Ted Cruz Pretty Hot For Georgia Congressional Candidate Who Says He'd Shoot Cops

Gahhh! But not forgotten.

Just as a quick reminder that the party conventions and the presidential race aren't the only news happening out there, we see that Ted Cruz has endorsed a Georgia congressional candidate who got himself into some hot water back in February when he said he would definitely be in favor of shooting any police officers entering his home with a "no knock" warrant. Oh dear. These Constitutional Conservative types can get a little tangled up when their humping of the Second Amendment crashes into their hard-on for Gettin' Tough On Crime.

The gent in question is Georgia state Sen. Mike Crane, one of two candidates in Tuesday's Republican primary runoff for the Third District U.S. Congressional seat held by retiring Rep. Lynn Westmoreland. In June -- days after the killings of five police officers in Dallas -- Crane's opponent, Drew Ferguson, the former mayor of West Point, Georgia, started circulating video of Crane telling a Republican group just how opposed he is to those "no-knock" warrants. No-knock warrants became highly controversial in Georgia following a horrible 2014 incident in which a SWAT team executing a no-knock warrant in a botched drug raid tossed a flash-bang grenade into a toddler's crib, severely burning the 19-month-old. After that tragedy, which left the little boy with permanent scars, the Georgia Lege considered but failed to pass restrictions on the warrants. But, as he explained in the meeting recorded in February, rather than wasting time with legislation or training police to use other methods, Sen. Crane favors a more direct method of protecting his family from overzealous cops:

After insisting that Georgia law enforcement "doesn’t have a stronger advocate than Mike Crane," the good senator explained that he believes "no-knock" warrants to be illegal under Georgia law, and that it only makes sense to blow away anyone who breaks down your door, regardless of whether they have a badge and yell "Police" or not, because of "judicial usurpation of our rights":

When the judge comes along and says you can kick down that man’s door, you can throw a flash grenade in that baby’s crib, you can do whatever you want and kill a lady that comes to the door with a weapon because she’s afraid someone has entered her house illegally.

If you come to my house, kick down my door, if I have an opportunity I will shoot you dead. And everyone of you should do the same.

The audience member who says "Amen" after Crane vows to shoot cops is a nice touch.

See, now there's a patriot who loves his Second Amendment and his right to be secure in his home, and will shoot in cold blood any cop who he thinks is behaving illegally. That's the great thing about America -- each of us gets to decide which judicial orders are legal, as long as we have a gun.

And here we thought the greatest threat to our brave police was supposed to be the terrorists of Black Lives Matter?

Crane later refused to back down from the remarks, insisting that shooting cops who bust down your door is absolutely legal. While admitting that it wasn't "the best-phrased thing I’ve ever said, I’ll never apologize for defending my home or anybody else’s right to defend their home.”

In fact, Crane said at the time -- April -- that he'd mostly received positive feedback on the whole self-defense against cops thing:

"I’ve gotten so many comments of support because people understand the underlying issue. They get that I may not have used the best phraseology, it may have been a ‘Trump’ moment. But at the end of the day, the question is are no-knock warrants good policy and practice?

“If anybody kicks down my door I will shoot them dead if I can. If I know it’s the police, they don’t have to kick down my door. I’m going to let them in. How do I know it is the police?”

Oftentimes, officers serving no-knock warrants are either wearing plain clothes or black swat gear. “What if they break down the door, what if they shout ‘police' and I’m wrong, and they rape and kill my family,” Crane said. “There are all kinds of bad people doing bad things.

“I will defend my home and if I’m uncertain of the invader of my home space I will shoot first and ask questions later,” Crane said.

Huh! So even if they follow the law and announce themselves as police, Crane recommends shooting 'em, just to be on the safe side, because what if they're lying? We wonder if he knows Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore? 

So that's the guy who Ted Cruz is backing in the run-off, then. Said Cruz at a July 22 rally,

If you want to see a federal government that finally does its job, secures the borders, stops illegal immigration, elect Mike Crane to Congress.

Cruz didn't say who to vote for if you like the idea of shooting some cops serving a warrant, since apparently Crane had that corner of the electorate sewn up. 18 police officers picketed the event, which may not have helped Crane a lot either.

Since Drew Ferguson used Crane's comments in campaign ads and rallied support from several Georgia sheriffs who have condemned the remarks:

Could it be that some pro-gun arguments, like "You should shoot cops dead if they bust into your home," might actually be beyond the pale even for Georgia Republicans? Possibly! Crane, who had been the front-runner in the initial round of balloting, lost Tuesday's runoff, and Drew Ferguson, by virtue of having an (R) following his name on this November's ballot, is almost guaranteed to win the general election. Bummer, Ted. Looks like people went and voted their consciences. Perhaps running on a platform that's too close to the Sovereign Citizen position isn't such a great idea after all.

This is not to say Yr Wonkette supports "no knock" warrants. We think they're an abuse of power, and far too likely to end up in tragedies like the one in Georgia. We just don't endorse shooting cops, you see. Imagine that -- we're less radical than some Georgia Republicans.

[ Crooks and Liars / Newman Times-Herald / Weekly Standard / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / AJC ]