Idaho County Sheriff Pulls Gun on Church Youth Group - Part 2

[katherine the great]

13 minutes ago, ksfisher said:

Well, I guess in the end no one here has "buy" anything as we have nothing to do with the matter.

Ooooh. Not so. Anyone who has a daughter will automatically put themselves in those girls places and see the event from their perspectives. Also the subject being an Idaho law enforcement official affects me because I live in Idaho. I have a vested interest in our law enforcement officers not doing things like that.

[Calm]

5 minutes ago, katherine the great said:

I don’t think that’s all he’s being judged on. I think maybe the F bombs, hair pulling  and gun pointing at young girls sort of put a backdrop behind him that other people would not see behind you. 😊

It appears he can be emotional and expressive when he wants to be.

[Calm]

20 minutes ago, pogi said:

The very first thing he mentions sorrow over is the effects on his "law enforcement legacy".   Is this really about the victims?

Most apology letters don't include a section entitled "factual basis" which comprises the bulk of the letter to explain what happened.  Ummm...they already know what happened.  They were there...looking down the barrel of your gun!   I find it interesting just how many "facts" he leaves out though.    Note that he is careful to include the "banging' on the door, "coupled with" the "slamming" of the screen door.  Ooh, a compounded terror of banging and slamming at his front door - how traumatic!  Only to be followed by a "cut-out turkey"?!!!  Oh the terror, the trauma!  He really expounds on why he was triggered, but leaves out much of the "factual basis" for why the girls must have been terrified.  He almost completely leaves out their experience.   Lets be careful to include the slamming and banging at his door, but neglect to include the yelling and cursing, etc.  at the victims.   It seems to be all about him, how he was affected, and his lost legacy.

The victim was dragged out of her car by the hair by a large screaming and cursing man with a gun pointed at her face.  He sums up that trauma of that victims experience by acknowledging that it will "leave an impression".  An "impression"?  Ya think!?  the victims are only noted in passing but he was careful to throw in an apology at the end to the...court.  

The most telling is who the letter is addressed to - "Judge Dunn".  

 

Out of points, but this is exactly what I see as missing.  He chose to include stuff that affected him (pretty minor stuff too), spent more time and effort on that, very little about what affected the girls or that they even existed or even how horrible that would have been for his neighbour to be in significant pain and in terror for her life.  It is shows no effort at compassion, even a poorly expressed attempt.

My dad wrote what were essentially business letters to employees instead to family letters (it was so bad, it was a family joke), so I know what a facts only, dry, no emotion but still caring letter looks like.  This is not it, imo.  Awareness of and interest in the other can still be expressed in a ‘business’ like way.

That he doesn’t mention the existence of the girls in the storytelling till the very end (they are just noises and shadows before) looks like major downplaying to me.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Calm

[Stargazer]

41 minutes ago, ksfisher said:

Yes, I am very serious.  You don't know how skilled a writer he is or what writing experience he has had.  Since he's a career law enforcement official I would assume he's spent a lot of time writing reports, which really don't train a person to express their emotions, do they? 

I hope that people don't judge me as harshly or doubt my sincerity based on my writing. 

People involved in politics (and a sheriff is in politics) can get people to write for them, and often do. Heck, he could have gotten someone on Fiverr to critique his letter for abjectness and sincerity for $20. Maybe we shouldn't criticize his skill as a writer but if the letter was grammatically correct with proper spelling, then he darned well knew how to write, and sincerity would have showed through. Instead what showed through was narcissism and a failure to accept actual responsibility.

[ksfisher]

It seems like the consensus here is that he should be locked up.

I'll stay out of it. 

[Calm]

2 minutes ago, ksfisher said:

It seems like the consensus here is that he should be locked up.

I'll stay out of it. 

I would prefer significant community service, anger management courses, possibly removing of his right to own and carry guns, paying for therapy for the neighbour and the girls, and maybe contributions to their college fund and a nice vacation for their leader.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Calm

[The Nehor]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

And where is his apology for blaming it on others to begin with?  I am not impressed with a months later apology that says nothing about doing anything to personally show the victims he was wrong or that his racist remarks that were not spoken in the heat of the moment were uncalled for.

The apology is a bare bones account removing all of the really inflammatory facts.  It is minimizing what he did. Perhaps it is the habit of making police reports, but there is no emotional recognition of the terror he caused, there is no recognition of the fact he was angry and yelling.  He does not mention the people he were threatening was not only his long time neighbour, but a car full of girls, they were just witnesses. There is no “Oh my gosh, I was a total jerk and idiot that night! I will never be able to take back what I did to all of them.”

