Today’s tragedy could very well turn out to be presidential-hopeful Mike Huckabee’s Willie Horton moment. Huckabee was Govenor of Arkansas when he pardoned today’s alleged killer who ambushed and slaughtered 4 police officers in a coffee shop early this morning.
A 37-year-old Tacoma man, Maurice Clemmons, is being sought for questioning in the execution-style shooting of four Lakewood police officers this morning, according to two law-enforcement sources.
Clemmons, who was recently released from jail, has an extensive criminal record in Pierce County and Arkansas, court records show. Clemmons is wanted in Arkansas and faces eight criminal charges in Washington state.
The four officers were killed at about 8:15 a.m. by a scruffy-looking man who walked into a coffee shop and opened fire. The officers — three men and one woman — were found dead by deputies who arrived at Forza Coffee at 11401 Steele St. S., said Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.
Maurice Clemmons sought in the murders of 4 Washington State Police Officers.
Maurice Clemmons, the 37-year-old Tacoma man being sought for questioning in the killing of four Lakewood police officers this morning, has a long criminal record punctuated by violence, erratic behavior and concerns about his mental health.
Nine years ago, then-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee granted clemency to Clemmons, commuting his lengthy prison sentence over the protestations of prosecutors.
“This is the day I’ve been dreading for a long time,” Larry Jegley, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas’ Pulaski County said Sunday night when informed that Clemmons was being sought in connection to the killings.
More at this LINK
Clemmons’ criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record also stands out for the number of times he has been released from custody despite questions about the danger he posed.
Law and Order types are not going to like what Mike Huckabee has done by pardoning Clemmons, only to allow him to kill again. And this time, he’s slaughtered 4 police officers in a surprise attack. Huckabee was also responsible for pardoning the rapist of Bill Clinton’s cousin, while he occupied the office of Govenor. I’d say Mike Huckabee’s chances at becoming a presidential candidate are about NIL right now and going forward.
May the families of those slain officers find peace.
Do you even read the stories you link to? Gov. Huckabee did NOT pardon this man, Maurice Clemmons (nor did he pardon Wayne Dumond). Huckabee commuted his sentence from 60 yrs for a non-violent crime Clemmons committed when he was a minor. Clemmons was still left in prison. The Arkansas Parole board, completely independent of the Governor, decided to grant parole. Shortly after he was released, Clemmons violated parole and was sent back to prison.
Secondly, the police in Washington make it clear that Maurice Clemmons is not a suspect, but rather, a person of interest wanted for questioning in the matter.
Ruh roh! Adios Huckabee…
Welcome Chris,
This is how Huckabee was described in 2004, in a local publication: If you’re wondering how Gov. Huckabee’s hundreds of clemencies compare with neighboring states, get ready for a shocker.
___ Huckabee leads the pack.
___ He has issued more commutations and pardons than all of the six neighboring states combined.
http://www.arkansasleader.com/frontstories/st_08_11_04/huckabee8.html
Clemmons is indeed considered a suspect in this shooting spree and is actively being sought out by police. His mental illness has made him a menace to society. He’s even punched a police officer in the face.
Already, Mitt Romney has made hay with Huckabee’s “clemency” of a convicted rapist who was released and committed violent rape AND murder: Wayne DuMond.
It must suck to be a Huckabee fan. Stick a fork in him. He’s done.
I don’t know, it’s starting to look like this may be another tragedy that’s Obama’s fault. From Talking Points Memo http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/11/huckabee.php#more?ref=fpblg
…in recent years more glaring evidence of mental illness began to grow. Clemmons was released from county jail less than a week ago with charges of second degree child rape still pending. (Why he was released when he was still wanted as a fugitive in Arkansas is a question someone will likely soon be called upon to answer.) Evidence collected during the child rape investigation paint a picture of a delusional person claiming he was the messiah, sexually assaulting young relatives, predicting the imminent end of the world and telling his wife and said young relatives that President Obama would soon visit to confirm that he was in fact the Messiah.
Crowley, Larry, want to take it from here?
