View Full Version : Caterpillar bulldozer goes on rampage... kills protester
smokfire
03-15-2005, 22:02
Kin of Slain Protester Suing Caterpillar
Tue Mar 15, 5:52 PM ET U.S. National - AP
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE - The parents of a 23-year-old activist killed while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home is suing Caterpillar Inc., the company that made the bulldozer that ran over her.
The federal lawsuit, which lawyers said would be filed here Tuesday, alleges that Caterpillar violated international and state law by providing specially designed bulldozers to Israeli Defense Forces that it knew would be used to demolish homes and endanger people.
Rachel Corrie, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, was standing in front of a home in a refugee camp in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, in March of 2003 when a bulldozer plowed over her.
"The brutal death of my daughter should never have happened," Corrie's mother, Cindy Corrie, said in a statement released by the Center for Constitutional Rights, a law firm handling the case. "We believe Caterpillar and the (Israeli Defense Forces) must be held accountable for their role in the attack."
Caterpillar spokeswoman Linda Fairbanks said the company had no comment on the lawsuit.
However, the company released a general statement Tuesday that said: "Caterpillar shares the world's concern over unrest in the Middle East and we certainly have compassion for all those affected by political strife.
"However, more than 2 million Caterpillar machines and engines are at work in virtually every region of the world each day. We have neither the legal right nor the means to police individual use of that equipment."
The statement did not refer to the lawsuit.
The Corries have filed separate claims in Israel against the state of Israel, the Israeli Defense Ministry and the Israeli Defense Forces.
The Israeli military classified Corrie's death as an accident.
Wow! I am beyond words on this one. Any legal or personal opinions?
smokfire
NousDefionsDoc
03-15-2005, 22:04
No morals, no pride, no Honor.
Team Sergeant
03-15-2005, 22:06
Kin of Slain Protester Suing Caterpillar
Tue Mar 15, 5:52 PM ET U.S. National - AP
By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE, Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE - The parents of a 23-year-old activist killed while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home is suing Caterpillar Inc., the company that made the bulldozer that ran over her.
Wow! I am beyond words on this one. Any legal or personal opinions?
smokfire
LOLOLOLOLOL, When I stop laughing I'll post an opinion.... ;)
Funny that even in death everyone has a profit motive. Thanks Mom and Dad Corrie!
Please don't take this as representative of the of the great State of Washington. I heard a man who once called Seattle "Eighty-two scenic square miles surrounded by reality." Having been born and raised in that city, I can adamantly say that he was right on.
smokfire
03-15-2005, 22:11
Maybe they should sue her shoe manufacturer because she obviously can't out run a bulldozer. My Grandmother is 88 years old and uses a cane and I'll bet she could give a Cat a run for its money.
smokfire
The Reaper
03-15-2005, 22:15
You play chicken with a dozer while on foot, lose, and sue the manufacturer?
Is there a way for the deceased's estate to sue her parents for complete failure to demonstrate parenting skills?
That strikes me as much more likely to be the proximate cause of her death, along with her own willful negligence.
TR
NousDefionsDoc
03-15-2005, 22:24
I see D9's hand in this...
brewmonkey
03-15-2005, 22:46
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050315/ap_on_re_us/protester_killed_lawsuit
This is a big crock of shit. I guess when you stand in front of a dozer, in a war zone that you have no business being in it is not your fault if it runs you over.
SEATTLE - The parents of a 23-year-old activist killed while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home is suing Caterpillar Inc., the company that made the bulldozer that ran over her.
Photo
Reuters Photo
The federal lawsuit, which lawyers said would be filed here Tuesday, alleges that Caterpillar violated international and state law by providing specially designed bulldozers to Israeli Defense Forces that it knew would be used to demolish homes and endanger people.
Rachel Corrie, a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, was standing in front of a home in a refugee camp in Rafah, near the Egyptian border, in March of 2003 when a bulldozer plowed over her.
"The brutal death of my daughter should never have happened," Corrie's mother, Cindy Corrie, said in a statement released by the Center for Constitutional Rights, a law firm handling the case. "We believe Caterpillar and the (Israeli Defense Forces) must be held accountable for their role in the attack."
