More nutty veteran BS
Pat sends us a link to the story of a veteran, William Everett Alemar, 23, who was arrested for running near a school in his ballistic armor and “committing a terroristic act” in Martinsburg, WV on Monday, the first day of school there.
Martinsburg Patrol Officers Michael Jones, Craig Richmond and Erik Herb encountered the man in the area of Silver Lane and South Raleigh Street “in full military desert camouflage and ballistic vest and with what appeared to be an assault rifle across his chest,” Swartwood said in the news release.
After engaging him at gunpoint, the officers ordered the man to his knees and then to the prone position before seizing an AR-15 (M-4) training rifle from him, according to the news release.
Swartwood said Monday night that the rifle has the look and feel of one that shoots bullets, but it shoots pellets. Two knives and several unloaded magazines also were found in the man’s possession, according to the news release.
So he’s being held on a $50,000 bond. The real story, we got from his First Sergeant, is that Billy is training for Ranger School, and was out running with an Airsoft rifle, and for that they toss his ass is jail.
“The primary concern for the police department was that subject’s proximity to the area schools — Martinsburg High School, South Middle — when he was first located off Bulldog Boulevard,” Swartwood said.
No explosives were found in a search of the man’s apartment Monday afternoon, but additional military equipment and a training pistol, similar to the rifle in its function, were found and seized as evidence, police said.
So basically, they really have nothing on him. And they knew that as soon as they saw that he had a fake rifle, yet they still arrested him. I completely understand that they confronted him at gun point and cuffed him, but as soon as they discovered there was no threat to the community, they should have let him go.
I’ve attempted to contact Billy on Facebook to get his side of the story, since the media isn’t being a help with their headline “Armed man wearing military camo, ballistic vest arrested near Martinsburg schools”. Technically, it’s correct since he was carrying two knives, but they make it sound as if he had a firearm.
Alemar is assigned to the Woodstock, Va.-based Company B, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Virginia National Guard, West Virginia National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. David P. Lester said Monday night.
Alemar deployed to Iraq from July 1 to Dec. 6, 2011, with Company D, 3-116th, and was assigned to Task Force 183 for convoy security duty, according to Lester.
His First sergeant spoke highly of Billy, and TSO (who knows Billy’s 1SG, adds that the 1SG usually hates everyone. So I guess that’s a pretty good testimony as to his character.
I’ve contacted the police department, but Barney Fife misplaced his bullet and the whole department is out looking for it now.
ADDED: The only thing I can find in the Martinsburg City ordinances that is even remotely related to this is their prohibition of having weapons ON THE PREMISES of an educational facility;
545.09 POSSESSING DEADLY WEAPONS ON PREMISES OF EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Former Section 545.09 which was derived from West Virginia Code 61-7-11a is no longer included in the Codified Ordinances. By Acts 1995 Chapter 90, the West Virginia Legislature reclassified such offense as a felony. Charges for possessing deadly weapons on premises of educational facilities should now be filed under state law.)
Nothing about having a gun NEAR THE PREMISES of schools.
And that “military gear” they seized from his apartment; I guess they couldn’t add one and one to figure out that he’s in the National Guard and would probably have “military gear” stashed in his home, could they?
Category: Dumbass Bullshit, Veterans Issues
For the record, that was the company that I served in Afghanistan with.
And I’ve done the same thing (minus the airsoft gun) as recently as April, when I ran by a school in khaki’s with a IBA and pack on every day for weeks.
Many many years ago, on an o’dark thirty ruck march, while on leave, one of my guys was stopped by the police. At 0300 humping a ruck in a neighborhood… the questioning made sense and the cops were cool. If this happened today? Again, the society-military disconnect grows larger and the veteran will ultimately suffer.
I know only 3 police officers that are Vets. 2 are local po-po and 1 is a state trooper. One of the locals is an Afghanistan Vet who just got back from his second tour and a really good kid. He was working on Memorial Day when we had our annual program and he was the LEO rep. Afterward, we were all together BSing and he fit right in with the rest of the smartasses. I brought that up in order to add an observance; the tally of Vets that are on police forces throughout the country seems to be getting smaller all the time. If one, or both, of those police officers were Vets; would they have understood the situation, after determining the “weapon” was a fake and let the young man go about his business? Would they have mentioned that it might be a good idea to ditch the “weapon” to continue his training so that he wouldn’t run into this situation again?
Perhaps a momentary lapse of judge on both parties? Couldn’t Armor find a more suitable place for training – such as a military base? The cop failed to comprehend that a soldier from a nearby base is working out? I would think this is a common occurrence, but Barney Fife had other thoughts.
For those of you who responded, is working out on base a viable option? If the cops cannot comprehend the workout, running and training required for our soldiers, do you honestly think civilians would be understanding? The more I read these stories, I honestly feel it really is “US” against “THEM.”