Well, with Obama and Huckabee sharing the blame, I guess that means that Sarah Palin is just that much closer to getting elected as the leader of the free world. Is that it? 😉
Huckabee is a pardoning machine. He even pardoned rocker, Keith Richards. Look and see the form and read the story of Huckabee going back stage and offering Richards a pardon. Huckabee filled out the paperwork himself and walked it thru the whole process himself, too! http://www.slate.com/id/2182546
Huckabee=pardoning fool!
Keith Richards!
TRUE: Keith removed the “s” from his last name so he could be more like Little Richard.
TRUE: Keith had every drop of his blood replaced when he went on tour, to get the drugs out of his system.
TRUE: Keith’s mannerisms of speech, dress, and movement provided Johnny Depp with a model for Captain Jack Sparrow.
TRUE: Keith’s boast of “drinking a pint of Jack Daniels for breakfast every morning” was a bad influence on young Vern.
FALSE: He didn’t really snort his Dad’s ashes. But he knew everyone would believe him if he said he did.
Fair or not, Huckabee will forever now be connected with this man. His presidential hopes are dashed on the rocks.
Nothin ever good done come out of Arkansas. First we got that no good Slick Willy and the we done got Huckabee. I live right around the corner from where those poor cops got it. I work from home and wondered why the copper choppers kept doing loops around. After work, I find it on my Facebook what happened. I know the market that they found the suspect vehicle in. It is less than a mile from my house. I don’t care if you like cops or not, that just plain SUCKED. I have driven by that place a million times on the way home. It is RIGHT across from McChord AFB. Industrial area. Always seemed to be a pretty safe area as far as crime goes. My mind is just boggled at this point. I’ve been beat by cops twice over a case of mistaken identity. Yeah, twice. Stupid cops in another state. I don’t care much for cops but I am OUTRAGED at what happened to them. I never met these four, but I’ve dealt with a few Lakewood cops and they were good guys. This was just so senseless a thing to happen. Here they were on Sunday morning just having coffee getting ready to start a slow day and they get popped out of the blue. Sunday morning is a great time to sit down over coffee and catch up on reports you would think. Very very sad.
I hope you’re right. Huckabee = George W. Bush (fiscally reckless social conservative). See ya, Huckabee!
well i knew commi red would attact another conservative. well im glad post 1 got the story correct . se how lefties twist the truth . as far as pardons look at slick willie who pardon the tax cheat whos name escapes me right now .
Bubba,
Thank you for your personal take on the story that is local to you. Thanks for posting your thoughts at OJ.
Huckabee stands apart from other political leaders in his region by the sheer number of pardons/commendations he gave to prisoners. He’s basically been doing an end run around the judicial system by playing king of the castle and letting people who should be in jail, off easy. If I were in the court system or in law enforcement and he was MY govenor, I would be sorely disappointed and probably pretty pissed off that this guy could easily undo any due diligence that a judge or jury or prosecutor could do to try and keep the community safe. He let DuMond off TWENTY FIVE YEARS EARLY. And for that effort, DuMond violently raped and killed a woman when he was released back into society early.
The sheer numbers of those incarcerated who Huckabee pardoned or let out early is staggering compared to neighboring states. Huckabee’s got a screw loose. He likes playing god, judge and jury. It looks like 4 police officers and their families and friends have paid the ultimate price for Huckabee’s reckless decision making that has trumped all advice from prosecutors not to release a mentally ill killer like Clemmons.
This guy’s and nut and he’s political toast. Thanks GOP for selecting such notorious candidates from your soggy gene pool to vie for president of the US.
.
Looks like the police may be closing in on a suspect:
SWAT team and police negotiators have surrounded a home in Seattle’s Leschi neighborhood where the man sought for questioning in the Lakewood police shooting may be hiding.
Police responded to the home at East Yesler Way and 32nd Avenue South around 8:44 p.m. A woman who was leaving the home. was stopped by officers and told them Maurice Clemmons was on the property and bleeding, according to a law enforcement source.
The woman told police that someone had dropped Clemmons off at the home.
The source also said police had received tips about two other properties they needed to search, in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood and in Renton.
