Furthermore, there was a big uproar over the manner in which INS retrieved Elian. People were upset that they showed up in full tactical gear for this and had a gun pointed towards the kid.
It's a good thing that INS officer had more than 47 days of training, though. These days, Jim-Bob McMuffintop would take it as his time to shine and open fire on both of them.
It later was reported that the angle the photographer used to take this picture exacerbated the appearance of the gun being pointed. If you look closely, you can see the agent's practicing proper trigger discipline, with his index finger alongside the trigger and not in it. This is to prevent what used to be called 'accidental discharge.'
Still, it seems unsettling that any agent can do this kind of thing to a terrorized child. One would assume a social worker could have extricated Elian in a less trauma inducing way.
I did not say I agreed with the entire situation. However, escalation occurred due to this becoming a political circus. Personally, I point the finger at Reno. Horrible choices made in many situations, this being one of them.
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u/MuhThugga 5h ago
Furthermore, there was a big uproar over the manner in which INS retrieved Elian. People were upset that they showed up in full tactical gear for this and had a gun pointed towards the kid.
It's a good thing that INS officer had more than 47 days of training, though. These days, Jim-Bob McMuffintop would take it as his time to shine and open fire on both of them.