UPDATE BELOW
I apologize for the lateness in this post. Traveling for the holidays made it quite difficult to do the quality post these four officers deserve. Now home, I am looking at the faces of these four heroes and feel a sadness that is hard to describe.
Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39; Officers Ronald Owens, 37;Tina Griswold, 40; Gregory Richards, 42.
As I’m sure most of you know by now, these four officers were ambushed in Tacoma, Washington yesterday morning as they sat in a cafe. I will get to the killer in a minute. First, the officers:
Tina was our conservative friend. She was excited to be a part of the Olympia Tea Parties and proudly stated why she got involved in politics over the past year. Tina was sharp too, only a couple mornings ago we had a great discussion on the future of our Republic and how we felt true limited government conservatives should take back out political party. If you wanted any details over the massive government spending she would have them for you. If anyone thinks these comments are off color then you did not know Tina well. She would tell you where you could go and like Mark you always knew where you stood with her. She was the toughest little cop I have ever known. Tina has two children and a husband who loves her deeply. My gut hurts that I missed your Halloween party this year. Your memory and strength will help guide our movement to retake our party, this I promise you.
Greg Richards was the drummer in a rock band you would never know was a drummer in a rock band. Greg was a great cop who cared about one thing above all else, his family. He was a proud dad to three kids and wanted nothing more than to spend all of his time off with his wife and kids. Greg and I spent some one on one time together recently at an overtime assignment where he talked mostly about his family, he was obviously so proud. I will always remember this summer when you and your band rocked the house for our member with all proceeds going to charity when he was in the hospital. Yantzerpaloza will take on new meaning for us in the coming years. For someone who does not have much hair, you helped me put it down for a night.
More:
Relatives said Renninger, who grew up in Bethlehem, Pa., came to Washington state through military service. The East Coast native was blunt-spoken but “never belittled anyone,” Wurts said.
“Mark had that spark that made you like him and respect him. He was truly a rock in our department, someone you always counted on,” Wurts wrote.
The union said Renninger was married with three children.
~~~Relatives said Owens – known to friends and family as Ronnie – was a lifelong resident of Parkland, the Tacoma suburb where he was killed. The police union said Owens has a daughter.
Wurts said Owens’ fun-loving personality “made everyone around him feel positive.”
He “was the laid-back, dirt-bike-riding, surfer-hair-having cop you would always want at a party or with you on any call,” Wurts said. “Though he had a laid-back perspective, he was sharp and an extremely dedicated and hard worker.”
Owens was a Washington State Patrol trooper from 1997 until 2004, when he left to join the Lakewood police, Patrol Chief John Batiste said.
The killer, Maurice Clemmons, has a long rap sheet and was most recently in jail for the rape of a child.
…Nine years ago, then-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protestations of prosecutors.
“This is the day I’ve been dreading for a long time,” Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’ Pulaski County said Sunday night when informed that Clemmons was being sought in connection to the killings.
Clemmons’ criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.
Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child.
He was released from custody just six days ago, even though he was wanted on a fugitive warrant out of Arkansas and was staring at eight felony charges in all out of Washington state.
Clemmons posted $15,000 with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks Bail Bonds. The bondsman, in turn, put up $150,000, securing Clemmons’ release on the pending child-rape charge.
Clemmons lives in Tacoma, where he has run a landscaping and power-washing business out of his house, according to a police interview with his wife earlier this year.
He was married, but the relationship was tumultuous, with accounts of his unpredictable behavior leading to at least two confrontations with police earlier this year.
During the confrontation in May, Clemmons punched a sheriff’s deputy in the face, according to court records. As part of that incident, he was charged with seven counts of assault and malicious mischief.
In another instance, Clemmons was accused of gathering his wife and young relatives around at 3 or 4 in the morning and having them all undress.
Yup, you heard that right….Huckabee granted clemency to this scumbag, just as he did in the Dumond case, and many others, and how does he respond?
…Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state.
And just earlier this evening in a typical softball interview by O’Reilly, he again placed blame on everyone else. O’Reilly is correct in saying during the interview that the judges had to take some responsibility. But, it the decision of the Governor that led to gates opening for this scumbag.
Michelle Malkin has a few articles from a few years back that should send chills up your spine:
Several prosecutors around the state are upset with Gov. Huckabee for granting clemency to violent criminals, but he is blaming the prosecutors for often not seeking the maximum penalty and keeping felons locked up longer.
Until now, Huckabee has refused to comment on his controversial policy of making violent prisoners eligible for parole– they include murderers, armed robbers and rapists, who often return to a life of crime after they’re freed – but in a statement to The Leader this week, he lashed out at prosecutors for not doing more to keep prisoners behind bars – to which Pulaski County Prosecuting Attor-ney
Larry Jegley had this response: “That’s a load of baloney.”
“I’m offended as a prosecutor and as a citizen. He can blame the prosecutors, but ultimately he’s the man responsible,” Jegley says. “He’s the only one who can sign on the dotted line.
