The Philadelphia Inquirer tells a story of a shootout on a recent day at about noon on the Broad Street subway line. Lawmen shot a smoker. One has to wonder if the men with the badges had a preconception that it was "High Noon" for smokers in general. We don’t take getting shot lightly. We’d like to learn more about this incident.
Two plainclothesmen who were riding the train spotted a man enjoying a smoke between cars and swaggered on over to confront him about his lawlessness. The smoker became confrontational right back at them and went for his gun, but the law beat him to the draw, and pumped him full of hot lead.
A lot of questions come to mind that aren’t answered in the newspaper story. Didn’t the plainclothesmen have anything more important to do than harassing smokers? Of course they did, so who exactly were they, and what was their thinking? Were they some of those internet message board hate-mongers who wish all smokers would die?
Did the smoker really reach for his gun or was it another movement like the sudden need to scratch something that itched? If he did move a finger, which one was it, his trigger finger, or the one he uses for giving obscene gestures to ignorant subway thugs?
The one-sided story is based on sketchy details provided to the Inquirer by the authorities who refuse to release the name of the smoker. If you are the smoker, contact FORCES, we’d be most interested to hear your version of events.
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