Color Blind
Two astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have just recanted their claim, announced in January, that the universe is a greenish shade of turquoise. Turns out it's really beige. If only the FBI were similarly color-blind, Joseph Charles Schultz might still have both of his cheeks.
Schultz is the 20-year-old Maryland man shot in the face by FBI agents who had mistaken him for someone else. Now, a week after the shooting, the agency has explained its error. Schultz, it seems, was wearing a white baseball cap and sitting in a red car. The G-men were looking for a bank robber who, they'd been told, was wearing a white baseball cap and traveling in a red car. So Schultz fit the profile.
The agents asked Schultz to leave the vehicle, prompting him to reach for his seat-belt buckle. This was interpreted as a threatening gesture, and Schultz received a jawful of lead. He survived this, though a fair portion of his face did not, and he is, the Baltimore Sun reports, "getting mad."
Give the FBI this much credit: They correctly identified the colors white and red. It's the next few steps of police work that eluded them.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?