The QueQue: Racist gun instructor proudly shame-free, After Willingham: Arson investigators get new rules, UTSA prof considers Libyan run for presidency

Racist gun instructor proudly shame-free

Hill Country gun instructor Crockett Keller has become Texas’ latest racist heard ’round the country. “Attention. Be a victor not a victim,” begins his advert for concealed handgun courses before taking an abrupt racist, xenophobic turn – a rant that’s now become a YouTube sensation. “If you are a socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner in chief” — we’re honestly a little surprised here he didn’t go with Barack Hussein Obama — “please do not take this class. You have already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision as required under the law. Also if you are non-Christian Arab and Moslem” — we assume he meant Muslim — “I will not teach you the class. Once again, with no shame, I am Crockett Keller.”

Just in case the ad wasn’t clear enough, Keller this weekend displayed a sign over his table at the Texas Gun and Knife Show at the Gillespie County reading: “If you are Muslim and will not pledge allegiance to the United States of America, I will not sell you any firearm or accessory.”

“We get so much of this stuff. …This is just one more bigoted remark, and the worst thing I guess is that these types of remarks just continue to divide our communities,” said Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Texas Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Texas Department of Public Safety has said it’s now investigating whether to revoke or suspend Keller’s license to give concealed handgun classes. “If he won’t train Muslims and he has these very harsh feelings toward Muslims, what’s he telling the people he’s training?” Carroll said, adding that he hopes the state takes quick action to revoke Keller’s instructor license. “Our answer is, get to know us, and don’t just take this slander and rhetoric as gospel,” said Carroll. “We have to continue talking to each other, that’s the only way things progress.” Inshallah.

After Willingham: Arson investigators get new rules

Since its creation, the Texas Forensic Science Commission has fought to provide meaningful oversight with one arm tied behind its back. The inquiry into one of the state’s most contentious executions, the death of Cameron Todd Willingham, sat stalled through official channels for years, and this summer Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott effectively quashed the commission’s investigation into the evidence used to convict Willingham.

Thankfully, some progress has managed to squeak through. This week, the commission approved new recommendations creating an extensive review program for all of Texas’ arson cases, along with revamped measures to improve future arson investigations. The State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Innocence Project of Texas will now start combing through the cases to determine whether faulty science has wrongfully put anyone behind bars.