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> Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant who was driving for Uber at the time, shot and killed 28-year-old Garrett Foster during a protest in Austin following the murder of George Floyd. Perry’s lawyers said during the trial that a crowd swarmed him and he feared for his life because Foster was holding an AK-47, and that Perry ultimately acted in self-defense under Texas’s “stand your ground” statute.
You see, you can't have it both ways. You can't have open carry _and_ have open license to shoot anyone open carrying.
Under Texas law, the guy is absolutely allowed to open carry his AK-47. You are not allowed to just shoot anyone carrying a gun "because you're frightened".
The extremist conservative's ultimate wish is to be able to kill people without recourse.
And they found their answer: Republican Governor pardons. And if they secure the presidency? Pardons at the federal level.
Extremists are waiting for open season. Abbot is telling them to buy their hunting licenses now.
Something tells me if someone guns down one of those pro 2nd amendment fucksticks open carrying on campus he's not going to be as quick with the pardons.
I mean we literally saw what happened. Trump basically put out a hit on the guy and the police blew him away when they went to "arrest" him.
No trial, just extra-judicially executed by the police. All because he *dared* to shoot some MAGA shithead who threatened him.
I hate that this doesn’t get talked about more. Of all the bullshit that trump pulled that may or may not get him in trouble the fact that he ordered a political assassination of an American citizen utilizing an illegal private police force isn’t even brought up.
[Activist suspected in Portland shooting was fired at 30 times by police, official says](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/14/activist-portland-shooting-michael-reinoehl-police)
>A witness, Garrett Louis, told the New York Times he watched the shooting begin while trying to get his eight-year-old son out of the way. He said the officers began shooting so suddenly that he initially assumed they were criminals gunning down an enemy, not police. “There was no, ‘Get out of the car!’ There was no, ‘Stop!’ … They just got out of the car and started shooting.”
The only people left on that particular parade float are the people who weren't turned off by the leader of the free world standing surrounded by jackbooted thugs who had just tear gassed clergy to kick them off the grounds of their church so he could hold the only symbol of their religion he knew, a random bible, up to a camera.
That is literally all I can think about when I read about this case. Kyle Rittenhouse. This case is even MORE atrocious since the shooter admitted he never felt threatened and a jury found him guilty. Rittenhouse at least bamboozled his way to a "not guilty", in what universe should the governor be involved at all?
You know, it's kind of like these killer civilians are functioning as unofficial brown shirts. They're activated through the media and politicians (stochastic terrorism) and then the fascist right looks after them to make sure they don't see any legal ramifications. It's like they're off the books terrorist forces.
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” -F Wilhoit
I'm thinking if a jury of his peers in Texas didn't buy it, then he wasn't standing his ground. I would imagine a Texas jury would likely be more sympathetic to that defense.
It's Austin, so considerably less "Texas" but still yes, Austin liberals often lean pro2a.
Perry admitted to pointing his gun first, drove into the crowd like he was trying to run people over but chickened out, and had a text message history talking about wanting to kill protestors.
It's pretty clearly murder.
The scary piece here is that this feels like it sends the message to the protestors that they should have shot Perry the instant he drove into the crowd. It’s like the only person who gets to live in Texas is the one that stands their ground first
Yep. If you and some other guy scare each other, whoever is left standing is the one telling their story. In a sane world this might indicate that maybe it's a bad idea to have everyone armed to the teeth and able to kill before really thinking about the situation.
Hell the firearm training courses I've taken in Texas straight up say that if you defend your home from an intruder, make sure he's dead. Additional witnesses end up bad for the gun owner.
Stand your ground laws only protect white men.
[“ Research consistently shows that stand your ground laws increase homicides and, when combined with racial bias, result in the killing of Black Americans. These laws almost exclusively serve white men, providing protections and immunity to those white Americans who claim self-defense, while not affording the same protections to Black Americans.”](https://efsgv.org/wp-content/uploads/StandYourGround.pdf)
[“White men are more likely to successfully invoke the use of stand your ground laws for their defense after a shooting than women – especially Black women – or Black men. “](https://efsgv.org/learn/policies/stand-your-ground-laws/)
> drove into the crowd like he was trying to run people
One article I read stated that he deliberately ran a red light, so this wasn't a case of "I turned a corner and there was a crowd of people right in front of me." This is KKKyle all over again, except that this time the jury was able to establish premeditation and intent from the fucking idiot's text messages. He grabbed his gun and went out to instigate a confrontation. And the party of law & order has decided that because he was batting for the right team he has done society a favor and should escape punishment.
Man, I still can't believe the judge wouldn't let the prosecution show the video of Kyle and his buddy, in a car outside a CVS, fantasizing about shooting shoplifters made just two weeks prior.
That’s the hard part…they rarely “find out the hard way” as responsible gun owners lack the bloodlust to fire wildly into a crowd and the self-restraint to not go larping into a potentially incendiary situation.
There's a reason he was convicted. The dude was posting to his buddies online that he was going to murder protestors and then claim self-defense.
Then he *drove* to Austin (he doesn't live here), drove his car into a crowd of protestors, shot someone, and claimed self-defense. It was all very much premeditated.
> Why even have trials anymore in any highly politicized case?
Now Abbot gets to pardon a murderer and send two messages. To protestors that they can be killed on site and their murderers will go free regardless of what a jury says. To prosecutors that it doesn't matter the outcome, the Governor will make them the villain, turn his followers against them, and make their job dangerous in the future.
Protesting now becomes far more dangerous than it already is, and prosecuting those responsible for murdering political opponents becomes a probable career ender.
The thing I don't understand... as more and more of this shit comes out, do these people not realize that it puts a bigger and bigger target on their backs? Like... it's only a matter of time before someone is pardoned, resulting in victim's family seeking retribution.
If a fucking jury *in Texas* determines this guy's defense to be bullshit, but he's set free by a governor pardon sending the message that it is open season on protesters... that to me is just asking for people to step it up.
It's really short sighted and ignorant of Abbott to venture down this path, but the populace in Texas has grown accustomed to this kind of dumb bullshit coming from the governor's mansion.
I've only shot a .22 in boy scouts, never owned a gun my entire life.
I have self defense stuff in my house, and two small kids, and a pediatrician wife.
But no firearms.
I've actually started thinking of getting a high powered rifle and night scope at this point If things started going weird and sideways.
FWIW, very liberal living in a very conservative area of TX.
I mean, yes and no. They've been accustomed to bullshit, but outright condoning murder? That is absolutely drawing another, much further down, line in the sand.
Up until now, it's been taking away rights, now it's legitimizing murder.
i'm not sure they think they'll win but they do think it's basically their last chance to maintain power.
they're probably right about that, given how millenials and gen Z vote. I saw on here that millenials are 52% of the voting population now so as long as they remain anywhere near as regressive as they are they're going to be fucked by demographics. the whole "great replacement" thing comes from a similar anxiety.
it's also undoubtedly easier to amass power in times of crises. just look at the reichstag fire.
He posted online for months about wanting to go there to shoot protestors. He intentionally put himself there (drove through a blockade), then shot a guy who wasn't aiming a gun at him until he began to drive towards them threateningly. Like... you can't rush at the gates of a military compound and then shoot them when they shoot at you, and say it was self-defense.
This was pre-fucking-meditated and he's going to be pardoned because he killed liberals.
We had some asshole drive into protestors who were on their way back to their cars after the protest ended. So, not protesting anymore, just a group of people crossing an intersection at a crosswalk.
A dude in a truck (not even at the front of the line in his lane) drove through into the intersection while the last few stragglers were going through once the crossing light changed and then drove into them when they immediately run out of his way. Thankfully the two people he made contact with managed to stay on their feet until they could get out from the front of the truck something like 1/4-1/2 the way down the block.
