Eric Boehlert refuses to acknowledge armed citizens involved in stopping 1966 Texas Tower shooter; Instapundit schools

Doug P. | 5:32 PM on September 18, 2013

Ah, business as usual on Twitter.

Eric Boehlert and Instapundit Glenn Reynolds got into a debate after Media Matters published Boehlert’s article claiming that, among other things, the notion that armed private citizens can stop mass shootings is pretty much a myth.

A tweeter made this remark:

https://twitter.com/trestradapalma/status/380106635642818560

Boehlert chimed in:

@trestradapalma @vadum @1catherinesiena right, just ignore fact that 1 of most deadly mass-shootings in US history took place in Texas.

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 17, 2013

https://twitter.com/vadum/status/380127832497602560

Instapundit speculated:

https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/380128301358268416

@instapundit @vadum @trestradapalma @1catherinesiena Austin sniper killed by cops. but keep trying Glenn…

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 18, 2013

Texas police officers are credited with delivering the fatal shots to shooter Charles Whitman that day, but armed citizens did play a role, as Instapundit made clear:

https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/380137101809160192

@instapundit @vadum @trestradapalma @1catherinesiena pls tell me you don't teach history. just clueless: http://t.co/FjokLgT6SX

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 18, 2013

https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/380142568186474496

That’s true. This is from a CNN article:

As Martinez and Crum headed to the top floor, Martinez found out Crum was a civilian and quickly deputized him. They had to step over the bodies to make their way up to the Tower’s observation deck. Down below, armed citizens shot back with their deer rifles, offering resistance to the shots fired from above.