Citizen Out Book Trailer

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Hero in My Opinion: Monique Lawless

I am sure that many of you heard about the Texan woman who ran after three men who took off out of Walmart carrying cases of beer they did not pay for. She didn't just run after them calling out their injustice, no, she leaped on their car and started kicking in their windshield trying to stop them.


Now, many will hear about that and say, "that's insane" and most people would have stood by and did nothing. But her actions led to police apprehending all three men.

When interviewed about her actions, Monique's statement had me emotionally charged and ready to follow in her footsteps. Let me paraphrase her statement here. She said she was sick and tired of people thinking they can get away with whatever they want to do. She said it is our responsibility as citizens to take action and responsibility for what happens in our communities. We need to stand up and say, we have had enough!

She is amazing and a hero in my opinion. I think she is an example of what we all need to do, stand up and take action.

Monique Lawless, I applaud you and would love to have you working on some of my events in the near future.



Citizen Out

20 comments:

  1. Marie,
    Thank you so much for your kind words and for understanding my actions. I am not the crazy, hick, that everyone is calling me. I am just a woman who is hurting inside when I see the way our nation just lets this injustice continue. Would our parents or grandparents ever think we would not be going to the movies, to the parks, to the local walmart, because the chance of a crime taking place is so great? Do we just hide in our homes and stop getting out & meeting our neighbors? I do not want to live that way! Again thank you for your understanding and one person doing something can make a difference. Three repeat offenders are behind bars! Blessings to you!

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  2. Monique,

    If anyone is calling you a crazy hick it is a small group of people with big mouths. They are the same ones rallying for criminal rights, pedophile rights, rapists rights, murderer rights. They scare people into doing what you refused to do... stand back and do nothing. You chose to do something, and now they want to make you regret your decision. I am about to be in their sights as well with my book. I say let's speak louder than them, with our actions. You have my support!


    "The only thing needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."
    - author unknown



    Citizen Out

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  3. Absolutely irresponsible behaviour, without question. Ms. Lawless's first responsibility is to her CHILDREN. She risked her children not growing up without a mother, all to try and stop some jerks from stealing A CASE OF BEER from a STORE.
    If you're going to gamble your children's future because you feel like being a superhero for a day, do it for a worthy cause (hint: stopping shoplifting is not one of them)

    Monique Lawless, get help.

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  4. FC,

    I wonder if you have any idea what the cause of all the crime in our society is. It is due in a large part to criminals knowing that normal citizens are too scared to get involved. Monique proved them wrong. It is not about the beer, it is all about her spirit. Her drive to stand up and do what most people won't, which is, to take action in any way against those who cause chaos on our streets. Forget the beer, no one wants to lose their life over beer. It is about standing up to the criminals even about small injustices. Because if you won't even stand up to them about the little things, then you sure won't have the courage to stand up to them about the big injustices.

    With all your judgement you stand in against her I have to ask what have you done to make a difference in making our streets safer? What if anything have you taken action against. My guess would be nothing. If my assumption is correct, you don't get a right to judge. It is like people who don't vote and then sit back and complain about the politicians. If you have a complaint, do something then.

    Monique did. She put actions where her mouth is, that is what makes her a hero. She may look back on this and think it would have been safer to just get a license number. But her intuition and spirit made her act, which is more than I can say about most of the people in our crime ridden country!

    There was a tragedy years ago in New York where a woman was being stabbed to death and her screams could be heard by 30- something people and none of them even called the police. Her attacker even left then came back to finish the job and no one did anything. It was appalling to everyone who read about this that no even called 911. People don't want to get involved and look where it is leading.

    We need people to take a stand and Monique did. So please inform us all as to how you, FC have done anything to help the greater good. We would all love to know!


    Citizen Out

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  5. If she would have just taken down the license plate and called the police, would she be getting the same "hero" attention? I think not.....It was because she jumped on the hood and acted like a maniac. It was a very irresponsible thing to do and she looked ridiculous.Nothing she did helped capture the suspects. The true hero was the one who called the police. Who is that person??

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  6. kisskiss,

    If you or your loved one were being assaulted on the street. Who would you want to be there, the person calling 911 and waiting for 20 minutes for the cops to arrive, all the while the attack continues. Or would you want Monique to be there to jump them risking her own life to help you, a stranger. Maybe she would be helping your child. How many stabs do you think an attacker could get in while the police are on their way. It is up to us citizens to take responsibility for each other. But I choose Monique to be there for me and my family, definitely not you. We have to get involved, sometimes physically.

    Citizen Out

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  7. You didn't answer the question, do you think she would of gotten the same amount of media attention if she simply wrote down the license plate and called the police? Nothing that she did helped apprehend the suspects. It just made for good televsion. Of course if it was a different situation I may feel differently about her irrational behavior, but it wasn't. It was beer. Hero- I think not. The real hero was the one who called the police and gave them the license number.

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  8. KissKiss,

    Well,you are completely entitled to your opinion. In the heat of the moment, there is the fight or flight instinct. You would know this if you have ever been in any situation concerning anther's regard. It is always so easy to look in hindsight and condemn. I do not in any way believe she had time to think, " ooh, if I run out here and jump on their car, I can make it on national news!" No, she just reacted in a way she felt right at the time. Just like a person who is not a fireman runs into a burning building to save people. Or the by stander who jumped on the tracks to save a man having a seizure. There are people in this world who don't take the minutes you obviously do to think of every single plan of action before doing something. The questions is.... would anyone have called the police when they saw three men exiting the store carrying three cases of beer and getting into a car. NO! They called the police when she was screaming at them and jumping on their car, that is when they knew something was wrong. Yes, she could have just taken down the license plate, but she did more. The one thing you are being deliberately dense about.... she made a statement. She stood up to the criminals and she told us all to get up and get involved. You can choose to do whatever you want. I simply do not care, which leads me to pointing out, that you did not answer my question... what have you done to take any citizen responsibility for our streets, neighborhoods and communities? Accusing others of having a hero complex is what ostrich people(ones who put there head in the sand and do nothing to help)say when they want to excuse themselves and justify their patheticness (yeah, I made up a word. Buzz off)!


