By SN
Saturday February 9, 2008
Charles Lee “Cookie” Thornton |
Associated Press – 2/8/08:
A gunman carrying a grudge against City Hall left a suicide note on his bed warning “the truth will come out in the end,” before he went on a deadly shooting spree at a council meeting, his brother told The Associated Press on Friday.
|
Arthur Thornton, 42, said in an interview at the family’s home that he knew when he read the one-line note that Charles Lee “Cookie” Thornton was the man who stormed the meeting Thursday night and killed five people before police shot him dead.
Friends and relatives said the dead gunman had a long-standing feud with the city, and he had lost a federal free-speech lawsuit against the St. Louis suburb just 10 days earlier. At earlier meetings, he said he had received 150 tickets against his business.
The article mentioned he lost a free speech lawsuit against the city, here’s an illuminating quote from the court’s opinion describing his behavior at city council meetings (I got this from Westlaw, for some reason it’s not available from the Court’s website):
When Thornton approached the podium, he displayed a large posterboard with a picture of a donkey and began making harassing remarks about the Mayor of Kirkwood. Thornton stated that Kirkwood had a “plantation-like mentality,” that Kirkwood’s government is corrupt, and that the city council members and the mayor have jackass-like qualities. Thornton then asked for a “negro version” of the reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions for the city council meetings. Thornton also told the Mayor that he was “sitting there looking stupid.” The Mayor asked Thornton several times whether he had any specific questions for the senior living center, but Thornton ignored the Mayor and continued to repeat his comments about Kirkwood’s jackass-like qualities and its “plantation mentality.”
Yep, no warning signs there! |
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Let’s face it — the gun crazies have won the debate.
Up to about ten years ago, these kind of stories would trigger a national discussion about regulation.
But now — in the middle of a presidential campaign — it may not even get mentioned by the progressive candidates let alone trigger a debate.
They should rename that City Hall to Blasterpiece Theatre.
Hmmm… IMO, anybody shooting up a City Hall is a hero.
Shame on you JPV
I miss living in STL.
#1 Greg — you are spot on. Why do we allow loons like this to be able to easily take out innocents?
Why don’t the innocents have any rights?
Some people are just crazy. The city was willing to forgive his thousands of dollars in fines for parking his work trucks in his residential neighborhood if he just quite parking his work trucks (dump trucks) in the neighborhood. From his his ranting it sounds as if he had a substance abuse problem. Remember the 80’s when mass shooters were considered sick and twisted. It seems today that people just fear them. I look forward to the days when these disturbed people consider something more poetic like setting themselves on fire.
JPV, I doubt you would think that if one of your family members had been killed by this man.
Think before you post.
This friggin’ idiot’s brother was all over the news the morning after this horrible incident. He justified his brother’s actions. Everyone let him rail on except for Tony Harris on CNN, who asked the reporter to cut him off after 2 minutes of spewing his stupidity. Bravo, Mr. Harris.
This sounds like some racial shit. Where is Al and Jesse? 150 tickets sounds like they targeted him because he’s a knee grow.
#1–GregA==Bravo. Nice to see the most important issue spotted and posted.
On the human side, it is sad whenever someone with so much to live for (I’m assuming a rich successful businessman has “much to live for”) somehow gets sidetracked into a mental rut that ends in this type of tragedy.
Gun Rights. Mentally Ill privacy rights. Issues like this ought to be addressed especially when “the majority” of people are for change.
#5,
St. Louis doesn’t miss you.
#6,
The NRA decided that issue.
#8,
Wrong. One less vote for Ron Paul. Remember, he was a freaking lunatic.
#9,
There is a difference between a spot of humor and holding a dirge for the guy. Also. See my response to #6.
#11,
That might have been the case if he hadn’t gotten so side tracked himself.
***
In summary, when fighting City Hall keep focused on the issue. Don’t run your mouth on things that are not relevant. And keep all your records and, when possible, record all meetings.
This guy didn’t end up dead because he is black. He died because he let the situation get bigger than he could handle.
#13–catshit==just a nitpick, you say “He died because he let the situation get bigger than he could handle.”
No. There was no big situation. Just a nut with a gun. Mitt Romney was in a bigger situation with more justification for anger. He weighed his options and somehow did not address his situation with a gun, even though he hunted varmits at one time.
Three years ago he should have understood he wasn’t going to win the trucks parked on the street issue and figured out a way to screw the taxpayers some other way. Stupid man really AND==I’d also like to know just how the idiots around him like his brother actually just urged him on rather than slap some reality into his face.
Sometimes (always?) the best advice is the hardest to get.
He fought the Hall, and the Hall won.
You people who want guns regulated do not seem to realize there are millions of guns in private homes. These guns are owned by people who are not going to give them up. Many are not registered and there is no record of ownership. How do you propose to get ride of these guns? Should the police go door to door an search every home? It is a nice fantasy to imagine a USA without guns but it aint going to happen. At least not without a gross violation of our civil rights. A war on guns whould be like the war on drugs. The cure is worse the the problem
#16–oldwater guy==you ask “How do you propose to get ride of these guns?”
Well, first you make them illegal as in no manufacturing or importing of guns or ammo. Then you confiscate any gun ever found. Then you offer incentives and turn-in programs. Then you offer rewards for any guns reported.
It wouldn’t take that long if it were a Federal law nationally enforced. Course, for a while, the cops should still have guns so they can deal with nut bags who think freedom is based on 35,000 murders per year in the faith that those same nut bags with guns are keeping the government from imposing martial law.
Ok, when do we start?
#13 – I didn’t say you could start posting again since the last time I owned you. Do I have to start owning you again?
#11 – NappyHeadedHo
“This sounds like some racial shit. Where is Al and Jesse? 150 tickets sounds like they targeted him because he’s a knee grow.”
Yeah. I was gonna let this topic slide on by, but since you led this trick with a race card, I’m gonna top it with one from the same suit.
Those 150 tickets might indeed be because he’s a knee grow, you are correct – since knee grows at all levels of society commit a highly disproportionate number of violations of law, no small part of which includes an extremely higher propensity for using lethal violence to settle trivial disputes, just as he did.
And we won’t even go into the also disproportionately-higher resentment of being punished for crimes, instead of acceptance of guilt and remorse.
Maybe you wanna chew on that for a while. 🙂
#18–Pedro==Nicaragua has no relevance on the question of gun control in GOUSA. No cause and effect demonstration at all. The supposed gun benefits in this Country are outweighed by the yearly death toll that is undeniable.
Hypothetical loses to real every time in my book.
You say Sandanistas, I say Scandanavians and the Swiss stand alone.
this guy is a hero with the ron paulistas
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/35586
cripes!
Too bad he didn’t also have a “KillDozer” handy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killdozer_(bulldozer)