This wasn’t far from where I live, and I’m a little surprised at the reaction of the police in this neck of the woods. Then again, as someone who feels like he about had to have his ruck surgically removed after so many years in the Infantry, I’m also not sure the training value of carrying an airsoft rifle. Not being an airsofter, I’m hard pressed to believe that the weight is in any way comparable to an M4…but maybe I’m wrong.
During my stint teaching ROTC, I always notified campus PD before we rucked around in full kit. I’m sure there’s a book of rules against even doing that now.
Boy these guys would be scared shitless at around say 0600 on Ft Benning. Funny my daughter always took comfort seeing guys in BDU’s running around when she was in school. Guess it’s true what they, it does depend on your upbringing.
#4 the soldier that was out training is in the national guard so he does not have a base that he is stationed on.
stuff like this just makes me shake my head. i am sure the soldier explained himself, but they went a ahead and arrested him. the airsoft rifle may have been unnecessary, but it is in no way worth arresting him for. and airsoft guns have to have an orange tip to differentiate them from real firearms, so i am sure the cops noticed that and disregarded it as well.
CI
Some airsoft guns are made out of metal, my son has an M16 knock off that has pretty comparable weight….still, I don’t think I’d run off post with one but that should have only been a minor “oopsie, I won’t do it again” and that should have been the end of it…
OT – Thanks for the info…I don’t think I’ve ever held and airsoft rifle…I always figured they were of the plastic variety.
The question I would ask is, did the servicemember properly ID himself to the authorities immediately? I would hope so and if he did then the police department owes this young man a sincere and complete apology.
Living near Quantico, this kind of stuff is common in our neighborhood. I remember one time seeing a guy running in body armor and wearing a promask. My first reaction wasn’t terrorist, but that the Marines haven’t yet figured out the fine line between hard and stupid.
TSO, you know the soldier’s former BDE commander, too.
PO_TOM: there aren’t exactly a lot of military installations in the vicinity of Martinsburg, WV, other than National Guard armories. Those tend to be a few acres in size; it’s kinda hard to do much rucksack marching on a compound that small. Also, often members of the Reserves and National Guard don’t live on or near military installations. They live in the civilian community – because they’re civilians when not serving on active duty.
Looks to me like this guy was training near his residence for a physically arduous military training course which he’d apparently been selected to attend. However, if you’re willing to fund his living expenses and support his family for a few weeks, as well as make up his lost wages during the same time frame, after this he just might be willing to continue his training at some military installation in another location (the nearest one seems to be Fort Detrick, MD). Otherwise, that’s not exactly a viable option if he needs to make a living.
I’m wondering if this guy has a decent wrongful arrest suit. As much as I hate to say this: if he’s got a good lawsuit, I hope he files it. Then settles for actual damages, attorney’s fees, a very public apology, and at a minimum written reprimands for the police officers involved.
The reason I hope he files a suit is that based on what’s been made public this really seems to be egregiously foolish, over-the-top behavior on the part of the police. The initial stop was justified. However, once they determined he didn’t have a firearm and confirmed his story, continuing with an arrest and throwing him in jail appears to have been nothing less than a thoroughly stupid abuse of authority – as well as the man’s civil rights.
Just where should a member of the Guard store his gear? And how long does the local PD plan to keep it??
Stupid beyond belief. Yeah, running around with something which looks like a weapon at a distance is not the best choice in a college town during the first week of school, but in the greater scheme of things hardly a lapse in judgement worthy of a quick trip to jail either.
Bobo #11, according to Martinsburg’s city ordinances, he could have been arrested for wearing a pro-mask. But he wasn’t wearing one.
I fail to see what the “terroristic act” was. Being in “Battalion” of only 40-50 active duty grunts all of the rank of SFC or higher we go by big boy rules, so I do my PT from my house. Luckily I have never been stoped while doing an IBA run through my neighberhood. Granted I don’t carry an airsoft or real rifle with me.
Hondo; I doubt he can sue, because the charge of “committing a terroristic act” is ambiguous by design so they can pretty much fling poo against the wall and get something to stick. I can legally walk down the street with my AR slung on my shoulder (I have my carry permit which covers “assault” rifles, too), however, I can be arrested by the po-po and charged with disturbing the peace simply because someone gets upset at the sight of me walking down the street carrying the rifle.
Ugh, thanks Bobo, you had to bring him into it.
I will say this though, I bet he is fighting for his troop in this instance. Well, maybe not bet, but I would certainly hope he is.
1SGB, is my namesake fighting for him.
Old Trooper: From WEST VIRGINIA CODE, §61-6-24.
