Posted on 09/03/2015 5:55:36 AM PDT by don-o
Waco Assistant District Attorney Sterling Harmon threatened to issue a criminal trespassing warrant in the face of a public information request approved by the staff of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday, September 2.
Text messages regarding offers made to defendants charged with engaging in organized criminal activity proposing an agreement not to hold public officials, the City of Waco, or the County of McLennan responsible for legal allegations of false arrest or imprisonment are public information, according to a recent Attorney Generals ruling handed down on July 25.
When prosecutors at first denied no such messages existed, defense attorneys who attended a meeting between themselves, the two Criminal District Judges and the First Assistant District Attorney Michael Jarrett insisted they had personal knowledge. They were there, they said. They heard the discussion when Jarrett said any such proposed arrangement would not be proper.
Public information activist R.S. Gates turned in a request for the material at that time, including a list of the names of 62 persons who were arrested and released without charges at Twin Peaks following a deadly shooting melee between bikers and police that left 9 dead, 20 wounded, and 177 arrested and charged with the conspiracy offense, a first degree felony punishable by five to 99 years imprisonment.
In an earlier visit on July 28, a receptionist and other staff members claimed they had no knowledge of what his request entailed.When he returned in the middle of the following week, an angry administrative Assistant District Attorney met him at the door to the office.
Mr. Harmon informed me he was not at my beck and call, said Gates.
So...DA _is_ at 'beck and call' of public's info requests.
This becoming a circus because of the amateurish prosecution activities. It’s time for the TX AG to step in with the full backing of the Governor.
Ok, 62 people arrested and released. I’d previously seen ‘held’ and released, but not ‘arrested’ and released.
Also the ‘sign this an we’ll let you go’ deal that was denied by the Waco DA’s office is suddenly real and documented in e-mails.
The Waco law enforcement establishment isn’t smelling any better this morning.
Its working.
Add one to the growing list of motorcyclists who will never trespass into Waco for any reason whatsoever.
Natbush . . .
I have been told by people who know people that this was a Fed operation from the get go. Waco and McClennan County got left holding the bag.
Make that the police state of Texas.
You're reading the musings of a random individual who likes to post "news" on the internet.
For better accuracy, try Facebook!
Why not battle the beast, get a hundred thousand bikers to role through Waco and do so until they get the message, from what I’ve seen bikers seem to be able to organize such events easily, don’t just give up without a fight that is no way the image you want to project, your freedom to ride will quickly be lost.
Please supply your list of approved news sources.
“Beck and call(sic)” = Beckon call
Really?
You’ve been here more than 15 years and still don’t have a clue about journalistic standards?
Start with eliminating blogs that no one else reads or responds to and go from there...
Journalistic standards started down the drain with Walter Cronkite in the early 60’s. It is a meaningless concept.
Number of people have said it was a gang war and they have names ...
Does Wikipedia meet journalistic standards? National Geographic? US News and World Report? The Waco Tribune? AP? The Aging Rebel? FOX? The Conservative Treehouse? CNN? ABC? Credible sources presenting accurate accounts and truth are "officially" not up to "journalistic standards," and sources regarded by the likes of you as living up to "journalistic standards" routinely publish/broadcast fiction, falsehoods, and lies.
COMMON SENSE and DUE DILIGENCE are the only things you or anyone else here has to guarantee proper journalistic standards. There are folks who figure that a documentary on the History Channel "has a clue about journalistic standards" and they are very much mistaken a good portion of the time. I bet you are one who thinks Wikipedia, the History Channel, and FOX adhere to the imaginary concept of "journalistic standards."
Being well-read and having the will to do one's own due diligence, to follow where the truth leads even when it goes against your own conclusions, is the ONLY form of "journalistic standard" that works, and as it happens, we have a HUGE advantage in this era because of the internet and easy access to so much information for referencing, cross referencing, and the resources needed to confirm or refute information made by institutions that claim to have "journalistic standards."
I have a degree in journalism, I was taught by a hard-core NYT journalist who would lecture for hours on "journalistic standards," and I worked and wrote in journalism for many years. That is how I know for a fact that YOU have zero idea what the hell you are talking about.
Yes, Sgt Swanton. One goes by the name Texas Gator. About the only one who comes to mind.
LOL!! Good one!! {^)
Lol
Yet there are TWO glaring examples of LACK of journalistic standards in the following excerpt from the piece:
Nine men were killed during the exchange of gunfire that day and another 20 were injured. Authorities confiscated more than 475 weapons, including 151 firearms. No other innocent civilians or law enforcement were injured during the shootout.
First is the total absence of attribution, implied or otherwise, and implied attribution is zero attribution in any case. Zero attribution = zero journalistic standards.
Second is the total absence of context. How many of the 151 firearms were being carried legally? Out of the 475 "weapons," how many were ordinary watch chains and nail clippers?
A simple reading of the paragraph excerpted, therefore, reveals the piece as lacking entirely those "journalistic standards" you are prattling on about. Yet when this story was posted on FR a few days ago, you participated on the thread and never once protested the lack of journalistic standards in the piece.
Instead, you tried to convince people of how effective ordinary watch chains are as "legitimate" weapons.
Which is why, according to my own personal journalistic standards, you flunk -- your credibility is a joke based on that claim alone.
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