Benton Harbor, Michigan is on the opposite side of the state, nearly 200 miles from the decaying, crime ridden what’s left of the city of Detroit. Not far enough to escape criminals who would attempt to rob drugstores and murder their employees in the middle of the night. Fortunately, the Walgreens store in Benton Harbor near the shore of Lake Michigan, one of thousands nationwide, had a late night pharmacist who was smart enough, and brave enough to carry a handgun and shoot back. On September 9, 2011 around 4:30 a.m. pharmacist Jeremy Hoven probably saved his own and other employees’ lives, and foiled the robbery. In an America that had not lost its senses, Mr. Hoven would have been feted as a hero, and praised by top management as well as his community. Instead he was fired. My first reaction was – well, that’s Michigan, what do you expect? I quickly realized that was unfair. Michigan as well as all other states has plenty of intrepid folks who will stand up and even put their life on the line for what is right. The problem is the pusillanimous top management of so many large business concerns who are so afraid of their public image that even the slightest hint of political incorrectness finds them running for cover.
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I’ll stand a-tiptoe any day with Jeremy Hoven
Pharmacist Jeremy Hoven is a hero, yet Walgreens treated him like a villain. If he is not re-instated or compensated for his action in running off armed robbers by firing at them with his handgun, I will never shop a Walgreens again. There are two CVS pharmacies and a Kroger less than ½ mile from the Walgreens nearby that we have been using for over ten years, but I would go much farther if I had to. I am really tempted to have a sign made and picket the Walgreens store here in Dallas. My wife is a pharmacist, and no matter how desperate we may become, she will never work at Walgreens so long as they have this shameful policy (not that she’ll have too, she has a law degree too). CEO Gregory Wasson needs to show some leadership and reward employees like Mr. Hoven.
Anyone interested in protesting to Walgreens can write or call
Gregory Wasson, CEO
Walgreens
200 Wilmot Road
Deerfield, IL 60015
1-847-914-2500
1-877-250-5823
You can also leave a message at: this link.
To see the ABC news story link here. There are others to be found using Google or other search engines.
Mr. Hoven is suing Walgreens for wrongful termination. Being unfamiliar with Michigan employment law, I have no idea of what his chances of winning the suit are. The Second Amendment, like the First, does not apply to private persons. An employer can set most of the terms of employment, including forbidding employees from carrying arms on its premises (although, as of September 1, state law in Texas forbids an employer from prohibiting an employee from keeping a weapon in locked vehicle in an employee parking lot). But we’ll see. Nothing, however, prevents other private persons from patronizing and business whose polices they disapprove of.
In another outrageous act, Walgreens has even gone to court to seek an injunction prohibiting dissemination of the video recording of the incident – which shows Mr. Hoven acted justifiably and correctly by anyone’s standards. Anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders, that is. Fortunately, they’re too late. Seems it’s already gone viral.
