They were carring the weapons that they were allowed to carry. What eles were they supposed to do?
Sorry jwp...my post wasn't more clear...my point wasn't about weaponry.
I'm looking at what the agents did, and what they didn't do, in perspective.
They were out on patrol looking for a pair of well armed suspects, known to them to be ruthless bank robbers, armed robbers, and stone cold killers...that's what they were supposedly doing that day.
While out on patrol, they were wearing no body armor, no eye protection, and other than their personal sidearms, they had no other weapons at-the-ready, even though much more powerful offensive weapons were readily available to them locked up in the trunks of their vehicles. Also there appears to be a lack of any planning as to how to engage their targets if they did find them.
Some of these guys had SWAT training, but even those agents showed no situational awareness of an impending confrontation, as is demonstrated by their lack of preparation.
I can only conclude that either they didn't expect to run into the bad guys that day, or that if they did, their intent was to keep eyes on them and call for backup to actually take them down. They don't look to me like a team that was planning to engage or ready to do so, physically or mentally.
Now, I can't know what they were thinking at the time, but their lack of preparation is telling me that these agents did not expect to be involved in a firefight that day; yet they put themselves into a situation where the weapons they had at hand would not enable them to take the initiative and control the outcome.
They were brave enough, and as a group, the agents did manage to defend themselves with the weapons they brought, but I think it was their courage once they came under fire that won the day...if one can call the deaths of two agents and the wounding of others a victory.
They paid a high price by placing themselves into a situation they were not prepared for. The agents that walked away from this were very fortunate to have done so.
They had a little luck on their side that day, and that possibly saved their lives. The accidental pinning of the suspect vehicle slowed down the bad guy's response time, but depending on the bad guy to shoot his weapon dry before arresting him is not a workable plan.
If Platt had been wearing even light body armor, or hadn't run out of ammo, this incident would be referred to as the Miami Massacre instead of the Miami Shootout.
TC
