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Is Sheriff Dupnik incompetent?
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No wonder Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is running around blaming the Loughner shootings on Rush Limbaugh and the Tea Party; if he had prior knowledge of Loughner’s mental instability and failed to act, that makes him negligent as a law enforcement officer. I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me that would also make him potentially liable for the murders if he had proof of the danger posed by Loughner yet chose to look the other way. So it makes sense that Dupnik would try to change the subject. Via The Cholla Jumps:
Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system…Every victim of his threats previously must also be wondering if this tragedy could have been prevented if they had been more aggressive in pursuing charges against Mr. Loughner. Perhaps with a felony conviction he would never have been able to lawfully by the Glock 9mm Model 19 that he used to strike down the lives of six people and decimate 14 more.
On NPR.org, Sheriff Dupnik himself has admitted to knowing about Loughner’s death threats.
“As we understand it, there have been law enforcement contacts with the individual where he made threats to kill,” Dupnik said during a press conference Saturday evening. But he wouldn’t say who those threats were aimed at.
When Loughner was acting crazy in his community college classes, police were called to forcibly remove him. Yet it appears now that nothing was done to follow up after the fact.
So we’ve got an individual on whom the police had to be called for mental health reasons. And that same person made death threats (note: plural, threats). So how is it that Tucson Law Enforcement allowed this person back out into society, since death threats are — by definition — a clear indicator of a person being a danger to others? Pima County behavioral health officials have no record of Loughner seeking treatment in the public system overseen by the state Department of Health Services. We know for a fact that Loughner was rejected for military service. Why in the world would this same lunatic be allowed to purchase a firearm after demonstrating a history of mental illness?
And what about Jared’s family? When the FBI went to investigate the Loughner home, it was initially barricaded to prevent entry by law enforcement. What were they trying to hide? This much is clear; they knew Jared had mental health issues when Pima Community College advised them that their son needed a prompt mental health evaluation.
And according to an internal Department of Homeland Security memo, Jared Lee Loughner’s mother “works for Pima County Board of Supervisors.” Did she, or perhaps Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, use undue influence to make certain that despite Jared’s multiple run-ins with the police, he had no criminal convictions?
* suspect’s mother works for the Pima County Board of Supervisors* the suspect has multiple arrests … But no criminal record? Intervention by someone?*
Again I ask, if Jared had cases pending in court, how could he be allowed to purchase the Glock 19 he subsequently used to murder six people and wound 14 more? That’s a rhetorical question of course. Sheriff Dupnik, for whatever reason, apparently didn’t see fit to press criminal charges against Loughner.
We already know Sheriff Dupnik refused to enforce Arizona’s SB1070 law. Did he also look the other way on Jared Loughner’s case?
Ed Morrissey, as usual, drives it straight down the fairway with today’s article, Is it time for a national debate on the mentally ill?
…we need to know more about why Loughner wasn’t treated and wasn’t recognized as dangerous before giving government the power once again to declare citizens who have committed no crime a danger, and then lock them away for years or decades without proving it beyond a reasonable doubt.
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UPDATE: Sheriff Dupnik appeared on MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann program last night to continue his smokescreen clarify his position about hateful rhetoric.
“When you’re talking to a person who is unstable to begin with and they are motivated in some cases by the rhetoric that they hear and they see. And, in general terms, that is why I say that people who make a living preaching hate, to hate the government, be angry at the government, destroy the government, to do it to politicians, elected officials and so forth, have some responsibility. Even though it may be free speech, I don’t think it goes without some responsibility and some consequences.”
So says the man who called Arizona “the Mecca of prejudice and bigotry.” Clearly, Dupnik must have missed all those tolerant Progressives wishing death on Sarah Palin.
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UPDATE: Andrew McCarthy hits the nail on the head…
“Sheriff’s Dupnik’s role at this point is to keep his mouth shut and collect evidence, not run off at the mouth for the benefit of the defense. We shouldn’t be hearing anything from him unless and until charges are filed, and even then his comments should be limited to what is in the public record. If he wants to be a pundit, he ought to resign from law enforcement and go be a pundit.”
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UPDATE: Arizona State Rep. Jack Harper asked a very pertinent question:
A veteran state lawmaker said Monday that Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is at least partly responsible for Saturday’s shooting that left six dead and 14 injured.“How is it that a U.S. congressman can hold an event and there’s no law enforcement?” asked Rep. Jack Harper, R-Surprise. “He should have had a deputy at that event,” adding it is irrelevant whether or not U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords even notified the Sheriff’s Deparment about her “Congress on Your Corner” event.
“It was his jurisdiction for law enforcement,” Harper said.
Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT
I think it is a attempt to deflect heat fom himslef
Even if he wasn't incompetent in preventing it, he certainly was incompetent in his handling of the aftermath. His rambling political accusations of people unrelated to the crime, only served to muddy the water and may give Loughner a defense and poison the jury pool for any trial.