7mo ago

U.S. governors urge Turks and Caicos to release Americans as Florida woman becomes 5th tourist arrested for ammo in luggage

www.cbsnews.com U.S. governors urge Turks and Caicos to release Americans as Florida woman becomes 5th tourist arrested for ammo in luggage

The governors of Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Virginia wrote a letter Tuesday asking the territory to show mercy to the Americans arrested on the island.

News @lemmy.world

www.cbsnews.com /news/turks-and-caicos-ammo-governors-urge-release-americans-sharitta-shinise-grier/

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232 comments

How about the governors suggest that their residents don't travel internationally with ammunition?
- It is very unlikely these people were carrying ammo.
  
  https://nypost.com/2024/05/08/world-news/bryan-hagerich-dad-facing-turks-and-caicos-prison-time-for-ammo-charge-says-law-has-unintended-consequences/
  they admit to it.
  Ryan Watson, 40, of Oklahoma, a father of two who was most recently arrested for unknowingly having ammo in his bag on April 12, remains on the island. Both men previously told Fox News Digital that they had the ammo in their bags from prior hunting trips.
  Michael Lee Evans, 72, pleaded guilty to having ammunition in his bag on April 24, according to local news outlet the Turks & Caicos Sun. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 18.
  why are you fabricating bullshit?
  
  Per the article 'Four of the detained Americans have admitted they brought the ammunition — but by mistake.'
  
  Then how did they find ammo and why have several admitted they brought the ammo and "forgot"?
  Sounds like you're full of shit.

How arrogant of those American governers to assume they can just dictate how other countries deal with people smuggling weapons into their country (even if those people claim to have done it as a casual accident).
- You're naive if you think it won't work.
  
  20 American doctors starving and dehydrated in Gaza, Israel hitting their supply trucks being shipped in. If the U.S doesn't care about 20 doctors, they surely don't care about a few numbnuts
  
  How so??

fuck that, its not hard to check your luggage before traveling.
Stop throwing the weight of the US government behind trying to protect assholes.
- I agree they're stupid, but these aren't people with malicious intent, and you want them to spend 10 years in prison? What do you think this solves?
  
  I mean, all they had to do was take the least amount of effort possible to ensure their luggage was clean.
  If they couldnt muster the give a fuck to do that, and intentionally went to a country that they know has these laws...Then why should I muster enough of a fuck to wring my hands desperately over the situation their own lack of care and concern created?
  i think this solves the problem of idiots and assholes thinking they can flout rules and get away with it, regardless of its malicious or willful incompetence.
  
  It keeps complete morons off the streets and out of reach of firearms.
  Because people who completely lack the necessary care and disciplin should not be armed.
- I travel a lot, both with and without guns. And ammo has a way of ending up in the weirdest little folds of your backpack and clothes.
  
  Sounds like ammo should be handled carefully
  
  Okay, So good on you for admitting you are not capable of keeping track of your shit.
  US government still shouldnt be stepping in to protect you from your flagrant disregard for competency.
  
  If that's the case you shouldn't be trusted with guns and ammo
  
  That's why you should treat guns and ammo with care. Have you never learned to count?
  
  You don't sound like a very smart person.
  
  I travel with and without. I have bags specifically for firearms and ammo. That way when I travel somewhere that having just one round of 22lr might be an issue I use a bag that never had my firearm stuff. It eliminates the uncertainty.

Would America just release tourists who broke their laws?
- What is an American law that's equivalent to this?
  
  Weed is legal in Canada, illegal in the US.
  
  Yeah, what about their Second Amendment Rights in other countries? /s
  
  Bring along a Kinder surprise egg into the US and see how understanding and friendly the US legal system is to people who made a honest mistake.
  
  Marijuana maybe? I don't know how strict the guns laws are there but that's the closest I can think of.
  
  Copyright infringement, DRM circumvention, and "hacking."
  See: Aaron Swartz
  On January 6, 2011, Swartz was arrested by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) police on state breaking-and-entering charges, after connecting a computer to the MIT network in an unmarked and unlocked closet and setting it to download academic journal articles systematically from JSTOR using a guest user account issued to him by MIT. Federal prosecutors, led by Carmen Ortiz, later charged him with two counts of wire fraud and eleven violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, carrying a cumulative maximum penalty of $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, asset forfeiture, restitution, and supervised release.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
  
  oh I can think of tens of thousands of people imprisoned for just holding a tiny bit of weed. bet some of them were mexican, canadian and otherwise foreign citizens, do you think that gave the local yokels pause in putting them in jail? charging them?
  LOLOL

A prison sentence doesn't make sense in these cases, since there is no risk of repeat offenses and therefore no rehabilitation required.
Just give them a 4 digit large fine and maybe deport them, unless you have a non-functioning justice system focused on cruelty, then give them a significant prison sentence.
- Keep in mind that legal systems in other countries might actually work differently.
- Apparently they had fines before, are facing increased gun violence and thus increased the punishment.
- Maybe they love to punish stupid Americans.
  
