#JusticeforHans

In honor of the Christmas holiday, here is a criticism of the holiday timed action movie Die Hard.

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On December 24th, 1988, Hans Gruber, activist for social change, was murdered at One Nakatomi Plaza along with fellow peaceful demonstrators by psychopath and vigilante off-duty New York City Police Officer John McClain. Mr. Gruber and his associates were celebrating the Christmas Holiday at the behest of Nakatomi Corp, CFO Joseph Takagi. Mr. Gruber was scheduled to receive an award that evening for his international efforts for social justice.

In the meantime, Ofc. McClain, having recently separated from his wife Holly after a troubled marriage, decided to randomly show up at the event uninvited. Feeling sorry for the disheveled off-duty officer who was standing on the front steps of the Nakatomi Building crying that he had nowhere else to go, Mr. Takagi allowed McClain inside on the condition that he behave himself. Unconfirmed sources note that Mr. McClain has a history of domestic violence, prescription drug abuse, and alcoholism.

At some point in the evening, a freak electrical malfunction caused the building’s smart technology to short-circuit and inadvertently activate the outer door locks, disable the elevators, and prevent all outgoing phone calls. Mr. Gruber valiantly took it upon himself to take charge of the event and prevent a panic from ensuing. Noted protest leader Gunther von Beckenbauer witnessed the early events and said through a thick accent, “Yah, there was a panic on the thirtieth floor but Mr. Gruber took control decisively and calmed everyone down. There wasn’t any problems until [McClain] showed up with his guns and his big macho American John Wayne attitude.”

By all accounts the situation was under control and peaceful until Mr. Takagi was found dead, shot to death in the board room by a small caliber handgun. It should be noted that the only known gun present at the Christmas party before this point was Mr. McClain’s NYPD service pistol which we now know he illegally smuggled through airport security at LAX.

While there were no witnesses to the murder of Mr. Takagi, sources within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice indicate that the weapon used in the shooting was a semi-automatic handgun not unlike the weapon Mr. McClain had on his person at the time of the Christmas Party. Mr. McClain suspiciously disappeared after Mr. Takagi’s body was found.  Anonymous sources close to the McClain family on social media state that McClain regularly used racial epithets in reference to Asian Americans.

When Mr. Takagi was discovered, the peace that Mr. Gruber so painstakingly achieved was lost and the party spiraled into chaos. A security checkpoint on the roof contained a small cache of weapons and was retrieved by party guests in order to protect themselves. Regular patrols were scheduled throughout the building. Shortly afterward, party guest and close friend of Mr. Gruber’s, Tony Achterberg, encountered McClain.  The NYPD officer attempted to arrest him despite not having the legal authority to do so in California nor any evidence of a crime.

Tony complied with the arrest and surrendered to McClain, but McClain decided instead to escalate matters with the use an illegal chokehold on Mr. Achterberg.  He then proceeded to beat Mr. Achterberg to death and throw him down a flight of stairs for literally no reason. Afterward, the officer mutilated the body of his victim, dressed him in a Santa hat, scrawled hate speech on his chest, and sent the body down to the thirtieth floor in order to further incite the activists’ Christmas Party. There were some tense moments after that but Mr. Gruber continued to show a quiet courage that calmed the crowd opting for the entire party to stage a sit-in within the atrium of the thirtieth floor. Unfortunately, Ofc. McClain wasn’t content with the peaceful demonstration and proceeded to massacre at least ten people, throwing two from the building to their death, and injuring dozens of others with improvised explosive devices he learned to build through his militarized police training. Mr. Gruber was among the individuals murdered by McClain.  His body was found with gunshot wounds after being thrown from an upper level floor of the building.

One man, Karl Achterberg, brother of Tony, was actually lynched by McClain by his own admission and left to die hanging from a thick chain. When by a miracle, Karl escaped his attempted execution, he confronted McClain in the lobby of the Nakatomi Building. LAPD Officers then opened fire on Karl who was unarmed at the time and murdered the only remaining witness to McClain’s murders in order to silence him once and for all.

Not content with simply murdering unarmed protesters, McClain’s own wife, Holly, assaulted a journalist in a clear attempt at media suppression as the reporter was only trying to do his job and cover a national tragedy.  It is unclear what the journalist would have uncovered at the scene if he had not been the victim of an unprovoked attack.

At this time, charges have never been filed against Ofc. McClain for his Christmas Massacre and a Grand Jury has never even seen the evidence against him. What’s more, Mr. McClain was allowed to continue working as a New York City Police Officer as if nothing had ever happened.  A Federal Civil Rights Investigation is still ongoing twenty-six years later into the racially motivated murder of Mr. Takagi.

A die-in is scheduled for One Nakatomi Plaza this afternoon in remembrance of those lost to police violence on the anniversary of the John McClain Massacre.

 

Justice for Hans Gruber.

Justice for Joseph Takagi.

Justice for all of Ofc. McClain’s Victims.

Happy Holidays.