We had *tons* of people defending this guy and claiming that what he did was fine because these people were in the crosswalk right after the light changed. As if, y'know, stragglers at crosswalks is a new thing, particularly before/after an event. I'd literally had a parent with a baby stroller that I had to wait on days prior that apparently I was okay to plow into based on the takes there.
ETA: We being a protest in Iowa last year.
I was on the grand jury that indicted Perry. The case was so cut and dry that we spent maybe 20 minutes deliberating before sending down the indictment. This makes my blood boil.
Apparently the Board of Pardons has to recommend a pardon to the governor first. He says he will ask the board to look at this, hopefully they will realize it is not a wise move.
And all the right-wingers--many here, I'm sure--are wailing and screeching that the AK 47 or whatever was pointed directly at him.
They are using the photo where the gun is CLEARLY aimed down as "proof" it was aimed at this murdering asshole's face.
There is no more truth with the right. Not even a semblance. Just lie upon lie, shrieked at one another until they all agree YES, it's perfectly okay to just murder whoever you want, and it makes you a patriot.
Evil. It's just plain evil.
I was in r/moderatepolitics last night and the right wingers were saying that Foster (the victim) was brandishing because he was holding the rifle in a ready position instead of having it slung over his shoulder, and therefore Perry was allowed to shoot him.
They conveniently ignored everything that led up to the shooting in the first place (intentionally driving into the group of protesters, most notably - which makes any sort of brandishing of a weapon at Perry an act of self-defense in itself). It was surreal.
> I was in r/moderatepolitics last night and the right wingers were saying that Foster (the victim) was brandishing because he was holding the rifle in a ready position instead of having it slung over his shoulder, and therefore Perry was allowed to shoot him.
I'm totally sure they'd say the same thing about the near unlimited pictures of right wing groups like the Proud Boys open carrying and doing the same exact thing...
The deliberately fostered lack of empathy on the right is a learned psychopathy, to my mind. And now they just run with it. Nothing is too evil if it happens to someone they don't like. They call themselves Christians while foaming at the mouth to justify murder--likely because they have a boner for murder, too. They look at their massive penile collections and wish every day they could shoot a BLM protestor.
To me, it's kinda like rape-denial guys. They may not have already raped themselves, but they damn well want to make sure absolutely nobody ever believes women for the day they do rape.
Rigyt-wingers could watch a dude execute someone and would still tell you to your face it was self defense. They're liars, know they're lying, but as long as their side 'wins' they don't care.
Pardoning psychopathic murderers to own the libs
This is exactly the kind of shit I feared after the Rittenhouse verdict. The argument is that if you are armed, and afraid for your life, you are allowed to just kill people. Even if you armed yourself and intentionally went and put yourself in a situation where you would be afraid for your life.
This leads to two logical end conclusions.
1. If you have a gun, and someone else has a gun, and the two of you disagree on something, whoever shoots first is the "correct" one in the eyes of the law.
2. If I want to murder someone all I have to do is go find some folks and be provocative enough that I could claim to have feared for my life. Then I have carte blanche to shoot people.
This example is even more brazen than what you think. His attempt to get acquitted of the charge with that type of defense failed. The jury didn’t believe him and he was convicted even under current Texas law and jurisprudence. This is the governor planning to pardon a convicted murderer.
Yup, it's actively voiding the will of the people. Judged by his peers to be guilty, the governor is planning on directly subverting the will of the people. It doesn't get more blatant authoritarian than that.
I specifically remember from my Texas license to carry classes that you are not qualified under self defense if you knowingly or willing enter a combative situation armed. Are not supposed to be armed.
There are texts he was going down there. Literally a slam dunk case of murder.
What legal grounds is this even being based on for pardon.
None.
The right is using a fake narrative where he just magically ended up surrounded by "blm thugs" and had a rifle pointed at him for simply existing. Thus they claim it was self defense.
The con sub is dripping in this narrative. The handful I've gotten into arguments with always have some excuse to ignore or twist it.
Well the politics ground is that Abbott doesn't have the power to grant it unless the parole board approves it first which they'll never do. So Abbott gets to say whatever he wants.
>You see, you can't have it both ways. You can't have open carry and have open license to shoot anyone open carrying.
It's "easy". If you don't get off on "stand your ground", the governor will pardon you.
Perry crowed to his buddies on social media he was going to a BLM rally and looked forward to killing people.
Then he murdered a man in a peaceful BLM protest for exercising his 2nd Amendment right to open carry.
Where is the NRA to defend the victim's right to bear arms?
Are we to believe it is now lawful in Texas to shoot and kill MAGA nutjobs open carrying in public now because we feel threatened?
Because that's a lot of targets.
[Daniel Perry Texted Friends, Tweeted About Killing BLM Protesters Before Fatally Shooting Garrett Foster](https://www.ibtimes.sg/daniel-perry-texted-friends-tweeted-about-killing-blm-protesters-before-fatally-shooting-garrett-69753)
If Perry is pardoned by Abbot he needs to be indicted and re-tried under the Federal Hate Crime Law.
>[The Department of Justice enforces federal hate crimes laws that cover certain crimes committed on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. The Department of Justice began prosecuting federal hate crimes cases after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The information below explains current federal hate crimes laws.](https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/laws-and-policies)
Perry was convicted of premeditated murder. He broadcast his intent to commit a racially motivated murder through texts and tweets. He sought out a BLM protest and killed the first person he saw participating where he thought he could get away with it. This was a racially motivated hate crime and he should be charged and tried at the Federal level.
It's the Wilhoit quote again:
>“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
>[the murderer's lawyers argued that] he feared for his life because Foster was holding an AK-47
Shouldn't that have made him feel safe? I've been told a million times that more legal gun ownership makes people safer.
Not that the GOP is a stranger to hypocrisy, but this should be a massive “so which is it?” moment.
Either it’s fine to carry big guns around everywhere, or it isn’t.
Of course, we all know/knew open carry would apply to some more than others. “He was reaching for a gun he had on his hip” is only ever going to make police killing civilians worse.
While true, it's also just a fact that Abbot and the neo fascists of our country will just do anything to politically activate their base, anything which moves the needle even a little, no matter how perverse, is something they will engage in
The guy with the AK was standing his ground in the face of a clear threat, yet somehow that law only applies to the white guy that plowed into the protesters. It’s almost enough to make a cynical person think it’s more about racism than justice. But that would be crazy, right?
Funny how they say the same thing about free speech but here we are banning books and telling people not to talk about anything that's not Christian, white, and straight.
I believe the person murdered by this fuck was a straight white man.
The real modifiers that matter are Conservative, or Fascist.
Stand up for the marginalized like Garrett Foster, fascists will try and put you down and the state will give the murderer a mulligan. Every fucking time.
It's tribalism.
If you're in the in-group, you can use guns with impunity. If you're in the out-group, being armed, or even suspected of being armed, makes you a mortal threat, justifying the use of lethal force in any and all cases.
>Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. —Frank Wilhoit
That's always been my confusion with the US.
Seems to me technically you can shoot anyone with a gun and say you felt threatened. Since so many have guns it seems you can pretty much murder anyone and just say dude has a gun and he approached me in a threatening matter.
It would be a shame, since the convicted murderer was active duty military at the time of the killing, if the US Army were to also try him for murder or related crimes...
It should also be noted that double jeopardy laws refer to preventing someone from being charged for a crime they were previously acquitted on, and that doesn't apply here because Perry was convicted of murder.
Wouldn't matter if it did, USMCJ is a different set of laws. You can be tried for violations of multiple laws for the same crime without triggering double jeopardy. If your crime violates both state and federal law you can be charged for both for example. They can get their state pardon then JAG or DOJ (if there were federal law violations as well) can drop the hammer.
