Ryan Lochte says he should have been more candid in speaking of being robbed at gunpoint in Rio. And, the video at the gas station evidently is missing a segment, during which time Lochte and his Olympic friends were supposedly robbed.
I find myself wondering, again, on whether to believe him. Were they robbed? Though just not exactly like Lochte originally said, but rather by being forced to pay a higher fee than the damage warranted? If they had vandalized the gas station, it would be somewhat normal to want to screen out that portion of the story. And, when he says they were robbed, was the only 'robbery' that took place when the security guards demanded that the damage be paid for?
Is such street justice -- settling the issue before the police can arrive -- normal in Rio? Is it just? I'd make that part of the investigation. And, why did a portion of the video get omitted? That, too, should be investigated.
It would be good to have a U.S. agency investigate, looking into things the Rio police are not likely to address. Bring the investigators in under the arm of the U.S. Embassy, perhaps, but bring them in. If bringing in our own investigators is deemed too much of an affront to the Rio police, then don't even announce you are going to investigate, and don't make the results public, but at least investigate. Among other things, come to a conclusion as to whether Lochte should be prosecuted, or whether the street justice should be allowed to cover the situation. Come to a conclusion of whether he should be extradited and whether the U.S. is willing to participate in that extradition.
You may suggest the U.S. should not interfere in these things, should not step on Brazil's toes. I'm of a different thought. Is street justice a good form of justice? Should it be discouraged in a fellow country? When one of our citizens becomes subject to it, do we not have the right to call for and campaign for, and work for justice?
(Blog updated, changed and added to 8/21/15)
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