Caterpillar spokeswoman Linda Fairbanks said the company had no comment on the lawsuit.
However, the company released a general statement Tuesday that said: "Caterpillar shares the world's concern over unrest in the Middle East and we certainly have compassion for all those affected by political strife.
"However, more than 2 million Caterpillar machines and engines are at work in virtually every region of the world each day. We have neither the legal right nor the means to police individual use of that equipment."
The statement did not refer to the lawsuit.
The Corries have filed separate claims in Israel against the state of Israel, the Israeli Defense Ministry and the Israeli Defense Forces.
The Israeli military classified Corrie's death as an accident
Roguish Lawyer
03-15-2005, 22:54
LMAO -- typical. I'll bet The Reaper won't think it's funny, though.
[Edit after merging threads: Ha! I was right!
NDD -- I had the same thought.]
OK, I have a question. Why is it such frivilous law suits are so common in the US?
Roguish Lawyer
03-15-2005, 23:16
OK, I have a question. Why is it such frivilous law suits are so common in the US?
1. Because plaintiffs' lawyers can make money bringing them the way the system is set up right now.
2. Because many U.S. citizens take no responsibility for their own actions (or inactions) and want to blame someone else when something bad happens to them.
Sacamuelas
03-16-2005, 08:23
2. Because many U.S. citizens take no responsibility for their own actions (or inactions) and want to blame someone else when something bad happens to them.
Jeez, I never realized how similar our civil court system was to the UN! :rolleyes:
Darwin nominee for stupidity? Can I get anyone to second the motion? :D
Bill Harsey
03-16-2005, 09:09
I wouldn't stand in front of those while logging and we were supposed to be all on the same side.
There is a lot the operator CAN'T see on the other side of a road building blade in good conditions.
Never assume the cat driver can see you.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
This is Rachel Corrie burning a homemade representation of the US flag in one of the Palestinian camps.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
This is Rachel Corrie burning a homemade representation of the US flag in one of the Palestinian camps.
Oh.....Not a Darwin Nominee. Knowingly engaging in stupid activity. I retract my nomination. I'll change my position to most deserving idiot award.
Jack Moroney (RIP)
03-16-2005, 09:38
Catepiller ought to get an award for purifying the gene pool.
Jack Moroney
CPTAUSRET
03-16-2005, 11:18
I remember when this first went down, and thinking "Did her parents have any idea of what she was doing?" It now seems obvious that the "horse apple" doesn't fall far from the horse!
She was striving to disrupt Israels attempts to provide better security for it's citizens, and presuming that being an American citizen would somehow shield her from any harm, WRONG!!
And she burned my flag... F*CK HER!!!
Terry
OK, I have a question. Why is it such frivilous law suits are so common in the US?
Two very good reasons.
1. They pick a jury of stupid people who feel sorry for the loss of the individual. The jury feels it's really sad that they lost somebody/were hurt/etc, etc. What the heck, it's a big company they will never miss the money. Let's give the poor people some money.
2. No "loser pays" make the loser pay the legal bill on both sides and you'll see a big drop in lawsuits.
Pete
The Reaper
03-16-2005, 11:53
I remember when this first went down, and thinking "Did her parents have any idea of what she was doing?" It now seems obvious that the "horse apple" doesn't fall far from the horse!
She was striving to disrupt Israels attempts to provide better security for it's citizens, and presuming that being an American citizen would somehow shield her from any harm, WRONG!!
And she burned my flag... F*CK HER!!!
Terry
If she believed that, got two more words she should have looked up before she got in the way of an Izzy dozer.
USS Liberty.
As far as Pete's comments go, I agree but you should have added
#3. No representation on a contingency basis.
TR
Smokin Joe
03-16-2005, 12:26
Yup, the bitch had it coming.
AngelsSix
03-16-2005, 13:00
She was oblivious to the fact that a 9 ton bulldozer was going to squish her like a bug, so to hell with her. Not everyone values human life the way we do her in the States. In the US she would have mearly been arrested, in other countries they just squish you. :p
I found this while browsing the subject.....apparently this even happened a year ago and to top it all off, her cousin (the author) is a friggin' schoolteacher!!!
