Is Post-9/11 U.S. Becoming a Military State?

The death of Carol Anne Gotbaum in the custody of the Phoenix Police Department last Friday afternoon is a shocking, unbelievable and a sad personal story. But, this tragic event is also a lesson in the inappropriate militarization of civilian police departments since 9/11. The fundamental question is this: Why was Carol Anne treated more like a prisoner at Abu Ghraib than a woman in distress who needed medical help?

Prior to 9/11 it would have been inconceivable that the National Guard, in full regalia and armed, would patrol public spaces like Grand Central Terminal. This greater military presence makes major American cities look more like third world countries with soldiers aiming their M-16s squarely at US citizens. Is it really that big of a deal, isn't it keeping us safer, some might ask? Well, yes it is a big deal, and no it isn't keeping us safer because the rules for safekeeping by civilian police are decidedly different from military protocol. The mission of the police is to support and safeguard the citizenry, the military is charged with securing and defending a space, a land, a country - and to do that you have to subdue the enemy - even if that enemy is sometimes us.

So, here's what we know so far about what happened to Carol Anne Gotbaum last Friday. Gotbaum became very upset and agitated when she was not allowed to board her flight late. She began to yell and threaten airline personnel. Two Phoenix police officers arrived at the concourse, had trouble subduing her, and ended up handcuffing and arresting her for disorderly conduct. According to a police spokesperson, they didn't have to "pepper spray or Tase her or anything else." I guess she was lucky that no presidential also-ran was around or else the Taser gun would surely have been used to protect such an important person from disorderly conduct.

According to one news account, Gotbaum yelled, "I'm not a terrorist! I'm a sick mom! I need help!" But there is no indication yet that the police ever contacted a doctor on her behalf. The assumption was that this was a security problem not a medical or personal one. She was left handcuffed and shackled to a table in a locked room for what the police say was 10-15 minutes, we may never know exactly how long, until they found her dead. The police department's initial comments that she appeared to strangle herself with the handcuffs that were behind her back are laughable -- if they weren't so sad and heartbreaking, particularly for the three children under 11 years old who are now motherless.

The difference between a military and civilian response is so stark in this sad story. A woman loses it in an airport terminal (and honestly who among us hasn't wanted to, especially in the last several years?) and she is treated like an enemy combatant rather than a woman in need of help. Why did the police feel it was necessary to physically subdue and shackle her and lock her in a room handcuffed and chained to a table? Because that is the appropriate military response to a security threat.

Police departments, encouraged by elected officials like Rudy G. who value order over personal freedoms, have come to view almost any public disturbance as a terror threat. Better to be safe than sorry in their minds. You lock up problems and throw away the key, as the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay are left to rot away, so was Carol Anne left to harm herself, or die of some ailment that the police seemed uninterested in treating. But, is it really better to be safe than sorry? Our slide into a military state is eroding our fundamental rights - slowly, inexorably, perhaps even permanently.

When, where, how does it stop? Well, we clearly can't count on our representatives, especially the lily livered reps in Congress who gave the feds more freedom to detain and interrogate people just this past August, to have the courage to change the public debate. It has to come from us, from individuals and citizens who know that this is not the way the United States of America should work. It's time to say enough is enough, we want the exit door out of the military-industrial complex before we all get shackled and left to die in locked rooms.

Comments

[dgscol]

I just saw the video. It is clear that Carol was disturbed, and apparently gone through hell. She NEVER should have been sent on that trip alone! Who cared about this woman?

The police should be able to recognize simple psychiatric conditions - she was seriously disturbed and should not have been left in that room alone.

It is too late now. What a sad ending.

[rwoodsathome]

Judging from the tone of the posts here, none of you trust the police to do anything right. That's interesting. Of course if someone called you on the phone with a threatening message you would call on these same imbeciles. If someone threatened your child - who 'ya going to call? Batman, Superman, Clintonman, Obamaman or the local Policeman?

Let's face it, progressives hate authority with a passion - until they need help.

The woman was out of her mind, at an airport, insisting the whole world stop and listen to her. And not one citizen in that whole airport stepped up to help her. Wonder why? Maybe she was so out of control that no one wanted to get near to her because she was so irrational.

So stop ragging on the police. They did their job and all you are doing now is second guessing.

