Not playing ignorant at all. To be honest, Tank boy has not made much of a blip on my radar and so I didn’t know that Texas was a hard-on issue. I got the patriotic zeal vibe from his post earlier, but the rest in news to me.
Are you really buying the “just practicing my for Dove season” bullshit? The ONLY reason he was shooting his gun was to scare the shit out of the protestors, and from the reaction seen at the beginning of the CNN video, he had to have been pretty close. If he would have been serious about practicing for dove season, it would have been a box of clays in the bed of his truck rather than a box of brews.
Not so. Mattledge could plausibly be charged with violations of Tex. Penal Code § 22.01(a)(2) (assault) or § 22.02(a)(2) (aggravated assault), given that there’s more than a little evidence that he discharged his firearm for the purpose of threatening the folks on the other side of the road. On his intention to threaten, note his strong statements of disapproval for the protestors, plus this rather telling exchange from the CNN story on the incident:
Seems pretty clear he’s not too interested in the kinds of doves with wings.
Also, looking a bit further through the Penal Code, it even looks like he could be charged with violating § 22.07(a)(1) & (5) (terroristic threat).
I can understand the mother’s plight, but not her logic…I can see Mattlage rapping on Dubya’s front door and say…“Hey George, I got a problem with those guys that you made protest in front of your ranch. Could ya like uh…get them to go home or something?..I gotta weed-wack my ditches and they are blocking it up with their cars.” :rolleyes:
View the CNN video again. There are more than just a few brewskis missing from that case.
I have quite a few brewskis missing from my case, but I haven’t drunk any of them in the last 4 days. :dubious:
If, hypothetically speaking, he was near the protesters and fired away from them, would you consider this reckless? I haven’t seen anything that suggested he fired at the protesters, or toward the protesters. Only near the protesters.
If, while shooting at the range with your professional shooting buddies, you are standing behind them, do you feel threatened? Isn’t behind them the safe place to stand? Do you feel threatend standing perpendicular to another shooter, say 3 stations over? He is shooting near you, yet in a direction that is not aiming at you. Why would it be any different than this guy shooting a shotgun in a direction that was not toward the protesters? You can be near and not threatened.
Where is the statement by either local law enforcement or Secret Service indicating he had been drinking? Do you feel that they are not trained properly to detect the presence of alcohol on his breath? They must have viewed him as potentially deadly, especially the SS, and alcohol would have elevated the threat.
The beer case on top of the cooler seems like a set up shot IMO. If law enforcement had believed that he was intoxicated, they could charged him. No matter how you cut it; it doesn’t appear that he shot in an unsafe direction.
Thanks for fighting my ignorance.
Sheesh, it’s become an argument of the obtuse.
Answer this. What was Mister Fucknugget’s intention when he fired into the air?
To hit the sky for all I know.
Maybe to irritate the protestors, but as the Sheriff said, he did nothing illegal.
Ah… I had seen you in many of the same Pit threads I was opening and assumed you were in the know about all the hot topics. My apologies and glad I could help clear things up.* I used to jump on some of the same button pushing bullshit but lately I figure it isn’t much worth it. Just make an observation and let it go (usually).
*a very small amount from the looks of where this thread is heading…
About the same as walking up behind somebody and popping a balloon or a paper bag… BOOM!!! That’s not illegal, either.
As for the case of beer. Sheesh. It’s August in Texas. If the beer was OUTSIDE the cooler, I doubt it was being consumed. Also, just because there WAS beer gone from the case, does this mean he drank any BEFORE he fired his shotgun? No chance he might have went to irritate the protesters and then went back and had a few cold ones? And if they were out side the cooler, they weren’t even cold ones.
Balloons and paper bags are not deadly weapons. See Minty Green’s post above.
The guy was discharging his firearm to scare the people.
With the added side benefit of putting Sheehans withering news interest story back into the limelight.
It certainly could be. See my post and link on “assault” above. See also, e.g., Redfern v. State, 738 S.W.2d 28 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 1987, pet. ref’d):
So was it assault per 1, 2, or 3??
He caused no bodily injury. So I guess 1 is out.
He didn’t threaten bodily injury (I’ll shoot you if you don’t get off my road!). So I guess 2 is out.
Didn’t cause physical contact. No 3.
So it was innuendo that, by shooting a shotgun in their proximity, that the next time he was going to level the gun at them? Is this the assault? Dove season opens in about 2 weeks. Will dove hunting also be considered assault now that he is a known discharger of firearms in the presence of peace protesters?
Makes me want to go down and set up a trap range in his goat pasture. Not because I’m against what Sheehan is doing, I think she’s doing exactly the right thing, but because “evil guns” just drive some people nuts.
PS To NurseCarmen. Not a bad weapons cache you have accumulated.
Did you just stop off at Oxymorons-R-Us or have you been mishearing Stevie Nicks lyrics again?
Just like a rightwing dove… sings a song… sounds like he’s singing…
I’ve never heard this term before, but I tell you it does not make the accent sound bad, which I assume is your intention. It makes it sound interesting and conjures mental images of homoerotic tofu wrestling to loud music. Any accent that gives you those ideas is worth hearing.