Killed in Israel
ATLANTA, Georgia Only a year ago, the month of March would have held the same positive associationsfor me as it has for many - the beginning of the end of winter, the promise of springtime and even summer. This year, and for every year for the rest of my life, the approach of March will mean something else entirely - the anniversary of the brutal death of my cousin, Rachel Corrie. . On March 16, 2003, an Israeli soldier and his commander ran over Rachel with a nine-ton Caterpillar bulldozer while she stood - unarmed, clearly visible in her orange fluorescent jacket - protecting a Palestinian home slated for demolition by the Israeli army. The death of Rachel Corrie, and the response that her case has - and has not - received, reveal several disturbing, indeed immoral and criminal, truths. . First, Rachel died while attempting to prevent the demolition of a home, a
common practice of the Israeli Army's collective punishment that has left more than 12,000 Palestinians homeless since the beginning of the second uprising in September 2000. This practice violates international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention. . Second, Rachel was run over by a Caterpillar bulldozer, manufactured in the United States and sent to Israel as part of the regular
U.S. aid package to Israel, which amounts to $3 billion to $4 billion annually, all of it from U.S. taxpayers. The use of Caterpillar bulldozers to destroy civilian homes, not to mention to run over unarmed human rights activists, violates U.S. law, including the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits the use of military aid against civilians. . Third, the self-acquittal of the Israeli army for Rachel's death and the resistance of the state of Israel to an independent investigation into
this case reveals both the Sharon administration's unwillingness to take responsibility for the death of a U.S. citizen and the Bush administration's cowardice in allowing another nation to attack U.S. citizens with impunity. . Fourth, Rachel's death was in fact only the first of several Israeli attacks on foreign citizens in the West Bank and Gaza. Brian Avery, from New Mexico, was shot in the face on April 5; Tom Hurndall, a British citizen, was shot in the head on April 11 and died Jan. 13, and James Miller, another British citizen, was also shot and killed in April. To date, only in Hurndall's case will the Israeli soldier responsible for the attack face trial, and this is because the British government, after several months, finally responded to the overwhelming evidence
presented by the Hurndall family. . As we approach March 16, residents and citizens of the United States should ask themselves how it is that an unarmed U.S. citizen can be killed with impunity by a soldier from an allied nation receiving massive U.S. aid, using a product manufactured in the United States by a U.S. corporation and paid for with U.S. tax dollars. When three Americans were killed,
presumably by Palestinians, in an explosion on Oct. 15, 2003, as they traveled through Gaza, the FBI came within 24 hours to investigate the deaths. After one year, neither the FBI nor any other U.S.- led team has done anything to investigate the death of an American killed by an Israeli. . Why the double standard? Perhaps this reveals the most disturbing truth of all. . Elizabeth Corrie is an administrator and teacher in a school in Atlanta.
The Reaper
03-16-2005, 13:20
It appears that idiocy may well be genetic.
The difference is that same as feeling sorry for someone who was crushed while working on a project when a piece of equipment failed to operate as intended, and laughing at someone who put themselves in harm's way and remained there while the threat advanced to their demise.
If I leap out of my car of my own free will in front of a Kenworth semi on the interstate, fail to move out of the way, and it hits me, is the driver and manufacturer of the truck responsible in a civil matter?
TR
AngelsSix
03-16-2005, 13:30
I don't believe the manufacturer to be liable in this civil matter. If the machine had MALFUNCTIONED and caused her death it would be quite another matter.
Stupidity runs in packs!!
The poor, mourning cousin can be consoled at ecorrie@lovett.org, if you wish to send your condolences.
Roguish Lawyer
03-16-2005, 15:25
USS Liberty.
Oooh, are we going to go through that one again? :munchin
That poor girl. I'd bet the last thing that went through her mind was her ass. :D
Love and kisses.
Doc
ghostinashell
03-16-2005, 18:33
She went to a dangerous place. She put herself in harms way and she was harmed. No one sent her there, no one owes her or her family a damn thing and her parents probably put the flight on their credit cards so...