The hunt for cop-killer Maurice Clemmons came to an end on a quiet residential Seattle street Tuesday morning, and there can be no question that the Pierce County man is responsible for the brutal murder of four Lakewood police officers barely 42 hours before he gasped his last breath on the pavement near a stolen car.
   He was fatally shot by a lone Seattle police officer checking on that car, which was still running. By all accounts, Clemmons approached that officer, who ordered him to stop and show his hands after recognizing the suspect from the wanted bulletin. When Clemmons did not comply and continued approaching, the officer fired. There will be a shooting review, questions will be asked, investigators will want to know whether the shooting was justified and within department guidelines.
   Incredibly, there are some in the community who are suggesting, in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Times on-line reader feedback forums, that this killing may  have an execution, as if Clemmons was not the triggerman at the Parkland killings or that he was simply gunned down by police in retribution for the Sunday murders. (Comedian Ron White perhaps says it best: "You can't fix stupid.")
 

Quote

I’ll kill all you bitches,” Maurice Clemmons told the Pierce County Jail workers who were trying to book him, according to court records.-Tacoma News Tribune

   In his possession when he died was a pistol he had taken from one of the four officers gunned down at a Parkland-area coffee shop Sunday morning. In his body was a bullet wound one of those murdered cops put there. He was the guy police were looking for. Based on the account of Tuesday morning's incident, it appears he may have been trying to flank the Seattle officer to shoot him. It was, by then, well-established that Clemmons had no qualms about killing police officers. Clemmons apparently left the murder weapon at the Parkland crime scene, but that still needs to be sorted out. I first wrote about this incident here. My colleague, Howard Nemerov, writes about it here.
   Authorities are already suggesting that Maurice Clemmons “slipped through the cracks” of the justice system. That is a lie. Clemmons instead appears to have walked through gaping holes in a system that can hardly be described as having anything to do with “justice.”
What does this have to do with gun rights? Hold that thought, we’ll get to it.

Quote

He was a mean SOB,” Larry Jegley, prosecutor in Pulaski County, Ark.-Tacoma News Tribune

   Clemmons had what has been described as “a violent criminal history” in Arkansas and Washington. He was granted early prison release several years ago by then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Republican presidential candidate and more recently a host on the Fox News channel with his own show. Unlike others in this case, Huckabee during a walking interview took some responsibility that Clemmons was out, and he appeared genuinely regretful. He told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that he was responsible for cutting Clemmons’ prison sentence, which made him eligible for parole.
   So far, Huckabee – to his credit – is the only public official who has uttered the words, “I’m responsible.”



   Some may now wonder why Huckabee was not clairvoyant; able to see nine years into the future to know what this monster would one day do. One suspects that politics has much to do with this, the eagerness to encumber a conservative Republican with a “Willie Horton” moment.
   But now let us get down to cases. Even Gov. Christine Gregoire was asking “how this guy was out on our streets” during a telephone interview with KING-5 News Tuesday morning, and she is a former attorney general.
   He was on parole for convictions in Arkansas. Huckabee never pardoned this man but only commuted his sentence. After moving to Washington, he apparently stayed out of trouble until May when he allegedly punched a police officer outside of his Parkland home. In July, he was jailed on several charges, including the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl.
 

Quote

On parole for various felony convictions in Arkansas, Clemmons was briefly jailed in May after allegedly punching a police officer during an incident at his Parkland home. He was again booked into jail in July on a series of allegations, including that he'd raped a 12-year-old girl at his home.
Clemmons' confinement was initially guaranteed by a no-bail warrant issued by the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections after he missed a Pierce County court date. That warrant was later dropped and Clemmons was released after posting bail on Nov. 23 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

   It is now reported he was acting increasingly bizarre, claiming to be Jesus or “The Messiah.” He also reportedly understood that if he were convicted of child rape, he would be going away for the rest of his life under Washington’s “Three Strikes” law.
   There was a no-bail warrant issued by Arkansas authorities but that warrant was reportedly dropped and Clemmons bailed out of jail on Nov. 23, less than a week before he entered the Parkland coffee shop with a gun in his hand and murder in his heart.
   No doubt authorities will trace the gun he used, and find out perhaps how Clemmons got it. Chances are it came from a family member or acquaintance, and it would not be surprising if that pistol was stolen. If one of his associates or family members – several of whom are now in jail or soon will be – knowingly provided that gun to Clemmons, they need to go down for that. As a convicted felon, it is illegal under state and federal statute for Clemmons to own or possess a firearm, and it is against the law to knowingly supply a gun to a convicted felon. He was evidently getting plenty of help from some people, and they're going to be held accountable.
 

Quote

Clemmons' relatives and friends provided him with medical assistance, cellphones, money and were making arrangements to help him leave the state. Some people provided misleading information to hinder the search for Clemmons - Seattle Times, quoting Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer

   Of course, when did that ever stop a thug from packing a gun?
   We know where he got the last gun he carried. It belonged to one of his police officer victims; so much for the political argument that “only cops should have guns.” Anyone who wants a gun bad enough for illegal purposes will take one. Clemmons’ first felony beef involved the burglary of an Arkansas State Trooper’s home in which that man’s gun was stolen, along with other items.
   Note to state legislators and gun prohibitionists salivating at the possibility of using this outrage as a platform to launch new gun control initiatives: Clemmons was a walking testimonial to the absolute failure of gun control laws, to say nothing of the “criminal justice system.” Make gun laws as Draconian as you can, you will never prevent someone like Clemmons from getting one while rendering his potential victims essentially defenseless.
   Four police officers are dead, their families are grieving beyond anything most of us will hopefully ever know. Their colleagues are heartbroken. The community needs to support them.
   In the aftermath, however, those who aided and abetted Clemmons, those who enabled him and armed him, will need to be held accountable for that, along with the legal system that is not merely cracked, but obviously broken wide open.
   Sadly and perhaps frighteningly, there are more people like Maurice Clemmons still walking around out there. What makes anyone think that such individuals – if they are willing to gun down four uniformed, armed police officers – would be any less willing to attack an unarmed private citizen?
   Thankfully, Maurice Clemmons will never have that opportunity again.