Many readers will remember the outrage when HS Pr3cision ("Women and children first") happily touted an endorsement by infamous FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi. I'm very pleased to say the early reports are that at the extremely crowded NRA convention, at the HS P--- booth, what they're getting are...crickets.
Scanning the comments, I noticed some slightly askew takes on the history and today, Tam read 'em and got to someone complaining the Wikipedia article said ol' ladykiller Lon couldn't see Vickie Weaver, what with her being behind the door and all.
In fact, odds are pretty good he couldn't; he wasn't shooting at her anyway, but at Kevin Harris, which was still a shot determined after the fact to be unlawful.
And here's where we argued; Tam says -- and not without justification -- that shooting Mrs. Weaver should have been charged as "negligent homicide;" I say it was premeditated homicide, "murder 1."
Lookit, if that was a drive-by shooting gone wrong, in which John Doe doth take up arms and attempt to plug Richard Roe in the back, but misses and kills his babysitter, who is behind the door to which Roe was running, the law still looks upon it as a planned act; he doesn't get a lesser charge for being a lousy killer. Why should an FBI agent -- who is presumably far more cognizant of law and morality than a gang member or he wouldn't be in the FBI -- get any more of a break?
Back in the real world, what Lon actually got was time off; and in a slightly better world, Tam's proposed charges (or less, if you click on through) would've had a better chance of victory in court than mine.
But if ever you climb a tree, rifle in hand, with clear intent and plan to kill a man, and you're not at war, if you miss your guy and hit his friend? Don't expect to get a discount for being a klutz.
Which brings me to my last point: how come HS P---- was so happy to receive an endorsement from the Wrong Way Corrigan of snipers?
Well, since he fired a shot at a house with children (armed and in diapers) inside without a firm target the term Sniper should be removed from any further discussion of his abilities.
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading Ruby Ridge by Jess Walter, and they should have charged the fools that had such stupid rules of engagement with criminal conduct.
Remembering that Ruby Ridge set up Waco, Texas. Not my government.
in which John Doe doth take up arms and attempt to plug Richard Roe in the back, but misses and kills his babysitter, who is behind the door to which Roe was running, the law still looks upon it as a planned act;
ReplyDeleteDoes it? Maybe in some jurisdictions. In others the above is classified as "felony murder," and is charged and punished as second-degree murder. I don't think anyone has ever been executed for felony murder, unless there were aggravating circumstances. But many have been jailed for life.
Wikipedia says that Horiuchi was in fact charged with involuntary manslaughter. Considering what he did, his status as an LEO authorized to use deadly force, and the fact that he was under pressure from higher-ups and operating under blindingly stupid and stressful rules of engagement, that seems like an appropriate charge to me. Unfortunately, legal wranglings drained the energy from the case, and it never went to trial.
It was certainly a wiinable charge, had the Feds not waved a magic wand. Even my drive-by example might face such a charge, especially if the prosecutor wanted to be sure of a conviction.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't change what is. Climb a tree with a weapon and the clear intent to shoot someone? If you actually do, that's premeditated murder. There may be extenuating circumstances but the dead are still dead -- far better to avoid havin' to extenuatize yourself.
Lon's a bright boy, or he's supposed to be. It was not so darned much later the another Fed, Frank Anderson here in Indianapolis, faced a big ol' bunch of (armed) tax protesters, holed up in a building. Frank knew the Feds had a lot more bullets and better-trained shooters, but he also knew they had an unlimited supply of time. Possibly a Hoosier Federal Marshal had read more about siege warfare than a West-Point-grad FBI HRT sniper and realized which side has the advantage?
Why HS Precision decided to give the most notorious idiot in his profession the job as the poster child for a company that make sniper rifles. Apparently Horiuchi is rear-end buddies with the owner of same. I again blame Horiuchi for not realizing that he's about as popular as Charles Manson on a good day. Realizing that, he should have distanced himself from his friend's company.
ReplyDeleteLon Horiuchi, Bad Lawman, Bad Sniper, Bad Friend!
I have a Japanese Friend that offered to mail him a 14" knife. I opined that he wouldn't understand the suggestion....
Why did HS sign on Lon as spokesman?
ReplyDeleteTam chalks it up to "tone-deafness.
Don't know about John B's assertion about close personal relationship. Maybe.
My take is that HS made a calculated move to endorse the ultimate "only one". LE sales seem to be a large part of HS market.
The attitude seems to be "Love Law Enforcement, right or wrong"
Wolfwalker --
ReplyDeleteI dunno about other states, but in Virginia the case law states, "The intent follows the bullet."
Roberta! How Could You? Comparing a good and decent man to lh? (Just kidding, as I know you were.) :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I got a chance to meet Corrigan at a special fling down in San Diego where he was the guest of honor. There was a radial-engined Curtiss Robin on display of the type he used for his trip "west", and he even wore the old leather jacket he had used. If I recall correctly, he wasn't much taller than I was (either then or now :-) ), and my Mom says he wasn't much taller than she was, which would put him right about five feet tall. He was a very modest, quiet, and unassuming man, with a very ready smile. Neat guy, and a gentleman to the core.
My Dad had a first edition of Corrigan's book he wanted signed, and Corrigan quite happily signed it, and then horrified my Dad by proceeding to make numerous hand-written corrections to that first edition right there on the spot and then he signed and initialed every single one of those corrections. Inside of ten minutes, that first edition of Corrigan's book became an instant collector's edition worth thousands, and he did it unasked, with a smile and enthusiasm. Needless to say, my Dad was pretty pleased when Corrigan handed the book back to him with the personalized annotations!
BoxStockRacer