It was November of 2017 when Devin Patrick Kelley shot and killed 26 people and wounded 22 more at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, just east of San Antonio. Leftist ghouls like Chelsea Handler laid the blame at the feet of Republicans:
Innocent people go to church on Sunday to honor their God, and while doing so, get shot in killed. What country? America. Why? Republicans.
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) November 5, 2017
Now, a judge has ruled that the federal government bears 60 percent of the liability in a suit brought by survivors and relatives who claimed that Kelley should not have been able to purchase the firearms he used, clearing a background check despite a disqualifying offense when he was serving in the Air Force. It turned out that Kelley had not been entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), so the system failed.
Big ruling from Judge Rodriguez (W.D. Tex.):
After a bench trial, he's ruled that the federal government is 60% responsible under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the 2017 Sutherland Springs shooting, and will hold a separate trial to determine damages:https://t.co/PVkEnnkeFb pic.twitter.com/qAnZNSR0Eq
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) July 7, 2021
“Moreover, the evidence shows that — had the Government done its job and properly reported Kelley’s information into the background check system — it is more likely than not that Kelley would have been deterred from carrying out the Church shooting,” wrote Judge Xavier Rodriguez.
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Wow.
— Edmond Guidry (@edmondguidry) July 7, 2021
The government failed to report this murderous prohibited possessor's ineligibility status and criminal qualifying action to NICS which enabled the purchase to take place. https://t.co/zUIidNZE9N
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 7, 2021
The lack of personal responsibility is because most of the individuals who fucked this up retired or separated in the intervening years.
But trust me when I tell you it changed quite a few practices at least from the AF perspective.
— LT Pathfinder (@PathoftheJedi_) July 7, 2021
What’s the theory that the (admittedly terrible) behavior of the government was more causally responsible than the behavior of the actual shooter? Responsibility over 50% just seems obviously indefensible. What’s the theory?
— So Shiny (@Ring_of_Gyges) July 7, 2021
The Air Force was aware of his domestic violence history and didn’t report it to federal agencies that would have caught it during a background check and prevented him from legally obtaining a firearm.
— Kathleen Ryan (@kat8888) July 7, 2021
https://twitter.com/Romli490/status/1412767332888465411
'fraid this one's on Obummer. Think he'll pay?
"In 2012, while Kelley was serving in the Air Force, he was court-martialed on two charges of domestic assault after he beat and choked his wife, threatened her with a firearm and hit her infant son…"
— NePlus, white deplorable radical individualist (@NePlus4aiv) July 7, 2021
Thanks for posting this. Excited and humbled to now try the damages phase.
— Jamal Alsaffar (@Txtriallawyer) July 7, 2021
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