Read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010386…
great one,
I am a conservative – the reason I have long opposed Huckabee. Conervatives should condemn GWB’s profligate spending and reckless fiscal policies. Huckabee is no different.
This story really makes no difference to me, but doesn’t surprise me.
See here,
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/11/30/mike-pardon-me-huckabee
I will not mourn Huckabee’s absence. However, I will say that I think using this black face to scare voters into NOT voting Republican is just plain racist. (for Red, a smirk. but no more freebies Red!)
And remember folks, Willie Horton was first brought to you courtesy of Al Gore!
Are you kidding, this is nothing new. Five miles from my farm here, a three time drunk driver sat in jail to do a one year stint. He donated $20k to Huck’s campaign and got clemincy and, you guessed it, within a year almost killed a cop just before his arrest for his fourth DWI just 8 miles from here. I DON’T WANT TO BE NEAR ANY OF THESE PEOPLE ON THE ROAD, IN THE STORE OR ANYWHERE! I don’t care if they are commuted, paroled, pardoned or whatever. I don’t want them around me or my loved ones, or even my pets!
rogue i agree with you .they lost their way bush lost his head . they have to get back to their core values . low taxes and less gov . if they do that they can win . because nobama and pelosi are taking this country a direction they dont want to go . see recent polls .
Rush never would shup up about the Willie Horton thing. Does anyone think Rush will give the Clemmons clemency thing the same air time?
Well Dawn… As you can see by some of the above comments, “conservatives” have always had mixed feelings about Huckabee, so I’m not sure they’d rush to his defense. He is stark-raving mad in many ways, but he has also committed unforgivable heresies in their eyes. He’s always been a moderate on immigration for one thing, and for another his fervent Christianity has led him to fiscal policies in his state that helped the poor. No bueno! (to wingnuts.)
Then this whole clemency thing – it apparently is a much bigger pattern than I realized a couple years ago after the DuMond thing. Maybe he bases that on Christian forgiveness to, but I’d have to side with the law-and-order nuts on this, he’s endangering public safety!
Hey, it’s neat to have you and Bubba over here from Arkansas, I didn’t realize we were so widely read!
I am from Santa Barbara California. I had no idea of the corruption here. (see my blog) Reagan never would have done what the huckabees have done to me. I am too broke to go back home. I am a Reagan conservative. huck is a fake baptist preacher. For example, he would be in the governor’s office swearing up a storm and open the door. If a member of the press was there, he would smile and say ‘what a glorious day the lord has given us.’ He could not have beaten the Clintons, so he became a republican. He is left for sure. He put a Mexican consulate in Little Rock AR which specifically goes against the AR constitution. I have done my homework and spoken to people who worked with him. He started out in a mobile home preaching. He never worked a real job and now he is a millionaire. His money came from the Arkansas people. He got it illeagally. No one in the capital will persue these activities. My friend has sued him on behalf of the AR people with his own money, but he gets cut down before court. No one realizes that no one will police the rules and regs for polititians. No one. Everyone thinks that these things are lies because no one could get away with it. The truth is that no one will go after these people and god help me or anyone who gets in their way…..
Welcome to OJ, Dawn. Thanks for taking the time to post and share your website.
Huckabee demonstrates that he has no respect for due process in the law. He likes to circumvent it by issuing all those pardons. Probably some kind of ego power trip. But he clearly stands out in doing this kind of thing.
Terry, there are LOTS of Democrats who have been waiting 20 some years to get revenge for the Willie Horton thing against Dukakis. I have never been a democrat, so I don’t really have much opinion about the WH deal, but I can tell you that on the dem sites, they look at this as an opportunity to visit revenge upon the GOP with the same kind of smear concept. I see that Huckabee had said on a news/talk show on Sunday that he was not planning on running for President. I think the story had already broken, but it is unclear if he had PLANNED to announce that or not on that show.
I am struck by the photos of the Police officers who were killed. They looked like decent people who will be missed terribly by their families and community. Such a waste of their lives.
“Reagan never would have done what the huckabees have done to me”
Reagan leading pardoner in California history
Reagan pardons MerleHaggard
Welcome david.
