[651] in libertarians
The Masters Incident in LA (part 2)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vernon Imrich)
Sun Feb 12 19:02:23 1995
To: libertarians@MIT.EDU
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 1995 18:57:01 EST
From: Vernon Imrich <vimrich@MIT.EDU>
This is the part with the narrow libertarian relevance:
-- begin forward --
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 95 13:06
From: WIENER@pc.gcs.litton.com (WIENER, DAN x3708)
Subject: Masters shooting/Webb spinoff
To: libernet@Dartmouth.EDU (libernet)
Like a popular TV series that generates a spin-off series, the
William Masters shooting (in self-defense) of two graffiti vandals
(killing one) has spawned a separate controversy involving Simi
Valley Councilmember Sandi Webb. (For extensive details on that
shooting, see my previous reports.)
When the first newspaper article appeared on February 1st, Sandi
immediately faxed a letter-to-the-editor to the Los Angeles Daily
News, supporting and praising Masters. That letter (reproduced
below) was published Friday morning, February 3rd.
Four Simi Valley cops, noting her joking reference to using rock
salt against taggers, independently went to their police captain
and requested their allotment of rock salt. He played along, and
turned in a requisition for a bag of rock salt, which the city
manager of course turned down. When Sandi heard about that, she
bought a 25 pound bag of rock salt and took it over to the police
station.
The local paper found out about it, and ran a story on February
7th, which in turn generated a major story in the Los Angeles Times
(excerpts of both are printed below). That in turn resulted in a
radio interview on the Michael Jackson [not the singer] talk show.
During that interview, Jackson asked Sandi if she ever carried a
concealed weapon, and she said she sometimes did. Furthermore, she
does not have a concealed weapons permit, but said she didn't need
one; she had the Second Amendment.
Things are rapidly escalating with more radio and TV interviews,
including a 20/20 segment about Masters that she'll be on. Today's
local paper carried a front page story about Simi Valley's "pistol-
packing councilwoman"; that's also reproduced below.
Letters and phone calls are pouring in, mostly supportive. Some
are pretty extravagant, such as the person who wants to vote for
her for President, or failing that, God. There have been a couple
of hate calls and letters, labeling her a racist and a Nazi. The
most amusing threat on her answering machine came from a not-too-
literate person who lived outside of Simi Valley: After telling
Sandi what she could do with her rock salt, he warned that he and
a group of his friends from Los Angeles would "boycott" Simi
Valley's city council meetings.
--- Letter published in 2-3-95 L.A. Daily News: ---
To the Editor:
Kudos to William Masters, for his vigilant anti-graffiti
efforts, and for his foresight in carrying a gun for self-
protection. Catcalls to the Los Angeles Police Department, which
can't seem to get straight who's the victim and who's the criminal.
I have absolutely no sympathy for the vandals shot by Masters.
And I was particularly incensed by their lame-brained excuses that
the dead tagger was an artist, and that tagging is good for the
economy because people will get jobs cleaning off the graffiti.
Destruction is always a net loss for the economy. The money
and effort spent on repairs could have gone into productive
ventures. After the graffiti is painted over, we will be out that
money and labor, but still be no better off than before.
Here in Simi Valley I've often suggested that we issue rock
salt to our police to use in their shot guns against taggers.
Unfortunately, too many people assume that I'm joking.
If Sun Valley refuses to honor Mr. Masters as a crime-fighting
hero, then I invite him to relocate to our town. I think he'll
find Simi Valley to be a much more compatible place to live.
Sincerely yours,
Sandi Webb
--- Excerpts from 2-7-95 article in Simi Valley Star: ---
In an apparent tongue-in-cheek effort to deter taggers from
polluting personal and public property, Simi Valley Councilwoman
Sandi Webb had 25 pounds of rock salt - a water softener that can
also be used as nonlethal ammunition for shotguns - delivered to
the Simi Valley Police Department.
Webb made the gesture in response to the recent fatal shooting
of tagger Cesar Arce by William Masters, who happened to come upon
him and David Hillo while they were reportedly defacing public
property Tuesday in Sun Valley.
"I totally support Masters in what he did," Webb said. "All
he did was write down their license number and walk away. It
wasn't until the tagger approached him in the threatening manner
that he shot him."
Webb goes on to say that even though Masters did not have a
gun permit, he was justified in killing Arce.
"The Second Amendment states that we have the right to keep
and bear arms, so it didn't matter if he had a permit or not," she
said. "In my opinion, the Second Amendment is our permit."