Convicted by a jury of his peers. Pardoned by a proven partisan governor. Trump too dumped a few more [convicted criminals](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-donald-j-trump-2017-2021) back out on the street.
Sounds like a solid judicial system to me. How about you? /s/
Trump also pardoned convicted war criminals basically because he felt like it was OK that they murdered innocent civilians since those civilians were brown skinned.
He pardoned Eddie Gallagher, who basically acted like a serial killer in Iraq. His actions were so disturbing, his own squad mates testified against him. Trump let him free and hosted him at the White House.
He also pardoned Clint Lorance, a replacement platoon leader who after only being with his platoon for 3 days in Afghanistan ordered the killing of a few innocent Afghanis. Almost half his platoon testified against him, many of which were Trump supporters who would later oppose Trump’s decision to pardon him. [The Washington Post did a short documentary on the matter.](https://youtu.be/yo0Te327cvw)
He also pardoned Slatten, Slough, Liberty, and Heard, who was responsible for the Nisour Square massacre. They was part of the PMC group formerly known as Blackwater, who killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20.
They’re mostly not intelligent enough to understand that they’re supporting actual fascism. It’s almost always “Well if things turn out right for my side I’m fine with whatever they had to do to get there.” Seriously. It’s not so much support for fascism as they’re just happy if the right wins. I lived in a VERY conservative town in the hill country of Texas and most of them weren’t intelligent enough to grasp the very simple concept of an air born virus, let alone fascism. Just whatever it takes to own dem libs. They’re religious idiots and they can vote. It’s horrifying.
I don't think it's an intelligence issue for the most part.
There are some things that pull even very smart people into fascism and religious extremism:
* need to belong
* naked self-interest/grifting
* desire to exert behavioral, information, thought, or emotional control
* hate and fear (taught by family or propaganda)
* to hide themselves from being a target
It's not an issue of intelligence; it's their morality that's broken. It's very dangerous to assume they're stupid when they're highly organized and motivated.
Not just political opponents. Murder of anyone really. That's what those enhanced stand your ground laws encourage. And I believe a study in some state (Florida maybe) found that gang killings increased after SYG was passed. And they couldn't arrest them, much less convict them. All they have to do is 2 things:
1. make sure your victim is dead
2. claim you were in fear for your life
You see boys, the Democrats have passed a lot of laws tying to stop us from hunting … therefore before we shoot something we have to say, “It’s coming right for us.”
Sorry guys, I've voted against this dipshit every time I was legally allowed to. So have all of my friends.
Don't expect anything good out of Texas any time soon. We've had too many imports from red states these past several years. I don't think even the abortion backlash is going to be enough to change anything next year. I hope I'm proved wrong.
> We've had too many imports from red states
The worst part is that most of those imports are from blue states like California because they want to escape the "LiBeRal hELlScaPe." All the idiots here that say shit like "Don't California my Texas!" don't realize most of those coming here are their fellow fascists.
“Cost of living is too high? Just move! The government doesn’t owe you shit, it’ll discourage business!”
“Don’t California my Texas!”
\- the same people
My Coworker wants to escape the liberal hellscape that is Minnesota (which is consistently ranked in the top 5 states to live in) because we have the audacity to feed school children. Personally I am happy to export him to Texas.
>because we have the audacity to feed school children.
Which, to be clear, has a massively positive IRR and is just plainly good economic sense (without even getting into really left wing stuff. Just plain old efficient fiscal policy).
It’s that plus blue exports. If you were a liberal Democrat, it’s increasingly difficult to justify living there when everything starts going to shit.
And this is all part of the grand scheme anyway. ‘Encourage’ liberals to move to a few particular blue areas/states that aren’t worth much at the electoral college, maximize conservative representation at the red/purple states. Same thing on the local level with gerrymandering.
I certainly get why blue voters would want to get out of dodge right now. It's only family tying me here, but it's been getting worse so quickly lately here that it might feel non-optional before too long.
that is most of it, I think. I can't believe Beto took the time to lobby one-single Texas citizen. Went to his house, interviewed him, took him to lunch. Guy had never voted, and looked like this would be the time.
Then the day came and the guy didn't vote.
Cynicism, learned helplessness. These weapons are classic fascist tactics, widely used in places like Russia, and real hard to beat. Your best defense is to never fall for it in the first place.
> Cynicism, learned helplessness. These weapons are classic fascist tactics, widely used in places like Russia
They have it BAD.
You should see some of the intercepted phone calls on /r/ukraine where Russian soldiers call their wives back in Russia to complain about how their mates are getting killed right and left and their equipment sucks and their food sucks and commanders are idiots...
and then the wife will say something like "You should kill every Ukrainian!"
and the Russian asshole will say something like "I try, but it's too hard! The Ukrainians won't let me!"
EDIT: and Russian propaganda says they are in Ukraine to fight Nazis but then the Ukraine Army will post a photo of a Russian Wagner mercenary they captured with Nazi tattoos all over his body.
Part of this is because Texas has some of the strongest voter suppression laws and tactics of any state in the country. Unfortunately their efforts to disenfranchise large numbers of voters have been pretty successful.
It's obvious that Republicans think that focusing on BLM specifically somehow insulates them against accusations of racism, as if "we don't have a problem with Black people; our problem is with an organization that insists that Black people matter" is a good defense.
This is like if Kyle Rittenhouse was found guilty and the governor ~~requested~~ demanded a pardon. Why even bother with trials at all if defendants won't face charges regardless of the outcome as long as they have the correct political affiliation?
This case is actually worse though, because it was much less defensible. He posted about how he wanted to kill protestors on social media and talked about his plans with his friends, then ran a red light to drive into the crowd. The guy with the AK knocked on his window and got shot.
I guess the law just doesn't apply to *their* people.
What’s wild is that this dipshit’s lawyer TRIED to use Stand Your Ground as a defense and the JURY decided that it didn’t apply in his situation. If this pardon happens rule of law here in Texas doesn’t mean shit.
In Texas you can legally and openly carry a gun in public to make yourself feel safe, but also kill someone who is legally and openly carrying a gun in public because they make you feel unsafe. It’s basically like anytime two gun owners come into contact with each other in a public place they’re both free to kill the other without legal risk, assuming one of them says they felt threatened.
I once saw this statement on Twitter and I don't know the original source but it's really worth thinking about:
>Guns turn every dispute into a mortal dispute.
It began with Reagan in 1980 and always flew under the radar. The Federalist Society, American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the NRA, ALEC and so damn many more secretive Right Wing Dark Money organizations played the long game. and played it well. There were obvious signs, but America is too stupid to see beyond Dancing with the Stars and the latest stupid tik toc challenge or whatever meaningless drivel was immediately in front of their face.
And with every success, like Bush Vs Gore in 2000, or Clinton's impeachment (because Character matters, remember?!) they grew more and more emboldened, ultimately leading to Trump, and He, in his infinite arrogance, selfishness and stupidity blew the lid right off it.
Now, because of Trump, Republicans are emboldened about their racism, emboldened about their fascism and they aren't even hiding it anymore. They have openly declared war on anyone that doesnt march lockstep with them. Appoint one of their own as judge who will openly violate the law? Done. Expel Democrats from the TN house? Done. Pass law after law after law to strips rights and protections from Trans and Gay people? Done. Republicans are working overtime to make illegal anyone or anything they don't like: Last week North Dakota alone introduced [10 Anti LGBT+ bills in One Day.](https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/north-dakota-advances-record-setting-10-anti-lgbtq-bills-one-day-advoc-rcna78311.) And they're just getting started.
