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Cretin beats up Cretan

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santa klaus started this discussion 15 years 3 weeks ago

Tampa police: Marine reservist attacked Greek priest he mistook for terrorist

The priest's GPS gave him the wrong directions, leading him off Interstate 275 and into downtown Tampa. He followed a line of cars into a garage at the Seaport Channelside condominium to ask for help.

He found Bruce, whose back was turned, bending over the trunk of his car, and he tapped his shoulder before saying, in broken English, "please" and "help."

That's when Bruce reached for the tire iron. Police say that by the end of the chase, he had hit the priest four times.

the police initially called the Marine a "hero" and said the priest was "mentally ill."

:eek:

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Teleosus

15 years

It's a crazy world.:(

Be sure to read the entire linked article.

SK, your post has this quote:

the police initially called the Marine a "hero" and said the priest was "mentally ill."

Which is not in the article, this is the correct quote:

Brown said the police initially called the Marine a "hero" and said the priest was "mentally ill."

'Brown' is the attorney of the Marine who assaulted the priest. The rest of the article seems to conclude Bruce is not truthful. Don't you also agree Bruce could be lying? Also Bruce has a previous record of assault.

Makes a big difference, does it not? It's difficult to think that you did not intentionally leave those two words out.:confused:

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santa klaus

15 years

Of course I think he is a maniac on testosterone!

I found it quite interesting that the police first believed him (because he is a marine?) and not the priest (because he looks strange and is a foreigner?), that´s why I posted that quote.

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Teleosus

15 years

We do not know the police believed "Bruce?, Brown?", we only know from the article that Bruce's attorney,

Brown said the police initially called the Marine a "hero" and said the priest was "mentally ill."

We do not know where Brown got that information, maybe from his client, and 'the police' is a very generalizing term.

By your statement

I found it quite interesting that the police first believed him (because he is a marine?)

What about those 2 words, 'Brown said', they are still missing?
IMHO You are making a huge assumption based on an out of context quote, as bad as Faux news. :D

As for my opinions about the police, I've met good, bad and in between, I try to avoid putting myself in situations where I must deal with them, because, to paraphrase (ad nauseum:p) Forrest Gump's mother: The police are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.:rolleyes:

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Plakian

15 years

The story goes on and gets more bizarre; this from the Greek daily ekathimerini.com:-

Holy row

A Marine reservist was released from a Florida jail on bail yesterday after being charged with using a tire iron to beat a Greek Orthodox priest who he claimed had sexually assaulted him. Jasen Bruce, 28, claimed to have attacked the priest in self-defense when the latter allegedly grabbed his genitals after following him into the garage outside his apartment. According to police, Bruce also claimed to have feared that Alexios Marakis, 29, was an Arab terrorist. Marakis, who was on a visit to the US from his native Crete, was released from hospital after receiving first-aid treatment for minor injuries. “I did not even touch him,” Marakis was quoted as saying.

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santa klaus

15 years

There´s only one thing wrong with Faux News, which is that they broadcast rightwing nutcase propaganda. I am not against propaganda per se! :D

All right, I didn´t quote those two words "Brown said", but if you think that twists the story - that was not the point I tried to make.

The point is that, apparently, tourists in America should be careful who they ask for directions if they look vaguely unfamiliar to the locals. They might confuse them with terrorists and instantly crush their scull. I think that is pretty funny, if it just wouldn´t be scary as well.

OK - this is just one case and no doubt there are plenty Americans who know how to use their brain, but you see what Faux News produces with the hysteria they fill the airwaves with every day.

That sort of ignorance is not limited to lowlifes in Tampa, FL. I read an interesting story about (former defense secretary) Robert McNamara. He somehow realized that he messed it up in Vietnam, so he went there to talk with the guys who were in charge of North Vietnam and the Vietcong, just to reflect about the old days and solve an old puzzle or two. He was surprised to hear that they were always open for negotiations, but he (and America) never got this message. He said he sent "signals" to them when he ordered retaliation bombings, but the Vietnamese replied they had no idea those bombings were meant as "signals" - they thought the Americans merely tried to kill them. After the talks, the Vietnamese said they really learned something now - they learned how little McNamara (still!) knows about them and their country.

That guy, Marine reservist Jasen Bruce, is scary. If that is how he behaves in his home town, imagine the man sitting behind a machine gun on a Humvee in Iraq or Afghanistan.

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Teleosus

15 years

Plakian, I am glad you put the Greek daily reference, but it seems from what you have written, it hasn't said anything that was not in the original article other than Marakis saying “I did not even touch him,” whereas in the original article

He found Bruce, whose back was turned, bending over the trunk of his car, and he tapped his shoulder before saying, in broken English, "please" and "help."

Now, I can just hear in the distance someone saying, "but that doesn't justify what happened". Of course it doesn't, but it is interesting how stories are modified for propaganda's sake. I am against propaganda, period.

What about these other quotes from the original article, not important to the goal?

He(Brown) called the police's account "one-sided" and said the department should investigate a sergeant he said made derogatory comments about the Marine's military background.

Police said that sergeant is, himself, a veteran. They say that the priest was disoriented when they found him at the corner of Madison and Meridian avenues, but a translator at Tampa General Hospital helped him communicate. And that the GPS corroborates the priest's story.

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aboriginalhostel

15 years

... it is interesting how stories are modified for propaganda's sake. I am against propaganda, period.

But isn't it how urban legends revive? ;)

What about these other quotes from the original article, not important to the goal?

I buy you a beer for that! :)

If an idiot hits a priest because he asked directions, it wouldn't worth a headline. Let's make it as a National Hero defends himself from an Arab terrorist, that's breaking news!!! :eek:

Unfortunately news aren't interested about truth. Nowadays news is what sells. :mad:

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Teleosus

15 years

If an idiot hits a priest because he asked directions, it wouldn't worth a headline. Let's make it as a National Hero defends himself from an Arab terrorist, that's breaking news!!!

Yes, but in this particular case I have not seen any headlines as of yet to that effect, only what I have seen in this thread, the original article and comments from people outside the country. I will keep looking for more on this story.

Update---A Delusional Idiot

And thanks for the beer!:)

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