Suspected Cop Killer Maurice Clemmons Killed by Police After Two-Day Manhunt
Police: Clemmons Had Help Evading Capture After Executing Four Lakewood Police Officers
By NEAL KARLINSKY and SARAH NETTER
Dec. 1, 2009—
Police in Seattle have shot and killed the man suspected of executing four Lakewood, Wash., police officers.
ABC News has confirmed that Maurice Clemmons was killed after police followed leads to a city address where he was hiding. Details of the early-morning confrontation weren’t immediatley available.
Clemmons had been the focus of an intense two-day manhunt that included a systematic raid of the homes of his friends and family, who were believed to have been helping him evade capture.
Police said Monday that Clemmons was believed to have been armed while on the run, possibly with several guns. Calling him “dangerous,” they said, was an understatement.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ed Troyer told ABC News Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV that the raids Monday were being carried out “to collect evidence against him and against those helping him evade us.”
Clemmons, 37, suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen in a brief shootout with the Lakewood officers he ultimately killed as they sat in a coffee shop Sunday morning, preparing for their next shift.
Clemmons had been released from custody six days ago, bonding out despite an outstanding warrant from Arkansas, where he was pardoned by then Gov. Mike Huckabee nine years ago after serving 11 years of a potential 60-year sentence.
Read more: http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/lakewood-cop-killer-suspe…
Bill O’Reilly appears to be trying to out pardon Huckabee as the head pardon-er, as Bill O’ gives Huckabee a pardon: It’s not your fault!
If Huckabee would have been a Democrat, you can be we’d never hear the end of it from clowns like this. Here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1jfMFSfuC4
Did a washington state judge declare open season on LEO’s when he granted bail and issued a “license to kill” to a known convicted felon?
Dear Mr. Shedlock: Before I made my postings I spent hours checking my facts and rereading the posts here. I am deeply offended that you did not even come close. My post states in part: “(see my blog) Reagan never would have done what the huckabees did to me.” Please explain what pardons done by Reagan have to do with what the huckabees did to me. I did not want to take up precious space here to explain, hence the reference to my blogsite. The huckabee family are liars and thieves and had an innocent woman thrown in jail and her real estate taken by force illegally with the help of the local police and corrupt criminal court system when she refused to let them have it. When she did not back down, they ruined her life and killed her animals. PLEASE SHOW ME WHERE THE REAGANS DID ANYTHING REMOTELY LIKE THAT. My friend worked at Reagan’s Santa Barbara ranch. I was using what happened to me and the subsequent personal research to demonstrate how corrupt parts of Arkansas are and what the huckabees are all about. We must not let him become president.
Dear Ms. Vixen: It is hard for people like you and me to understand. The huckabees law is to do what they can get away with at the time because there is no punishment for the huckabees for any crime. For example when I stood in front of huckabees tractor on my land (this suggested by the elected sheriff who had verified my ownership)huckabee revved up his motor to pretend to run me over. I stood my ground as I could not watch him kill any more of my trees on my land, I said ‘this is my land and you know it, go home!’ He said ‘It’s my land now’. I said ‘Oh you mean that bogus deed you filed against my land, I’m turning you into Little Rock state lands commissioner for fraud’. He said and I quote – “WER’E THE HUCKABEES, LITTLE ROCK AIN’T GONNA DO NUTHIN TO US” That right there sums up the whole huckabee family ego and attitude.
I think that huck’s new ploy is to say that he is not running and then change his mind at the last minute if and when, god forbid, his people say polls want him to run. Then he will give the classic ‘My people begged me to run, and the country needs me’ crap just like those before him.
By the way, when he left, he left a $20 Billion surplus in Arkansas. People here think that is great, well those same kinds of people think they will win the lottery too. They do not understand math or econ 101. That surplus clearly shows that the citizens of Arkansas were seriously overtaxed. Arkansas state income taxes are higher than yours when I left California! If he can’t even balance the tiny budget of Arkansas (weather it is over or under does not matter, the key word is balance) how the hell can he balance the huge budget of the entire country?’