Was c-rock the one that got him all this email??   I was the one that started posting it up on the sites.   Man, guy gets pissed because people emailed him on it.  
First off, who has the time to actually write a letter and mail it off?  I email everyone.  
I am so proud.
c-rock
www.illinois-shooter.org

http://www.dailyherald.com/oped/col_goudie.asp?intID=37081114
'Dirty Harry' story drew no reaction - until the Internet got involved
Posted on July 09, 2001
Exactly a month ago in this space, I reported the story of a "Dirty Harry"-like scene that played out in a Northwest Side Chicago park.

A woman on her lunch break witnessed the gunplay.

She described watching one man with a .44-caliber Magnum revolver pointing it at the head of a second man who was cowering on the ground.

"The gun was to his head for approximately five minutes," said Karen Cole. "He was on his knees, visibly shaking, before he was allowed to get up."

Cole later learned that the man with the gun was an off-duty Chicago cop and that the man on his knees was a thief who had just stolen a vacuum from the officer's home.

For three weeks, there was absolutely no public reaction to that column whatsoever. Not a phone call, not an e-mail, not a letter.

And then, a gun enthusiast posted it on a Web site devoted to the love of firearm freedom. And the inundation began.

The column that produced no local reaction when it was published in this newspaper attracted a weeklong torrent of caustic e-mails from across the country. Here is a sampling of some of the reaction from firearms aficionados:

• •

"You sir are an IDIOT ... the officer in that situation had no knowledge if (the thief) has a weapon or not. It only takes one second for a stop to go from life to death for an officer."

Peter from Sawyer, Minn.

• •

"That thief stole something infinitely more valuable with this story: your journalistic integrity.

"You'll probably have to go back and ask a professor about that. You seem totally clueless about anything but your rickety little soapbox. A bigger example of non-news by a hack pontificator I have yet to read ...

"What's next, the mail DOESN'T always get through?"

Matt

• •

"There are far too many people like you and this Cole character that think the punks and predators that stalk the innocent should be given special treatment and that their rights are equal to the law abiding.

"Anyone bold and stupid enough to enter someone's property and remove anything from it is also bold and stupid enough to cause bodily harm. If this is the chance they are willing to take, then they better expect to be staring down the business end of a firearm.

"Poor little thief. Give me a break!!!"

Brian from Morrison, Colo.

• •

"I read your opinion piece on the actions of the off-duty peace officer and found you to be one of the most ignorant ninnies I've seen in some time.

"I've been shot by a home invasion robber and nearly killed. My 15-year-old son retrieved my handgun and, with just the threat of using it, he saved my life.

"Whenever a criminal is approached, there is the possibility of them being armed."

Jeffrey from Palmdale, Calif.

• •

"This is such pitiful journalism. Deadly force was never used and the cop even let the guy go away, and this woman is complaining. When a cop addresses a thief, he always assumes the thief is armed. Having him at gunpoint prevents the thief from reaching for a weapon and killing the cop. What a waste of reading."

Elias

• •

"There is no difference between a thug and a police officer except government permission.

"Wake up and smell the coffee. There really are jackbooted thugs, and if you are for gun control you are playing right into their hands and making them more powerful."

Richard
• •

"Could you please publish your home address? That way we'll know where to send all the thieves who so dearly love to feed off people who think they should be allowed to ply their trade unfettered by any form of resistance. Publish too the name and address of the hand-wringing complainer, so the cops will know what address to cross off their 911 response list."

Kurt

• •

"Give me a break, the guy was a THIEF, a SCUMBAG WASTE OF HUMAN FILTH, how DARE you criticize this officer. I applaud his fortitude. Maybe if we start shooting thieves, burglars, rapists, murderers, etc. in the head there would be less crime in the country. And if that didn't work then at least there would be less criminals in the country. My god, you and people of your ilk make me sick with your pinko leftist socialist crap! Get a grip on reality please."

Elias

• •

"YOU SEEM TO THINK THE COP WAS TOO HARD ON THIS SCUM. I DO NOT. I BELIEVE HE DID YOUR CITY A FAVOR, AND YOU ARE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO EVEN THANK HIM FOR A JOB WELL DONE."

Unsigned

• •

"I hope this experience has enlightened you to the reality of what is going on in America today."

Rick

• Chuck Goudie, whose column appears each Monday, is the chief investigative reporter at ABC/7 News in Chicago. The views in this column are his own and not those of WLS-TV. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].