~~~In addition, Jegley, Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld and others have accused Huckabee of violating the state Constitution when he commutes sentences without explanation. The Constitution requires the governor to give reasons why he grants clemency to criminals.
“He doesn’t do it,” insists Herzfeld, who recently had a clemency overturned because Huckabee did not explain why he commuted a murderer’s life sentence.
~~~Jegley cites numerous examples of Huckabee’s freeing felons who go on committing more crimes and wind up back in prison.
Maurice Clemmons received a 35-year sentence in the early 1990s for armed robbery and theft. His sentence was commuted in May 2000, and he was let out three months later.
The following March, Clemmons committed two armed robberies and other crimes and was sentenced to 10 years. You’d think they’d keep him locked up after that, but no: He was paroled last March and is now wanted for aggravated robbery.
If Huckabee decides to set these criminals free, Jegley says, at least “he ought to give an accounting. I can’t imagine why in the world they’d want them released from jail. There’s a good reason we’re afraid of them. The sad truth is that a significant number of people re-offend.”
Check Michelle’s post out for much more information on this guy and his history. It’s completely incredible he was released….why in the world would he allow this piece of s&%t out? And still he whines that it was not his fault:
Huckabee, who is considering a making second presidential run in 2012, also spoke to Fox News radio about his decision.
“If I could have known nine years ago, looked into the future, would I have acted favorably upon the parole board’s recommendation? Of course not,” he said. “One of the things that is horrible and just, again, one of the realities you have to confront is the criminal justice system is far from perfect, and in this case it failed miserably on all sides.”
As Allah notes….the justice system DID NOT fail. He was locked away, you let him out.
You failed these officers.
The scumbag is at fault for these deaths of course, but it was not the justice system that failed.
UPDATE
As I’m sure you heard….the scumbag was shot dead:
The officer was driving in a working-class neighborhood of south Seattle at about 2:45 a.m. when he came across a stolen car, its engine running, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Jim Pugel said.
As he sat in his cruiser, beginning paperwork on the car, he sensed movement, turned and saw someone approaching, Pugel said. The officer stepped out and immediately recognized the man, whose face had been all over TV and mugshot fliers memorized by every officer in the region.
The patrolman ordered Clemmons to freeze and show his hands, but he kept moving, and the officer fired several rounds, hitting the man at least twice, Pugel said.
Police said Clemmons would have died eventually of the gunshot wound he suffered in the coffee-shop rampage.
And Huckabee says:
…if the same file was presented to me today, I would have likely made the same decision.”
One more reason why the man should never be President of the United States
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R-Bob
First of all, Old Trooper is busting his ass in a place where you would not last for more than an hour. Your ass will not be able to defecate in the infested Taliban mountains because you are a moron!
Number two, you have no idea what is like to deal with a mentallly ill person and you don’t know that the number one problem is to make them swallow their meds! I deal with a dear family member and eventhough she has gone to the ‘hospitals” and has been treated, the hardest things is to make her take her meds. No matter how mental she is and how disfunctional of a life she has had, she has not taken 4 innocents lifes in an execution style like this scumback we are dealing with.
Meds in his veins would have done nothing! He was a hateful man who took revenge at society for anything he felt it was right! People like him do died with a .45 in their head at the end. No meds or liberal health care system would have saved his sad ass.
His Seattle Black Foot Soldiers, an offshoot of Nation of Islam, are celebrating the fact that he killed 4 white cops!(Gatewaypundit) and some say he had converted to Islam in jail!
Ha…rehabilitation my ass! So R-Bob, when some jihadists comes to kill you, it is a man like Old Trooper who is going to save your sorry ass! Pendejo! Charlatan!
@ Hard Right —
You are dumber than I thought you were. If you would take your head out you ARSE and stop flapping your gums, you might be able to catch a clue about what I was talking about. But, no . . . you prattle on and on, saying nothing meaningful. But yours is symptomatic of the diarrhea of the mouth that has overtaken the right.
I notice that you have said nothing about what I was talking about, which is how our current system — which you con morons seek to maintain — is costing people’s lives. You skip over that entire part where I mentioned that Officer West would probably be in a bar pissing and moaning about how bad the Browns such if we had a system that permitted the insane man’s mother some ability to afford his meds. He was a “Jeckyl and Hyde” character when he was off his meds. But for the sake of ideological purity, you cons would rather risk more Officer Wests getting killed by unbalanced individuals than permit a “socialist” health care system where insane people getting the meds they need, even if they can’t afford it. This is the value judgment the right has made; I am only reporting one of the consequences.
Lastly, the name calling you engage in shows just how intellectually empty you are. It reflects on you, not on America.
@ UTI —
Em wolb.
Like I said, you are too busy pushing your leftist meme to pay ANY respect to the victims. I and others here know full well what you are doing. You are garbage to use their deaths to justify your demented way of “thinking”.
This isn’t KOS or DUNG which is full of morons like yourself.
