Gun ownership is on trial in Waco, so why aren't the NRA and all the open-carry advocates going nuts over what's happening regarding prosecutions from the the Twin Peaks biker massacre?
In McLennan County, visiting Judge James Morgan ruled after an examining trial that there was sufficient cause to have arrested a 65-year old concealed carry permit holder who wasn't wearing a biker cut but a Christian t-shirt (he's chaplain to the Bandidos and two veterans groups) because he was carrying legal personal weapons. The judge declared there was probable cause to support an arrest even though no police "officer could offer evidence that Yager conspired to commit murder, assault or any crime that day" Like everyone else arrested in the episode, Yager's bail was initially set at $1 million.
An earlier examining trial found probable cause to arrest a Brenham couple even though police agreed they were "merely present at a murder" that there was no evidence they committed.
Legality aside, how is it that a Texas judge can declare police don't need a reason to arrest legal Christian gun owners and there's not immediately an army of Second Amendment protesters beating down the DA's door? The silence from that wing of the political spectrum on this issue is deafening.
Regardless, the law doesn't seem to matter in Waco anymore. These are kangaroo courts and a flat-out embarrassment to the state.
RELATED: Why won't authorities say how many in Twin Peaks massacre were shot by cops?
"These are kangaroo courts and a flat-out embarrassment to the state."
ReplyDeleteI actually think that is an understatement.
Probably. I wanted to say it in an incontrovertible fashion
ReplyDeleteThe whole country is a lot farther gone than anyone realizes.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if the gentleman on the right in the image linked below is the pastor? The photo is from the Austin American Statesman's coverage of the 2013 Veteran's Day parade in Austin.
ReplyDeletehttp://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/lt/lt_cache/aresize/1519x768/img/photos/2013/11/11/2b/ed/rgz_veterans_day_parade_12.JPG
What, no mention of the carload of rifles and handguns this self admitted Bandido pastor had brought with him to the 'biker safety' meeting?
ReplyDeleteWhether he had one or one hundred doesn't matter. If I get pulled over at any time, I've got no less than five firearms, including rifles, in me. How does that change the circumstances at all?
DeleteWhether he had one or one hundred doesn't matter. If I get pulled over at any time, I've got no less than five firearms, including rifles, in me. How does that change the circumstances at all?
DeleteIn you? That's just uncomfortable.
DeleteOn me. Couldn't edit and phone loves to correct my ins to ons and ons to ins.
DeleteOn me. Couldn't edit and phone loves to correct my ins to ons and ons to ins.
Delete1) The NRA is not going to get involved in biker anything. They don't know how this is going to play out, so they're going to play it safe. They are not known for sticking their necks out anyway.
ReplyDelete2) Actually there is a lot of vocal criticism from pro-2A people, though it tends to come from individuals rather than formal groups. Most of Clint Broden's biggest fans are all Tea Partiers. The blog The Truth About Guns has been covering this in depth. So has the Treehouse.
BuenaVista, you read that in the story I linked to, you're blaming me for not giving you information you got from me. Weak.
ReplyDeleteed, it's the formal groups I'm talking about. They influence law and policy a lot more than bloggers, take it from me.
I'm going to have to stop reading this blog...too much hysteria & silliness. It's obvious that people who read this & comment & the writer as well, don't know history very well, don't know the meaning of massacre. Definitely not what happened in Waco.
ReplyDeleteJack Skeen would fit right in there as a judge. Tyler and Waco seem to have a lot in common these days.
ReplyDeleteSo are most of the little towns being allowed to kangaroo us right in the pouch, or do we just have better news coverage? Towns like Waco and Wallis should not be allowed to operate outside the law let alone on purpose with impunity.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love your question about, where the heck is the fat-and-overpaid NRA in once again not helping even its members, AT ALL???
Oaf my gobs the years of dues & donations wasted that could and should have been used to buy Legislators--the way corporations do.
SO how to get the word out? Why won't' the silent majority once again do anything? THEY REALLY BELIEVE THE DIRTY COPS ARE NOT COMING FOR THEM. They really hallucinate the politicians aren't (to/through the Lege) guiding the cops.
I KEEP THINKING CORRUPTION IS GROWING. TOP-END OVERSIGHT IS PAID OFF. CRONYISM EVEN BEATS MONOPOLY.
If elected Sheriffs and judges won't honor their oaths and protect their neighbor fellow citizens, aren't we lost?
DO YOU SUPPOSE THE TEXAS GOV LEVELS (city, County, State) PREFER TO RAILROAD BIKERS THAT MIGHT BE IN GANGS??? WHAT ABOUT THE GANGS OF OVERPAID POLITICIANS AND BUREAUCRATS??? THEY WERE ALWAYS THE DANGER.
Bell county is no different. I was falsely arrested two years for lawful open carry and they kept just changing the charges until they found something the judge would accept. None of the judges in Bell County would take my case so they found an antigun judge out of Houston to prosecute.
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DeleteBuenaVista, there was no testimony as to ammunition being recovered from his vehicle or any other vehicle for that "carload of rifles and handguns" in the locked car located in the parking lot of the "biker safety meeting".
ReplyDeleteNothing more than "tomato stakes" in that condition. Probative value none, propaganda value high in the current media environment.
