Texas Wants to Execute Man Who Killed Home Intruder Who Turned Out to Be SWAT Member

ATS conservatives and libertarians should be all over this thread. Why aren't they? Three pages so far, 27 flags, pathetic.

a reply to: TKDRL

If it was a white guy doing illegal things with his cows they'd be on it like their favorite color on rice......

a reply to: HandyDandy
I am beginning to think that might be true. WTF ATS?

a reply to: TKDRL

I could venture a guess as to why this instance isn't getting the same response here as the other instance like this but I don't want to be "that guy".


Besides it would just be denied anyway.

a reply to: Grimpachi
It is really pissing me off. I had higher expectations of ATS. I thought our libertarians and our conservatives actually lived up to the title. Makes me think twice next time I want to defend white people here lol. Or maybe col would be a more apt acronym.

a reply to: TKDRL

I am white.

a reply to: Grimpachi
Touche. but then, this isn't the first time I thought highly of you lol. I am really hoping after this weekend ATS really explodes with support, and will prove me to be a dumbass

a reply to: TKDRL

lol. Oh well we all have our moments. I am going to keep an eye on this thread to see how it goes and at the same time I am revisiting the other thread on the case almost just like this to see who posted there adamantly defending the shooter just to see how this plays out.

a reply to: TKDRL

Don't be pissed off. I think many of us are struggling with this situation. I understand Bell County is much larger than Burleson County, where the other incident happened. I can't see how there is such a discrepancy in the interpretation of the same law.

In the counties with larger populations, political motivations are the driving force behind conviction rates. In smaller counties, District Attorney's tend to remain in place longer than in larger counties. Demographics are usually so different, it's hard to imagine they are in the same state.

This still doesn't give us an answer as to why one person is acquitted, while the other is charged with capital murder. Yes, I do feel the differences between counties and their populations feelings about right vs wrong plays a big part. But, I feel in this particular case, race is playing a big part in the decision to prosecute.

But, it is puzzling to me that Bell County has a higher percentage of black citizens than Burleson County, yet we don't see an outcry from those citizens in Bell County. Are THEY not outraged, or just don't care?

To me, it appears as though they are trying to undo what happened in the other incident, and this poor guy is the pawn in their game. The fact he is black, is just another ploy to keep the division in place.

There are 254 counties in Texas, and each county contains multiple towns and cities. This, IMO, is where the problems start. Where the answer lies, at least regarding some semblance of consistency in prosecuting crimes, is a long way off.

a reply to: TKDRL

You know why the usual conservatives..etc.. aren't on here...and I know why.

They will defend a cowboy defending his land, even if that meant shooting LEOs..even though, what the cowboy was doing..was illegal..but will utter no defense for this man who thought he was defending his home...and we know why.

Race.

a reply to: Onslaught2996
I've seen enough of them posting on other threads this weekend, so it isn't because they are out enjoying their weekend and didn't have the opportunity to see the thread yet. That much is a fact

a reply to: beatbox
Seriously this stuff has to stop. What do you expect when you try and sneak into someone's house in Texas? Remember when the police used to just kick in your door, or pretend to knock?

a reply to: beatbox

Yes, even the British Red Coats, would knock on the door , before they kicked it in.

Now days, they give reason, to the advent of the flush toilet, as to the reason, to forgo the niceties of knocking first.

That is all Bull from the get, innocent people get hurt killed because the " law ", does not always knock and they make mistakes, wrong address, wrong person , what ever.

They should expect to have a few buddies shot, if they are not going to knock, because they are worried someone might flush the evidence. Live by the sword die by it, that dude is lucky, he's not already dead, shooting a cop. I would expect to die, right away if you shot a cop, even if he was a bad cop and deserved it. His buddies would still have tunnel vision, in regard to you and their plans to plant your arse.

That guy should be free man, but they can't let that happen, he must be made a example.

I just cannot side with law enforcement in this case. How is a person supposed to automatically know that it is the police breaking into their homes? There is a huge difference in knowingly shooting police officers entering your home with a search warrant, and shooting police officers whom you think are intruders, even though they had a search warrant. I'm surprised the guy is still alive after shooting an officer to be honest. When someone is climbing through your window it cannot be said that a person should not take action. There is no good reason for someone to be climbing in your window, and because of that what are you supposed to think? People who are there with non-nefarious intentions knock on the door, thus when someone is climbing into your house through a window, I would think that person is there to either do me harm or steal from me, or both, and I would not wait around to ask the person their intentions.

