Tag Archives: Shannon Miles

Shooting statement falls far short

cop vigil

President Obama isn’t tone deaf. He can’t be. He’s been elected twice to the highest office in the land and he did it with profound political savvy and insight.

Why, then, has he fallen woefully short in condemning the horrifying murder the other night of a Harris County sheriff’s deputy?

Darren Goforth was shot in the back as he pumped gas in his patrol car in Houston. He fell and the gunman then emptied his pistol into Goforth’s body.

A 30-year-old man, Shannon Miles, was apprehended a short time later and charged with capital murder.

That’s not the whole story.

Goforth was white. Miles is black. The president has been hair-trigger quick to condemn the shooting of young black men by white officers — as he should be. However, his statement on Goforth’s murder doesn’t measure up to the outrage he has expressed when police officers do the shooting.

The president needs to call for a federal investigation into whether the suspect — whose action was videotaped by surveillance cameras — was acting in response to the protests that have occurred in recent weeks by those condemning police activity. They’ve chanted “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em in bacon!”

The president did call Deputy Goforth’s wife to express his sympathy. He said in a statement that Goforth’s death is “unacceptable.” Gee, do ya think?

Come on, Mr. President. Re-dial your political radar. You need to use the bully pulpit of your high office to call attention to attacks on police officers who take an oath to protect and defend communities against the very people who would shoot them in the back.

 

Senselessness is running rampant

darren-goforth

Darren Goforth pulled his police cruiser up to a gasoline pump in Houston this weekend. He started pumping gas.

Then someone shot him in the back. He shot him again and again after he fell.

The senselessness of this act defies any possible rational thought.

Goforth was a Harris County sheriff’s deputy. He was 47 years of age. He was married and the father of two children.

What now?

Police arrested Shannon Miles and charged him with capital murder.

Deputy dies as the result of an outrageous crime.

Words fail most of us now.

“In my 45 years in law enforcement, I can’t recall another incident so cold-blooded and cowardly,” said Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman.

That, I reckon, about sizes it up.

The suspect reportedly has a history of run-ins with law enforcement.

Under Texas law, the crime Miles is accused of committing qualifies as a capital crime, meaning he would be sentenced to death if a jury convicts him. The only possible way to escape a date with the executioner would be for the suspect to plead guilty to this heinous crime.

Let us not politicize this case, OK? Police officials have said things such as “Cops’ lives matter,” in connection with the “Black lives matter” movement that’s been gaining traction.

It’s all true.

What we have here is a horrifying crime against a law enforcement officer who was putting gasoline in his car, for God’s sake.

Let’s just find out the truth of what happened, determine who did it and then administer the justice that’s coming to the guilty party.