http://www.firstamendmentcenter....s.aspx?
id=19647
Here's another link with more background on the friction between Thornton and the town.
Thanks, PC, but I link that article early in the blog post. Remember -- you gotta check the blog post first 
Well just another crazy story to come out of that town... the rescue of Ben and Shawn... and now this. I wish the town peace.
I'm from Kirkwood. You're right, this is so strange for the town. During my entire childhood there was only one killing. In the past year there was Ben and Shawn, a police officer was shot by a teenager and now this. I don't know what's going on. It's so unfortunate, it's truly a wonderful place.
T. N. B.
what is going on in the last day or so? all of these mass shootings and rampages all over the states in just the last 24 hours.. the latest being a woman shooter in baton rouge.. interested in more info on that as it comes it.. i can't think of any other school shooting where a woman was the shooter..
Unfortunately there is a breeding ground of a slum within the otherwise stable community. The Meachum park neighborhood also spawned the scum who killed a police officer two years ago. (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/
stories.nsf/story/
E31B0DD0DE277722862573E2004ACAFB?OpenDocument).
These murderers have got to go.
What if only the military and officers of the law were permitted to carry guns?
Oh, never mind.
America hates me for saying that...
"Cookie" Thornton's brother sounds as half-baked as he did.
"Another article in the Webster-Kirkwood Times from May, 2006: "Police Drag Resident From Council Meeting." A quote:
Years of contentious behavior by Kirkwood resident Charles "Cookie" Thornton came to a head on Thursday, May 18, when two Kirkwood police officers dragged him out of the Kirkwood City Council chambers in handcuffs..."
The phrase, "came to a head", was spoken a bit too soon. That time, (spoken about above where he was arrested), was apparently just the tip of the iceberg.
I feel like we are living in an insane world with all these killings in one day. Is there something in the water or air? Global warming's fault? (guess I should ask Al Gore that one! ) Full moon?
Lisa, I respect your opinion, even though I think differently. Where there's a will there's way. Just ask the people in the government and LE who tried to uphold the prohibition laws. Trying to prevent something like guns or drugs just gives "bad guys" another method of making big bucks. I'd prefer to own one to protect myself, because once again had the people in that meeting had guns I'm quite positive the death count would have been less. At least they'd have had a chance.
Too many guns around.
Looks like somebody is trying to crank up the gun control debate in your comments section even after you explicitly asked folks not to go there, Steve.
Al
--
Al ias Always In Flyover Country
This story is beyond disgusting. It reminds me of the guy who killed the Federal judge's husband and mother a few years ago because she threw out his malpractice case.
People allow themselves to stew in their anger and misery and take it out on someone else.
And his brothers are just as deluded as he was. There is no justification for what he did.
Kirkwood IS a beautiful place. It is Victorian, big porches, old families, good neighbors.
But calling Meacham Park "a breeding ground of a slum" and asking for its removal is horrible and shows ignorance. And it is exactly this injustice that the members of Meacham Park are so frustrated about. Read about the history of the community and make sure you do so from a variety of choices. Meacham Park was annexed by Kirkwood in 1991 and the results are a mixed bag of good and bad for both communities, and seen by many residents as a land grab by Kirkwood. When the new strip malls were built at Big Bend and Target, it was Meacham Park residents that gave up their homes and history to TIFfed progress.
Does frustration and injustice mean that one should retaliate by killing? Absolutely not. What Cookie did was wrong. And tragic. And horrible. Unjustifiable. Shame on you, Cookie. I am mad at you. How dare you decide that you get to decide that someone should die. How dare you purport to be a defender of the constitution and then take the law into your own hands. You lost faith, Cookie. Faith in change. And I am so sorry for that - but angry and sad as well.
"Cookie" Thornton's brother sounds as half-baked as he did."
Nancy, Gerald Thornton did prison time for stabbing a man to death, so his attitude isn't entirely surprising. Wonder what *that* family dynamic was like during their formative years.
Al: is it prohibited to discuss gun-control? I'll never understand the American rules of free speech. Please correct me when I step on lines! Thanks for info! Kirsti!
I don't understand how Americans debate. I'll never get it. What is a troll?
English being my second language, I know spell-police will come after me.
But now I understand that gun-controll is another issue we are not allowed to discuss. If you do, you are a TROLL!
Americans have freedom..a blessing lots of people don't have around the world.
All you use it for is to call each other trolls. Dumb as planks, you are. Dumb as planks,, f...ing idiots.
There are a plethora of other blog comment sections and news groups and message boards and big-f forums where one may discuss the wisdom and insanity of gun control to satiation and beyond. At http://tinyurl.com/ysu5jo Steve implied he wants the comment section of his true crime blog to be reserved for a discussion of the subject matter of the post rather than being hijacked and repurposed to host a hot-button issue.
In other words, Steve's blog, Steve's rules. I have two options: honor those rules or go play somewhere else. I choose to honor those rules.
As an American I do have certain rights, among those being the right to speak freely. What I do not have is the right to force others to listen or to play host to my speech. Steve's limits are generous; nevertheless, they do exist. And from what I gather, the gun control argument is outside those limits. Again, Steve's blog; Steve's rules.
As far as the troll thing, you can find some history and several definitions at http://tinyurl.com/5vzx2
And now to bring this comment out of meta-space and back within Steve's limits. I lived in the same neighborhood, metaphorically, where Cookie Thornton lived. I grew up next door to the hellion kids of a hero cop, or some damn thing. We had stuff stolen, had our windows broken, had warnings from animal control because the hellions were taunting our dog and making him bark, had continuous harassment, had loud parties next door during the week, had drugs being bought and sold next door, and the entire panoply one could imagine when the ne'er-do-wells were under police protection. I joined the service and left, though; I didn't go shoot up city hall.
Al
--
Al ias Always In Flyover Country
Velouria:
I guess we'll find out just how screwed up the Thorntons are/were as a family soon enough.
Speaking of whacked families, Darren Mack's seem to be as full-bore narcissistic as he is, judging from their incoherent/delusional defenses of him on TruTV.
They've begun the process of remodeling. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday...B4?
OpenDocument
I'm not sure that covering up and hiding the fact that it happened is what is going to help the city move on. In a way, I almost wish they would leave the bulletholes. Maybe I just think it's too soon.
Commenting by HaloScan
