the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 18, 2002
On March 2, a man who had done nothing was shot by a trigger-happy FBI agent in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
The FBI had been searching for a 32-year-old who had robbed a bank branch two weeks earlier. Supposedly, the agents had received a tip the bank robber would be driving a “red sedan” and–if you believe them–wearing a white hat. The FBI spotted 20-year-old Charles Schultz wearing a white hat and getting into a red Pontiac driven by his 16-year-old girlfriend, Krissy Harkum. Four FBI agents in an unmarked car pulled the Pontiac over. They surrounded the Pontiac, all four carrying M-4 assault rifles. The couple was ordered to get out. When Schultz reached for his seatbelt to comply, an agent shot him in the face, shattering his cheek and jaw, causing major damage to his face.
The FBI admits that Shultz had nothing to do with the crime. It was simply a “coincidence,” a case of “mistaken identity,” a “horrible accident.”
No–this is simply the result of a conscious FBI policy, which the FBI admits. Their agents are trained to–in the words of the FBI manual–use “deadly force.” That is, “shoot first, ask later.”
For a week and a half, Schultz was in serious but stable condition at Maryland’s Shock Trauma unit. Though the bullet remains lodged in his face, he has now been released from the hospital. He is waiting for the series of operations necessary for reconstruction surgery. The couple is worried about coming up with the money because Schultz was recently laid off from his job with a medical company and is without health insurance.
While his girlfriend was not wounded, her family said that she continues to be traumatized. Both families of the young couple expressed shock, as are other people, over the FBI’s use of brutal violence in the shooting of an innocent man.
The FBI has now apologized–although they continue to insist that Krissy Harkum was wrong about what happened. She said they gave no help to Schultz when he was lying on the ground wounded and did not call an ambulance for almost a half hour.
FBI officials also say they are “investigating” the matter–that is, delaying it long enough to sweep it under the rug.
And that’s what will happen unless there is sufficient reaction from people in the area.