Texas judge James Oakley was in hot water last week after he made racist comments via his Facebook page. The first Republican judge of the state’s Burnet County took to the social media network and essentially called for the lynching of a Black suspect accused of killing a police officer.
Local outlet Statesman.com reports:
The top elected official in Burnet County commented on Facebook that it is “time for a tree and a rope” in a post regarding the arrest of the man suspected of killing San Antonio police Det. Benjamin Marconi this weekend, according to a screenshot of the Facebook post.
This screenshot was taken by James Walker, who previously covered Burnet County for the Burnet Bulletin newspaper.
The post is no longer on Oakley’s Facebook page, but a screenshot shows that the comment was posted from his personal account.
Oakley appears to have made the comment Monday, after Otis Tyrone McKane was arrested. McKane is charged with killing Marconi. The detective was shot as he sat in his vehicle Sunday after making a traffic stop.
Judge Oakley said his comments about lynching McKane were “off the cuff” and “curt and harsh” among other statements. He added that he deleted the comment after not thinking through his response.
The judge didn’t do himself any further favors by tacking on that he supports the death penalty in extreme cases but cemented the point that he is an administrative judge and does not oversee criminal cases.
[h/t] Crooks and Liars
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Photo: Burnet County Government
