Posts by Neil Morrison
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They did dress up as stormtroopers and seal off an entire town - that's always likely to attract a wee bit of curiosity from the press.
When fire arms are thought to be involved then the Police do go for the full on AOS rig.
But maybe police actions in Ruatoki could have been different. But the utter nonsense coming from Tuhoe spokespeople and the Maori Party doesn't win them any sympathy from me.
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I'm not saying it hasn't come from the police, but everyone is bagging on them for waving around the terrorism flag.
from the NatRad inyterview this morning I got the impression that Broad would be quite happy with a law that did not have the "terrorism" baggage. That reinforces my perception that the Police were not trying play some sort of scare mongering terrorism card that some are alleging.
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a term he'd appear to be wedded to.
should be " a term he didn't appear wedded to".
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...is one of the issues whether the alleged plotting reached a sufficiently advanced stage to attract a charge?
That was one of the main issues Broad raised this morniing on NatRad. One thing that was interesting was his thoughts on the use of the word "terrorism", a term he'd appear to be wedded to.
Paul Buchannan was John Ip were also good I thought.
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surely the recorded conversations are only parts of a larger conversation?
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So the Scotts shudn't have their own Parliment then Neil?
You're asking someone with a name like Neil Morrison?
In some circumstance serperate governace makes practical sense although I do think the Scottish parliament is only weakly justified. And they do have oil.
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I haven't picked through it closely enough to see if he's right to say that it was the media/public that ran with the terror ball, rather than the police having anything to do with it.
Broad covered that this morning on Morning Report. I agreed with what he had to say. The Police did not emphasise the terror charges aspect - that was the media and people like Harawira.
Broad also said what I had suspect - the Police had good reason these people were planning political violence and acted to prevent that happening. That they now will only face fire arms related charges is lucky for them and us.
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it's a crazy, mixed up bag
indeed, it's all about lines we construct when really there aren't any. I don't object in theory to some sort of Tuhoe sovereignty, what I do object to is the notion that it would solve more problems than it caused. Their sovereignty would be just another construct and partitions don't have a great history.
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...and a substantial embarrassment for the New Zealand Police?
I don't see why it should be a question of an embarrassment for the Police. They presented a case and the Solicitor General decided otherwise. On the face of it - people with guns with anti-government ideas - does look like a matter for the TSA.
The Solicitor General does say -
"The key reason I am not prepared to authorise prosecutions under the act is there is insufficient evidence to establish to the very high standard required that a group was preparing a terrorist act," Mr Collins said.
He said his decision was not a criticism of the police who had no doubt "put an end to disturbing activities".
That's "insufficient evidence" to meet a high standard, not "no" evidence.
I'm quite happy that the Police take on armed groups whatever their politics.
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Or would you practise civil disobedience and break the law, which after all has failed to protect you and your rights?
Civil disobedience I have no problem with if other avenues fail. (I'm especially impressed by it if it isn't accompanied by endless self pity).
There was I think even justification for the (armed) Black Panthers at the start when they formed to police the streets of black LA neighbourhoods because the police weren't doing their jobs in those areas. But that sort of thing does have a habit of going of moving into strange territory.