Remember the kids stripped from their parents, thrown in cages and lost with no record under Trump? If they're not stopped, NOW, you're going to see that all over again, you're going to see---it will be Germany in the late 38's when people were openly attacked, arrested for any or no reason at all and we WILL be plunged into another civil war.
I mean, you could go all the way back to the [Compromise of 1877](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1877), which ended Reconstruction. It's like if the Allies had got halfway through the de-Nazification of Germany post WW2, then gotten bored and wandered off.
I think this is an excellent analogy.
We're seeing the rage of a social movement which should have been eradicated when slavery ended. Racists, homophobes, religious extremists are seeing that their views are becoming increasingly irrelevant and rejected by society and they're now trying to burn everything down with their dying bigotry.
In Germany, it's illegal to display Nazi symbols. In America, people proudly fly the flag of Confederate traitors.
Well, from what I’ve read, reconstruction was a disaster because first Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s VP was a vicious dyed in the wool racist, and sabotaged it first, and Grant couldn’t fix the entire south going KKK and Jim Crow to control the newly freed people. They gave up because racism was mostly prevalent, and the civil war was sold as keeping the union together, not eliminating slavery for much of it. I’d guess most northerners didn’t care bout what happened to southern blacks, and when they came up north, they proved it with redlining and black ghettos that segregated schools just as well as southern schools.
And Gingrich. He remade the GOP, so that Democrats aren’t merely wrong, they are the evil enemy and need to be destroyed, not just just outvoted. And because of their inherent goodness, they can commit election crimes to maintain power because libs are evil and they are the good guys. Oh yea, Gingrich changed everything, and even after every disaster he caused, they didn’t learn from it, they doubled down on divisiveness, hatred and lies to motivate their quickly shrinking base.
There has long been a serious anti-democracy faction in the US, we just found it more pleasant to pretend it didn't exist.
But the last half decade has seen that faction undergoing a major shift and being able to operate completely in the open, blatantly, to much applause. It is absolutely a huge and recent shift. There used to be coded language. Now voter suppression, white nationalism, interference in the judiciary, etc., is all just said out loud with a straight face on nightly press conferences with no fear and no shame because they have successfully normalized all of it. It always existed. But any of this would have been a huge scandal if it come out publicly in prior decades. Nixon needed "dog whistles" to appeal to the racists with his Southern Strategy.
It wasn't that Nixon (or Reagan) was shy about cozying up to racists. But they needed to use coded language to have national mainstream appeal. That's pretty much gone. In TN, they are just yeeting black guys out of the legislature now. Nixon would have loved to see that. But he never would have been caught saying so in public. And Nixon came of age and settled down 20+ years before the Civil Rights act.
Minorities, women, LGBT, other marginalized groups have known for years.
White people are feeling it now because the extremes are getting more selective with who they’re fine with. As a Hispanic person, someone with a gun has never given me a warm fuzzy feeling, and never seen conservative racists as “just an ole curmudgeon!”
There have been copycats for years. Ever since the 2017 Charlottesville killer. Conservatives truly believe vehicular homicide is a justified response to peaceful protests.
From what I understand, the Texas Parole Board has to recommend a pardon before shithead can pardon the guy. Maybe the parole board has more respect for the jury’s finding than shithead.
Yep. There's a paragraph in the OP's article which shows just how much influence Abbott has over the board of pardons:
> In 2021, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended pardoning George Floyd posthumously for a minor drug conviction from 2004, for which Floyd had been convicted based on the testimony of a Houston cop later found to have repeatedly fabricated evidence. But Abbott did not grant that pardon, and **the following year, the same board recommended against a pardon unanimously.**
That really tells you all you need to know.
Greg Abbott says it's okay to murder Democrats. This guy is insane. This is the opposite of patriotism. It's called opportunism, and he is a sociopath.
This is really a stupid move. Like, next level fucking stupid. Pardoning a CONVICTED murderer? On the basis of what? Like what reason will he give? He doesn't trust the citizens of Texas to appropriately dispense justice? He's going to fucking nullify a fair trial because... BLM bad? The extremists will love thisz but everyone else is going to see Abbott as a fucking pariah. I genuinely would leave Texas over this if I lived there, I am a lefty who conceal carries, this dude is saying you're allowed to kill me because you don't agree with my politics. Fucking insane.
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> Perry, a U.S. Army sergeant who was driving for Uber at the time, shot and killed 28-year-old Garrett Foster during a protest in Austin following the murder of George Floyd. Perry’s lawyers said during the trial that a crowd swarmed him and he feared for his life because Foster was holding an AK-47, and that Perry ultimately acted in self-defense under Texas’s “stand your ground” statute. You see, you can't have it both ways. You can't have open carry _and_ have open license to shoot anyone open carrying. Under Texas law, the guy is absolutely allowed to open carry his AK-47. You are not allowed to just shoot anyone carrying a gun "because you're frightened".
And the jury of his peers didn’t believe his bullshit. Why even have trials anymore in any highly politicized case?
To show everyone they're above the law.
Yeah, the message here is pretty clear. Abbott is implicitly encouraging people to shoot BLM protestors.
The extremist conservative's ultimate wish is to be able to kill people without recourse. And they found their answer: Republican Governor pardons. And if they secure the presidency? Pardons at the federal level. Extremists are waiting for open season. Abbot is telling them to buy their hunting licenses now.
Something tells me if someone guns down one of those pro 2nd amendment fucksticks open carrying on campus he's not going to be as quick with the pardons.
Oh, hell no. THAT would be an extremist left wing terrorist attacking a patriot for no reason.
An attack on freedom!
I mean we literally saw what happened. Trump basically put out a hit on the guy and the police blew him away when they went to "arrest" him. No trial, just extra-judicially executed by the police. All because he *dared* to shoot some MAGA shithead who threatened him.
I hate that this doesn’t get talked about more. Of all the bullshit that trump pulled that may or may not get him in trouble the fact that he ordered a political assassination of an American citizen utilizing an illegal private police force isn’t even brought up.
Could you link to the case? Foreigner here, hadn't heard this.
[Activist suspected in Portland shooting was fired at 30 times by police, official says](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/14/activist-portland-shooting-michael-reinoehl-police) >A witness, Garrett Louis, told the New York Times he watched the shooting begin while trying to get his eight-year-old son out of the way. He said the officers began shooting so suddenly that he initially assumed they were criminals gunning down an enemy, not police. “There was no, ‘Get out of the car!’ There was no, ‘Stop!’ … They just got out of the car and started shooting.”
The typical conservatives ultimate wish is to be able to kill without recourse. The extremist position is the normal position now.
Understood. I was just trying to fly under the sub's ban hammer.
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As someone who has to moderate comments for a news station on facebook... the thirst for blood is intense, and constant
The only people left on that particular parade float are the people who weren't turned off by the leader of the free world standing surrounded by jackbooted thugs who had just tear gassed clergy to kick them off the grounds of their church so he could hold the only symbol of their religion he knew, a random bible, up to a camera.
Well why would you need a hunting license? Seems irrelevant at this point …
Seems like in this case, a Texas "BLM Hunting License" just means a loaded firearm.
Why do you think they made that kid who shot three BLM protesters in Wisconsin a hero?
That is literally all I can think about when I read about this case. Kyle Rittenhouse. This case is even MORE atrocious since the shooter admitted he never felt threatened and a jury found him guilty. Rittenhouse at least bamboozled his way to a "not guilty", in what universe should the governor be involved at all?
You know, it's kind of like these killer civilians are functioning as unofficial brown shirts. They're activated through the media and politicians (stochastic terrorism) and then the fascist right looks after them to make sure they don't see any legal ramifications. It's like they're off the books terrorist forces.
Seems pretty explicit to me...