  Who doesn't?

I say, keep them an extra week, and let the US gov pay the fine for not noticing on departure.

Yeah, no.
It seems that these Americans have discovered that they can't just ignore the rule of law in other countries.
Let them deal with the consequences. Let them lose that American exceptionalism.
Nobody gets a free pass for breaking laws in America, so these Americans shouldn't get a free pass for breaking laws in other countries.
- I agree, but on the other hand 12 years? This sounds more like a 12 days crime...
  
  The full story is that Turks and Caicos Islands has struggled against gun violence for years, so it passed much stricter gun laws in 2022. American tourists were violating this law by bringing guns and ammunition in their bags, but the courts in all of the previous cases recognized that prison was a harsh punishment for lapses like this, so they'd reduce the sentence to a fine. But it just kept happening, and perhaps in frustration, in February an appeals court ruled that the lower courts could not exercise that kind of discretion.
  Given that those courts had been lowering the penalty to a fine, it seems unlikely that they'll sentence people to long prison terms. (Any prison time does seem like an overreaction, but it also seems that the country got frustrated and wants to send a message about following its laws.)
- Nobody gets a free pass for breaking laws in America
  You might want to check your notes on that one...
- Loose ammo can creep into all kinds of nooks when a box spills open. I've found rounds tucked into the fold of a range bag years after the spill.
  It's exactly why my range bags and my travel bags nexer mix.
  
  Are we talking about gummy bears or explosives?
  If you let ammo lose around the house, you have MUCH bigger problems than travelling
  
  Loose ammo can creep into all kinds of nooks when a box spills open. I’ve found rounds tucked into the fold of a range bag years after the spill.
  this is why you don't pleasure travel with your bang bang kit. spent almost a decade in the military, travelling CONSTANTLY, from training to war zones and all over for technical stuff - never ever tried to bring ammo onto an aircraft.
- You recognize the injustice of it, but still some individuals, who have not wronged anyone with their acts, should receive lengthy prison terms because you don't like the perceived policies of the us.
  Also let's point out that there is absolutely zero evidence that these people are 'ignoring' the law. It seems they are just idiots who made dumb and careless mistakes. You just need to paint it way to justify the completely unjustifiable position of thinking individuals should be punished for the actions of their state.
  
  No, this has nothing to do with the US.
  If I go to the US, I have to obey US law or go to jail. Similarly, if a US citizen goes to another country, they have to obey THEIR laws. If their laws say you go to jail when you break them, then what are you crying about?
  
  This isn't punishment for actions of their state lol, this is punishment for their own actions.
  The state didn't tell them to put bullets in their luggage.
  
  Being an idiot doesn't mean you're exempt from the law. Who the fuck packs ammo to go to a different country?

They should be locked up, maximum sentence. American idiotic laws don't apply, they are just like everyone else. Criminals that broke the law and smuggled ammo in. Ignorance is not an excuse of the law, American justice system loves that phrase.

Well, if people travel into a foreign country and don't even care about the laws of said country (not in detail, just reading the governmental warnings would have been sufficient), they deserve what happens.
Imagine I would travel to the US and would bring along some Kinder surprise eggs by mistake. Would those governors show mercy to me? I don't think so.
- Or just serve alcohol to people of legal drinking age (in your country) along with the Kinder eggs.
  
  Yep. Americans would shit their pants if they saw 14 year olds drinking beer or wine - legally.

Americans complaining about the detention: "My countries' laws are fine and the very standard of reason. All of you other countries should chill out!"

Jfc you shouldn't have ammo in luggage. Not surprised they were arrestex6

Does anybody know if these guys have oil?
- they're owned by the uk so they've already suffered enough without the us invading them.
  
  It's enough when the CIA says it's enough

If I were one of them, the NRA would be the last group I'd want advocating for my release...

Those fools are trying to contain Florida Woman? Good luck, you poor bastards.

