The Bethie Bee

Here are a few Bucky stories worth checking out:

The Buffalo News Search for Phillips taking new turns

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Manhunt disrupts life in Chautauqua

Ashtabula Star-Beacon Bucky sightings

Jamestown Post-JournalSeveral Stolen Guns Linked To Phillips

New York Times Residents of Manhunt Area Are Urged to Lock Doors

I was away from home and did not have internet access this weekend, but I was able to watch several of the national tv news pieces about Bucky, and most of them bothered me. The reports kept talking about widespread “misguided” support for Bucky among community members. And while I’m sure that he has gotten help from some members of his family and/or friends–I think it’s important to make clear for people outside of the area, the vast majority of the community members here (myself included) want Bucky to be caught, and certainly wouldn’t help him if we ran accross him. That being said, there are also many of us who have seen this story unravel first hand and are unhappy with the way the situation has been dealt with by the New York State police.

The police have been disrespectful of citizens privacy and property, they are they’ve been condescending and downright rude to innocent citizens–they shove guns in people’s faces, they seem to forget that they are searching for Bucky in wooded areas that are privately held property, they show very little respect to property owners, surrounding innocent citizens who are target shooting on their own property with their guns drawn, surrounding a man mowing his lawn with their guns drawn, following and harrassing community members. This is more than simply an inconvenience for citizens, these searches are temporarily changing the character of the community. Its not just Bucky who has turned this community on its edge, its the state troopers, and their handling of this situation that is hard for all of us to take.

The state troopers have antagonized Bucky and escalated this situation for months–and it eventually led to the death of one of their own. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not certainly not defending Bucky, and I feel great sympathy for the wounded troopers and the family of the killed trooper. But, I also believe that state law enforcement could have prevented this tragedy by better handling the situation. I believe a lower profile search, in which the state didn’t attempt to overturn a community and use Bucky’s family members as bargaining chips would have been much more likely to lead to the peaceful resolution of this situation–with Bucky behind bars.

Sometime within the next eight weeks a grand jury will here about another tragedy related to this case–they’ll hear the story of Brad Horton, a 25 year old who was shot four times in the back by a New York State trooper, following a traffic stop for not wearing a helmet while driving an ATV. There are varying stories about what happened next–apparently Horton drove off with the trooper possibly somehow dragging behind–the stories of this vary. What we do know, is that the trooper then shot Horton 4 times in the back–he didn’t shoot out the tires, he didn’t shoot Horton in the leg to get him to stop ATV, no he shot him 4 times in the back. Horton was then left to call from a field for medical help himself, he was found by the Chautauqua County Sheriff (not the state troopers who shot him). Horton later died from the gunshot wounds. I don’t know anymore than the next person, about how closely this is related to the Bucky case, but there is enough evidence of wrongdoing for the d.a. to order a grand jury…to me, and with all of the stories of people supposedly hearing over their police scanners a voice say “I got him, I got Bucky”–I think this is an aspect of the Bucky story worth mentioning in the national news coverage.

I guess what I’m trying to say is…for those of you outside of Western New York, don’t believe the media–people aren’t fed up with the state police because we’re on Bucky’s side. We’re fed up with the attitudes of the state police, who have stormed in stomping all over members of our community.