[FlowerGirl]

The Pentagon was buiilt in WW II time as "temporary" housing for the management of the expanded military needed to fight that war. It was envisioned that it would be turned over to some other organization for peace time use after the war. It is the largest building in the world. And the industry centered on it has never had a decline. It did not end with WW II, nor with the fall of the Soviet Union. Instead it just keeps on growing like Topsy. When one "enemy" is used up, we find another. Then another.
Is the US becoming a military state? No, we have been one for a long time. Increased surveillance and increased police action are to be expected.
As they say, folks, "You ain't seen nothing yet!"

[drblack]

The USA has become a "democracy" like communist China. You are free to make and spend money but at any time you can be considered an enemy combatant or some drugs can be placed on you or your property and bye, bye.
I would hope Americans are still in tune enough with the Constitution and will begin refusing things like cameras and spying that pretend to "protect" you but truly take away your personal power and give it to he very rich, big business and the government.
Please no more of the "but who will protect the children' crap. parents should protect their offspring.
Demand that the internet remain as it is, that the so called "patriot act' ,military commissions act, alteration to FISA, and so called "protect America' act be repealed.
Freedom doesn't return once it is stolen.

[arcturus9797]

Thank you for covering this very sad and distressing story. I am disappointed that other commentators have not written about it. From the available information, it appears that the police used excessive and abusive force. It is incredible that the holding room in question was not monitored by camera or in person. I hope this case is pursued diligently. At the very least, the police should be held accountable for criminal negligence and unprofessional behavior. I hate to say it but foul play should not be ruled out at this time.

Arizona has several nationally known and highly regarded addiction treatment centers. It's almost a local industry. Several years ago I flew from the East Coast into Sky Harbor on my way to one of them. While I was not in acute distress when I arrived, I knew quite a few fellow patients who were. So I felt a special bond with Carol Anne and I was shocked that the authorities ignored her obvious distress. If law enforcement authorities cannot tell a disruptive woman pleading for help from a terrorist, they cannot be acting competently. Such is the awful state of nine-elevenization to which this country has descended, where we cannot or will not discriminate between a person with an obvious mental problem and a terrorist or criminal (who would obviously not draw attention to himself before committing his intended act).
Airports these days are highly stressful places. Airport personnel must recognize and respond appropriately to disruptive but nonviolent behavior and constantly monitor anyone restrained or detained for their health status (likewise with the Florida tasering incident). I hope the treatment centers in Arizona and throughout the country, as well as other mental health professionals, increase public and security awareness of the signs of mental and physical distress so a horrible incident like this is never repeated.

Disruptive behavior is no excuse for police brutality or what amounts to capital punishment. I expect that this case will be appropriately pursued in the civil courts and if necessary, the criminal courts.

My prayers go out to Carol Anne's family.

[anfractuous]

Who wants to be a cop?: Someone with a deep regard for the rule of law, and a secret itch to bust someone's head for some excuse or other. If the authorities, to whom they are beholden, give a tacit wink towards abuse, you will find no more willing servant. If violence is actively discouraged and penalized, such incidents will still occur, but at a lower rate, but the natural inclination is always there.
Now, everyone in law enforcement fancies they work for Blackwater, even if they couldn't climb onto a milk crate.
In NYC, terrorism statutes are now being applied in a gang related murder. On the face of it, this seems like an inspired notion, but once the concept of "terrorist" is allowed to be diluted, almost any objectionable behavior can fall under the rubric.

[mcquaid]

This isn't new behavior by Law Enforcement, it's just behavior that's working its way up the social ladder. This whole sad story reminds me of an incident in which the LAPD shot and killed an elderly, mentally disturbed homeless woman after she charged an officer with screwdriver. I guess the officer didn't know how to get out of the way. I guess it was too much trouble to let this woman calm down or wear herself out before carting her off to jail for the twin crimes of being poor and crazy.

So, to all of you "Law and Order" advocates out there, answer me this: How much damage can a 45-year-old, slightly built woman do? She's already cleared security, don't forget, so at worst, she's packing three ounces of moisturizer and a cellphone. Even if she's acting like the Tazmanian Devil, how much can she endanger anyone? I said "endanger" not "inconvenience."

Is it too much to expect the police to perhaps contain this person without touching them? Is it too much to expect someone to bring enough brains along on a call like this to say quietly "Ma'am, we'll wait here with you, but you're going to have to get ahold of yourself." What's the objective here? Calming a disruption and getting to the bottom of it, or making an example of someone?

