JOE HORN, THE TEXAS VIGILANTE!

You are looking at a fat pig? A bloody murderer? A vampire seeking some crimson delight? A blood thirsty vermin? Whatever you call him, 61 year old Joe Horn (pictured here left) was sitting alone in his home in Pasadena Texas during the afternoon of November 14th, 2007 when he heard breaking glass in his neighbor's house and then saw two men burglarizing the neighbor's property. Joe's next move was to call 911 to try and get police to come and take care of the situation. The police didn't arrive in time though, and Joe went outside and shot and killed the burglars. Joe Horn was not taken into custody after the shooting and a Harris County grand jury later cleared him of the shootings.

Police initially identified the dead men in Horn's yard as 38-year-old Miguel Antonio DeJesus (left) and Diego Ortiz, 30, (right) both of Houston of Afro Latino descent. However, DeJesus was actually an alias of Hernando Riascos Torres, 38. They were carrying a sack with more than $2,000 cash and jewelry taken from the home. Both were convicted criminals from Colombia who had entered the country illegally, and were members of an organized burglary ring in Houston. Police found a Puerto Rican identification card on Ortiz while Torres had three identification cards from Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, and had been previously sent to prison for dealing cocaine and was deported in 1999.

To see how divided people were regarding this shooting incident, Icheoku has published two differing comments about this shooting. According to one of the comments, "He didn't shoot them in the legs, to make sure they did not run away, or hold them at gunpoint until police arrived. No, he was judge, jury and executioner." The other commentary, quoted one Texan as saying "In my mind, Joe Horn is a HERO. Plain and simple. God bless this man for being an upstanding citizen and protecting himself, his home, and his neighborhood from criminals. He warned these criminals. "You move and your dead." They moved. Joe shot them. Good job".

Now read the transcript of the 911 call of Joe Horn's killing; before, during and after killing two burglars in Texas and judge for yourself on which side of the divide you are on. Here's a link to the transcript http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=5538780 and http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926577/posts

The incident may prove a test for a new law recently passed in Texas which expands the right of citizens to use deadly force. Under Texas law, people may use deadly force to protect their own property or to stop arson, burglary, robbery, theft or criminal mischief at night. But the legislator who authored the "castle doctrine" bill told the Chronicle it was never intended to apply to a neighbor's property, to prompt a "'Law West of the Pecos' mentality or action," said Republican Sen. Jeff Wentworth. "You're supposed to be able to defend your own home, your own family, in your house, your place of business or your motor vehicle." The castle doctrine, passed in September 2007 in Texas, was recently expanded precisely because the citizens of Texas were tired of rampant crime. This new law allows citizens to use deadly force in protecting their home or neighbor's home from criminals. It is no longer required that you attempt to flee first.

A plain clothes police detective responding to the 911 call had arrived at the scene before the shooting and witnessed the escalation and shootings, while remaining in his car. His report on the incident indicated that the men who were killed "received gunfire from the rear.

Icheoku here now comments as follows: - unfortunately the law is an ass and Joe Horn walked! The expanded Texas castle doctrine allowed Joe Horn, an apparent murderer to escape prosecution because he "was protecting his neighbour's home from criminals". He shot those burglars in the back while they were fleeing as reported by a percipient witness, the plain clothes police detective; which would have made it a cold blooded killing but for the castle doctrine. Also we are talking about Texas, a gun ho State where killing is glorified instead of vilified. We are talking about Texas, the State with the highest capital murder executions in the Union. We are talking about Texas where a man was dragged behind a truck in chains until his body completely dismembered. And if you still do not know Texas, we are talking about the State that gave the world, President George W. Bush! Joe Horn deserved some form of punishment for the cold blooded murders of these two burglars, especially after listening to his conversation with the 911 telephone operator! it would appear this is a guy who was desperate to knock some people off the face of this earth. First, it was not his property that was burglarized but a neighbours! Secondly, those burglars were already fleeing! Third, a 911 telephone operator had emphatically urged him not to take the laws into his hands but he ignored all the pleas and did it anyway! Now two people are dead and Joe Horn is cleared of the shootings by the grand jury. Question, if those burglars were whites, would the outcome have been different? If Joe Horn was not a pure "Texan", would the furry been more hellish? Judge for yourself! But at last, this is America and in Texas justice is sometimes very subjective!