Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Baton Rouge CCW shooting - update

My buddy Junior sent me this link to an article in the Baton Rouge Advocate, concerning the February 17th shooting of George Temple. Temple, a 24 year old black man was shot during a scuffle with Baton Rouge policeman Brian Harrison, 32, during a routine traffic stop. I blogged it here, and here.

The facts are basically as follows: Harrison was working a detail off-duty, in uniform, escorting a funeral. Temple broke the funeral procession and Harrison pulled him over to issue him a citation. They stopped in the parking lot of an Auto Zone store. During the traffic stop, a scuffle ensued between Harrison and Temple. Temple was on top of Harrison and Harrison was calling for help. A witness, Perry Stephens, 56, responded to Harrison's aid. Stephens retrieved a firearm and shot Temple five times; four to the torso, once to the head. Harrison also shot Temple once, in the torso. Temple died of his wounds.

Now, black elected officials and community leaders are asking the Justice Department for an independent investigation of the shooting.
“The events of Feb. 17 were tragic for this community,” said state Rep. Michael Jackson, D-Baton Rouge, who also is president of the East Baton Rouge Parish Black Elected Officials. The group’s members helped organize Monday’s news conference.

“Temple was not a hardened criminal … he came from a loving family … therefore we stand here wanting answers.” Jackson said the group knows a lot about Temple but little about Stephens. Col. Greg Phares of the Sheriff’s Office has said Stephens came to the aid of Harrison after hearing the police officer yell for help.

Jackson also said the group knows little about how the fight between Temple and Harrison began. Phares has said the fight started after Harrison, who was off-duty and working as a motorcycle escort for a funeral procession, wrote Temple a ticket for a traffic violation.
I'm sure that Temple's family loves him and mourns his loss. However, there are a couple of questions I think should be answered:

1. Why is it that Temple thought he could break into a funeral procession without getting a traffic ticket?

2. When stopped, was Temple's impulse control so poor that he felt compelled to get into a scuffle with a police officer? Why not just take the ticket and get on with your life?

3. When Stephens showed up to assist Officer Harrison, why did Temple feel compelled to continue the scuffle, especially when Stephens began shooting? That sounds like a good time to get medical attention, not continue scuffling with the police officer.

We do know that Temple, who might not have been a "hardened criminal" was in fact, no stranger to the criminal justice system. He was on probation for domestic violence. It seems he;
barged into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend’s mother and tried to take his 4-month-old child. When the child’s mother, Karlyn King, resisted, Temple grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against a wall, a sheriff’s crime report says.
Sounds like poor impulse control to me.

I'm sure the Justice Department will do a good job in their investigation. I'm also fairly sure that Stephens will be exonerated. From what I have read in the papers and seen on the internet, Stephens did what he had to do. It is a truism in law enforcement that if you have to shoot someone, you are going to wind up in Court. That is just part of the deal. If you shoot someone, you get sued.

However, once Stephens is exonerated, he should immediately get his own lawyer to sue the estate of George Temple for mental anguish and psychological trauma associated with having to shoot Temple. He should name as co-defendants everyone who asked for an independent investigation. Stephens didn't ask for this problem. He probably saved the life of a police officer. Rather than Temple's estate being enriched, Stephens should be reimbursed for the time, anguish, and trouble he is being put through. Who better than Temple to reimburse him?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's what I get for being so happy before that no one was trying to play a race card in this incident. That's what it will come down to, before it's all over. Stephens, a white man, shot Temple, a black man, because he was black, not because he was assaulting a police officer. [[spit!]] Keep us posted, please.

MG

Xavier said...

Bravo PawPaw!

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE A FUCKING IDIOT. SEEING AS THOUGH YOU ARE A RETIRED "PAW PAW" AND YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO BUT WRITE THIS NON SENSE, YOU SHOULD HAVE ENOUGH TIME ON YOUR HANDS TO REALIZE THAT SOMETHING IS NOT CORRECT IN THE TEMPLE SHOOTING. THIS WAS A SENSELESS MURDER. THERE IS NO WAY THAT SOMEONE WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN SHOT 5 TIMES, 4 TIMES WITH A 45 CALIBUR PISTOL WOULD STILL BE FIGHTING. I WILL NOT GO ON TO TRY AND PUSH COMMON SENSE INTO YOUR THIN SKULL...PLEASE BELIEVE THAT JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL FOR MR.TEMPLE, AND ON THAT DAY, I WONDER WHAT YOU WILL SIT BACK IN YOUR ROCKING CHAIR AND WRITE.

Anonymous said...

Well, Anonymous would rather that Mr. Temple beat Officer Harrison to death, rather than have anyone intervene. Considering that Mr. Stevens was wearing a neck brace and using a cane, I doubt he would have been able to match up well with with Temple in a fist fight, even with the wound from the officer's gun.

I would be more interested in learning of the sizes and any martial arts background of the participants before making any judgement on the incident. A bit of drug/alcohol testing would also be helpful.

Jeff from Metairie

Renegade said...

Entirely hearsay - but a friend of mine who works for the BRPD said that during the assault, Temple repeatedly yelled "I told you not to f*** with me... I'm a beast" over and over again to the officer.

This just goes to show the mindset of these people, they think they have some sort of special right and can get away with anything... all because they are black and you (the officer, in this case) are white.

Check out my blog post on this subject and, of course, the inevitable NAACP challenge of racism that followed.

Please visit Renegade's BS

Anonymous said...

Facts are just facts. Why do people try to fight or change facts? I go so tired of seeing the NAACP and Liberals distorting the truth and seeing American society worsen that I moved to Japan. After a few years here, I was considering trying to find an IT job in a rural area. However, reading articles like this gives me great pause in considering moving my family back to the States. American society is just appears very fractured and scary when you have been living away from it for a while. I seriously doubt that an incident like this would have occured in Israel. America has no respect for the law and if you are rich enough or can get enough people together, you can even change the laws to suit a homosexual agenda. Do you know that in Korea, if you are a college student and you are found to be gay, you are kicked out with no refunds! Homosexuality will get you a prison sentence in Singapore. George Bush may be an idiot, but at least he isn't taking any crap from the muslims. Sorry for the rant but I am a veteran and I want to love my country but I am starting to hate it.

Anonymous said...

iknow this is old bu tyou are just plain stupid. you think that officer didnt do something to incite the fight then youre just as stupid as the idiot who thought pulling a trigger five times to "help" was. what happened to calling for backup. what happendd to the other officers who im sure were helping out with the funeral. why does it take five shots..4 in the same area at that and a head shot??come on. he was assassinated bec white boy stephens thought he was clint eastwood and ready to take out the thug nigger..or so he thought..but he wasnt a thug..he was a business owner that had more money and a mercedes benz and they both were jealous. all states dont have the same lawas when it coems to funerals either and im sure the young 24 yr old who never been to one in hi slife was unaware he couldnt break through. shit ive broken thru..its a matter of respect..just because someone doesnt want to respect the dead doesnt mena they should be murdered. it means they dont care. just liek they are people who dont believe in God or dont open doors for old ass people like urself. should they be murdered too? and i cant bet by reading ur words that youve beaten ur wife or some lady once or three times in life. shame on u.

Anonymous said...

I realize this is an old post, but I seriously can't believe those who posted stating that the man who defended the officer was in the wrong. Any one who thinks that this was a murder over a funeral procession has serious problems with and is way out of touch with reality. What makes any one think that attacking an officer over a ticket is in any way the correct response to a situation.

The fact is we have the right and (in my opinion the duty) to defend our selves and others from fatal or serious bodily injury from assault.

Boatner said...

F*ck you asswipe!