It doesn’t read as that introspective or sincere to me.  It reads to me as the minimum of what his attorney advised him to say to lower his sentence.  Like I said above, maybe it is just habit, but maybe it is he isn’t really all that sorry about the harm he caused or recognizing he was totally irresponsible in his reaction. It doesn’t read as personal until the last few sentences. I would be wondering if I was reading a police report, a court document, or an actual apology if I was one of the victims. 

A thousand times this. He isn’t sorry about it. He is sorry he got caught. He was perfectly willing to cover it up and blame others for what happened. A reckless abuse of power and it is doubtful this is the first time it has happened. Just the first time his target had the ability to push back.

[Vanguard]

Just now, ksfisher said:

It seems like the consensus here is that he should be locked up.

I'll stay out of it. 

I'm certainly not part of 'the consensus' if that's the case. As has already been acknowledged, perhaps he's had private communication with the victims and they've reconciled? Perhaps? So what are we all talking about? Geesh, here's to castigating another with so much that is not known in this case. Good grief. : ( 

[Vanguard]

23 minutes ago, katherine the great said:

Ooooh. Not so. Anyone who has a daughter will automatically put themselves in those girls places and see the event from their perspectives. Also the subject being an Idaho law enforcement official affects me because I live in Idaho. I have a vested interest in our law enforcement officers not doing things like that.

How is it that anyone having a daughter - instead of anyone having a son - makes any difference? Isn't this really about the victimization of youth regardless of the sex?

[The Nehor]

2 minutes ago, Vanguard said:

How is it that anyone having a daughter - instead of anyone having a son - makes any difference? Isn't this really about the victimization of youth regardless of the sex?

Yes.

5 minutes ago, Vanguard said:

I'm certainly not part of 'the consensus' if that's the case. As has already been acknowledged, perhaps he's had private communication with the victims and they've reconciled? Perhaps? So what are we all talking about? Geesh, here's to castigating another with so much that is not known in this case. Good grief. : ( 

If he is privately communicating with the victims either his lawyer is an idiot or he is.

[Vanguard]

4 minutes ago, The Nehor said:

Yes.

If he is privately communicating with the victims either his lawyer is an idiot or he is.

On that point I agree. Much like if he didn't vet his letter with council, both he and his lawyer are idiots.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Vanguard

[katherine the great]

4 minutes ago, Vanguard said:

How is it that anyone having a daughter - instead of anyone having a son - makes any difference? Isn't this really about the victimization of youth regardless of the sex?

Uhhh. Because in this case they were girls? (and the lady who was yanked from the car was definitely female) 

[Vanguard]

Just now, katherine the great said:

Uhhh. Because in this case they were girls? (and the lady who was yanked from the car was definitely female) 

IMO, much better said "Anyone who has a child...".

[katherine the great]

28 minutes ago, Vanguard said:

IMO, much better said "Anyone who has a child...".

Oh please. Maybe we should refer to the sheriff as “they” instead of “ he”.  🙄

[The Nehor]

55 minutes ago, katherine the great said:

Oh please. Maybe we should refer to the sheriff as “they” instead of “ he”.  🙄

Maybe, as far as I know the sheriff never shared his/her/their pronouns.

Edited August 25, 2022 by The Nehor

[Calm]

I just went and reread the resignation letter.  He speaks solely in positive ways about himself, points out he has been successful as a law officer and that he is proud of his service.  And his reason for resigning pretty much paints him as the victim.  People are focusing on him as an individual?, so he’s become a distraction.  No reference to why they are focusing on him.  No acceptance of responsibility for drawing such attention.  

Ksfisher posted it here:  https://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/74751-idaho-county-sheriff-pulls-gun-on-church-youth-group-part-2/?do=findComment&comment=1210111622

Maybe he just wanted to end on a positive note and that is why he is practically gushing, but he managed to get a whine and a little “poor me” in there too, imo.  The acting like his issues are trivial and just a matter of optics here again underlines to me how he is minimizing what he did (after all, he was “as clear as a freakin’ bell”!, just had one wee drink much earlier in the evening, had all his faculties, not drunk at all even if he didn’t recognize his longtime neighbour and friend after she told him her name), blaming anything (time change messed him up?) and anyone (those awful, “not good” “reservation people”) and the trauma his victims went through and the complete lack of anything that would be expected of a law officer in his reaction…first letting himself get triggered by what was merely suspicion and a cut out turkey that said “thank you”; letting himself lose control (even though it had to take a bit of time for his wife to get his gun and give it to him) by reacting in anger with excessive yelling and swearing at inoffensive persons who weren’t even on his property by then, but who he had to go out of his way to detain; being outrageously unaware of his actual surroundings by not registering it was a gratitude note (the “thank you” on it being the biggest clue, though I would have thought it being a cut out turkey in November would have given him enough reason to pause for a moment) and not a death threat written in blood stuck to his door with a knife and that it was just his very well known neighbour with a bunch of formerly giggling girls in the car even though he apparently took the time to look into the lighted car at all the occupants and she told him her name, and finally by allowing himself to respond so inappropriately with brutal and potentially fatal force); and finally refusing to accept responsibility and resigning until ten months later when it was likely either that or no plea bargain.