I’ll say it again and again for you since you are too dumb to understand any other way.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
Those officers did not die due to a lack of National Mental Healthcare.
B-Rob, the only intellectual vacancy I have seen recently is coming from the Left. They are the only “cons” in the equation. You operate on “feelings” – feelings for the perpetrator, feelings for the “injustice” visited upon them and yet you cannot “feel” a damned thing for the 9 children that suddenly, violently, have had their parent brutally taken from them.
Logic would indicate here that the Leftist course of action from here on out will be to raise the “victim” up, praise his lawbreaking “family” and protect them from financial ruin by getting the Hollyweird crowd to create fundraisers for them so their legal fees don’t cause them a moment of anguish over the mortgage payment or the grocery bill. Reams will be written about the system blah blah blah…a month from now nobody will remember who was murdered in cold blood that day. The real victims here have no such options, nobody raises them up, no rock star comforts them, they will have to deal with their losses and find their own strengths.
And yes, I’d rather pay my taxes to keep a lunatic locked up and save innocent lives. Incarceration is also to keep the public SAFE from scum like Clemmons.
Oh and BTW, did anyone think of involuntary commitment for the case you cited????
To the four officers who gave their lives “Ir con Dios”
To the judges and Governors who gave their clemency “Vete al Infierno”
Goll…lee Sgt. Carter. I didn’t think this-ed ever happen!
B-Rob is right about one thing: “our current system … is costing people’s lives”.
Just the wrong people’s lives.
The socialists’ welfare state, rooted in LBJs “Great Society”, has raised this class of “people” who have no respect for authority, no respect for human life, and no self respect. The liberals have robbed them of these values and they are now a cancer on society. The sickness evidenced by “Who’s Your Favorite Officer Down” is just indicative of this cancer. I would surmise that Halton was often illegally self medicated instead of working and saving his money to help his Mother or to pay for his own treatments. Why was a 29 year old still dependent upon his mother anyway? Why wasn’t he at work instead of at a street fight? Of course the defense says he was a “paranoid schizophrenic”. The defense attorneys have learned that they could get Jack the Ripper off if they use the right words and play on the emotions inherent in a politically correct system.
The “tolerant” liberals will not assign responsibility to any liberal for their action or inaction. It is always someone else’s fault.
Maurice Clemmons made his own decisions, as a predator teenager and as an adult. His peer group lives in an warped Salvador Dali version of reality where they have no responsibility and expect everything to be provided for them and where they can do as they wish with no consequences. You may want to refer to the Knoxville murderers and their attitudes. Or the murder rate in New Orleans since Katrina (a much reduced population and a much higher homicide rate). As a matter of fact, check the murder rates in the top ten cities in the US and compare those year to date numbers to the rate of our military losses in Afghanistan. An American is much less likely to be killed in Afghanistan than in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, NYC, Houston, or Washington D.C. Who is doing most of the domestic killing? It is certainly not the conservatives who must pay for everything…. It is not even the liberals who think up, pass, raise the taxes for, and institute these dignity stealing programs. And it is so very politically incorrect to even refer to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Statistics Reports.
I will not at all be surprised to find out that there is a connection between Clemmons and his friends and the death of Seattle PD Officer Timothy Breton on Halloween. This cancer is going to kill many more.
I am reposting this info below for those living in the Tacoma area who would like to attend the Memorial service, which is tomorrow, for the 4 Lakewood Police Officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Here also is a link to a publication that has more info, and a map as well:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/nwheadlines/2009/12/memorial_tomorrow_for_slain_la.html
My poker league plays at several venues in the Lakewood area. Although I did not know the officers personally, there were numerous occassions when they came while we played cards. I specifically remember seeing Tina on several occassions. They will all be missed. My sincerest condolences go out to their families and their fellow officers that must shoulder on.
Here is the live coverage for those who’d like to watch the Lakewood Officers Procession to the Tacoma Dome service at 1:00. I just heard one of the commentators, a police officer, say that this is very much the 9/11 of the Pacific Northwest law enforcement agencies:
http://www.nwcn.com/home/LIVE-KING-5-coverage-of-Lakewood-officers-procession-and-memorial-78715872.html
Thank you Chris, I shared that with my family and friends who are LEO’s throughout the country…Lord it’s just breaking my heart.
You are very welcome, USMC. I so wish I could be there, but watching it live is the next best thing. I am crying as I watch it, not just for the great loss, but also for how awesome the support is for these 4 great police officers and human beings. Somehow I hope that, even though they’ve passed on, that they can still know about this display of love and respect for them. I know their family and friends will never forget this day. And, those of us who are grateful to those who put their lives on the line in law enforcement will not forget. I will make a point to shake the hands of every police officer I cross paths with. I’ve always done this to some degree, but will definitely make a point of it now.
The riderless horse did me in…I had to step away for a bit….100 officers from Boston, almost as many from NY. Overwhelming even more when I think of the children.
Hug your loved ones a little tighter and remember those who protect us always.