When news began trickling out that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had been killed, many Americans rushed to their TV sets for details, broke into chants at baseball parks or hit the streets to cheer the end of a 10-year manhunt.

But Milwaukee County Reserve Judge Russell Stamper had a different reaction.

He considers the death of bin Laden a case of coldblooded murder.

"I was saddened," said Stamper, who fills in for county judges when needed. "You murdered a man."

In a Facebook rant Monday, the 66-year-old jurist went even further, promoting the fringe position that it's not clear that bin Laden was the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. On top of that, he ripped a number of federal agencies.

"For me, if the choice is condemnation of the CIA, DEA, FBI and IRS or Osama bin Laden, it's an easy call," Stamper wrote.

"I remain unconvinced that bin Laden committed the 911 attack, whereas we know the lettered government organizations are thieves, assassins, dope peddlers, government destabilizers, did I say assassins?, arms purveyors and various and sundry other planetary criminals."

The comment got one thumbs up.

The judge stated later in the same discussion thread, "Death is a natural process, murder is not."

In an interview, Stamper didn't back away from his remarks.

He said there is "no firm evidence" that bin Laden was involved in the plot, which killed nearly 3,000 Americans when hijacked airplanes flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and, when passengers fought back, crashed in Pennsylvania. He did stop short of endorsing the conspiracy theory that the U.S. government orchestrated the attack.

But Stamper said if it was so obvious that the al-Qaida leader was behind what happened, federal officials should have brought criminal charges against him. He said he believes the Saudi-born jihadist had "a right to a jury trial."

"You can't go around helter-skelter killing people," said Stamper, who sat on the bench as a Milwaukee County Circuit judge for 13 years before being bounced from office in a tough race for re-election in 1996. "That's contrary to any sense of fairness."

Over the past decade, Stamper has served as a reserve county judge, earning as much as $63,000 a year filling in for elected judges when they are ill, on vacation or their dockets are overloaded. So far this year, Stamper has put in only 5 1/2 days as a reserve judge, getting paid $445.15 per day. That brings his total pay to about $2,448.

He also serves as chairman of the Community Brainstorming Conference, a monthly public affairs forum for the city's African-Americans.

Stamper came under some criticism in 2000 for likening now-Gov. Scott Walker to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and calling Walker and his friends white supremacists.

Told Monday that his views represented a minority perspective on bin Laden, Stamper brushed the point aside. At first he said the crowds cheering bin Laden's death might be the minority, but then he said many people may not be aware of the facts regarding bin Laden and 9-11.

"Maybe it's because of ignorance," he said.

He then went on his own Facebook page to elaborate on his interview with No Quarter.

He posed a question there that he raised repeatedly during the interview.

"Given the US emphasis on exporting democracy and justice to foreign gov'ts, is the killing of bin Laden without any due process protections fair or just?" Stamper wrote.

Had the U.S. taken the case to court, the veteran judge said he wouldn't have minded presiding over the trial. He explained that he believes the best judges are the ones who are nearly invisible during the case, like a good boxing referee.

By having American forces kill bin Laden, Stamper said, the executive branch of government was assuming a role reserved for the judicial branch. Over the weekend, President Barack Obama ordered a raid on the fortified compound in Pakistan where bin Laden was holed up. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden, one of his sons, a daughter-in-law and two al-Qaida facilitators.

Asked who exactly was responsible for the 9-11 attacks, Stamper was vague.

"We can only say with certainty that the people who knew were those involved," he said.

Milwaukee County Chief Judge Jeffrey Kremers, who appointed Stamper a reserve judge, distanced himself from the reserve judge's position.

"Personally, I strongly disagree with, and am bothered by, the comments attributed to Reserve Judge Stamper. I was unaware of his comments until I saw them today," Kremers said. "I have never heard a complaint from anyone that he uses, or has used, the bench to express his political views."

Thank goodness.

Daniel Bice can be contacted by phone at (414) 224-2135 or by e-mail at dbice@journalsentinel.com.