CNN reporter Bill Weir argued that the National Rifle Association's modern political agenda is inextricably tied to the concept of a race war.
This comes amid outrage over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's move to pardon Daniel Perry, a man convicted last week of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020 — which, Weir argued, ties into this ideology as well.
"What do you make of it?" asked anchor Kaitlan Collins. "I mean, given what Abbott is saying, is his defense about the Stand Your Ground laws in Texas and that side of this?"
"Why not let the sentencing play out?" said Weir. "It just seems to undermine the deliberations of 12 jurors who spent a long time, they spent several hours deliberating for a unanimous verdict there."
"But it's really at the heart of this for context," said Weir. "You go back to, there was a guy named Harlon Carter, who was living on the border in Texas back in the 50s. There was some racial tension with Mexicans nearby, he ended up murdering a 15-year-old boy with a shotgun, was convicted of murder, but then released from jail two years early because the judge didn't explain to the juror the proper definition of self-defense. At that time, Harlon Carter went on to be the head of the NRA. At the time, they pivoted from a club that was for marksmanship into a political wing that gave their first endorsement after 100 years of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Now that's 180 million guns ago in this country. The political force of that decision, who took the NRA in a place to fortify for a race war instead of a civic gun safety organization, was a key moment in history."
"I think you're seeing that play out now," Weir added. "This is like canonizing the Kyle Rittenhouses of the world. However you feel about what went down, to undermine just the basic sense of a jury trial at this moment and to choose sides in a gunfight based on who was protesting what, boy, that's dangerous ground."
"It feels like it's important to remember," Collins added. "You know what was introduced at the trial, were his messages that were, he — that Perry posted that day. One saying, you know, I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they're riding outside my apartment complex, I might go to Dallas to shoot looters. These are the words that prosecutors used against him in this trial."
Watch the segment below or at this link.
Bill Weir on the creation of the modern NRAwww.youtube.com
