I don’t think so.
Joe Horn is a 61 year old man who lives in Pasadena, Texas. A suburb of Houston, if that gives a clue. In Nov of ‘07 he saw 2 burglars leaving a neighbor’s house, running away. He was on the phone with 911 dispatch, who repeatedly told him to stay in his own house & not do anything. He announced he was going to kill them, & then shot them in the back as they were RUNNING AWAY.
The kicker of it all is: The Grand Jury said he did nothing wrong. He shot 2 unarmed men in the back & did nothing wrong.
Colorado has its own version of the “Castle Law”, but you can’t go outside & shoot someone who robbed a neighbor’s house. You have to PROVE your life is in danger, in your own home. For awhile they (cowboy lawmakers) tried to extend it to cover being in your car, & place of employment, but that was nixed by lawmakers with common sense. Joe Horn wouldn’t have gotten away with murder here.
I don’t care that they were 2 illegal immigrants. Catch them, put them in jail, then deport their sorry selves. They didn’t deserve to be killed like they were.
I tried to read the comments that were left on the GMA story, but after the first 10 or so, I had to stop. Looking at the literal bloodlust was making me sick.
After the Supreme Court botched the 2nd Amendment decision, this kind of thing will only get worse. The “Castle Laws” will be more prevalent as well. Even though we could, we don’t have any guns here. I don’t worry about break-ins though. We have motion sensor lights outside, & 2 German Shepherds inside, who will sound off if they hear something. IF we were going to have a loaded gun here, it would have to be a shotgun on Chris’ side of the bed. Specifically a 12 gauge loaded with 00 buck. Not something as dangerous as a pistol. And, we don’t have to worry about small hands getting it as we have no young children here. Anyone who keeps a loaded weapon in a house with small children is guilty of criminal stupidity.
I would say I hope Joe Horn felt some form of remorse for killing those 2 men, but I know he doesn’t. His own statements bear that out. He just wanted to kill someone & did. Then he got away with it.
Justice in Texas is a joke.
Hey Karen,
How would you feel if it were your home these parasites broke into? Joe Horn is a hero. He prevented two men from harming other innocent people. You liberals need to realize that criminals are not the victims.
Zach,
First off, I’m by no means a liberal.
Second, they harmed no one. They stole property, which can be replaced.
Third, I have insurance to cover any losses caused by a criminal.
Fourth, I have 2 German Shepherds INSIDE my home, if some fool wants to try it, they have tremendous strength in their necks, shoulders, & jaws.
Fifth, Joe Horn is no hero, he’s a cowardly man who just wanted to kill someone, did, & the idiocy of the Grand Jury in Texas allowed him to get away with it. I would no more want someone like him in my neighborhood than I would want fleas & ticks in my yard. He’s a loose cannon & he’s the dangerous one.
Sixth, the “victims” in this case are the 2 men he shot in the back as they were running away, & he’s the criminal.
My name is Brenda Evans and I am a reporter for the Pasadena Citizen in Pasadena, Texas.
I had the opportunity to meet with Pasadena citizen, Joe Horn, on Monday, July 7, 2008 at the home he resides in Pasadena, Texas, where the “controversial shooting incident” took place.
The story I wrote after that interview came out in our Wednesday, July 9, 2008 issue of our paper, The Pasadena Citizen.
During my interview with Horn, I was impressed with this man’s sincerity and truthfulness. He is a shy man and anybody would see that he is just a regular guy who was pulled into a bad situation. I had the strong impression that this could have been anybody, my dad, your dad, you or me.
In the story on the web at http://www.thepasadenacitizen.com, there are some photos I took of Joe standing in the same spot he stood when the two men were warned to stop. I also had the opportunity to go upstairs with Joe and see the two windows he looked out while the two men were burglarizing his neighbor’s house. I took some photos looking down through these window blinds to show how close Joe was to them as he was an eyewitness to their break in. I posted them with my story as well. They are in the photo gallery of that story.
I was impressed with this extremely kind, gentle man and I also found Joe Horn to be credible and truthful. He is a loving father, grandfather and protector of his family.
Sincerely,
Brenda Evans
I read the article.
He was in his house & made the choice to go outside. He didn’t have to. He also made the choice to take a shotgun & shells with him. They had robbed a house, not harmed anyone in this instance. He didn’t know who they were at the time, so how can he use that as reasoning 8 months after the fact?
Protector of his family, when he was alone?
He may well be all the things you describe him as. All I can say for sure is that I’m happy he lives in Texas, & not in my area of Colorado.
Joe Horn is guilty of, if not at least murder, manslaughter. However, this act, as pointed out in Ms. Evans’ story, was premeditated. He did not have a weapon yet sought one out. The weapon was not loaded until he determined he was going to kill someone that day. It must have been a rush for him. He was never in any imminent danger.
Hopefully, the families of those involved will call for a more intense criminal investigation and then they file a civil case against Horn. Thanks to Ms. Evans for introducing new facts which were not made public previously.
Brenda,
Joe Horn was “pulled into a situation”? Really? I suppose a retarded child could be convinced of that but I don’t believe that many normal adults believe that he was pulled into the situation. How about Joe Horn put himself into that situation? That is more believable. This incident has basically shown that law enforcement and a judicial system are not needed in Pasadena TX. Joe Horn is not the truthful man that you say he is. For you to claim to be a reporter but not even be a little interested in the fact that Joe said he was “defending himself” but then never ask why he shot the second man says a lot about how objective your reporting is. Joe never claimed to be attacked by the second man but Joe still shot him in the back. Joe Horn said on the phone “I’m going to kill them” and that is exactly what he did by shooting two unarmed men in the back. I’m tired of hearing Joe’s lies about the men attacking him with a tire iron. No one on Earth that only had a tire iron would have made a decision to attack Joe while Joe was holding a shotgun. That is one of the many lies that Joe has told; and you claimed he was truthful. That is interesting. What those men did was wrong but the truth is they never attacked Joe. All they wanted was to get away and Joe Horn shot them in the back. Joe Horn is a disgraceful coward who has gotten away with murder.
Way to go Texas! You have proven that racism and murder are still alive and well in this country.
This is merely a classic example of someone not knowing the facts and everday trauma that illegal imigrants cause on an everday basis down here in the south. Keep your Colorado coments where they belong in Colorado where nobody can hear them.
The trauma you refer to Rob, isn’t localized in the south. Ask the widow of the Denver cop, who was killed by an illegal Mexican, about trauma. Ask the man in another suburb of Denver who almost lost his government benefits because his Social Security card had been stolen by illegals, & was being used by a woman to illegally take a job from a citizen, how he feels about trauma.
Houston & the surrounding area has always been a cowboy area, for either the oil rich, or the refineries. Houston thinks it’s greater than New York City. Now the courts are acting like it too.
How would I know this? I was raised in Texas. We got out of there in 1995. We moved to Colorado, where cowboys don’t make, or enforce, the laws of the state.