Although a Texas police officer, who fired shots into a church during a drunken rampage, admits to his hate crime, he will not be indicted on charges

A Texas cop will not be indicted after firing shots at a church while intoxicated and half-naked. If it were anyone else, we’d be facing ten years or more, however, the thin blue line rears its ugly head again.

Deputy William Cox, of the Somervell County Sheriff’s Office, can be seen in photographs from his arrest, sitting handcuffed and crying in the parking lot of the church he set out to destroy. Cox has been terminated from his position with the Sheriff’s Office, a small comfort to the community who was the outlet of his rage.

On the morning of July 13, a drunk and disorderly Deputy Cox showed up at the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was here that he was captured on surveillance video, rambling on in a heated tirade before firing several shots into the building. The responding police agency, the Ovilla Police Department, obviously took pity on Cox, who claimed he fired into the church “cause my boys are getting killed in Dallas.” Of course, he didn’t stop there. He admitted his execution of a hate crime by stating “the black c—n start killing my boys.” Obviously, he felt shooting up what is an apparent African-American church was the best way to calm racial hostilities in Texas.

When police arrived, they found Cox in the parking lot, and later located his gun along with 28 shell casings. Reports fail to clarify if he actually fired 28 shots into the church or if he had been on a shooting spree elsewhere, before he arrived there that morning. Although Cox admitted to everything, he will not be charged. According to police, the “victim” refused to press charges.

The Rev. Vernon Sansom told the press, “He lost his career. He will never be back on the road as a law enforcement person,” which apparently seems enough if you’re a white cop in Texas. Not only was the decision to prosecute not up to the church, the extreme nature and admissions by Cox are enough to indict him for numerous firearms offenses, as well as label it a hate crime. The police on scene held Cox until a supervisor from the Sheriff’s Office responded and took custody of him. He was charged, but the charge was eventually dropped.

Cox wasn’t even required to have a mug shot photo upon arrival at jail. However, the Ellis County District Attorney, Patrick Wilson, may be the only one voicing reason in this case. He was apparently appalled at the decision not to file charges by law enforcement, describing the incident as inexcusable. “I cannot understand how these facts escape the narrative of favoritism. How can I dispel that narrative when these facts completely support that?” Wilson also condemned the failure to photograph Cox at the jail as an abuse of power. “This, in my mind, is a tremendous abuse of that discretion. And in today’s climate, it’s inexcusable.” Wilson’s scathing review of the failure to prosecute Cox are words of relief coming from a position that tends to cover for law enforcement at every turn. He has advised that he is conducting his own investigation into the incident, and why it was so dismally handled, as it was.

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