A Texas judge apologized Wednesday for suggesting that a black man arrested in the cold-blooded murder of a San Antonio police officer should be lynched.
Burnet County Judge James Oakley removed his inflamatory Facebook posting — “time for a tree and a rope” — and insisted he really does believe in rule of law.
Det. Benjamin MarconiAP“To be clear, I advocate due process. I also support the death penalty in cases where the ultimate crime has been committed and there is clear and complete evidence and where all steps of the judicial process have been respected,” Oakley told the San Antonio News-Express. “I would also point out that I am an administrative judge, and do not preside over criminal court.”
Oakley admitted his posting was not “thoughtful” or “comprehensive.”
“It is for that reason that I deleted it soon after posting and apologize for not being more thoughtful and comprehensive in my expression,” Oakley added.
“What I should have posted, if anything, is a comment that more clearly reflects my opinion on the cowardly crime of the senseless murder of a law enforcement officer.”
Police on Monday captured suspect Otis Tyrone McKane, in connection to the execution-style murder of San Antonio police Det. Benjamin Marconi on Sunday.
McKane is black and Oakley said the suspect’s race was no factor in his admittedly “off the cuff” and “indeed curt and harsh” posting.
Thousands of innocent citizens, often African Americans, were hanged by lawless white mobs throughout the South and West in decades after the Civil War.
Oakley, a political protege of Govs. George W. Bush and Rick Perry, was elected and sworn on to the bench on Jan. 1, 2015, according his Burnet County bio.
