Monthly Archives: September 2016

Lessons from Charlotte: When a protest is just a riot

Posted on September 23, 2016 | Comments Off

This week, an non-permitted demonstration in Downtown Charlotte escalated into a mass of property damage and the murder of a protester by another protester in the crowd. The media reported this by labeling it as a “Violent Protest”. Similar labels were attached to riots in Baltimore, Ferguson and Milwaukee; but when there’s clear evidence of multiple crimes being committed during a “protest”, it’s officially defined a riot.

On September 23, 2016, my latest piece was published in The Hill that analyzes the events in Charlotte and defines this issue more clearly. To read the full story, click here.

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Posted in Public Safety, Security

Tagged A. Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, Ben Mannes, black lives matter, BLM, Charlotte, common sense, crime prevention, criminal justice system, DOJ, FBI, law enforcement, peirce college, Riots, The Hill, Violent Crime

The Hill: Trolling the bottom: How facts got trumped by volume

Posted on September 22, 2016 | Comments Off

This piece in The Hill discusses the current, unfortunate state of discourse in America. It discusses “trolling” as it’s commonly seen in social media, but also examines it as a dangerous social construct that has resulted in a breakdown in trust and socialization throughout the world.

To read the full article, please click here.

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Posted in Public Integrity

Tagged A. Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, Ben Mannes, black lives matter, BLM, common sense, Facebook, peirce college, public safety, Social Media, The Hill, Trolling, Twitter

John Cardillo & Ben Mannes discuss tactics and the Tulsa shooting

Posted on September 21, 2016 | Comments Off

Ben Mannes appeared again on The John Cardillo Show, which airs weekday mornings on WBIZ 880AM in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, to discuss the latest controversial police shooting of an unarmed suspect. The shooting of Terrence Crutcher, an unarmed black suspect with PCP in his vehicle by Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby was, in my opinion about poor tactics and/or training, not her justification to use deadly force.

In watching the video, it was clear that Crutcher should have complied and was being given clear and lawful orders, ignoring them by walking back to his vehicle (albeit with his hands up). Tactically, I believed this to call for nonlethal/less-lethal force such as a taser, takedown, or impact weapon. Had Officer Shelby and her backup officers bridged the distance and attempted a less lethal intervention method he got to his driver’s door, Crutcher would be alive and in custody now.

On an important note, had Crutcher listened and lawfully complied with Shelby (which is hard to do on PCP), and the officers on the scene not been afraid to go ‘old school’ and put hands on him; Crutcher would be alive today.

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Posted in Public Safety

Tagged A. Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, Betty Shelby, black lives matter, BLM, common sense, constitutional, crime prevention, Crutcher, DOJ, John Cardillo, The Hill, Tulsa Police, Vanita Gupta, Violent Crime, WBIZ

The Hill: Words matter: How politicians politicize terror attacks

Posted on September 19, 2016 | Comments Off

Please read and share the piece I wrote in The Hill on September 18, 2016 regarding the terror attacks in New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota over the weekend, and questions about the honesty of the language used by local political leaders to brief the public on them.

To read the full article, please click here.

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Posted in Public Integrity, Public Safety, Security

Tagged A. Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, Chelsea Bombings, De Blasio, homeland Security, Kenney, Seaside Park, terrorism, The Hill

John Cardillo Show: Ben Mannes on Police Ambushes, Terrorism and Immigration

Posted on September 19, 2016 | Comments Off

Mannes was a guest on the John Cardillo Show on Monday, 9/19/16 to discuss two ambushes on Philadelphia Police, his recent article in The Hill entitled Background Checks: the Achilles Heel of Immigration Reform, and the recent Terrorist Attacks on New York, New Jersey and Minnesota.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged A. Benjamin Mannes, Ahmad Khan Rahani, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, ASIS, Ben Mannes, Chelsea Bombings, crime prevention, Elizabeth, FBI, JTTF, law enforcement, Linden, NYPD, peirce college, public safety, Seaside Park, security, shooting, terrorism, The Hill

Background Checks: The Achilles Heel of Immigration Reform

Posted on September 16, 2016 | Comments Off

My latest piece in The Hill raises extremely important questions on a key issue in the Presidential Race. The issue is Immigration and whether you’re on the left, right or centrist sides of the aisle, you’ve likely heard a lot about background checks. This article gets into the logistics of foreign background checks and why all sides of the argument should confer with experts on the issue.

To read the full story, click here.

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Posted in Security

Tagged A. Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, background checks, border security, constitutional, DOJ, fairness, Gary Johnson, Hillary Clinton, immigration, immigration reform, peirce college, The Hill, Trump

The Hill: Are we safer 15 years after 9/11?

Posted on September 13, 2016 | Comments Off

My latest piece in The Hill examines the state of the American posture 15 years after the attacks on September 11, 2001. This one is dedicated to those brave men and women we lost 15 years ago, Sunday. May their lives not be lost in vein.

Please click here to read the full story.

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Posted in Public Safety, Security

Tagged 9/11, A. Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, ASIS, ATF, congress, crime prevention, DHS, DOJ, FBI, peirce college, terrorism, The Hill, Watch List

John Cardillo Show: Crime & Corruption

Posted on September 1, 2016 | Comments Off

Ben Mannes was a three-segment guest on the John Cardillo show, mornings on 880 WBIZ Miami/Ft. Lauderdale. John is a former NYPD officer and radio personality specializing in political commentary. Ben and John talk about Ben’s latest articles in The Hill, BLM and Public Corruption for 25 minutes.

Phone interviews are hard, but I will stop in and do the show live on my next trip to South Florida.

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Posted in Public Integrity, Public Safety

Tagged 880 the biz, A. Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Benjamin Mannes, Ariel Mannes, ASIS, Baltimore, black lives matter, BLM, Civil Rights, common sense, constitutional, Corruption, crime prevention, criminal justice system, Florida, Hendry County, John Cardillo, justice, law enforcement, Miami, peirce college, Philadelphia, public safety, security, The Hill, Vanita Gupta