The Sheriff Whines
The 3 April, 2008, raid by Texas authorities on the ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) was accompanied by much publicity spawned by the various agencies that were allowed to take part.
The raid was set in motion by an unknown telephone caller claiming she was captive on the ranch and was forced into underage wedlock.
Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran was very active in this from the start. He alerted his Baptist buddies in Eldorado of the need for bussing the day prior to the invasion. It was an opportunity to bring them into the inevitable pork barrel. And, they would have the chance to convert some heathens in the process.
No doubt, the Sheriff was excited. Perhaps he had dreams of a mass conversion of the infidels. He certainly basked in the subsequent publicity. The adulating media was unquestioning.
Doran was up front in claiming his own share of the limelight. He was as forthright as the others in making false claims and misleading statements in attempts to undermine the accused before any legal procedures began.
The authorities found a very complaint judge in 51st District Judge Barbara Walther. Walther swallowed the claim that the FLDS people were not caving to the demands of the Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) and Texas Rangers because of mothers praying with their children. Judge Walther ordered over four‑hundred children and adults to be spread around the state of Texas through the already overburdened foster care system.
Doran bragged about having a mole on the FLDS ranch but didn’t explain how that mole could not provide incriminating information. He did not explain why the invasion of the FLDS ranch had to wait for an uncorroborated hoax telephone call to be used as probable cause.
The mole was not named until September, 2008. The mole has not been present at the subsequent Grand Juries. The mole never produced any information that Sheriff Doran could use. Initially, Doran denied that a Becky Musser was his informant although her name surfaced early in the affair. However, in a September, 2008 Deseret News article, Becky Musser was named and Doran had stated in court documents that she was the informant. Musser testified against Warren Jeffs, FLDS President and Prophet, starting in 2006. The problem is how a person giving testimony against an FLDS leader can also be a mole in a FLDS community.
When things began to fall apart, a few voices questioned the authenticity of the caller who claimed to be an abused teen mother in the Ranch. Some questioned the basis for taking custody of all FLDS children living at the ranch and placing them into the foster care system.
Sheriff Doran continued to make claims of justification. He was happy to feed propaganda to a willing press.
But, the Texas Supreme Court determined that the State had overstepped its legal authority. After Judge Walther finished with her games, the children began returning to their homes. Most of the misidentified adult females had already been released.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, the parent of the CPS, continued with their undermining publicity campaign. The Texas PR, aka BS, machine was now urgently attempting to justify their thuggish behaviors.
Sheriff Doran joined in with his complaints and whining. He gave an interview on 3 June, 2008, published by the Deseret News to proclaim the just basis for the actions.
He justified the presence of police snipers and swat teams, along with an armored assault vehicle, claiming they were on the perimeter just in case. But, the fact that snipers were even called in presupposes the desire by law enforcement for a confrontation, perhaps even a mini Srebrenica.
In another interview published on 8 June, 2008, Doran claimed that there would be a justification for the invasion of the ranch. The reality is that the Texas authorities became obligated to justify their criminal behaviors and Doran signaled that criminal charges would be brought to save face. The Sheriff also claimed that he was just following orders in his part.
Then Schleicher County went on record to distance the itself from the investigation after things went south. What does Sheriff Doran have to say now?
Many still claim that the entire action by the State of Texas was justified. The basis for the justifications is that the FLDS is a cult, or that adult females were brainwashed, or that all FLDS males are pedophiles. But, these claimants are totally ignorant of the fact that people like Doran can use the same tactics on them. They are Doran’s kind of people.
by Brian McCorkle
in category FLDS