--- Excerpts from 2-8-95 article in Los Angeles Times: ---
A letter by Simi Valley Councilwoman Sandi Webb praising a man
who recently killed a graffiti tagger has dismayed her council
colleagues, but the city's mayor said Webb's comments may actually
boost the city's image.
...
Mayor Greg Stratton said Webb's letter ... does not reinforce
the negative image of Simi Valley that emerged after the police
officer acquittals in the Rodney King trial in 1992.
"Maybe she got a little overly emotional," Stratton said.
"But I don't think people will take away a negative image of our
community from these comments. If anything people might just see
that if they don't like the law-and-order lifestyle, they aren't
going to be happy in Simi Valley."
Webb, who is characteristically outspoken, ... said that the
letter and joke [about the rock salt] made the point that she
wanted to stop graffiti and support Masters, who she felt was doing
his civic duty when he tried to take down the taggers license
number before the confrontation.
...
Other members of the Simi Valley council felt that Webb's
joking tone was inappropriate considering the nature of the
incident.
"I personally don't think it's wise to do something tongue-in-
cheek when a life has been taken," Councilwoman Barbara Williamson
said.
Councilman Paul Miller, Simi Valley's retired police chief,
said Webb's comments send out the wrong message.
...
Councilman Bill Davis agreed. "I never like to speak
negatively about another council member. But I did cringe a little
when I read her comments."
...
Both Miller and Williamson said they do not consider Masters
a hero, and instead called the killing a tragedy.
Webb said her support for Masters does not mean she favors
shooting taggers with anything other than salt pellets.
"He didn't shoot these guys because they were spraying
graffiti," she said. "He spotted them, wrote down their license
number and tried to walk away when they accosted him. He was
defending himself."
--- Excerpts from 2-10-95 article in Simi Valley Star: ---
WEBB: HIDDEN WEAPON A RIGHT
PISTOL PACKING: Councilwoman admits concealing gun in her purse.
Simi Valley City Councilwoman Sandi Webb packs a pistol in her
purse but does not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
The revelation came as controversy mounted over Webb's support
of a man who shot and killed a teen-age graffiti vandal in the San
Fernando Valley on January 31.
Webb was interviewed on the tagger-shooting subject Wednesday
by KABC Talk Radio, and revealed she has carried a gun without a
permit for the past few months when she takes her daughter Aubri
for acting auditions in Hollywood.
"I've got a beautiful 14-year-old daughter that, by God, I'm
going to protect," Webb said Thursday. "That's the times that I
feel in danger. That I have to go over there, just the two of us."
Webb said she carries a .22-caliber handgun, but has never had
occasion to shoot it. She first bought a gun after she was raped
in San Bernardino and her San Diego apartment was burglarized in
the 1970s.
"I said: Enough of this," she said.
She realizes that packing the gun without a permit puts the
police in an awkward position but believes the permit process is
wrong.
"The bottom line is I felt the Second Amendment is my permit,"
Webb said.
Simi Valley Police Chief Willard Schlieter, who reports to
Webb and the rest of the council, said her admission does not
constitute a violation of the law.
"A mere statement by someone that they've done something like
that does not necessarily constitute grounds by which a law
enforcement agency can effectively do anything about it," Schlieter
said. "There really needs to be something else in addition. There
has to be some act that supports this."
[...several paragraphs from some woman critical of Sandi...]
Webb said she has had two angry calls, but mostly the response
to her position has been positive.
She said she has never shot the gun she carries [she has of
course practiced with it], but has taken a National Rifle
Association safety course. Her daughter has completed a junior
rifleman program.
"That's what makes guns dangerous: lack of education," Webb
said. "While (Aubri) was little, we kept them locked out of her
reached."
Webb acknowledged she did not meet the criteria to legally
carry a concealed weapon because she does not carry large sums of
cash and has not received significant threats.
"I'm like your average citizen who finds themselves in a
position where you don't feel safe," Webb said. "I didn't want
special favors as a councilwoman. I do believe that the Second
Amendment says that we have the right to keep and bear arms.
"I argued with our past chief and our current one," she said.
"Any honest citizen should be able to go in and get a permit."
Councilman Paul Miller, former police chief, has a concealed
weapon permit as a retired police officer. He said Webb's
misdemeanor permit violation was not Simi Valley's problem.
"I guess that's L.A.'s worry, because that's what she does in
L.A.," Miller said.
-- Daniel Wiener (wiener@pc.gcs.litton.com)
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| Vernon Imrich | market failure, n. The inabilty of the |
| MIT, Dept. OE | market to recover from a blow by |
| Cambridge, MA 02139 | intervention. (The Exchange) |
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