[mcquaid]

2: Perhaps someone could have taken the time to find out exactly why she was so upset at missing the flight. Perhaps someone there would have known just how scary it is to realize that you are so out of control the only way to rejoin the living is check yourself into a facility where they teach you how to live without mood changers. Perhaps someone would have understood just how unhinged you can get when you're trying to kick drugs or alcohol. That's all conjecture, though. We'll never really know what exactly set Carol Anne off, though I can personally say that while most airline employees I've dealt with deserve double their salaries, a bouquet of flowers, a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates, there have been a few I would have loved to have hauled off and popped a few times.

All we know now is that husband is widowed and three kids are left motherless, and presumably, air traffic in and out of Phoenix wasn't disrupted.

Nice country we're living in.

[Politics50]

It sounds to me like she flipped out and needed to be subdued. Perhaps she should have visited the alcohol rehab earlier, that and a shrink Then maybe this would not have happened.

Regardless, let the investigation take its place.

http://politics50.com

[realitytrumpsbull]

Tell one, tell all and sundry, write to your
representatives, and exhort them to carry
forward the message:

http://www.impeachbush.org

[pelosiforpresident]

By the way, Allison, thanks for covering this.

[OrangeSam]

What's changing here (and is the most difficult and challenging aspect to change back) is the attitude of the constabulary toward the public. No longer is the source of an incident regarded as a "person with a problem" but "threat" to the "(order of) the state" (not necessarily to other citizens). The objective has become to contain, neutralize and eliminate the threat rather than to find and solve the root problem. I could ramble on about this for a while, but it would probably just cause me trouble. You know, the nail that sticks up get hammered down.

[milo9]

There's quite a bit of truth to what you saying. It seems that police see the citizenry increasingly as the enemy.

[Absintheforall]

The police did just what they were supposed to do. They are not physicians, priests or psychiatrists. They are paid to keep the peace and protect the public from nuts, other weirdos, terrorists, murderers and thugs. That's what we pay them for. That's ALL we pay them for.

So stop the sobbing.

[cowboyjerkface]

You would fit in nicely in 1938 Germany!

[bookish]

Ab, one of these days you might be the nut or weirdo.

Here's the short list of physiological reasons the woman might have been agitated: low blood sugar, not enough oxygen to the brain, brain injury, mental illness, drug reaction.

One of the first signs of diminishing conciousness is agitation. Since she died, I think we just might assume there was something seriously wrong with her?

Perhaps some day you or a loved one may have the pleasure of dying alone,frightened, and tied up. Try to keep your composure and don't annoy the rest of us.

[laissezleswontonsbrulez]

Let's not forget the extreme implausibility of the claimed cause of death. It's just not anatomically (or even topologically) possible to strangle yourself if you are cuffed behind your back and shackled (cuffs or leg?) to a gurney.

That means that she either died from a medical condition (alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures, or stroke due to hypertensive crisis), or someone else strangled her. Self-strangulation fails the anatomy test.

If this was strangulation, and nobody is called to account, it will only be over her mother's dead body. Democratic hack or not, she deserves to see justice done, and these TSA goons urgently need to be reigned in.

[itmaybetoolate]

My guess is that you are an authoritarian - seeing the world in either/or; reducing complex problems down to one of two solutions - the "right" one and the "wrong" one; strict law and order; deferring to your superiors, bullying those you consider "inferior;" never questioning authority. And, screaming loudly when your feel YOUR rights are violated. The perfect citizen for a police state.

[TekBoss]

BS! In the past the police would have talked-her-down. A skill that is becoming less and less practiced and as far as I can tell, not taught any longer.

Once they got her calmed down, without any physical confrontation they either would have escorted her to a company lounge area where customer service could deal with the issue, or called for an ambulance.

This BS is nuts and happening everywhere and most of the time (and YES you CAN tell the difference ... cops deal with enough whackos in a day to know who is a real threat versus who is nuts or just "pissy") there is NO NEED for it.

So get off your high-horse or go live somewhere where you won't be scared of hysterical customers in airports because the way service is deteriating there is going to be a lot more of the them.

[DavidHealy]

Ben, it's less of a "looonnnggg way to go" than you may think. You give a little here and then a little there and, before know it, you'll be so far into a police state that you won't be able to put on the brakes, let alone reverse the situation.

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

[CriminallySane]

Martin Niemoller, actually.

[Lt]

It is obvious that Ben Dixon (earlier comment)
has never had to deal with the american police.
perhaps because he is a cop himself?
In any caesmaking excuses for the police is not going to help this poor woman.
The cops treat people in poor neighborhoods a lot worse on a daily basis.
Lets face the truth, a cops job in america today has more to do with collecting money from
as many people as he can everday than anything else.