Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta

Several years ago, the government of the City of Seattle felt sorry for the poor desperate Mexicans who came to Seattle to try to make some money and send it back to their poor relatives in Mexico, so they wrote a law advising the Seattle police and the district attorneys that they could not report illegal aliens to ICE when they encountered one as part of their job.

Several months ago, a certain person, let’s call him Alpha, committed some minor crimes and came into contact with the Seattle police. They correctly surmised that he was here illegally, but could not report him to ICE. So he was released.

On April 17, said Alpha was hanging out with three of his buddies from south of the border: Beta, Gamma, and Delta. They apparently decided it would be a hoot if they mugged and robbed other Spanish-speaking people while brandishing a machete as they came out of a Mexican restaurant. Perhaps they assumed that their “brothers” would not turn them into the police. They were wrong. Some Hispanic person thus robbed called 9-1-1 and gave detailed descriptions of the muggers to the police. The Seattle police converged on this part of the city, presumably set up a perimeter, and began the process of searching the area for persons meeting the description (four Hispanic males, around 40 years old, dressed like this, about that tall, etc.).

(Aside: I was once stopped at gunpoint after a robbery in Seattle since I was nearby and vaguely matched the description. Having several handguns pointed at me, I did exactly what they asked, to the best of my ability, and was released after they searched by bag.)

Back to the story. The police found Alpha, Beta, and Gamma still together, and they were taken into custody. After they were subdued but before they were searched, a policeman accidently struck Alpha in the temple with the toe of his boot while pinning Alpha’s arms to the ground to keep Alpha from drawing a weapon. Beta and Gamma have been locked up for the crime. Since Alpha was just a drunken bystander, laughing at the machete assaults, they released him. He did not file a police brutality complaint. They have not caught Delta. Beta and Gamma were later found to be illegal aliens (only one from Mexico), and the severity of their crime has allowed the Seattle Police to notify ICE of their presence.

Weeks later, Channel 7 was provided with a video recording of the police capturing the three suspects, which recorded the kick to the head and the word “Mexican” being used as part of command to lie still. Huge uproar, all over the news, don’t you feel sorry for Alpha? Nope. I feel sorry for the policemen who have to tolerate the stupid law. If it had not been for the Seattle liberals who voted in the stupid city law protecting illegal aliens, Alpha (and probably the other three as well) would have been sent back to their home countries the first time they came in contact with law, long before any of this happened.

Wonderland Trail

Surprisingly, some folks do not know that the spectacularly beautiful Wonderland Trail is the 94 mile hiking trail that encircles Mt. Rainier. To camp along the Wonderland Trail, one needs reservations from the Park Service. This year, they received over 1,000 applications, including one from me. There are only about 50 reservable campsites each night. Due to the length of the trips on the applications, they can only accept less than half of the applications. But I got my 9th choice, out of 22 options on my application. Woo-hoo!

When the opportunity presented itself last Sunday, I hiked Mt. Si (8 miles round trip, 3200 feet gain and loss) with a 40-lb pack as a training hike and to see if I am ready for the Wonderland trail (where I will average 10 miles per day with 2800 feet gain and loss per day). My legs were pretty sore for about 3 days, so, no, I am not ready. :)