An Azle man has just learned that being stupid can only hurt when you're in a courtroom. James Franklin was on trial in Wise County on drug charges. He had been found guilty, and he and his lawyer were waiting for the jury to come back with his punishment. That's when Franklin asked to use the bathroom and disappeared.
A few minutes later, the jury returned with a punishment of a $1000 fine and probation. If he'd just stayed there, he'd be on his way home legally. But since he left, the judge ordered police to apprehend him.
Wise County deputies saw Franklin and tried to stop him, but he wouldn't stop. He led them on a chase that wound through Wise, Parker and Tarrant counties. In Tarrant County, an officer stopped him by ramming his car. Franklin still resisted, and had to be tasered to be taken into custody.
When he was brought back, Franklin told his lawyer, "I fouled up, didn't I?". He sure did! Now, instead of going home on probation, the judge has sentenced him to serve 180 days in jail before starting the probation. And that doesn't take into account the new felony charge of Evading Arrest in a Motor Vehicle. Franklin could easily find himself doing some prison time now.
Franklin had a choice -- be patient or be stupid. He made the wrong choice.
If you're a minority, especially a Hispanic, it might be a good idea to avoid going to Wise County, Texas. The citizens of that county, located just north of Fort Worth, have just replaced a 16-year veteran Democratic constable with a racist Republican.
The new Republican constable, Tom Bishop, runs a hate-filled anti-Obama website that questions whether Barack Obama is even an American. The website also links to an anti-immigration video from a racist Virginia-based organization. Bishop is also a member of the racist anti-immigrant organization called the Minutemen. He has participated in their armed patrols of the southern border of the United States.
I call him and the organization racist because they don't seem to care about white immigrants crossing our northern border -- only brown ones crossing our southern border. It is believed that Bishop wanted the constable position to give himself a legal framework for harassing immigrants. But since it is virtually impossible to tell a Hispanic citizen from an illegal immigrant, it can be expected that Bishop will probably randomly harass all Hispanics.
Why on earth would the citizens of Wise County elect such a man? Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy attributes it to straight-ticket voting by Wise County Republicans. But I suspect it goes further than that.
As the 16-year veteran constable who was replaced says, "I’ve had people from my church, from the schools, from every walk of life say they couldn’t vote for any Democrats this year. They’re my friends, but they voted straight Republican. People here are just not going to accept some things. Now, they’ve got the president they didn’t want and a constable they won’t want."
In other words, much of that straight-ticket voting was a vote against a party headed by an African-American. It was a racist vote. Now that racist vote has gotten them a racist constable. I can't help but believe they've gotten exactly what they wanted (and probably deserve).
But if I was African-American or Hispanic, I think I'd avoid Wise County.