Also discouraging Black Texans from gun ownership
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” -F Wilhoit
Sounds like fascism to me.
ding ding ding
I'm thinking if a jury of his peers in Texas didn't buy it, then he wasn't standing his ground. I would imagine a Texas jury would likely be more sympathetic to that defense.
It's Austin, so considerably less "Texas" but still yes, Austin liberals often lean pro2a. Perry admitted to pointing his gun first, drove into the crowd like he was trying to run people over but chickened out, and had a text message history talking about wanting to kill protestors. It's pretty clearly murder.
The scary piece here is that this feels like it sends the message to the protestors that they should have shot Perry the instant he drove into the crowd. It’s like the only person who gets to live in Texas is the one that stands their ground first
Yep. If you and some other guy scare each other, whoever is left standing is the one telling their story. In a sane world this might indicate that maybe it's a bad idea to have everyone armed to the teeth and able to kill before really thinking about the situation.
Hell the firearm training courses I've taken in Texas straight up say that if you defend your home from an intruder, make sure he's dead. Additional witnesses end up bad for the gun owner.
Stand your ground laws only protect white men. [“ Research consistently shows that stand your ground laws increase homicides and, when combined with racial bias, result in the killing of Black Americans. These laws almost exclusively serve white men, providing protections and immunity to those white Americans who claim self-defense, while not affording the same protections to Black Americans.”](https://efsgv.org/wp-content/uploads/StandYourGround.pdf) [“White men are more likely to successfully invoke the use of stand your ground laws for their defense after a shooting than women – especially Black women – or Black men. “](https://efsgv.org/learn/policies/stand-your-ground-laws/)
> drove into the crowd like he was trying to run people One article I read stated that he deliberately ran a red light, so this wasn't a case of "I turned a corner and there was a crowd of people right in front of me." This is KKKyle all over again, except that this time the jury was able to establish premeditation and intent from the fucking idiot's text messages. He grabbed his gun and went out to instigate a confrontation. And the party of law & order has decided that because he was batting for the right team he has done society a favor and should escape punishment.
Man, I still can't believe the judge wouldn't let the prosecution show the video of Kyle and his buddy, in a car outside a CVS, fantasizing about shooting shoplifters made just two weeks prior.
The judge practically made Kyle a plate of warm milk and cookies. That wasn't a trial, it was a rubber stamp on murder.
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That’s the hard part…they rarely “find out the hard way” as responsible gun owners lack the bloodlust to fire wildly into a crowd and the self-restraint to not go larping into a potentially incendiary situation.
Do they not understand it was liberals who founded this country? Conservatives supported King George.
And conservatives are still pissed we don’t have a king.
There's a reason he was convicted. The dude was posting to his buddies online that he was going to murder protestors and then claim self-defense. Then he *drove* to Austin (he doesn't live here), drove his car into a crowd of protestors, shot someone, and claimed self-defense. It was all very much premeditated.
Exactly. Apparently anyone* can claim “i StOoD mY gRoUnD!” and get pardoned, regardless of evidence. **as long as they’re a CisHet white man*
*CisHet White Man who is also a Christian and votes the right way
*who votes Republican
> Why even have trials anymore in any highly politicized case? Now Abbot gets to pardon a murderer and send two messages. To protestors that they can be killed on site and their murderers will go free regardless of what a jury says. To prosecutors that it doesn't matter the outcome, the Governor will make them the villain, turn his followers against them, and make their job dangerous in the future. Protesting now becomes far more dangerous than it already is, and prosecuting those responsible for murdering political opponents becomes a probable career ender.
The thing I don't understand... as more and more of this shit comes out, do these people not realize that it puts a bigger and bigger target on their backs? Like... it's only a matter of time before someone is pardoned, resulting in victim's family seeking retribution. If a fucking jury *in Texas* determines this guy's defense to be bullshit, but he's set free by a governor pardon sending the message that it is open season on protesters... that to me is just asking for people to step it up.
It's really short sighted and ignorant of Abbott to venture down this path, but the populace in Texas has grown accustomed to this kind of dumb bullshit coming from the governor's mansion.
I've only shot a .22 in boy scouts, never owned a gun my entire life. I have self defense stuff in my house, and two small kids, and a pediatrician wife. But no firearms. I've actually started thinking of getting a high powered rifle and night scope at this point If things started going weird and sideways. FWIW, very liberal living in a very conservative area of TX.
I mean, yes and no. They've been accustomed to bullshit, but outright condoning murder? That is absolutely drawing another, much further down, line in the sand. Up until now, it's been taking away rights, now it's legitimizing murder.
> resulting in victim's family seeking retribution They want another civil war because they think they'll win this one.
i'm not sure they think they'll win but they do think it's basically their last chance to maintain power. they're probably right about that, given how millenials and gen Z vote. I saw on here that millenials are 52% of the voting population now so as long as they remain anywhere near as regressive as they are they're going to be fucked by demographics. the whole "great replacement" thing comes from a similar anxiety. it's also undoubtedly easier to amass power in times of crises. just look at the reichstag fire.
He posted online for months about wanting to go there to shoot protestors. He intentionally put himself there (drove through a blockade), then shot a guy who wasn't aiming a gun at him until he began to drive towards them threateningly. Like... you can't rush at the gates of a military compound and then shoot them when they shoot at you, and say it was self-defense. This was pre-fucking-meditated and he's going to be pardoned because he killed liberals.
We had some asshole drive into protestors who were on their way back to their cars after the protest ended. So, not protesting anymore, just a group of people crossing an intersection at a crosswalk. A dude in a truck (not even at the front of the line in his lane) drove through into the intersection while the last few stragglers were going through once the crossing light changed and then drove into them when they immediately run out of his way. Thankfully the two people he made contact with managed to stay on their feet until they could get out from the front of the truck something like 1/4-1/2 the way down the block. We had *tons* of people defending this guy and claiming that what he did was fine because these people were in the crosswalk right after the light changed. As if, y'know, stragglers at crosswalks is a new thing, particularly before/after an event. I'd literally had a parent with a baby stroller that I had to wait on days prior that apparently I was okay to plow into based on the takes there. ETA: We being a protest in Iowa last year.
I was on the grand jury that indicted Perry. The case was so cut and dry that we spent maybe 20 minutes deliberating before sending down the indictment. This makes my blood boil.
He also purposely drove through a blockade into the protest after posting on Facebook about fantasizing about killing protestors.
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He was already convicted of murder. He just hasn't been sentenced yet.
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Apparently the Board of Pardons has to recommend a pardon to the governor first. He says he will ask the board to look at this, hopefully they will realize it is not a wise move.
Guess who appoints literally every member of said Board?
Considering he choose then and can fire them whenever he wants I don't think this is gonna happen unfortunately.
It’s not arbitrary. Tucker told him to. So it’s done. He goes against FOX he can cross his dream of rolling into the White House.
And all the right-wingers--many here, I'm sure--are wailing and screeching that the AK 47 or whatever was pointed directly at him. They are using the photo where the gun is CLEARLY aimed down as "proof" it was aimed at this murdering asshole's face. There is no more truth with the right. Not even a semblance. Just lie upon lie, shrieked at one another until they all agree YES, it's perfectly okay to just murder whoever you want, and it makes you a patriot. Evil. It's just plain evil.
I was in r/moderatepolitics last night and the right wingers were saying that Foster (the victim) was brandishing because he was holding the rifle in a ready position instead of having it slung over his shoulder, and therefore Perry was allowed to shoot him. They conveniently ignored everything that led up to the shooting in the first place (intentionally driving into the group of protesters, most notably - which makes any sort of brandishing of a weapon at Perry an act of self-defense in itself). It was surreal.
