Burnet County Judge James Oakley
A Texas county judge is in hot water for posting a racist Facebook comment about a Black suspect accused of ambushing a San Antonio police officer over the weekend.
Burnet County Judge James Oakley typed the words “Time for a tree and a rope” under the mugshot of accused cop-killer Otis Tyree McKane, 31, who was taken into custody Monday for shooting and killing Det. Benjamin Marconi as he sat in his police cruiser Sunday.
McKane is being charged with Marconi’s murder.
According to the Austin Statesmen, Oakley has since removed the post from his Facebook page, but reporter James Walker and blogger Larry Landaker of PEC Truthwatch managed to get a screenshot of the racially-charged comment before it was taken down.
Screenshot courtesy of Larry Landaker.
“What Mr. Oakley suggested was racist,” Landaker said of the judge’s offensive remarks in a blog post Tuesday. “A sitting County Judge in Texas suggested that a black man accused of a crime … should be lynched. … There is no place on the PEC board of directors for an open racist. This is not political correctness. It is racism in its rawest form.”
Not only is Oakley a sitting county judge, but he serves on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s executive committee and the board for the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, as well, the Austin Statesman reports. Landaker also previously served on the PEC board.
Oakley hasn’t issued a statement or apology of any sort since making the racist remark. There’s no word of whether he’ll be reprimanded either.
“If he does not apologize, he should resign,” Landaker wrote. “He should resign both of his positions – as county judge, and his seat on the Board of PEC. He is not fit to serve.”
“If he does not resign from PEC, other directors should impeach him.,” he continued. “They should call a special meeting of the board and address the matter forthwith.”
As for McKane, the accused cop-killer has since apologized for his actions, saying he “lashed out” at the officer due to personal issues in his life.
“I’ve been through several custody battles, and I was upset at the situation I was in, and I lashed out at someone who didn’t deserve it,” McKane said as he was carted off by police to Bexar County Jail on Monday.
According to USA Today, a marriage license obtained by KENS-TV showed that the accused shooter was married just one day after the deadly shooting. He was arrested Monday after being located with an unidentified woman and a young child.
