NicoleC, where in anything I have posted to this thread do you get grounds for your stated opinion that:

"Teribus seems to feel that law enforcement is justified in doing anything they want if they are suspicious of, well, anything." ?

When confronted with the physical presence of the "Law" in the normal course of events, i.e. law abiding citizen going about their daily routine and stopped by a Police Officer and asked about what they are doing. There are a number of ways that the citizen can respond:
- Be polite and co-operative on the assumption that the police officer is only doing his job and does have a reason for asking his questions.
- Be unco-operative, evasive and question his right to stop and question you.
- Refuse to answer any questions and remain silent.
- Be totally outraged and belligerent.

Depending upon which of the above, or which various shades of the above, are adopted, will clearly govern the Police Officer's reaction.

Example: A friend of mine travels a great deal by car, so does his wife. When pulled over for speeding, he is apologetic and polite - he normally gets off with a warning and some advice about observing speed limits. His wife on the other hand, berates them for holding her up and complains about the waste in tax-payers money of the police harassing innocent members of the public when they should be out there catching real criminals - she gets done every time.

Interesting follow ups from both Wolfgang and Amos - one thing that does strike me as odd - In the initial story Mr. Maginnis, worker in the IT industry, had an interest in photographing corporate buildings and communications equipment, hence his interest in the Hotel, and his assertion that he was going about upon his own lawful occasions. The composition of his thirty odd photographs were, we hear from the media articles, of Denver Police, Army Rangers and roof-top snipers.

Now the camera according to Mr. Maginnis was confiscated on the spot, the police deny that the incident ever took place (according to the article posted by Amos), therefore the only source of information with regard to what the photographs were of must be from Mr. Maginnis himself, which is slightly at odds with where his photographic interests lie.

IMO, given the circumstances, I believe that the Police Officer (if there ever was one) was perfectly correct in asking Mr. Maginnis what he was doing - what the reaction was to that approach we only have Mr. Maginnis's version - the police are denying that the incident ever took place.

What would be the reaction, and where would popular vote go, had Mr. Maginnis claim to have been abducted by aliens for the stated period - at present we have only heard one side of an incident that may, or may not have happened - haven't we?