Man States Belief In Bigfoot And UFOs, Gets Guns Confiscated
BY Herschel Smith
8 years, 8 months ago
Police confiscated firearms from 74-year-old Ralph Gilbertsen, although he is not a felon or domestic abuser, and he has never been ruled dangerous to others because of mental illness.
Gilbertsen, who lives in Richfield, Minnesota, believes in Bigfoot and UFOs. And while he does receive treatment for a “mild” mental health disorder, the Star Tribune reports that a psychologist sent a letter to the judge in the case, stating that “Gilbertsen is compliant with his medications and poses no danger to himself or others.”
A former Marine, Gilbertsen is also a concealed carry permit holder, which means he passed the in-depth background check required to obtain such permit, and he was the proud owner of three handguns, until the police knocked on his door.
He came to the attention of authorities after individuals at his apartment complex reported that he constantly talks about the government watching him; he particularly voices concerns that the CIA is spying on him. The Hennepin Community Outreach for Psychiatric Emergencies (COPE) called police about Gilbertsen after his apartment managers expressed concern about a series of letters he had written on CIA spying. COPE handles roughly 13,000 cases–only a third of which are face-to-face–and they asked police to escort them to Gilbertsen’s apartment in 2015. His guns were subsequently confiscated.
Richfield Police Department spokesman Lt. Mike Flaherty said, “Officers are often forced to make snap judgments about an individual’s mental health.” He added, “The street cops nowadays have to be a psychologist. People don’t wear nameplates saying ‘paranoid schizophrenic.’ So the police have to go in there and make judgment calls.”
Lt. Mike Flaherty is a paid, professional liar. Officers aren’t forced to do anything of the sort he mentions. There is no law requiring police officers to make any kind of judgment concerning mental health, much less “snap” judgments. Street cops don’t have to be psychologists – he is lying and he just made that up to sound intelligent and defend his officers.
No, people don’t wear nameplates saying anything, because that would be illegal and stupid. Besides, mental health is not an indicator of propensity to violence – so says the mental health profession of which the officer fancies himself and his officers. So I guess they aren’t such great mental health professionals after all. Perhaps they should stick with policing rather than trying to add to their jobs by doing illegal things like confiscating property that isn’t theirs.
The victim isn’t a felon. He isn’t a domestic abuser. His property was stolen – stolen by the very people who are supposed to hunt those sorts of criminals. Throw the cops in jail with the general prison population, give him his guns back, and fire all of his colleagues who helped him get away with this theft.
On March 11, 2016 at 12:02 am, Fred said:
More village witchdoctors in action, ooogah boogah.
The CIA is watching us. So are about 14 other “agencies” of the federal government. Or more accurately, according the CIA, they are only collecting information on us, from these other agencies. This is not new. Here are the results of just one FOIA request from the CIA’s own website. http://www.foia.cia.gov/document/0005568292
This took me 3 minutes to find.
But, what if you don’t “believe in” global warming? What if you believe in two parent homes or that men and women are different from each other? What if you believe that there was a guy who healed sickness, walked on water, accurately indicated future events, and raised people from the dead, including himself?
Oh, and that last one, government has been known to kill for belief in that.
On March 11, 2016 at 8:40 am, UNCLEELMO said:
I guess I better quit telling my friends about ‘Fusion Centers’, the FBI’s HRT’s part in the killing of LaVoy Finicum and Obama’s database that “no one has ever seen before in life”. Otherwise I might be receiving a knock on the door myself.
On March 11, 2016 at 9:13 am, UNCLEELMO said:
“The Hennepin Community Outreach for Psychiatric Emergencies (COPE)”- Now, THERE’S an organization I wouldn’t trust to protect my right to bear arms.
On March 11, 2016 at 12:46 pm, Jack Crabb said:
Pardon the vernacular, Herschel, but fuck the fucking fuckers before they fucking fuck you.
On March 11, 2016 at 2:38 pm, MadMagyar said:
I worked for a doctor who was very adamant about office staff NOT making diagnoses in conversation about patients. We could observe and report symptoms, but never take the step of suggesting a diagnosis. ONLY a doctor is allowed (by law) to do that. Sounds like these cops are making “snap” diagnoses and, therefore, literally practicing medicine without a license. Mr. Gilbertsen’s attorney could probably make him a very rich man – at the expense of the Richfield P.D.
On March 11, 2016 at 2:45 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Good points all around, but you know what would happen, right? The expense of making Mr. Gilbertsen a rich man would fall to the taxpayer because cops are indemnified in just about everything they do, and supported by the courts when they’re not specifically shielded from the consequences of their actions. They shouldn’t be, but they are.
On March 11, 2016 at 4:15 pm, Frank_in_Spokane said:
Not taking the cops’ side in this, but consider this Odom flake who shot pastor Tim Remington after worship services last Sunday. Honorably discharged Marine (4 years; air wing, I think). Excellent student in college, got a degree in biotech.
Had “mental health issues,” including the conviction that the human race had been infiltrated by Martians. Pastor R. was one of them. In fact, Odom’s manifesto claimed that the Martians at the church were trying to force him into sex slavery.
Shot the pastor after he revealed his Martian persona to Odom.
What do you DO with a case like his?
And WHEN?
On March 11, 2016 at 4:22 pm, Herschel Smith said:
The pastor should have been carrying and shot him.
On March 12, 2016 at 4:08 pm, Frank_in_Spokane said:
Of course, in the gravest extreme, that could have happened. But I am discussing how to take responsibility for people who suffer from delusions that are dangerous either to themselves or to those around them. Please consider my response to Ned above: https://disqus.com/home/discussion/captainsjournal/man_states_belief_in_bigfoot_and_ufos_gets_guns_confiscated/#comment-2566246630
On March 12, 2016 at 12:03 pm, Ned Weatherby said:
So – the department of pre-crime is the answer?
On March 12, 2016 at 4:07 pm, Frank_in_Spokane said:
One of my very favorite movies!
But no, of course not. However, I do think that there might be a way to apply a biblical principle here:
EXODUS 21:
28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels[e] of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
(DISCALIMER: I AM NOT A THEOLOGIAN, NOR DO I PLAY ONE ON TV.)
So the principle would be that, on the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15) — e.g., the man’s family or physician — that the man is known to suffer from delusions in which he identifies other people as Martians or demons or some other kind of “enemy” that, if his delusion was true, the man could reasonably be expected to fight against/attack these enemies, perhaps he should not be able to keep and bear arms.
At least until — also upon the testimony of two or three witnesses — he has been determined to no longer suffer the delusion any longer.
Also note that a certain demoniac told about in the Gospels was restrained so as not to harm himself or others. There might be a similar principle there to explore, as well.
On March 12, 2016 at 6:17 pm, Fred said:
No physicians (unless family). They are seen as an authority and add weight where none should be. And especially, if they are a witchdoctor, err, shrink. Your solution would of course require a moral and just society and that isn’t really possible since America broke covenant with God.
On March 11, 2016 at 8:00 pm, Dorie said:
Just one of many reasons to cache
On March 12, 2016 at 12:01 pm, Ned Weatherby said:
He wasn’t paranoid – they really were out to get him…