It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Attempting to deflect some of the blame, Huckabee said in a statement on his website that if Clemmons was responsible for the shootings "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State."
He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990. This commutation making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him.
Mediaite's Steve Krakauer asks if the shooting suspect will end up becoming "Huckabee's Willie Horton."
The Washington Independent's David Weigel notes that at the HuckPAC website there is "trouble in Hucktown" where some critical comments are being left complaining about the former governor trying to deflect the blame.
"As I read this statement many share in the responsibility for allowing a dangerous man to roam the streets," one Linda Martino writes. "It lists many except Mike Huckabee. I would have been more impressed if Mr. Huckanee took some responsibility instead of naming everyone else. Either name all or don’t list anyone."
Clemmons served only a fraction of a 35-year prison term in Arkansas before his sentence was controversially commuted by the state's then Governor Mike Huckabee, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, the Times added.
""The senseless and savage execution of police officers in Washington State has saddened the nation, and early reports indicate that a person of interest is a repeat offender who once lived in Arkansas and was wanted on outstanding warrants here and Washington State. The murder of any individual is profound tragedy, but the murder of a police officer is the worst of all murders in that it is an assault on every citizen and the laws we live within.
Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. He was recommended for and received a commutation of his original sentence from 1990, making him parole eligible and was paroled by the parole board once they determined he met the conditions at that time. He was arrested later for parole violation and taken back to prison to serve his full term, but prosecutors dropped the charges that would have held him. It appears that he has continued to have a string of criminal and psychotic behavior but was not kept incarcerated by either state. This is a horrible and tragic event and if found and convicted the offender should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts and prayers are and should be with the families of those honorable, brave, and heroic police officers."
Those faces I saw when I looked across a table to sign a book gave me confidence that we're a nation that might be traveling uphill, but still a nation that knows how to climb uphill. I met people who believe that God still hears the prayers of His people when they repent, pray and seek Him. You might not know their names because they aren't famous to you, but God knows them and hears them. And I'm thankful for them. And believe in them. And because of them, I still believe in America and its future.
Seattle, Washington (CNN) -- Nearly 10 years ago, Maurice Clemmons pledged to make a fresh start.
"I come from a very good Christian family and I was raised much better than my actions speak," Clemmons said in a clemency application brief to then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2000. "I'm still ashamed to this day for the shame my stupid involvement in these crimes brought upon my family's name."
Clemmons was 27. He'd spent the past 11 years in an Arkansas prison, convicted of offenses including robbery, burglary, theft and taking a gun to school. He was facing a 95-year sentence.
.
Clemmons was 27. He'd spent the past 11 years in an Arkansas prison, convicted of offenses including robbery, burglary, theft and taking a gun to school. He was facing a 95-year sentence.