Back in the Old West on the Texas frontier, shooting a person in the back was not only considered murder -- it was the epitomy of cowardice, and it wasn't tolerated. But frontier values don't exist anymore here in Texas. Our state's Republican leadership has seen to that.
It seems that now a little back-shooting can make you a hero, especially if the victims have brown skin. Take the case of Joe Horn (pictured above) for example. Horn saw his neighbor's house being burglarized and called 911. But Horn didn't think the police were fast enough, so he took his 12-guage shotgun and dispensed his own brand of justice by killing two men.
Horn told police the two men attacked him and he feared for his life. He said he shot the men in self-defense. Sounds heroic, doesn't it? But there are a few problems with that story.
*The 911 operator begged Horn not to go outside and confront the men.
*A police detective had already arrived, and had to duck when the shots were fired because he was afraid Horn might shoot at him, too.
*Both of the men shot by Horn were unarmed.
*Both of the men Horn shot were shot in the back.
The crazy part is that if the police had shot these men in the back, they would have been charged with a crime. Police aren't allowed to shoot people running away from them. Also, I believe if Horn had been African-American or Hispanic, he would already be on his way to prison.
But Horn was white and the victims were brown, so the District Attorney and the Grand Jury decided that no crime had been committed. Let that be a warning to anyone thinking of visiting Texas. Don't anger a Texan, or he might have to resort to "self-defense".
Sometimes being a natural-born Texan is downright embarrassing.
