An American citizen says he and his wife were detained for hours by U.S. border agents when they returned to the United States after a short trip to Canada.
Bachir Atallah told CNN he and his wife, Jessica, were driving back into the U.S. Sunday evening after visiting family in Canada for the weekend when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped them for a secondary inspection at the Highgate Springs checkpoint in Vermont.
Atallah, who is originally from Lebanon, said he was told to park his Range Rover and hand over his keys. When he asked the officer why, the officer placed his hand on his gun and told him to exit his vehicle, Atallah said. He said he was then handcuffed and led into a cell, where his belongings were confiscated. He said his wife was put into a cell across from his.
“Seeing my wife’s mascara running because she was crying, it was heartbreaking,” Atallah said. “It wasn’t humane.”
Even if CBP had legal justification to detain them, can someone explain to me why the officer put his hand on his gun when asked a verbal question? Is that not brandishing?
Pretty sure they now have qualified immunity (and then some) anywhere within like 100 miles of any border or point of entry. Specifically included permission to detain anybody, citizen or not, without any paperwork. At least, best I can remember. It was one of many truly disgusting supreme court rulings in my life.
Edit: corrected the word “detain”
That’s not the question. Why did he put his hand on his gun?
Umm, what do you mean it’s not. He put his hand on his gun because there are absolutely no consequences for doing so. To put it even more simply, he did it because he can.
Are you sure you’re asking the question you want answered???
Small dick energy.
It’s a standard cop intimidation tactic. There was this really toxic concept that cops were (still are?) taught that they need to “take command” of every situation and one of their first priorities is to intimidate and scare anyone who doesn’t immediately start blindly following their instructions. They perceive asking questions as a threat to their “authority” that needs to be eliminated at all costs.
As someone who believes in the right to bear arms for self defense, that guy should never be near a gun.
That seems to apply to the majority of law enforcement who in general seem to be the absolute last people that should have any kind of authority over anybody else. There’s a reason something crazy like 60%+ of police commit domestic abuse.
People who want authority over others/any kind of power should be prevented from having it.
Only people who don’t want to be cops due to moral issues should be cops.
But we live in a system that rewards the worst of us with the largest rewards (capitalism), so this won’t change until our whole society changes accordingly.
Yes it was. The short answer to your question is very obvious: because he can get away with it and it gives him a feeling of power to threaten people. It’s the why OP answered for you.
First, LEOs can do as much brandishing as they want. They are trained that any resistance or hesitation to their orders is a threat. They are only trained to escalate situations with threats of violence. That officer was communicating that they will not elaborate or answer any questions.
We need new laws because that is bullshit
Agreed
Because we don’t have a legal system. We have fascism.
Perfectly legal in maga 'merica.
Due process what…?
Because he is an insecure little shit who needs to bully his betters.
Because he would not be socially acceptable for him to put us hand on is dick.