Killeen residents worry that they’re a target
After Nasser Abdo was arrested last week, some of the residents of Killeen, Texas are worried that they’ve become a target in the war against terror according to a Houston Chronicle article;
The city’s mayor, however, dismissed that idea, and said he didn’t know why Abdo came here.
“It could happen anywhere,” Timothy Hancock said. “It just happened to be here.”
It didn’t “happen” to be Killeen, Mister Mayor. Abdo came to Killeen because his lawyer, James M. Branum sent him there to take advantage of the hospitality of IVAW and the Under the Hood Cafe. Branum has been leaching off of the town and it’s residents for at least three years. Killeen and Fort Hood are Branum’s main focus of his anti-war operations against the Army and as long as the State of Texas allows him to practice law there, you’re always going to have a hotbed den of radical activists there who attract the Nasser Abdos of the world.
As long as Killeen’s law enforcement community and leaders deny that they know why Abdo just happened to show up there, it will continue. Unless you tar and feather Branum and run him out of town on a rail, and then shutter that Under the Hood shit hole. As long as Killeen tolerates those asswipes, they won’t be safe.
Category: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military issues, Terror War
But Jonn, didn’t you read UTH’s press release which states that they disavowed themselves of Abdo completely?
Oh no wait, they didn’t even mention Abdo, which is kinda funny since they also said to look at what IVAW said, and that was all about Abdo.
I’m with you, I think UTH is the crux of the entire thing, and their actions still seem to confirm that. If they weren’t aiding him, now would be a good time to come out and say that instead of the horseshit they put up on their page.
Okay, I’ll bite, TSO–how hard would it be, given Branum’s record, to get him disbarred in TX? Has anything he done thus far risen to the level of raising the ire of the state bar?
I doubt it. Dude sucks as a lawyer, but alas, that isn’t against anything I know of. Absent some sort of violation of Professional Responsibility (I take the test in 4 days) I doubt just having shitty clients is an issue.
So ineffective counsel isn’t reason enough? Damn.
It should be, but proving that it was ineffective on behalf of a third party isn’t. One of his former clients needs to do it.
Ever notice how they treat it like they’re doing something heroic like the underground railroad. It would be nice to see actual charges start to come out of this.
I agree with the mayor; Killeen isn’t the target, it’s Ft. Hood and the military and civilian personell that are part of the Ft. Hood system that are the targets.
Even if UTH is shuttered, there are other shitholes just like them that the IVAW and the other “resistors” will grab on to and we will see this kind of thing outside Ft. Lewis and maybe even Ft. Campbell and Benning. It will be a moving target at the least. I’m not saying UTH shouldn’t be shuttered, because I whole heartedly agree that it should, because even though my libertarian steak tells me that everyone should be able to say and express themselves as they choose, UTH has proven to be part of a criminal underground that includes aiding and abetting criminal activity.
Make your thoughts known:
101 N. College Street
Killeen, TX 76541
254-501-7600
Timothy L. Hancock, Mayor
Glenn Morrison, Interim City Manager
http://www.ci.killeen.tx.us/
OT: Killeen might not be the intended target, but apparently the restaurant that Abdo had planned on bombing was off-base, according to investigators, so certainly, any civilians in that restaurant would have been unintended victims, but victims nonetheless.
If the mayor ignores that part of the plot, he’s doing a great disservice to his constituents. if he doesn’t ask them to be vigilant and instead lulls them into a false sense of security, it borders on criminality.
If IVAW didn’t have an established presence in that city at UtH, Branum wouldn’t have a launching pad and an audience for his malfeasance.
True, Jonn, that civilians will be unintended targets. I agree that everyone should be vigilant and there are always going to be military personnel in Killeen, so you’re right that everyone needs to keep an eye open for suspicious activity. Just like the disco bombing back in the 80’s, US military personnel weren’t the only victims.
we will see this kind of thing outside Ft. Lewis
We already are. Coffee Strong outside the gate at Ft. Lewis, and Different Drum outside Ft. Drum.
Yeah, Sparky, I know about those, but what I was talking about is the radical types showing up and those that want to flee the military being protected by those hunyucks. So far, UTH has been the focal point, because as Jonn said, Branum is there. If it gets shut down, they will just move their bullshit to one of the other shitholes.
And, Big Sis Incompetano will make a statement about being vigilant, “see something, say something” in 3-2-1, right? Oh, that’s right, “the system worked”./sarc
The mayor seems to have his head firmly buried in his fourth point of contact, and can’t see the danger for the unicorns.
OT and JOnn, I don’t think civilians will be unintended targets, just collateral damage. The higher the body count, the better jihadist one becomes.
While you may not live there, it wouldn’t hurt to call them and give them a piece of your mind.
As a Killeen resident and Retired Army working on post I thought some insight to the Mayor and city council might help.
Currently the city council is in the middle of a recall due to incompetency (signatures for the mayor did not reach the numbers to recall him as well). The reason? Paying 750k for the city manager to leave quietly as well as a few other mis-management issues.
So you can see why us citizens in Killen are worried. Our city leadership are a bunch of idiots (to put it lightly).
Agreed, UpNorth, and that’s the part that should have the mayor worried, which is what Jonn was eluding to.
Having been stationed in Fort Hood; I can attest that Killeen isn’t known for it’s community of intellectuals.