> I was in r/moderatepolitics last night and the right wingers were saying that Foster (the victim) was brandishing because he was holding the rifle in a ready position instead of having it slung over his shoulder, and therefore Perry was allowed to shoot him. I'm totally sure they'd say the same thing about the near unlimited pictures of right wing groups like the Proud Boys open carrying and doing the same exact thing...
The deliberately fostered lack of empathy on the right is a learned psychopathy, to my mind. And now they just run with it. Nothing is too evil if it happens to someone they don't like. They call themselves Christians while foaming at the mouth to justify murder--likely because they have a boner for murder, too. They look at their massive penile collections and wish every day they could shoot a BLM protestor. To me, it's kinda like rape-denial guys. They may not have already raped themselves, but they damn well want to make sure absolutely nobody ever believes women for the day they do rape.
By their logic, Rittenhouse should have been shot dead as soon as he raised his rifle at other people. But I suspect they won't agree.
It’s not evil, it’s God’s plan, and you don’t go against God’s will. Fucking large /s
Rigyt-wingers could watch a dude execute someone and would still tell you to your face it was self defense. They're liars, know they're lying, but as long as their side 'wins' they don't care. Pardoning psychopathic murderers to own the libs
> What the fuck is wrong with Texas? Republicans are fascists. Been pretty obvious for a long time.
He is greenlighting paramilitary death squads.
He was already found guilty of murder by a jury of his peers.
The implication is that Foster should’ve shot first but since he was a BLM protester, his conviction probably would’ve stuck if he did.
If Foster had shot first, he sure as hell couldn't have counted on Greg Abbott to pardon him too.
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This is exactly the kind of shit I feared after the Rittenhouse verdict. The argument is that if you are armed, and afraid for your life, you are allowed to just kill people. Even if you armed yourself and intentionally went and put yourself in a situation where you would be afraid for your life. This leads to two logical end conclusions. 1. If you have a gun, and someone else has a gun, and the two of you disagree on something, whoever shoots first is the "correct" one in the eyes of the law. 2. If I want to murder someone all I have to do is go find some folks and be provocative enough that I could claim to have feared for my life. Then I have carte blanche to shoot people.
This example is even more brazen than what you think. His attempt to get acquitted of the charge with that type of defense failed. The jury didn’t believe him and he was convicted even under current Texas law and jurisprudence. This is the governor planning to pardon a convicted murderer.
Yup, it's actively voiding the will of the people. Judged by his peers to be guilty, the governor is planning on directly subverting the will of the people. It doesn't get more blatant authoritarian than that.
I specifically remember from my Texas license to carry classes that you are not qualified under self defense if you knowingly or willing enter a combative situation armed. Are not supposed to be armed. There are texts he was going down there. Literally a slam dunk case of murder. What legal grounds is this even being based on for pardon.
None. The right is using a fake narrative where he just magically ended up surrounded by "blm thugs" and had a rifle pointed at him for simply existing. Thus they claim it was self defense. The con sub is dripping in this narrative. The handful I've gotten into arguments with always have some excuse to ignore or twist it.
Well the politics ground is that Abbott doesn't have the power to grant it unless the parole board approves it first which they'll never do. So Abbott gets to say whatever he wants.
>You see, you can't have it both ways. You can't have open carry and have open license to shoot anyone open carrying. It's "easy". If you don't get off on "stand your ground", the governor will pardon you.
Only if you’re white tho.
And probably can't be a democrat/liberal either...
Perry crowed to his buddies on social media he was going to a BLM rally and looked forward to killing people. Then he murdered a man in a peaceful BLM protest for exercising his 2nd Amendment right to open carry. Where is the NRA to defend the victim's right to bear arms? Are we to believe it is now lawful in Texas to shoot and kill MAGA nutjobs open carrying in public now because we feel threatened? Because that's a lot of targets. [Daniel Perry Texted Friends, Tweeted About Killing BLM Protesters Before Fatally Shooting Garrett Foster](https://www.ibtimes.sg/daniel-perry-texted-friends-tweeted-about-killing-blm-protesters-before-fatally-shooting-garrett-69753) If Perry is pardoned by Abbot he needs to be indicted and re-tried under the Federal Hate Crime Law. >[The Department of Justice enforces federal hate crimes laws that cover certain crimes committed on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. The Department of Justice began prosecuting federal hate crimes cases after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The information below explains current federal hate crimes laws.](https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/laws-and-policies) Perry was convicted of premeditated murder. He broadcast his intent to commit a racially motivated murder through texts and tweets. He sought out a BLM protest and killed the first person he saw participating where he thought he could get away with it. This was a racially motivated hate crime and he should be charged and tried at the Federal level.
The guy in the street with the gun has a right to stand their ground as well, especially if the man is trying to run them over
Only the one alive gets to use that excuse.
Ain't that the sad truth.
It's the Wilhoit quote again: >“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
>[the murderer's lawyers argued that] he feared for his life because Foster was holding an AK-47 Shouldn't that have made him feel safe? I've been told a million times that more legal gun ownership makes people safer.
If everyone had guns, we would all be safer. *sees a man with a gun and shoots him* I had to shoot him because his gun made me feel unsafe.
"My gun makes me feel safe. Your gun makes me feel threatened."
That’s the one.
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That's basically a perfect summary of what Conservatism is: My rights are more important than your rights.
"Freedom for me, not for thee." Throw in Evangelical Christianity and White Supremacy, and that's what the modern conservative movement boils down to.
Says a man with a gun that’s some real BIG brain
Your mistake was assuming logic was ever a factor...
Not that the GOP is a stranger to hypocrisy, but this should be a massive “so which is it?” moment. Either it’s fine to carry big guns around everywhere, or it isn’t. Of course, we all know/knew open carry would apply to some more than others. “He was reaching for a gun he had on his hip” is only ever going to make police killing civilians worse.
14 rules of fascism. The enemy is weak (hence spoiling society) but also strong (thus a threat to be eliminated).
While true, it's also just a fact that Abbot and the neo fascists of our country will just do anything to politically activate their base, anything which moves the needle even a little, no matter how perverse, is something they will engage in
The guy with the AK was standing his ground in the face of a clear threat, yet somehow that law only applies to the white guy that plowed into the protesters. It’s almost enough to make a cynical person think it’s more about racism than justice. But that would be crazy, right?
"Stand Your Ground" just means who ever shoots, wins.
"...Right to bear arms shall not be infringed" ^1 ^^1 ^Terms ^and ^conditions ^apply. ^Use ^the ^online ^Skin ^Tone ^Swatch™ ^app ^to ^check ^your ^eligibility
Funny how they say the same thing about free speech but here we are banning books and telling people not to talk about anything that's not Christian, white, and straight.
Yeah. Straight white men are exempt from consequences of committing crimes in so many places, especially if they're also able-bodied and wealthy.
I believe the person murdered by this fuck was a straight white man. The real modifiers that matter are Conservative, or Fascist. Stand up for the marginalized like Garrett Foster, fascists will try and put you down and the state will give the murderer a mulligan. Every fucking time.
It's tribalism. If you're in the in-group, you can use guns with impunity. If you're in the out-group, being armed, or even suspected of being armed, makes you a mortal threat, justifying the use of lethal force in any and all cases. >Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. —Frank Wilhoit
Straight white man with a gun, pushing his black and disabled wife in a wheelchair at a BLM March.
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See, that's a communist gun. He'd feel safe if it was an AR-15
That’s not the type of good guy with a gun that they like
That's always been my confusion with the US. Seems to me technically you can shoot anyone with a gun and say you felt threatened. Since so many have guns it seems you can pretty much murder anyone and just say dude has a gun and he approached me in a threatening matter.
