Hannity defends vigilante killer...

[Archae]

What a stupid SOB!

Hannity Defends Vigilante Killer

Fox host Sean Hannity dismissed the murder convictions of a Minnesota homeowner who used excessive force in killing two teenagers who broke into his home, claiming with exasperation, "They broke into the guy's house."

(snip)

While homeowners have broad latitude in defending their residences from intruders, a jury believed that Smith went too far. Prosecutors compared Smith's actions on Thanksgiving Day to the setting up of a deer stand. After spotting a neighbor he believed had previously burglarized his house, Smith moved his car to make his home seem unoccupied and then waited in his basement "with a book, energy bars, a bottle of water and two guns."

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/05/01/hannity-defends-vigilante-killer/199112

[JaneyVee]

1. Conservatism is basically just taking the asshole side

Of every debate.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

8. +1

[Tom Ripley]

24. +1000

[Bigmack]

2. I'd wager Hannutty has never killed even a chicken..

... and the guy who laid in wait to kill those guys..?

That ain't normal.

[GeorgeGist]

10. those guys ...

?w=620&h=349&crop=1

[Bigmack]

11. Jaysus H. Keerist! Fucking desperados! nt

[alp227]

18. I guess Hannity is consistent in defending "self defense" shooters,

whether the victim is Trayvon Martin or these white teens from Minnesota.

[mountain grammy]

3. Sick bastard. Good he was convicted.

[Jenoch]

4. I cannot believe anyone who knows the details of that case would

say the homeowner was only defending himself. If he had shot them just once each he would have never even been charged with a crime. This guy shot them bother several times and took his time doing it. He continued to shoot after they were no longer a threat. That is why he was convicted of first degree murder.

[NutmegYankee]

12. Not to mention that you have to be in danger of life or serious injury to shoot at all.

The man clearly set the two youths up for a gruesome murder. It was a trap.

[Jenoch]

15. He had guns stolen in previous break ins.

You do not not have to see a weapon to believe your are in danger or in serious harm. That was not happening in this case.

[Archae]

30. It's a...

[NutmegYankee]

41. If the subject topic wasn't so depressing...

It would be funny.

[sarisataka]

33. I was able to listen to the raw recording

he made in the basement. Even though it is almost impossible to have a successful insanity plea in MN, I think his lawyer should have tried. The monologue about vermin and how they would come back for him after getting out of jail shows a mind that has serious issues.
It would be hard to convince the jury as he also rehearsed his call to his lawyer while sitting there.
The time gaps between the initial shots and the final shots, during which it is apparent they were still alive, shows definite intention to kill a helpless person.
Very chilling to listen to it all.

[lpbk2713]

5. They were executed.

That's the part Hannity likes so much.

[randys1]

7. Sean Hannity is guilty of War Crimes

When you pound your desk nightly for over a year DEMANDING a war in Iraq, which he did because I watched him.

When you demand a war you have no intention of fighting in, when you parrot the talking points and lies of propagandists as he did for that war you are JUST as guilty as Bush and Cheney who are clearly guilty of war crimes.

Remember, 3 weeks before the invasion their intel expert on WMD known as "curveball" admitted he was lying plus the admin had video of the place he lied about showing nothing, they are guilty of war crimes.

[Jenoch]

14. You mY dislike Hannetiy, but there is no way to convixt him of war crimes.

You would need to amend the constitution to do that.

[randys1]

20. for promoting propaganda that was known to be a lie?

not so sure about that

[Jenoch]

23. 1st Amendment

[Bandit]

25. I believe incitement to commit a crime is also a crime.

First Amendment has boundaries.

[Jenoch]

27. Ok, I'm no fan of Hannity and did not the program you are referencing

so could you explain how he was inciting people to commit a crime.

Abbie Hoffman publushed a book with the title "Steal This Book".

[Xithras]

34. Has he listened to the audio? Even the Freepers abandoned the guy (!)

I listened to the recording on Liveleak. It was interesting reading through the comments afterward, because Americans are a minority on Liveleak, and there's a heavy mix of left and right wing viewers. There were a LOT of comments from rightwingers along the lines of "I supported the guy until I heard this." Or "I was told this was a self defense case, but this guy is a murderer."

If you listen to the audio, he shoots the girl once and then APOLOGIES as you hear her hit the ground and cry out in pain. She was unarmed, on the floor, bleeding out at that point. A few seconds later he shoots her THREE MORE TIMES while she's screaming in pain and terror. Angered by the fact that she's still alive, there's another pause while he walks over to her, yells "YOU'RE DYING!" in her face, puts the barrel of the gun under her chin, and blows her head off at point blank range.

Even the freaking dumbass freepers understood that this guy was a coldblooded murderer. What the hell is Hannity's problem?