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/idaho-sheriff-craig-rowland-charged-youth-group-gun-bingham-county/277-01e39a94-4c82-4fd2-a61a-05dcca5b9920

Would he be brushing it off if it was one of his “not good reservation people” pulling a woman from a car and pointing a gun at her?

The two letters together do not read like a man who is accepting much more than a smidgen of responsibility for his own very offensive and dangerous behaviour, someone who should be well aware of the impact of that behaviour given his 36 years in law enforcement.  

And he obviously has such great respect and care for women given his confidence that there is no need to process rape kits since most accusations are lies because it’s really just consensual sex.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/idaho-sheriff-rape-victims-lie-assaults-article-1.2566191

He told his boss he “really screwed up”, but was his concern for himself or his victims?

Edited August 26, 2022 by Calm

[Calm]

According to this the plea bargain is it.  Originally it was potentially five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.***

Quote

“In exchange for the plea, the parties have agreed to probation and 10 days of jail to be served during the course of that probation,” Wilkinson said in an email. “These provisions are binding on the court.”

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2022/08/former-bingham-county-sheriff-pleads-guilty-to-aggravated-assault/

Probation and ten days in jail.

Unless there is some other condition attached (such as some of his retirement paid for by the people goes to his victims), I am guessing he and the DA are good buddies.

I hope the lawsuit goes well.

***Or maybe that wasn’t originally, but what the DA stated to begin with though he could have asked for more:

Quote

Rowland is facing more than 20 years in prison and fines of up to $56,000 if he’s convicted on all charges. Those numbers could increase significantly if prosecutors are successful in adding “firearm enhancements” to the existing charges, which would tack on up to 30 more years of prison time if Rowland is convicted of them.

https://newsone.com/4268813/idaho-sheriff-craig-rowland-update/

I wonder if his trailer is still parked on the woman’s property.  After all, nothing else seems to have changed for him except a brief leave of absence shortly after it happened and taking his retirement a few years early maybe (he graduated high school in 77, so likely 63).   Could get hired by another department though, right?  Wouldn’t be the first time it happened.

https://www.eastidahonews.com/2020/10/craig-rowland-challenged-by-vaughn-lefevre-in-bingham-county-sheriffs-race/

Edited August 26, 2022 by Calm

[Calm]

So he called his boss the next morning to tell him.  I bet since he was the sheriff and she was probably scared out of her mind he had lost it because he didn’t even recognize her after she told him her name—I believe she said his eyes were blank—his neighbour did not call the police and therefore no one went out to check on him that night.

Which means he escaped having a blood alcohol test.  So no one can challenge his “one drink” claim. His wife probably backed him up, maybe she didn’t know.  Maybe he sobered up right quick when he got back into his house and realized he pulled a gun on and threatened a YW’s class.  Or maybe he went back in and bragged about how he scared off the “drunk Indians” that had been harassing them, but she stands by her man.  Who knows.  All we know is no one has said anything about his actual alcohol level and I am thinking that is because it was way too late to test him the next morning when he finally spared a minute to report himself.

Couldn’t be because he knew he wouldn’t pass, right?

Unless he typically has blackouts…

PS:  I found my missing $200 specially designed bedding that I bought a year ago just for this moment (it was in the shower…hey, no one is using it during the renovations, what better place to store stuff?), so now I can make my brand new queen size four poster, beautifully coiffed bed…and go back to sleep in my rumpled little twin for a few more nights until the paint smell is for sure gone.  So now I no longer need distraction from my grief at my profound loss, thus this is officially my last post on the subject…at least till the morning or rather afternoon given my sleep schedule, lol.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Calm

[Scott Lloyd]

On 8/25/2022 at 3:42 PM, katherine the great said:

Oh please. Maybe we should refer to the sheriff as “they” instead of “ he”.  🙄

Please, no!

[The Nehor]

1 hour ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Please, no!

Yes, be the new singular pronoun.