Monday, January 04, 2010

Welcome To The Welfare State

Johnny Lee Wicks, age 66, is living proof that no government handout goes unpunished. Wicks is the guy who shot and killed a security officer and seriously wounded a deputy U.S. Marshal in the federal office building in Las Vegas today because he was upset about a cut in his social security disability payment. Wicks became eligible for social security disability a few years ago when he suffered a stroke. After his condition improved, Wicks' benefits were cut in half. He sued the government pro se, claiming that the Social Security Administration cut his benefits because he was black. A federal judge later dismissed Wicks' complaint. Judging by the contents of his complaint, it's a pretty safe bet that Wicks was educated in a bad public school. Here's a snippet of what he wrote in his complaint: "This Case from the Start was about race. . .The case manager in California violated my rights . . . he started this Scam . . . he put all of none sence (sic) in the System. Lots of state workers and agencies have took part in this Scam mainly for old blacks who are not well educated." Sigh. Federal officers shot and killed Wicks after he continued firing bullets from his shotgun outside the federal courthouse.

4 comments:

Doug said...

Reads a lot like the pro se complaints against the county jail I get to read from time to time.

Brother Dave Thompson said...

After reading the complaint, it looks more like the cut in his benefits was due to him moving from California, a state that supplements it's citizen's Social Security benefits, to Nevada, which does not.

Still, you have to wonder why he couldn't simply confirm this with someone outside the SSA rather than choosing the path he did.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Yes, I see that too. He also disputes conclusions by SSA about the extent of his current medical condition. It makes you wonder why California's budget crisis is the worst in the nation, eh?

Anonymous said...

I predict a massive upswing in these types of incidents. You see, it is hard enough to get that upset over a private individual/corporation, but government isn't supposed to "hurt people." When people get hurt, in their mind, by government, I think they take it much more personal than if they are screwed over by a private individual or company. These incidents will likely to get much worse the more government takes over various aspects of our lives. Then when folks have a perceived wrong by government, they will lash out violently.

Scary times we are living in.