    Citizen Out

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  9. I don't think that her intentions were to do this and make it on the news, I totally blame the media for that. I just hope to God that someone else sees her foolishness and decides to take the law into their own hands. They might not be as lucky as our hometown "hero".

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  10. Correction.... Does not see her Foolishness

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  11. Kisskiss,

    One thing I do know.. There will always be those that live to hurt others, those that live to never get involved, and those that will put everything on the line for others. I pray to God everyday that those angels who risk it all continue to walk the Earth. For you to want harm to come to such people makes me wonder what you spend your days doing to others.


    Citizen Out

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  12. ??who said anything about wishing harm to others? It's obvious that it's pointless to get your opinion across without you taking words out of context and becoming abrasive. Your blog sucks

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  13. Hey Kisskiss,

    Here is a fact you may not be aware of. When stores suffer a loss due to thieves, they need to recoup those costs on a yearly basis. Stores then raise their prices and pass that cost onto it's customers. Now in this horrible economy, there are so many of us struggling just to make ends meet. So, they next time you see people stealing(that's assuming it is not you), imagine how you are going to pay higher prices because of them. Maybe you are okay with it, I am okay with you paying for all the thieves out there too. But the rest of us may not be!

    Citizen Out

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  14. Kisskiss,

    When you say "I just hope to God that someone else sees her foolishness and decides to take the law into their own hands. They might not be as lucky as our hometown "hero". "Correction...Does not see her Foolishness."

    I read that you were hoping someone else who decided to do what she did would get hurt and then a lesson would be learned. If that is not how you meant it? I apologize. It does make me feel better to know you are not wishing that.

    As far as my blog sucking... What is your blog link so I can check it out. Have you created anything that you have poured your self into or do you just go around tearing down others in this way too. But who am I kidding, you are not going to answer my questions,you haven't so far. Are you a politician?

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  15. My bad , I thought your blog was open to opinions but judging from all of your replys , anyone that does not agree with you gets ridiculed. What was your question again?

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  16. Marie Crist,
    I completely agree with all that you have said. I grew up in a home that taught me it is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to make a difference and i now teach those same principles to my children. If we stand back just to keep our shoes clean this country will fall and we will have nobody to blame but ourselves. We all should stand together and fight for justice not condemn those that do!

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  17. Tenelle,

    Thank you for your comments. You seem to be with the majority of us that believe in citizen responsibility.It is great that you are teaching these basic principles to your children, we need more parents like you.

    Citizen Out

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  18. Kisskiss,

    I did not ridicule you any more than you did Monique for her actions. If you are going to express such condemnation, you had better thicken your skin. I had titled the post "Hero in my opinion" if you come throwing stones at a hero of mine and then attack my blog like an immature child, be prepared to have it thrown back. I guess you never learned the saying, "if you candish it out, you better learn to take it."

    Again, the question I have repeatedly asked is, what have you done to help stop crime and chaos? We all see it around us on a daily basis. So, if you dislike how Monique handled the situation, enlighten us as to how you have handled it around you. If you have done nothing, then shut up!

    Citizen Out

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  19. FC & Kisskiss, I do value your opinion and hope that maybe you will see my reasoning behind my actions. I was not trying to be a hero or anything of that nature. I was standing up against people who think that it is ok to continue to break the law. Yes I have a responsibility to my children and that includes raising them to be respectable men who know right from wrong & to stand up for what is right! Should I have just told my kids that I saw 3 guys stealing today & stood there with the rest of the 200 people & watched? Our children learn by example. It is also my responsibility to provide a safe place for my children to grow up and allowing this type of behavior to continue is not the way to go. How do citizens expect police to enforce the law at every location? They can't do it alone and as citizens we should do our part. Guess how many people wrote down the license plate number? NONE! Guess why people called 911 as fast as they did? Because I ran out of that store screaming at the top of my lungs and trying to do what was right. Do you think the police would have arrived & found these guys and pursued them if there had been no action on my part? I realize that not everyone has it in them to react the way I did but there are many who do and I'm hoping that by them seeing that you just need to react instead of standing there with your mouths wide open, things can get better for our communities. The media is not to blame but to be thanked. They allowed me to have a voice that has been carried around the world & to show that anyone can make a difference if you just try. You are right about one thing, I am NO hero!! I am just an American trying to do the right thing for everyone including you. Would I risk my life for you or your family if you were in need? ABSOLUTELY! These three brothers turned out to already have lengthy felony records so I'm very thankful they are off the streets and I would think you would be also.

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  20. Monique,

    Thank you so much for responding again. I have waited two days to see if those two wanted to voice anything back to you and as we can see, no. Again, you are amazing and thank you for taking the time out to comment.

    I am teaming up with an organization and together we are about to do some huge things to make our streets safer. I would love it if you would hear me out on the details and consider teaming up with us. Send me an email on my contact page at www.mariecrist.com and I will get you the details.


    Citizen Out

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