This is the best summary I could come up with:
Three U.S. governors this week asked Turks and Caicos to show mercy to Americans arrested on the islands as a Florida woman became the fifth U.S. tourist to be charged with ammunition possession.
The lawmakers' plea came as the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police confirmed yet another American, 45-year-old Sharitta Shinise Grier of Orlando, Florida, was charged with one count of ammunition possession after two rounds were allegedly discovered in her luggage on Monday during a routine search at Howard Hamilton International Airport.
The National Rifle Association on Thursday urged the U.S. State Department to "use every means necessary to return U.S. citizens home to America."
That changed in February when a court order required even tourists to potentially face mandatory prison time in addition to paying a fine.
TSA confirmed to CBS News its officers missed the four rounds of hunting ammo in Watson's carry-on when he and his wife departed from Oklahoma City in April.
"To me, the solution here is to put more technology assists available to them," Pekosek told CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave, pointing to software that would be able to identify rounds of ammunition, pieces of firearms and various knives.
The original article contains 523 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 62%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Happened in the Philippines around 6-8 years ago, nefarious airport security would intentionally put ammo in a victims luggage with the intention of shaking them for bribe. It lead travellers to wrap their luggage in plastic prior to departure. As far as I know they targeted locals I don't remember foreign victims.
- this is not a shakedown. the perpetrators admitted it and pled guilty. it's stupid american guntwats who can't keep track of their sensitive items.

Ah I love this thread, the duality of Lemmy
Hicks:
"I have two bags I use whenever I am going outside my family land, sorry I missed a shell or two from the last time I went huntin, so what, I'm just an American"
Others:
"FUCK AROUND FIND OUT!!! One ammo? That's like 30 pounds of heroin, I hope you go to prison you dumb motherfucker"

fuck them. keep them locked up forever. fafo and they'll learn americans aren't the centre of the world.
- They are idiots, but you just said to abduct people beyond written law in their country and hold them against their will. I don't think the UK will support that idea very much. They should face the time for the crimes they did, but "keep them locked up forever" is some backwards ass views clearly not focusing on prisons to be for recovery, just simply imprisonment for life... When no one was actually harmed from their actions. Really it shouldn't be much of an issue. Pulled over for going over the speed limit but not harming anyone. "Keep them locked up forever"

One of the most useful Vietnam-style traps requires exactly one shot as a hard to get component.

The weird thing is that it's not like loose ammo is dangerous. It doesn't just "go off".

Four rounds of ammo? Give them a slap on the wrist and send them home. If it was a box of ammo I'd feel differently. How you get ammo in the luggage is beyond me, but at 4 it was obviously an accident, they are obviously not trying to smuggle weapons in at that point.
- Their country, their rules. One bullet can still kill someone. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
  
  So can a fork. They didn't travel with a gun apparently. Going to have to go shut down every Lowe's that sells fertilizer, because you could rig it up and make it explode... Like a bullet without a gun.
- When you go into someone's house, you follow their rules.
  
  Yes and when you punish someone you use a reasonable level of punishment.
  Take the ammo and put them on the next flight home. And tell them next time the punishment will be more severe
- How careless do you have to be to just have ammo lying around, unknown to you? Here's a thought, T&C says they'll release them if they lose their right to own a gun in the US?
  
  If anything they’ll be celebrated by pro gun groups:
  The National Rifle Association on Thursday urged the U.S. State Department to "use every means necessary to return U.S. citizens home to America."
- Why the fuck would you bring ammo to begin with?
  
  They traveled with their normal bag they go around with in regular life. Lesson: NEVER TRAVEL WITH THE BAG YOU CARRY AROUND DAILY because you will forget what's in there.
- Fuck no. First rule of travelling is to check your fucking luggage. When you check your bags in you are asked if you packed it yourself and if everything in it is within the rules. It's no one else's fault two people are too fucking lazy or stupid to double check before checking their bags in.
- If those governors will do the same for weed, deal.
  
  I have no problem with that.

I had assumed airport agents put the ammunition in the luggage to get bribes.
- That’s not necessary, Americans unnecessarily carrying guns everywhere happens all the time
  
  They weren't carrying guns.
- People downvoting don't realise this has happenned in some countries: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninoy_Aquino_International_Airport_bullet_planting_scandal#:~:text=The%20Ninoy%20Aquino%20International%20Airport,Ninoy%20Aquino%20International%20Airport%20(NAIA)
  
  So? It's still irrelevant here.
- I had too, but apparently that is not the case.

232 comments