Saturday, August 16, 2008

Foreclosure Of 88-Year-Old Leads to Police Standoff - News Story - WNBC | New York

Foreclosure Of 88-Year-Old Leads to Police Standoff - News Story - WNBC | New York

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. -- Authorities said a son held Bergen County sheriff's officers at gunpoint as they tried to evict his 88-year-old mother from her foreclosed home.

Officials said John Brennan threatened two officers with a .22-caliber handgun.

Officers talked to the 60-year-old, who surrendered after about five minutes when a SWAT team arrived Tuesday. Beatrice Brennan had refinanced her two-bedroom, $250,000 home and had fallen behind on payments. The house was sold at a sheriff's auction in May. Real estate agent Donovan Stewart told The Record of Bergen County he's "never had anything like this happen before."
WORKING our way down through the logic schema:
  • this wasn't the best way a son could defend his mother
  • if nothing else, it didnt' result in a 'win' for his mother
  • it didn't stop the confiscation process
  • and it didn't present a 'good' Second Amendment image for the Main Stream Media ... a boy (60 years old) using a firearm in a failed attempt to assert his mother's rights
On the other hand:
  • the family didn't have many options to choose from
  • At least it atracted some attention to the issue
  • They (the police) had to take him seriously
Would I have taken the same measures to protect my mother?

No, probably not. Although my 90-year-old mother finds herself in nearly the same predicament, I probably would have found her another place to live and paid as much of her expenses as I could. I almost certainly wouldn't have found myself waving a .22 at a SWAT team.

First, it would have been ineffective. Second, it would have been illegal. Finally, it would have been silly, to them and to me.

You probably have already reached the same conclusion.

Still, for this man in this stage of his life, he somehow seems to have considered it to be an appropriate response.

I wonder what caused him to bully up to the bar like that?

I can't help but feel a sneaking sense of admiration for him.

He obviously loves his mother.

Is that enough to justify acting silly?

Maybe. At least his mother knows he loves her.

x

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