posted on Feb, 4 2013 @ 04:00 AM
A few months ago a young girl went missing that attended the same elementary school as my son. Although the girl apparently was taken from her home
and not the school, for several tense days security on campus was nonetheless increased, many more parents came to personally pick their children up
after class, and of course the media was everywhere.
First, the great news is that she was found out of state after about a week having been taken by her somewhat disillusioned mother. She was returned
to her father and the last information any of us were given, she is a very well adjusted and courageous young lady having had this experience.
I was struck by the impressive manner in which the local community came together to support the family, each other, and begin a daily vigilance for
every kid seen in any public area. In fact, before she was discovered and as I waited outside the home of one of my son’s friends to pick him up
after they walked there together, I was quite unapologetically yet appropriately approached by a gentleman who must have been in his 70s or more
potentially risking his life had I been the dastardly individual looking for easy children to prey upon. After the young girl was found, I would later
make the effort to return to the inquisitive man’s home to thank him for watching out for my son’s safety and encourage him to be careful but not
stop caring.
Two days before the girl was located I rode with my wife to pick our son up from school. The bell rings and I notice a local television news reported
pop out of his vehicle with cameraman in tow so he could video the children as they left to go home. A near terror shot through me as I realized he
could be advertising which kids went which direction, which kids did not have parents present to pick them up, which kids would be walking alone, and
surely many more issues of concern I couldn’t immediately identify. I just believed he should have taken his stock footage of the school before it
was over-run with all of the kid’s faces. When I saw his cameraman specifically following my son and his small personal ensemble of friends, I
decided to ask him not to video the children for the reasons mentioned above. I also asked him if the school administration was aware he was there and
had agreed to his videoing methods (I later found out from the principle he had specifically been told NOT to be there). I was told my son and I had
no rights, I couldn’t interfere with his work, and he would record whatever he wanted to because he was on a public sidewalk therefore safe from
prosecution because technically he was no on premises. Attorneys unanimously have assured me he is wrong in this regard, particularly when a child’s
life could potentially be endangered, but it is not an uncommon argument for absolution in such situations.
When it became clear to me he intended to video my son and possibly advertise his routine along with that of his friends I became more insistent. At
the reporter’s direction, the cameraman turned his camera towards me and I found myself less than thee to four inches away staring at my own
reflection in it’s lens. The reporter began aggressively attacking my “obvious” effort to prevent him from doing his job. I asked them to move
the camera. No. I insisted they move the camera, No. I then helped them move the camera out of my face. Not violently and not aggressively, but
assertively.
I spent the next hour waiting for the police to come cite me for assault. They took too long, so I called and asked to leave if I gave them personal
information and that was OK. A few weeks later I received the expected citation in the mail, and prepared to do battle. Then, a few weeks later, the
real insult: I was served with papers that I was being sued for damages and personal injury.
???????
I am not a violent person, but I am substantially larger than either of the two accusers and my first thought was that if I had assaulted them they
would have called an ambulance, not the police.
Bottom line, I will have to pay thousands of dollars to defend myself against another normally hidden aspect of the MSM’s flawed and selfish agenda.
I suppose I may counter sue, but the attorneys have told me I should have sued first for more believability. The advice I have for my friends at ATS
is this: if you ever try to defend you children from stooped TV reporters, be sure you make sure they are idiotic enough to videotape the entire
incident by putting their camera in your face and then completely incriminating themselves in the process.