(3) “Terrorist act” means an act that is:
(A) Likely to result in serious bodily injury or damage to property or the environment; and
(B) Intended to:
(i) Intimidate or coerce the civilian population;
(ii) Influence the policy of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion;
(iii) Affect the conduct of a branch or level of government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iv) Retaliate against a branch or level of government for a policy or conduct of the government.
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/wvcode/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=61&art=6§ion=24
Walking on a public street in military gear carrying a simulated weapon while conducting individual physical training for Ranger school does not qualify under West Virginia law as a “terrorist act”. It is not likely to injure, damage property, or the environment; and it is in no way intended to intimidate or coerce, to influence policy, to affect government conduct or operations, or to retaliate against the government. It is exercise – plain and simple.
IMO, he has a damn good suit. And the Martinsburg PD best hope he doesn’t go there.
My ROTC unit used to get the College cops called out on us occasionally. We’d be out with rubber M-16s, practicing squad battle drills or patrolling in one of the university owned parks. After the first incident or two, we learned that a call ahead to the campus cops (or even a training schedule) alleviated the issue.
I agree with #4, a little stupid on both sides and excusable to a degree. The cops are on high alert after the Aurora theatre incident (and others). I can’t imagine they want that to happen on their watch. So, they respond with caution. Hey, no problem to me.
The soldier was just out training, but didn’t think that anybody would find it weird that a man with a rifle and military gear would draw this kind of attention close to a school?
The arrest, after the figured out what he was doing? Just plain stupid.
KenWats: if he’d actually gone onto the school’s campus, I’d agree he was being quite stupid. However, since school has until very recently been out of session, if he doesn’t have kids he probably never even noticed he was walking in front of a school – particularly if he was humping hard and/or fatigued at that point. My guess is the guy is a youngster who doesn’t have school-age kids.
I agree with your assessment of the PD’s actions. Initially justified, but after they figured out what he was doing – muy estúpido.
Is it me, or are there an increased number of police/veteran interactions recently where we don’t get the benefit of the doubt?
I’m not usually a tinfoil hat type, but I feel like the police agencies are starting to perceive members of the military as a threat until proven otherwise. I’m not old enough to remember Viet Nam and it’s aftermath, but I do know my history. This is how it starts.
yeah don’t be a knucklehead. if you really feel the need to go running with anything that looks like an assault rifle in this day n age you oughtta paint that shit orange
@21: It seems like that recalled memo, plus media scrutiny blabbering that every nutbar that shoots up a theatre or mall is a crazed Vet with an AK-47, before they get to the truth, has added to the problem and perception by law enforcement that anyone in cammies is a bad guy, unless it’s a police SWAT team, of course. It might, also, have to do with what I mentioned earlier about the percentage of LEOs that are Vets, these days.
@22: It doesn’t mention whether the airsoft had the orange tip on it, which is supposed to be mandatory. Also, once the intent and ID were verified, he should have been released to continue on.
This is a problem with the entire US/THEM mentality of many police forces these days. When I was a kid I knew every cop patrolling my neighborhood and they knew me. Nowadays the cops have no f#cking idea who lives in the neighborhoods they patrol because they never patrol the same area more than a couple of times a month. They don’t know when someone is leaving a house with a TV if it’s people moving out or robbers cleaning the place out…because they don’t know who belongs and who doesn’t in any neighborhood.
I am fortunate that my volunteer work brings me into contact with the police, so the chief and several officers know who I am and where I live. Others who just go to work each day and mind their business are not so fortunate, the cops don’t them and they don’t know the cops. It makes every interaction between the police and the civilians they are “serving and protecting” more difficult.
At least here in Fairfax County, the Cops are mostly National Gaurd/Reserve MP’s from the Army, or SF’s from the Air Force! They don’t freak out when I hump my Rick and plate carrier around. They actually wave, or yell about good training.
Drifting away from community policing means the police don’t know who belongs or doesn’t belong in any specific neighborhood they patrol. The police in our town have no idea who lives on what street, because they often don’t patrol the same neighborhoods anymore. When I was a kid all the police in my neighborhood knew who belonged and who didn’t, it is very different now.
I am lucky because I have worked with the chief to write some grants for donations to a youth sports program and we use the police to train our adult volunteers in CPR. So they know who I am and where I live…
This kid was training, and the police had no idea he lived nearby. Stopping him makes good sense. The arresting, not so much. Had they know who belonged and who didn’t this whole incident takes a different flavor.
When I became a cop after my time in the Corps depts in Ca were recruiting vets heavily. LAPD even had a recruiting office at Horno Area on Camp Pendleton, you couldn’t swing a dead cat in the briefing room without hitting a Nam vet. Now it’s like common sense has gone out the window. I look around at some of the cops and deputies in the Helena area and see what appear to be pimple faced 12 yr olds.
