LIBERTARIAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE KEN KRAWCHUK DECRIES PENNSYLVANIA’S “COWBOY COPS”
ABINGTON, PA – “Out of control!”, insisted Ken Krawchuk, the Libertarian Party candidate for Pennsylvania Governor. “The drug war is out of control. The police are out of control. Pennsylvania’s leadership is out of control. It’s long past time we bring some sanity back to the Commonwealth. It’s long past time to vote Libertarian. Enough is enough!”
Krawchuk’s comments were made at a recent ballot access rally regarding yet another killing by police in Pennsylvania.
“The situation is nothing short of ludicrous. A Game Commission employee somehow decided a parked car was “suspicious”—don’t ask me how—and called the cops. Even though there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, the state police dispatched a helicopter and commandeered a bulldozer to locate the owner. Well, they found him – when they ran him over with the bulldozer and killed him! Their justification? They claim to have found ten cannabis plants in the area.
“Questions abound. Why bother chasing a random citizen through the woods? How do they know he had any connection to the plants? And only ten plants? Did they find them after killing an unarmed man or beforehand? Regardless, cannabis is not a dangerous drug—except when the police are around—and not worth the time, cost, and effort of enforcing such insane prohibitions. That’s why I’ve pledged to pardon every single non-violent drug offender on my first day in office. When a Libertarian Governor is elected in Pennsylvania, this insane War on Drugs is going to end.
“And it’s not only this bulldozer killing that highlights how out of control the police are. Earlier this month a Lancaster cop tasered an unarmed, compliant man— in the back! Just before that, an East Pittsburgh cop shot and killed an unarmed man—again in the back! I predict that in all three of these cases—bulldozering, tasering, and killing—the police will be exonerated. Why? Because they were following quote-unquote, “standard police procedure.” They were following the law. Well, those laws are flat out wrong, as demonstrated by the growing number of deaths at the hands of Pennsylvania’s Finest. It’s obvious we need a complete overhaul of how police can be permitted to operate.
For starters, instead of having the power to use any necessary force to make an arrest, police should only be permitted to use any necessary force to save lives. It’s not the arrest that matters; rather, it’s paramount for police to protect Pennsylvanians. And when I’m elected governor, I’ll work to bring the law into step with sanity.
“Society used to tolerate the persecution of gays and minorities. Fortunately, the laws are finally moving beyond that ancient hatred. Society used to tolerate sexual harassment of women. Fortunately, social mores are finally moving beyond that heartless insensitivity. And similarly, when it comes to these out of control Cowboy Cops, we as a society must move beyond tolerating such cruelty at the hands of those sworn to protect us. And the only way to make sure we survive to see that day is to vote Libertarian.”
Krawchuk, 65, is an Information Technology entrepreneur from Abington, Pa. He has appeared on the gubernatorial ballot twice before, facing Democrat Ed Rendell in 2002 and Republican Tom Ridge in 1998. Because of Pennsylvania’s onerous ballot access laws, Krawchuk is the last third party or independent gubernatorial candidate to appear on the Pennsylvania ballot since 2002. His return to politics comes on the heels of his federal court victory in 2016 that ruled unconstitutional the $80,000+ fines that have been levied against statewide candidates who are unsuccessful in their attempt to appear on the November ballot.
Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the state and the nation, with over 150 elected and appointed officials currently serving in office nationwide, and 40 in Pennsylvania. Libertarians are fiscally conservative and socially liberal, and like the Founding Fathers, Libertarians believe that you have the inalienable right to conduct your life as you see fit, without interference, so long as you respect the rights and property of others.
For more information about the Libertarian Party, the public is invited to contact the Krawchuk campaign at www.KenK4Pa.com, Campaign@KenK4Pa.com, or (224) Krawchuk (224-572-9248), the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania at www.LpPa.org or (800) R-RIGHTS, or the National Libertarian Party at www.Lp.org or (202) 333-0008.
Krawchuk appears weekly on a Facebook livestream at 8 PM every Wednesday night, https://facebook.com/KenK4Pa.
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Release 18-02