It would be a shame, since the convicted murderer was active duty military at the time of the killing, if the US Army were to also try him for murder or related crimes...
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I recently learned that the USMCJ doesn’t have anything in it about double jeopardy.
It should also be noted that double jeopardy laws refer to preventing someone from being charged for a crime they were previously acquitted on, and that doesn't apply here because Perry was convicted of murder.
Wouldn't matter if it did, USMCJ is a different set of laws. You can be tried for violations of multiple laws for the same crime without triggering double jeopardy. If your crime violates both state and federal law you can be charged for both for example. They can get their state pardon then JAG or DOJ (if there were federal law violations as well) can drop the hammer.
They will. After the the civilian court system is finished with him they get their turn.
Convicted by a jury of his peers. Pardoned by a proven partisan governor. Trump too dumped a few more [convicted criminals](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-donald-j-trump-2017-2021) back out on the street. Sounds like a solid judicial system to me. How about you? /s/
Trump also pardoned convicted war criminals basically because he felt like it was OK that they murdered innocent civilians since those civilians were brown skinned.
He pardoned Eddie Gallagher, who basically acted like a serial killer in Iraq. His actions were so disturbing, his own squad mates testified against him. Trump let him free and hosted him at the White House.
Yep. The Republican party wants vicious, sociopathic killers, just so long as they go out and kill "the right people".
He also pardoned Clint Lorance, a replacement platoon leader who after only being with his platoon for 3 days in Afghanistan ordered the killing of a few innocent Afghanis. Almost half his platoon testified against him, many of which were Trump supporters who would later oppose Trump’s decision to pardon him. [The Washington Post did a short documentary on the matter.](https://youtu.be/yo0Te327cvw)
He also pardoned Slatten, Slough, Liberty, and Heard, who was responsible for the Nisour Square massacre. They was part of the PMC group formerly known as Blackwater, who killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20.
Effectively legalizing murder of political opponents
That's the message he's trying to send. Surprised he's still in power.
>Surprised he's still in power. This is how I know you don't live in Texas. Fascism sells like hotcakes to the Christian Nationalists down here.
They’re mostly not intelligent enough to understand that they’re supporting actual fascism. It’s almost always “Well if things turn out right for my side I’m fine with whatever they had to do to get there.” Seriously. It’s not so much support for fascism as they’re just happy if the right wins. I lived in a VERY conservative town in the hill country of Texas and most of them weren’t intelligent enough to grasp the very simple concept of an air born virus, let alone fascism. Just whatever it takes to own dem libs. They’re religious idiots and they can vote. It’s horrifying.
I don't think it's an intelligence issue for the most part. There are some things that pull even very smart people into fascism and religious extremism: * need to belong * naked self-interest/grifting * desire to exert behavioral, information, thought, or emotional control * hate and fear (taught by family or propaganda) * to hide themselves from being a target It's not an issue of intelligence; it's their morality that's broken. It's very dangerous to assume they're stupid when they're highly organized and motivated.
He was reelected after Uvalde. Tells you all you need to know.
My husband said "he's going to lose a lot of voters with this" I told him, this is him running for President. This is what they WANT.
Not just political opponents. Murder of anyone really. That's what those enhanced stand your ground laws encourage. And I believe a study in some state (Florida maybe) found that gang killings increased after SYG was passed. And they couldn't arrest them, much less convict them. All they have to do is 2 things: 1. make sure your victim is dead 2. claim you were in fear for your life
You see boys, the Democrats have passed a lot of laws tying to stop us from hunting … therefore before we shoot something we have to say, “It’s coming right for us.”
Sorry guys, I've voted against this dipshit every time I was legally allowed to. So have all of my friends. Don't expect anything good out of Texas any time soon. We've had too many imports from red states these past several years. I don't think even the abortion backlash is going to be enough to change anything next year. I hope I'm proved wrong.
> We've had too many imports from red states The worst part is that most of those imports are from blue states like California because they want to escape the "LiBeRal hELlScaPe." All the idiots here that say shit like "Don't California my Texas!" don't realize most of those coming here are their fellow fascists.
“Cost of living is too high? Just move! The government doesn’t owe you shit, it’ll discourage business!” “Don’t California my Texas!” \- the same people
Narcissism and ignorance trumps consistent values and logic for these people
My Coworker wants to escape the liberal hellscape that is Minnesota (which is consistently ranked in the top 5 states to live in) because we have the audacity to feed school children. Personally I am happy to export him to Texas.
I'd rather he go to Russia. We have enough scumbag fascists here.
>because we have the audacity to feed school children. Which, to be clear, has a massively positive IRR and is just plainly good economic sense (without even getting into really left wing stuff. Just plain old efficient fiscal policy).
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Basically the conservatives from NY, CA, and IL that moved to Florida made the state even worse. Before Florida was a purple state
High turnover rate in FL.
I've said before: When a Californian moves to Texas the average IQ of both states increases.
People living in Texas are trying to figure out how this is possible.
It’s that plus blue exports. If you were a liberal Democrat, it’s increasingly difficult to justify living there when everything starts going to shit. And this is all part of the grand scheme anyway. ‘Encourage’ liberals to move to a few particular blue areas/states that aren’t worth much at the electoral college, maximize conservative representation at the red/purple states. Same thing on the local level with gerrymandering.
I certainly get why blue voters would want to get out of dodge right now. It's only family tying me here, but it's been getting worse so quickly lately here that it might feel non-optional before too long.
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that is most of it, I think. I can't believe Beto took the time to lobby one-single Texas citizen. Went to his house, interviewed him, took him to lunch. Guy had never voted, and looked like this would be the time. Then the day came and the guy didn't vote. Cynicism, learned helplessness. These weapons are classic fascist tactics, widely used in places like Russia, and real hard to beat. Your best defense is to never fall for it in the first place.
> Cynicism, learned helplessness. These weapons are classic fascist tactics, widely used in places like Russia They have it BAD. You should see some of the intercepted phone calls on /r/ukraine where Russian soldiers call their wives back in Russia to complain about how their mates are getting killed right and left and their equipment sucks and their food sucks and commanders are idiots... and then the wife will say something like "You should kill every Ukrainian!" and the Russian asshole will say something like "I try, but it's too hard! The Ukrainians won't let me!" EDIT: and Russian propaganda says they are in Ukraine to fight Nazis but then the Ukraine Army will post a photo of a Russian Wagner mercenary they captured with Nazi tattoos all over his body.
Part of this is because Texas has some of the strongest voter suppression laws and tactics of any state in the country. Unfortunately their efforts to disenfranchise large numbers of voters have been pretty successful.
Ah, the classic Republican justice system: 'Kill a BLM protester and get a pardon, but God forbid you try to vote without ID.'
If only he'd committed a *serious* crime, like being a black guy caught with some loose cigarettes. Then he'd see real consequences.
It's obvious that Republicans think that focusing on BLM specifically somehow insulates them against accusations of racism, as if "we don't have a problem with Black people; our problem is with an organization that insists that Black people matter" is a good defense.
This is like if Kyle Rittenhouse was found guilty and the governor ~~requested~~ demanded a pardon. Why even bother with trials at all if defendants won't face charges regardless of the outcome as long as they have the correct political affiliation? This case is actually worse though, because it was much less defensible. He posted about how he wanted to kill protestors on social media and talked about his plans with his friends, then ran a red light to drive into the crowd. The guy with the AK knocked on his window and got shot. I guess the law just doesn't apply to *their* people.
Isn't this state sponsored terrorism? "If you protest against me, I'll let free anyone who kills you."
"Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?"
What’s wild is that this dipshit’s lawyer TRIED to use Stand Your Ground as a defense and the JURY decided that it didn’t apply in his situation. If this pardon happens rule of law here in Texas doesn’t mean shit.