[lpbk2713]

36. I heard the audio when the story first broke.

And it was sickening. It was cold-blooded murder.

[dionysus]

6. oi, what a puke-fest... you know it's bad when geraldo is the only sane member on your "panel".

[Wounded Bear]

28. Truer words were ne'er spoken...

In his "defense" he had some legal training and experience in the distant past IIRC; before he became a mediot.

[Swede Atlanta]

9. I am not defending the two young men.....

they unlawfully broke and entered Smith's home. That is a fact. And for that they should be, if they were alive, tried, convicted and sentenced for the associated crimes under state law.

But, this guy lay in wait. He had a book, energy bars, water and two buns. He had decided if anyone entered his home he was going to kill them regardless of whether he felt there was an imminent threat of bodily harm or death. This was a form of entrapment with the intention to kill.

I am glad this guy was convicted and this vermin will be removed from the streets for some time.

[NutmegYankee]

13. One was a 17 year-old girl.

An unarmed girl who was brutally executed.

[Jenoch]

32. Life without parole.

[hfojvt]

35. actually I did the same thing once

my laudromat got broken into. I lived right next door to it, and was actually doing a load of laundry at the time.

The laundromat was not locked, but the machines certainly were. It sorta freaked me out. I worked a twelve hour night shift. I had far more valuables in my house/apartment than I did in that laundromat where they only got about $20 in quarters for the $1,000 damage they caused. Why wouldn't those dickheads break into my apartment next?

So yeah, I called in sick to work, said I had to deal with an emergency. Then I drove off to work, or pretended to, circled back around, parked my car about a mile away and walked back home in the dark.

Then I waited up all night in my dark apartment hoping to catch a thief.

My plan was to beat them into submission with heavy metal objects, and then call the cops.

If one of them had died in that process, I would consider it to be their own damed fault. They picked the wrong person to steal from.

In this case, these two teenage dickheads, the one was already facing burglarly charges, and those charges clearly were not stopping him from breaking into people's houses.

This other guy was just trying to live his life, was not OUT hunting teens, but some people decided to rob him, and then rob him again, and again. The legal system was apparently ineffective since the burglarizing a$$hole was already out on bail from an arrest for burglarly.

I think the shooter went too far, the extra shots are just gratuitous, BUT, I also see him as a VICTIM who hit back.

In any situation, I tend to blame the dickhead who threw the first punch. In this case, that would be the a$$hole who kept stealing from his neighbor. I'd like to see people who do things like THAT somehow persuaded to stop, and if they will not, then I DO think the world is a better place without them in it.

Don't wanna get the excrement beaten out of you? Then don't pick fights with people.

[Hippo_Tron]

16. Dear Sean, the guy made a fucking recording to tell everyone about his execution...

Seriously, what the fuck is he bitching about? If the guy had just lured them into his home and killed them, he'd STILL be a free man right now. All he had to do was tell the cops that it was necessary to kill them in order to defend himself and 99.9 times out of 100 they would've believed him and made no further inquiry into the matter.

Pretty much the ONLY way you don't get off with Castle doctrine in these cases is if you intentionally leave a trail of evidence to the contrary, which is precisely what this dipshit did.

[AnalystInParadise]

17. Of course he does

Sean Hannity is just a better dressed nutjob like Glenn Beck.

[Jamaal510]

19. I'm not so sure about GB,

particularly when it comes to his ugly hats:
[IMG][/IMG]
I've seen guys dress better than him who most likely don't even make 1/10th of his salary.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

22. What the fuck is that? nt

[Jamaal510]

37. When I first found that pic,

it said that was a "condom glove". Don't ask me why he was wearing a rubber glove with condoms on the finger tips, but...yeah.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

38. This will haunt my nightmares.....

....quite possibly for the rest of my life.

A great horror movie character though: Glenn Beck Condom Glove.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

21. Par for the course for Sean.

?w=650&h=366

[iloveObama12]

26. Hell I wouldn't be supried if hannity brought back cliven bundy into fold

dude a gop moron... SMH

[Wounded Bear]

29. Given the memory span of the average Derper...

It'll only be a couple of weeks.

[Sheepshank]

31. In order to be consistent he sort of has to take that stand

being wrong is not nearly as bad as being a hypocrit

[951-Riverside]

39. Byron Smith isnt a "vigilante" or a "killer", he's a DOUBLE MURDERER!

That headline REALLY bothers me because it white washes what he really did. Vigilantism has nothing to do with sneaking up on two unarmed people, shooting them without warning then letting them rot in his house for 24 hours.

A vigilante would tell them to put their hands up then get on the ground, hand cuff them, put them in his car and drive them to the nearest jail.

[DrDan]

40. we have some here on DU who feel killing someone, should they steal something

as minor as an ink pen, is justified