Bloomberg says the Tennessee nurse arrested on a gun charge had cocaine too, without the 'alleged' part
Michael Bloomberg talks. Azi Paybarah, via flickr
5:00 pm Dec. 29, 201113
A Tennessee woman with a permit to carry a gun in her home state was arrested in Lower Manhattan when she tried to check a weapon she was carrying with a police officer at the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan.
When asked whether the woman deserved any leniency, Mayor Michael Bloomberg indicated to reporters at a press conference in Brooklyn today that she had other problems.
"Let's assume she didn't get arrested for carrying a gun," he said. "She probably would have gotten arrested for the cocaine that was in her pocket."
At the time of her arrest, officials did not make any mention of drugs being found on the woman, identified as Meredith Graves, a 39-year-old registered nurse and fourth-year medical student.
The police report on the arrest refers to the pistol she was carrying and two "glassine envelopes of alleged cocaine."
But when I asked the Manhattan district attorney's office afterward whether the woman actually had cocaine in her pocket, a spokesman told me that she did not.
Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser emailed me just now in response to the same question:
"As I reminded after the press conference, if a police officer thinks you have drugs, you get arrested for suspected drug possession, if they think you have a gun you get arrested for gun possession. This individual was arrested for both.
"But before DAs charge people for drug possession, they test to make sure it’s drugs.
"She had white powder in two glassine envelopes. She was arrested for suspected cocaine possession. But I am not aware of the lab report being back yet."
The mayor has been an outspoken advocate for stricter gun-control laws and successfully fought against a federal law that would have allowed gun owners with legal permits in their home states to carry their weapons in states whose laws prohibit it.
New York makes this woman a criminal but she did not violate any federal law.She has a second ammendment right guaranteed by the US Constitution. I think she will need to get a lawyer and take the City of New York to court for violating the 2nd ammendment. Any lawyers want to become famous?
Someone needs to tell Bloomberg that robbing and killing is against the New York law.(the laws in New York do not stop the criminals as criminals could care less about the laws).Bloomberg is only making the citizen vulnerable to attack while the Oprah monster has her own security guards and condemns legal gun owners.
I could only apologize to the nurse and tell her that she went into a bad area(a communist city called New York).
I feel badly for this woman but she should have been cognizant of the laws in the jurisdictions through which she passed. Law abiding American citizens should be able to carry a weapon anywhere in the U.S. Unfortunately, however, that is not the case. Therefore, law abiding citizens should avoid jurisdictions with unreasonable laws or risk losing their right to carry. There are places that I might enjoy visiting in New York but their laws forbid me to do so by forbidding me to carry my weapon on their crime infested streets.
This woman is not a criminal and should not be treated so. Use her as a propaganda example to all those who might want to enjoy a visit to New York. Let everyone know that you'd better bring only your Visa, Master Card or American Express because only the criminals and police carry guns in New York. Let her go home to Tennessee and hopefully she'll seek employment elsewhere in order to maintain her personal rights.
This reminds me of my days as a long-haul truck driver about 12 years ago. New York was the first to enact a ridiculous law prohibiting the idle of diesel engines. That meant I had no means of keeping my cab cool in the summer or warm in the winter so that I could rest. In the most extreme cold the diesel fuel could freeze and thus prevent the truck from restarting if the engine wasn't idled constantly.
I had to go into and through New York to do my job but I never bought fuel, food or so much as as cup of coffee in that state. I left my dollars in more truck driver friendly jurisdictions.
Illustrious Leader (Michael Bloomberg) must be choking down crow now that the so-called envelopes of cocain was just a bald faced lie. When I was in law enforcement, I remember bad officers tried to "pad" or "stack" charges on top of already questionable charges. That appears to be the case here. Meanwhile, this whole case appears to be backfiring on New York officials as a tsunami of contempt from the American people is getting heaped on the NY State Governor's Office and the NY State Attorney General's Office. Write and email both and demand that this woman have all of her charges expunged and her weapon returned.
I for one, have no wish to see everybody in New York City walking around armed. However, to arrest, and try to destroy the life and reputation of an american citizen who legally obtained a gun carrying license in another state, as federal law allows, is more than sad. It is mean and disgusting, and should not be tolerated any longer! This is a prime example of why certain smug and arrogant politicians should not be intrusted with unbridled power. They, as clearly demonstrated here, will often times turn on their own innocent citizens.
Mr. Mayor, if you want to continue visiting pain and torture upon people, I'm not suggesting you give up that pleasure entirely. All I'm suggesting is that you re-direct your attack towards the criminals, who by the way, are the ones who make many law abiding tourists want to arm themselves when they foolishly visit our city. COME VISIT THE BIG APPLE... IF THE CRIMINALS DON'T GET YOU, WE WILL!
What a shameful message we are sending out.
Turns out the two "glassine envelopes of alleged cocaine" was just 2 packs of BC Powder!
An over the counter headache medicine. Now we see how much weight Mr. Boolmberg puts on facts.
Besides his billions what gives Mr. Bloomberg the right to say what he said without the facts?
Isn't what he did a text book case of SLANDER?
Pro-gunners usually begin waving the "sue them" flag at every opportunity. Never considering that the person probably doesn't have $30,000 for the defense attorney nor another $30-100,000 to bring a law suit against the largest municipality in the USA. You very well intentioned but the legal vipers have made defense of the common man almost impossible in today's society. Regardless of the outcome, this should serve as a lesson to all about common sense. First, as a permit holder she should have known better than to be in NYC with a gun. Second, She should have returned to her hotel and stashed her gun after she saw the sign, avoiding security completely. Sure I feel bad for her situation, but stupidity is no excuse for her.
@honeydo, the intention of a suit shouldn't be for monetary gain, the intention should be to correct a bad law that has long been in violation of an individual liberty and constitutional guarantee. The recent Heller and MacDonald cases are good examples. That is almost certain to happen here if a political action entity on par with NRA or some legal entity comparable to the ACLU wades in -- which they certainly will. In the end, New York City and hopefully lower New York State will be brought on par with the rest of the country. New York City, Chicago and San Francisco cannot be “islands unto themselves” and contrary to the law when it infringes on the rights of others who visit those jurisdictions.
If you want to contact the mayor or the district attorney, write these addresses and then courtesy copy your governor's office and congressional delegations in Washington. Tell your senators to jump on HR822 when it gets to them and make it into law as soon as possible.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE: 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
FAX (212) 312-0700
E-MAIL:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attorney General Cyrus Vance
New York County District Attorneys Office
1 Hogan Place
New York, NY 10013
Phones:
(212) 335-9000
(212) 335-9000
My buying group has been given choice of 3 locations for our convention ( 2500 attendance).
After reading about the New York Mayor and his actions. I marked NO to New York.
Also I'm sending e-mail to as many members as I can, for them to do the Same.
That will cost the mayor about $ 9 million.
Why isn't the ACLU jumping in to help this women out?
Because the ACLU are a bunch of liberals who are anti Gun
As one who lives in the South and a former resident of the state of Tennessee, it appears to me that the smart people who were able left NY and came south. Think I jest, look at the latest census reports. Also notice, NY lost federal representation because of that. The good people of NY who were not able to leave whom I know have told me they wish they could but their circumstances will not allow them. Oh...perhaps the good mayor Bloomberg should look at the fact that his state lost a couple of federal reps and Tennessee picked up one. ;)
On another note...wouldn't it be funny if some Southern governor of a gun toting state decided to try to entice the NY Stock Exchange to leave NY and move south.......LOL.....:)