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ReplyDeleteIt's a good question about where the NRA is, but Open Carry Texas and other open carry advocates in Texas have protested several times. Probably do some research first.
ReplyDeleteI see all the shooting and agonizing over gun laws, the rage and passion, and I can say is excellent... excellent..and wring my hands in delight.
ReplyDelete@CJ, I saw press coverage of a biker protest but not the gun folks. Perhaps I missed it. A google search on "open carry Texas protest waco biker" produced no results indicating such protests on the first couple of pages of links. Perhaps you can point me to coverage of those events which I should have researched.
ReplyDelete@9:57, in the St. Valentines Day Massacre, six people were killed. At Twin Peaks, there were nine killed and twenty more wounded. I'd say this event qualifies for that term.
Grits -
ReplyDeleteAt the first biker protest in Waco there was AN individual, and perhaps a second, wandering through the crowd with a rifle slung over his/their shoulder(s).
I think that is what "CJ" is referring to as an organized protest.
Please don't indict everyone here in McLennan County. I was removed from a public hearing this week and said basically the same thing I now read in Grits.
ReplyDeleteVideo of Hering: https://youtu.be/SFoov5wZk88?t=1m45s
Link to AG opinion: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByqeiBwxgki9UFJFeURMUW1raG8
Waco, in their actions, have effectively killed the Constitution of the United States. They have done away with the very foundation of our justice system, which states that it is preferable that 100 guilty persons go free than falsely punish 1 innocent.The COC&I meeting has historically been a peaceful gathering of motorcyclists with the purpose of discussion legislation and safety that affects bikers everywhere in the state of Texas. Now, they are using their own 1st Amendment violation of these individual’s free speech to help cover their violation of these individual’s 4th Amendment rights. Also of note is the report that search warrants for the cell phones were signed almost a month after the seizure of these phones, which is also a violation of the rights of these men and women.These men and women had their 5th Amendment rights violated when they chose to invoke their 5th Amendment rights. Instead of honoring their wishes as American citizens, who are to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, Abel Reyna, the DA involved in this fiasco, used their choice to invoke their rights as proof that these were all criminals. He stated that they need to start acting like victims and cooperating with police investigators. Due process was also thrown out of the window, as the Grand Jury as now been officially loaded with a Waco PD detective who will not elaborate on reports that he may have been involved in the investigation regarding these individuals.The 8th Amendment of the Constitution states that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The bail set by Justice of the Peace W.H. “Pete” Peterson, $1 million per person, was done for the reason as he stated, “to send a message”. The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution states that the government, in this regards Waco PD and its associates nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. It is painfully obvious that the men and women that were at Twin Peaks on that day were characterized by the statements of the Waco PD spokesman and the DA as criminals, thugs, gang members, and undesirables who have no place in civilization. Ignored are the facts that many of these individuals are business owners, medical professionals, retired law enforcement officers, veterans, and family men and women. Since they were bikers, they did not deserve the same protections under the law as a “normal” person, thus their treatment is justified under their version of due process.Ask yourself, then ask your elected officials, why other evidence is being hidden from the public. Much like our founding fathers, we as citizens should not be complacent when it comes to our rights and our liberties. If nothing is done to ensure fair and equal treatment to these men and women, many of whom did nothing wrong, then which group is next?
ReplyDelete"The process is the punishment".
ReplyDeleteWhile judges are immune from civil suits when violating people's rights, they are not immune from criminal prosecution. It appears he is guilty of official oppression, a crime in Texas. While the Waco DA won't pursue a prosecution, the Texas AG could. If he weren't so busy defending himself from indictments for security fraud. You'd think he'd be sympathetic to deprivations of rights. Such a lovely system.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to see an accounting of how much these Waco cases are costing the good people in that region in court-appointed attorneys fees and other costs. Embarrassing indeed.
ReplyDeleteI expect we'll all be picking up the tab for another one of the Reyna gang's illicit affairs. Waco has already asked the State and the Federal Government to subsidize this abortion.
ReplyDeleteOf note, the writ writer they brought in to represent the Judges and JPs is being paid at over three times the rate court-appointed attorneys representing defendants are allowed.
As I understand it there was a desire to protest, but the biker protesters created a bunch of drama over it.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't the United States just invade the People's Republic of Waco and bring freedom and justice there just just like we have in so many troubled nations around the globe? It might take a generation to groom law enforcement and a judiciary that could fully grasp and appreciate the legal traditions that we Americans enjoy, but as a freedom loving nation we have a moral obligation to make that effort to lift Waconians up from the abject poverty of their legal system.
ReplyDeleteMcLennan, Smith and Williamson counties are probably the worst in Texas but don't all counties have this issue at some level? Haven't we seen how judges, really everywhere and at every level, are overstepping their authority? Are these judges being held accountable anywhere? Are voters even paying attention to the issue when "re-voting" a judicial candidate back into office? You can look at Smith county as a prime example of uncaring, uninformed voters (sheep) that just keep putting the same people in. Being a Republican is the only criteria they look at?
ReplyDeleteOur freedoms are being eroded at an alarming rate and the masses just don't get it. When this government at all levels starts making us all criminals, maybe people will wake up. I am afraid by then it will be too late.