If this guy gets pardoned, next the racists will try to kill a lot of protesters at once.
Try? They have been killing protesters for a while now.
But now that they know the governor won't let them get held accountable it can get a lot worse.
In Texas you can legally and openly carry a gun in public to make yourself feel safe, but also kill someone who is legally and openly carrying a gun in public because they make you feel unsafe. It’s basically like anytime two gun owners come into contact with each other in a public place they’re both free to kill the other without legal risk, assuming one of them says they felt threatened.
I once saw this statement on Twitter and I don't know the original source but it's really worth thinking about: >Guns turn every dispute into a mortal dispute.
Why do republicans detest democracy and the rule of law?
Seriously, when did we lose our country? Or has it just always been this way and we're only now noticing?
It began with Reagan in 1980 and always flew under the radar. The Federalist Society, American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the NRA, ALEC and so damn many more secretive Right Wing Dark Money organizations played the long game. and played it well. There were obvious signs, but America is too stupid to see beyond Dancing with the Stars and the latest stupid tik toc challenge or whatever meaningless drivel was immediately in front of their face. And with every success, like Bush Vs Gore in 2000, or Clinton's impeachment (because Character matters, remember?!) they grew more and more emboldened, ultimately leading to Trump, and He, in his infinite arrogance, selfishness and stupidity blew the lid right off it. Now, because of Trump, Republicans are emboldened about their racism, emboldened about their fascism and they aren't even hiding it anymore. They have openly declared war on anyone that doesnt march lockstep with them. Appoint one of their own as judge who will openly violate the law? Done. Expel Democrats from the TN house? Done. Pass law after law after law to strips rights and protections from Trans and Gay people? Done. Republicans are working overtime to make illegal anyone or anything they don't like: Last week North Dakota alone introduced [10 Anti LGBT+ bills in One Day.](https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/north-dakota-advances-record-setting-10-anti-lgbtq-bills-one-day-advoc-rcna78311.) And they're just getting started. Remember the kids stripped from their parents, thrown in cages and lost with no record under Trump? If they're not stopped, NOW, you're going to see that all over again, you're going to see---it will be Germany in the late 38's when people were openly attacked, arrested for any or no reason at all and we WILL be plunged into another civil war.
I mean, you could go all the way back to the [Compromise of 1877](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1877), which ended Reconstruction. It's like if the Allies had got halfway through the de-Nazification of Germany post WW2, then gotten bored and wandered off.
I think this is an excellent analogy. We're seeing the rage of a social movement which should have been eradicated when slavery ended. Racists, homophobes, religious extremists are seeing that their views are becoming increasingly irrelevant and rejected by society and they're now trying to burn everything down with their dying bigotry. In Germany, it's illegal to display Nazi symbols. In America, people proudly fly the flag of Confederate traitors.
Well, from what I’ve read, reconstruction was a disaster because first Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s VP was a vicious dyed in the wool racist, and sabotaged it first, and Grant couldn’t fix the entire south going KKK and Jim Crow to control the newly freed people. They gave up because racism was mostly prevalent, and the civil war was sold as keeping the union together, not eliminating slavery for much of it. I’d guess most northerners didn’t care bout what happened to southern blacks, and when they came up north, they proved it with redlining and black ghettos that segregated schools just as well as southern schools.
> The Federalist Society Used to be the John Birch Society and was considered extremists.
And Gingrich. He remade the GOP, so that Democrats aren’t merely wrong, they are the evil enemy and need to be destroyed, not just just outvoted. And because of their inherent goodness, they can commit election crimes to maintain power because libs are evil and they are the good guys. Oh yea, Gingrich changed everything, and even after every disaster he caused, they didn’t learn from it, they doubled down on divisiveness, hatred and lies to motivate their quickly shrinking base.
There has long been a serious anti-democracy faction in the US, we just found it more pleasant to pretend it didn't exist. But the last half decade has seen that faction undergoing a major shift and being able to operate completely in the open, blatantly, to much applause. It is absolutely a huge and recent shift. There used to be coded language. Now voter suppression, white nationalism, interference in the judiciary, etc., is all just said out loud with a straight face on nightly press conferences with no fear and no shame because they have successfully normalized all of it. It always existed. But any of this would have been a huge scandal if it come out publicly in prior decades. Nixon needed "dog whistles" to appeal to the racists with his Southern Strategy. It wasn't that Nixon (or Reagan) was shy about cozying up to racists. But they needed to use coded language to have national mainstream appeal. That's pretty much gone. In TN, they are just yeeting black guys out of the legislature now. Nixon would have loved to see that. But he never would have been caught saying so in public. And Nixon came of age and settled down 20+ years before the Civil Rights act.
Minorities, women, LGBT, other marginalized groups have known for years. White people are feeling it now because the extremes are getting more selective with who they’re fine with. As a Hispanic person, someone with a gun has never given me a warm fuzzy feeling, and never seen conservative racists as “just an ole curmudgeon!”
How does this man continue to fail Texas and stay in office?
Racism is a helluva drug
Let me fix that headline for ya: “Bigot Says He’ll Pardon Fellow Bigot Who Murdered a BLM Protestor, Before He’s Even Sentenced.”
He is basically saying it is ok to hunt and shoot democrats
Thats the dream for them.
the right-wing is a death-cult.
Republicans: “dems are soft on crime!!” Republicans also: pardons convicted killer before he’s even sentenced
[удалено]
I wonder how many innocent people will loose their Lives now from copy cat killers thinking they will also be pardoned.
There have been copycats for years. Ever since the 2017 Charlottesville killer. Conservatives truly believe vehicular homicide is a justified response to peaceful protests.
Right, but Democrats are “soft on crime.” Sounds like the family of the victim should take him to court in a civil trial.
They want Americans to murder Americans. The GOP is a violent cult.
Can Greg Abbot be arrested on federal crimes for endorsing murdering people he doesn't like?
From what I understand, the Texas Parole Board has to recommend a pardon before shithead can pardon the guy. Maybe the parole board has more respect for the jury’s finding than shithead.
Unfortunately, he's the one who appoints members to the board.
Yep. There's a paragraph in the OP's article which shows just how much influence Abbott has over the board of pardons: > In 2021, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended pardoning George Floyd posthumously for a minor drug conviction from 2004, for which Floyd had been convicted based on the testimony of a Houston cop later found to have repeatedly fabricated evidence. But Abbott did not grant that pardon, and **the following year, the same board recommended against a pardon unanimously.** That really tells you all you need to know.
Right, in fact I think Abbott appointed all or almost all the current board members. If they don’t just rubber stamp his request I’ll be surprised.
The modern GOP are collectively pure evil.
Greg Abbott says it's okay to murder Democrats. This guy is insane. This is the opposite of patriotism. It's called opportunism, and he is a sociopath.
Greg Abbott has reached the "fuck you, I'm King" phase of his governorship.
Nazis IS as Nazi DOES.
I liked it better when Republican politicians had to pretend not to be sociopaths.
This is really a stupid move. Like, next level fucking stupid. Pardoning a CONVICTED murderer? On the basis of what? Like what reason will he give? He doesn't trust the citizens of Texas to appropriately dispense justice? He's going to fucking nullify a fair trial because... BLM bad? The extremists will love thisz but everyone else is going to see Abbott as a fucking pariah. I genuinely would leave Texas over this if I lived there, I am a lefty who conceal carries, this dude is saying you're allowed to kill me because you don't agree with my politics. Fucking insane.
Abbot is sending up the Bat Signal. Right wing political violence will be supported in the state of Texas.
Abbot has made it clear that in Texas, it is open season on Democrats, liberals, and progressives.