on him requires pigs to fly.
Should she have done it anyway, given hindsight? Well, sure, I think had she known then what she knows now, she probably should have, and then fled for her life to avoid him when the police released him, secure in the knowledge that he's going to be arrested or dead in days. But that's hindsight. I *understand* why she didn't, and I'm deeply fucking uncomfortable with the idea of charging one of this man's victims with his crimes, because as a WoC she didn't trust American cops and didn't want his abuse to escalate against her.
EDIT: I'm leaving the original as-written, but it's been pointed out to me that I misunderstood. The abused ex-wife is NOT the woman being questioned and possibly charged, that's his current wife. Still, take what I wrote above and substitute "a woman who knows he's armed, making homicidal statements, and that his previous wife divorced him because he abused her" for "a direct victim of abuse, that we know of" and my larger point still stands.
I keep seeing people calling for the ex-wife of the Orlando shooter to be charged as an accessory because she knew he'd talked about killing all those people and tried to convince him not to do it, but didn't call the cops.
That's..... so not good. Not good at all. Should she have done something different? MAYBE - but there's a critical point here I want to address.
You're asking the abused ex-wife, of a violent, armed man, who has committed no crime yet, to call the cops on him?
You know what's going to happen, right? They're going to show up and talk to him, maybe bring him into the station, maybe hold him for a few hours, and then they're going to release him. Because he's committed no crime, yet, and he's got a job in law enforcement, and he's presumably smart enough to deny or downplay her claims. And then, this armed, violent man, with a history of violence against his ex-wife, where she's his ex because he abused her? He's going to go over to her house to "address" why it was she called the cops on him.
And then she's going to die.
And she's going to die without knowing if he was ever REALLY serious about his ranting murder plans.
Other possibilities: The FLORIDA police show up and, having been informed that a non-white man is armed and dangerous, kill him in front of her, because these are AMERICAN POLICE. And she's not white, either - they'll likely kill her, too. Again, without her knowing if he's actually making plans or just making disturbing threats.
The only way "she calls the cops" works out is if he repeats his threats to the police, while in custody. And that's the LEAST likely result, damn near impossible, requires that he basically *try* to go to jail. The most likely result is "he's released, and she's dead", the next is "both he and she die", possible is "the police ignore it and do nothing". To actually stop the massacre by calling the cops on him requires pigs to fly.
Should she have done it anyway, given hindsight? Well, sure, I think had she known then what she knows now, she probably should have, and then fled for her life to avoid him when the police released him, secure in the knowledge that he's going to be arrested or dead in days. But that's hindsight. I *understand* why she didn't, and I'm deeply fucking uncomfortable with the idea of charging one of this man's victims with his crimes, because as a WoC she didn't trust American cops and didn't want his abuse to escalate against her.
EDIT: I'm leaving the original as-written, but it's been pointed out to me that I misunderstood. The abused ex-wife is NOT the woman being questioned and possibly charged, that's his current wife. Still, take what I wrote above and substitute "a woman who knows he's armed, making homicidal statements, and that his previous wife divorced him because he abused her" for "a direct victim of abuse, that we know of" and my larger point still stands.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-15 02:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-15 02:22 pm (UTC)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mateen
(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-15 04:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-15 04:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-15 04:40 pm (UTC)My larger point still stands: This is a scary damn guy, according to his co-workers and his family. It would be genuinely shocking to me if his new wife wasn't at least a little afraid of what would happen if she called the cops on him.
But you're right, this isn't the ex-wife who divorced him because of his violent abuse.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-16 08:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-15 04:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-15 08:01 pm (UTC)