I know Prince William PD is seriously over strength with Veterans who are applying to be LEO’s… They can’t hold Academy’s FAST ENOUGH to meet the demand. I am applying to Vienna, Virginia PD to see if I can get in.
@26: I hear ya. One of my good friends, who was gunned down by a scumbag, was a door gunner in Vietnam. He became my friend after several youthful run-ins (nothing malicious, just kids being kids) and when I told him I had joined the Army, he, and a couple of the other Vets that were on the force started telling stories of their time in, etc. They were cops who knew their town or area and the people in it. They treated you like a kid brother or sister and you could trust them. They would give you a pass on some stuff, but if you were really out of line, they didn’t hesitate to drop the hammer on you, either. In this instance, they would have talked to him, told him what he should do to avoid any further incidents and send him on his way.
The whole thing reminds me of a scene in the Wire.
Off. James ‘Jimmy’ McNulty: [to a patrolman who has given someone a ticket at the urging for more arrests] Baker, Let me let you in on a little secret, The patrolling officer on his beat is the one true dictatorship in America, we can lock a guy up on the humble, lock him up for real, or say f*** it and drink ourselves to death under the expressway and our side partners will cover us, No one – I mean no one – tells us how to waste our shift!
And apparently, no one tells the DA how to waste their time either. Some of the followup articles have said that the DA is claiming he was “severely intoxicated” when arrested. Really? If he’s drunk and out with a rucksack and ballistic armor exercising, then he’s a better man than I. Should give him a certificate of achievement rather than arrest him. If he was “severely intoxicated” and not fatigued, that should be relatively easy to determine with a breath-a-lyzer, right?
@Hondo (#20)-
Agree with your earlier reply, although if Cad-Idiots can figure out that walking around in BDU/Kevlar/Ruck/Rubber Duck (showing my age) scares the populace and results in the SWAT team, then I’d expect more from an experienced soldier (mostly joking ;).
This is one of those cases of disconnect between civilians and the military that was being discussed the other day.
Not even cops go jogging around the neighborhood in full body armor when they are in training, and wouldn’t even give it any consideration if a soldier told them that was what he was doing. Straight into the klink he’d go, for sure.
It’s cold comfort, but we have the same problem with the crusty old ranchers in our area, showing up in town with a hog-leg strapped to their hip, only to have to deal with wary city officers answering a “MAN WITH A GUN!!” call. It’s pathetic to say this, but we have folks in Montana who wouldn’t know a ranch if they drove over a cattle gate on the way to the ranch house.
My advice is for soldiers to either a) leave all the hardware at home when they go running, or b) find a very private place to train. There’s no pounding sense into the senseless ignorant ones among us, unfortunately, so it’now a case of CYA.
The gap between civilians related to military and not related to military is wide and growing wider.
Personally, I would know the area well enough to NOT run anywhere near a school. Take a longer route. And I would NEVER carry anything that looks remotely like a weapon, especially in view of the twitchiness that people have now, the result of the most recent random shootings. Seriously, there was a blast in a subway tunnel in New York City yesterday that simply went wrong, but people nearby rightly thought it might have been another attack, as in 9/11/01. So, while the police may have over-reacted, I think they’re just trying to do their job.
There’s something else: most city and suburban people not connected to the military in any way are dumber than socks on an elephant about things that you and I take for granted. They get freaked out if it rains, for pete’s sake. They go to a farmer’s market and stand around with their arms folded — look, but don’t touch, it might have germs. They don’t wear seasonal-appropriate clothing in winter because it messes up their ‘look’, and complain because it’s cold and there’s slush in the gutters. They don’t understand why they’re attacked and robbed walking home alone at 2AM. They are the post-1990s version of yuppies and they all have brains the size of a pea, and none of them live in the real, hard, dusty, down-to-earth world that the rest of us live in.
Strange thinking ? LOEs ordered tomake the arrest? It is a election year. Not a crazy vet then we will make up charges to cover our illegal arrest. I can make up stupid shit too.
Not for nothing but Martinsburg is home to a fairly large VA with one of the best PTSD programs in the VA system. Active duty service members, sometimes those with refractory cases, are often sent there. Its a residential facility but not on lock down and I know for a fact that every so often, they have patients that go off the reservation, get drunk and do something wacky (though I’ve never heard of them getting guns…hookers, yes, but not guns). Its possible that they worried that this kid was one of the local patients. Still doesn’t legitimate arresting him once it was clear the gun was a fake but it would be even more reason to be a little more concerned given the circumstances.
[…] to 2-17 CAV for the link to the latest craptastic BS in regards to Billy Alemar who we discussed here, here and here back in August. If you remember, Alemar was stopped by Officers Fife and Pyle in […]