Grand juries are different than trial juries in Texas. They’re nominated “respectable” members of society that serve terms for multiple months. It’s remnants of Jim Crow that are alive and well, where rich white guys decide who gets prosecuted for what.
And Texas made it even worse a few years back. In 2008, a white guy called 911 because police his neighbor’s house was being robbed. He indicated that the neighbor’s were not home, and also that he was gonna shoot the burglars. The dispatch told him over a dozen times not to interfere, and he repeatedly said he would shoot them. As plainclothes police were arriving on scene, dispatch told him they were arriving, but he went ahead and shot the 2 unarmed burglars in the back while.they were fleeing, killing both. They happened to be unarmed.
The grand jury refused to indict him for a crime, but the familes sued the murderer in civil court and won.
So Texas made a law that if someone is not convicted of a felony for a gun crime they can’t be sued in civil court over it.
They openly allowed armed civilian militias like the “Minutemen” and “United Constitutional Patriots” to detain and hold migrants at gunpoint until CBP arrived.
Hell - in the 80s a militia group calling itself the “Civiliian Military Assistant” was actually making border raids into Mexico to shoot on migrants before they crossed the border.
Grand juries are different than trial juries in Texas. They’re nominated “respectable” members of society that serve terms for multiple months. It’s remnants of Jim Crow that are alive and well, where rich white guys decide who gets prosecuted for what.
And Texas made it even worse a few years back. In 2008, a white guy called 911 because police his neighbor’s house was being robbed. He indicated that the neighbor’s were not home, and also that he was gonna shoot the burglars. The dispatch told him over a dozen times not to interfere, and he repeatedly said he would shoot them. As plainclothes police were arriving on scene, dispatch told him they were arriving, but he went ahead and shot the 2 unarmed burglars in the back while.they were fleeing, killing both. They happened to be unarmed.
The grand jury refused to indict him for a crime, but the familes sued the murderer in civil court and won.
So Texas made a law that if someone is not convicted of a felony for a gun crime they can’t be sued in civil court over it.
This is how you get vigilantes.
That’s the idea.
They openly allowed armed civilian militias like the “Minutemen” and “United Constitutional Patriots” to detain and hold migrants at gunpoint until CBP arrived.
Hell - in the 80s a militia group calling itself the “Civiliian Military Assistant” was actually making border raids into Mexico to shoot on migrants before they crossed the border.
How much do we want to bet that the law wouldn’t apply if the shooter was black?
I knew that the US justice system was bad, but I at least hoped that some crimes would have to be trialed in court.
Thanks for the explanation.