How can they punish this guy for doing nothing illegal? He is definitely within his rights to shoot a home invader, and even though this was a police action, the fact that they didn't identify themselves means the guy is not liable. As far as he knew he was defending himself. The intent was not there. He did not know he was fighting with police. This is pretty much common sense, and it would be a great miscarriage of justice if he is convicted, and an even greater miscarriage of justice if he is executed. And this is not even akin to involuntary manslaughter in my opinion, again because this was not involuntary. He purposefully shot the man because he thought he was defending himself from a criminal. It was not an accident. I think no-knock warrants are the problem. Do the police actually think they are placing themselves in more danger by knocking?

No, they are placing themselves in more danger by not knocking. The majority of criminals will surrender without fighting back. This is a given. But how many of those would fight back because they didn't know it was the police in the first place? Thus police should always identify themselves. If it were illegal to shoot a home invader, which at least in Texas it is not, then that would be a different story since the guy would not have been acting within the bounds of the law. But since it is legal to shoot someone breaking into your home, I do not think he can be charged with killing a police officer. Events like this should force the police to change their idiotic tactics, but instead this will be used to further crack down on guns in general I'm sure.

And I know for a fact that the police could identify themselves and then do what the swat teams always USED to do...Simply ask the person to come out, while you wait in cover, and if they don't you simply tear gas the house and force them out. I used to see this all the time on those swat television shows. The person cannot escape when their house is surrounded, and the police aren't putting themselves in danger by walking into a situation they aren't familiar with, not knowing what they will find. Those tactics make much more sense than no-knock warrants, and it puts less people in harms way. And not only that, but it allows you to identify the targets intentions.

a reply to: TKDRL
I didn't add his photo because I wanted people to look at this thing objectively. It's not that I want s&f's or 10 plus pages of comments...I just want people to be aware...at the end do the day...it shouldn't be about race , it should be about our rights...these "no knock" warrants effect all of us..people are losing their lives because some of our rights are being slowly taken away..have y'all forgot about ndaa?

Sorry for the rant..

originally posted by: kx12x
a reply to: MrWendal

Pretty sure I didn't say anything about asking questions, so don't put words in my mouth. Go back and read where I said to use a flashlight.

But if you want go shooting blindly in the dark when you hear a bump in the night, more power to you. Hope that works out well in court, we know it is for the guy in the OP, right? Oh, wait...

Sensitive much? First off, please show me where I put words in your mouth. I never said anything about YOU asking questions. What I did say was I (as in me, myself) would not stop to ask questions. Perhaps it is you who needs to go back and read things again.

Secondly, you call it "shooting blindly in the dark", I would suggest there is nothing blind about it. This man hit his target. These cops did not announce themselves. He targeted and hit the stranger coming through his window in the wee hours of the morning. So in my mind, that is much different from "shooting blindly in the dark". To which I would also still respond with the cliche "Rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6".

I would much rather shoot a stranger coming through my window at 5:30am and find out it was a cop, than not shoot out of fear that it may be a cop and find out I was wrong. It's that simple.

Just a small update.

Petition Asks DA to Drop Charges

An online petition is asking the Bell County district attorney to drop a capital murder charge against the man accused of fatally shooting a Killeen police officer May 9.

a reply to: MisterCoffee

Yea we ride around everywhere on horses, too. I never leave home without my cowboy hat, boots and spuuuurs. Even my pigs carry a pistol.

Texas threads on ATS always crack me up. I love reading the fantasies people believe about what occurs in Texas.

This man will not be executed, and I very much doubt he will be found guilty if it does go to court.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

This is a man from texas who killed an officer in a no knock raid, and he was not indicted. Although, this man is white, unlike Guy. I do believe that matters in some cases. I don't think this will be one of those cases.

EDIT: Sorry for repeating what was already on here. I'm new here, and a slow reader, skipped around. I'll read everything before replying next time.

Such an unfortunate event for the swat team and the man being charged. Killing someone changes a person, whether the killing was justifiable or not. Not only that, this man sits in jail with his life in the balance. Laws are in place to protect homeowners in the event of home intrusion, and they are being thrown out the door because this time, it was the police who were shot, entering the home the same way burglars do.

So in the end, if this man is executed, what message does this send to law abiding citizens? Do we ask intruders to announce who they are, and hope they tell the truth?

Any updates in this situation?