Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Some weeks it just doesn't pay to come in to work

By now, pretty much everyone in America--and beyond--has heard about the "hero" arrested in San Marcos after rescuing a drowning man from the falls below Spring Lake. And our office is being innundated with "opinionated" phone calls and emails from every Tom, Dick and Harry from here to Botswana. Most start out with some variation of the endearing greeting "Hey Dumbass!" The most even-handed media account thus far has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman, but of course, that's not the version most of these people are reading:
Abed Duamni of Houston got caught in the current while swimming Sunday afternoon and became stuck under a building. Duamni said he found an air pocket and stayed there for about 15 minutes before Newman grabbed his leg and pulled him out.

Meanwhile, on the surface, emergency officials were trying to figure out how many people were in trouble, and San Marcos Fire Marshal Kenneth Bell said Newman's refusal to speak immediately with authorities hurt their ability to assess the situation.

Emergency workers had been called to the scene expecting to find four people in trouble — three struggling in the water and one stuck under Joe's Crab Shack at Spring Lake Dam. They tried to get everyone out of the water and assess the situation, Bell said. Officials could not send anyone into the water until it was clear. "I'd like to thank Mr. Newman for the part that he did have in the rescue of Mr. Duamni," said Ralph Meyer, director of the Texas State University-San Marcos Police Department. But "we didn't know how many more were there or if there was somebody else underneath."

Newman would not get out of the water, Bell said, even after Duamni was safe and talking to authorities. Bell said Newman then swam to the other side of the river and was "sitting Indian-style on a concrete wall saying, 'Why?' " when asked to come over.

You know, it's an unfortunate situation all around, but the long and short of it is that nobody died. Which was not the case back in April, when I was called out to deal with the media at midnight at the exact same spot. But the focus of the story is shifting and mutating, and the facts are rapidly mutating. Don't think so? Then try this on for size:
POLICE ARREST RESCUER FOR SAVING HOUSTON MUSLIM FROM DROWNING
Islamic Community Net
July 5, 2005

The following shocking article proves just how far anti-Muslim bigotry has spread in the United States.

Abdul Hamed Duamni of Absolute Irrigation in Houston, Texas was swept away by swift currents when Dave Newman disobeyed deliberate police orders to let him drown. Dave Newman was subsequently arrested and charged with the crime of "interfering with police duties".

So now it has come to this: that one of the "duties" of the US police is to get Muslims drowned, and woe to anyone who dares "interfere".

Yeah, that's all we need now--a fatwa on the university. I think I'll call in sick for, oh, the next month or so...

Now Playing: Billy Joel The Bridge

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous5:02 AM

    It never amazes me how far some organizations will go to further their own sick agendas. It should be noted, however, that even though Texas State is not an extremist Islamic group, they are playing the press as well.

    On the 8th of July, Texas State University announced very publicly through the press that they were dropping the charges against Mr. Newman.

    It would have been a really nice (and appropriate), ending had the charges been dropped, however, I was down at the Hays County, Texas Court offices in San Marcos yesterday (July 18th), and (out of curiosity), checked what was going on with Dave Newman. It turns out that he has an August 4th appearance date on the charges of Interfering with Public Duties. I asked the clerk if that meant that the charges against him hadn’t been dropped, and she said that they have nothing to indicate that the charges had been dropped. The specifications pages aren’t delivered to them from the prosecutor’s office until a day or two before the hearing, and they aren’t talking about the case.

    However, it looks like (10 days after their announcement), Texas State still hasn’t dropped the charges, they have just tried to turn down the public volume.

    ReplyDelete