Anyone who is not sure how to feel about a brazen multiple murder in a courtroom doesn't deserve any further respect in political discourse, IMNSHO.
I have seen a lot of discussion today by people who I do respect who say the deputy (woman or not) transporting him should never have been armed when the perp was uncuffed, and never should have been alone. That's counter-intuitive... But proper procedure to transport would have been to have an unarmed deputy physically handling the perp, and an armed one in attendance at all times. It makes sense in that a deputy's firearm is more of a liability than a benefit in a hand to hand situation. The deputy with the benefit of distance can better use the weapon.
Something went procedurally wrong, obviously.
According to an interview on Fox news earlier today. The perp had been found to have two shanks (one in each shoe) just recently and additional protection was requested and given........My question is why/what didn't happen?
There is just no such thing as perfect adherence to procedure. People are people, not robots, and they will inevitably get careless from time to time. Practice and procedure are there to make sure that the right thing happens as often as possible and minimizes the opportunities for someone to take advantage. Most of the time, it works right. If that wasn't the case, then what happened today wouldn't be so newsworthy.
It is newsworthy because it very rarely happens.
Furthermore, if there was any lapse today it was in not double-teaming the perp. The gender of the deputy isn't nearly the issue. One-on-one is really bad odds nomatter who the deputy is. This perp is apparently even an ex cop. He's smart, and he knows the drills, and it makes him a very effective predator.
One of the reasons I never carried a baton on the job (female prison guard), was because there was always the possibility that he (inmate) could take it away and use it on me, and also because I didn't feel I was proficient enough to warrant carrying it.