Discussion:

Discussion for article #235422

White people are totally out-of-control.

Imagine that. Someone getting death threats after shooting someone else in the back and killing them.

And here I thought only internet comments received such outrage.

That’s what Sheriff Taylor gets for letting Barney put the bullet in the gun.

Well done article.

Seems like they are trying to prejudice the jury pool. Exactly what ‘Facebook’ comment elicited the attorneys suggestion that this Oklahoma man was associated with an urban Los Angeles, California, gang?

Standard police procedure right here - accuse the dead man of more crimes, associate him with “gangs” without evidence and run with all the racist stereotypes. Complain about death threats, pretending you are the victim. Sorry, file a police report on those death threats or shut up about them. Everybody is getting these anonymous death threats now, the bigots, the homophobes, the killers - but if they are not filing police reports - and proving they got those damn phone calls, I don’t want to hear it. I can say I got a death threat - who’s to stop me? If you claim you receive death threats and don’t file a police report, I will assume you are lying.

This legal defending team is doing more or less what I suspect any competent team of lawyers would do in these circumstances. They act for the live guy, the OLD dude, the rich guy, the white dude, the cop supporter, the generous publicly spirited booster guy in a booster-loving town, the guy who meant well, the guy who got cancer on time, the guy with no record, the guy with a big white family, the connected guy … you know: THE REAL VICTIM.

This legal team will play the local state and national media like pliable tools in the process. This guy’s gonna get a jury of his peers PRECISELY: old rich while dude who love police and Jeebus and hate out of control black crime and what’s ‘it’s doing to the community’.

Hasn’t he suffered enough already? That’ll play big with a white fundy Jeebus wants you rich and Jeebus himself could have made this unfortunate little booboo and he DID say "So sorry, oops, my bad, my apologies to anyone offended I had cancer, I did get better but whoa scarey stuff my life flashed you know I did MEANT good. And now my attorneys will pass each of you a gift of thanks from me for your good efforts on my behalf and if you need a return or cash equivalent, or really, a loan or any favor at all, just let us know.’

WTF do you THINK a smart attorney should do with this?

Ummm, when did he LAST qualify at the range? That is the FIRST question that needs to be answered.

Didnt take long to blame the dead victim huh…

“…when the gun was fired…”
This passive voice thing when cops (or pretend cops) shoot people is becoming a very sad cliche.

It was never in the plan for him to be involved at all or have any contact with Mr. Harris.

… so it was his premeditated choice to be involved and pull the trigger

I hate to blow your bubble TPM, but he was on Lawrence O’Donnell last night No scoop here

“That’s our story and we’re stickin’ to it.”

Your racism is duly noted.

Reserve Deputy Bates presents a doppelganger for Dick Cheney.

looks like he’s being defended by donald trump’s hair.

O’Donnell got Clark Brewster; TPM got his son Corbin, who is apparently also on the defense team - and then ran the story with a picture of the elder Brewster, just to keep us on our toes.

Trying this in the media is a terrible idea for the defense. What the hell is wrong with these people?

" Unfortunately his training records were possibly thrown out when the office had a cleen up 30 years ago " .

“So I think there’s been some misconception with, why are we putting this 73-year-old in the middle of this high-pressure situation? That really wasn’t the plan. Mr. Harris’ decision to run from police created that situation.”

So, he wasn’t in the geometric “middle” so therefore this whole thing was the fault of the guy who ran. Just wow.

“When the undercover buy went down, Mr. Bates was blocks away in what they call a containment position. It was never in the plan for him to be involved at all or have any contact with Mr. Harris.”

Of course it was in the plan. It just that the contact wasn’t expected, so the plan was highly flawed. He was stationed at what you admit was a containment position. They call it a containment position because should the suspect flee, that’s where he was to be contained.

They put a rent-a-cop in a containment position, not a desk position back at the office. He had weapons anticipating just this eventuality. I’m sure he demanded of his buddy the Sheriff to be part of the action so he could get his full-on George Zimmerman wannabe-cop mojo workin’. And now a citizen is dead.

But for many, it’ll be a who cares, because after all, as with Michael Brown, he was a thug, and this one a Crip and a drug dealer. So they’ll say he deserved to be executed in the street because it saved the cost of a trial and lengthy incarceration.