Jehovah’s Witnesses in Arkansas will soon be called to be witnesses of a different kind for John Baldwin, 35. Baldwin is charged with aggravated assault after firing 13 times at the Jehovah’s Witnesses who approached him in his front yard. After Baldwin told Laura Goforth, 47, and Rachel Boshears, 55, to get off his lawn, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were leaving when one of them heard Baldwin tell his wife “Get me my 9.” (A referenced to his Springfield XDM-9). While Isaiah 43:10 may proclaim “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen,” these pious folk will soon be called by a more earthly authority to bear witness.
Baldwin only moved into the neighborhood a month ago. The victims were from Kingdom Hall Jehovah’s Witnesses Church in Bentonville. They noted that they have a no contact list but that Baldwin was not on it. He appears to find it easier to express such preferences more directly. They say that Baldwin told them to “Get your fucking ass off my property. I moved out here to get away from people like you.” He reportedly told police that the women did not immediately leave but instead were “Lolly Gaggin” around their car. So how Baldwin then concluded that the best way to stop the “Lolly Gaggin” was with a hail of 9 mm slugs.
The women could also sue for assault in torts. This would seem a pretty clear case of acting “to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other or a third person, or an imminent apprehension of such a contact.” Then they might end up owning not just the lawn but his house as well.
He could now face jail time after being released on a $50,000 bond. It is not clear if Jehovah’s Witnesses are allowed to visit prisoners in Arkansas, but one can always hope.
Oops, typos mucked that up:
**Justice Holmes 1, October 2, 2013 at 10:50 am **
Are all you Big city boyz & Easterners a bunch of Girly Men wuzzies?
Thinking like that & you’ll have all our enemies thinking how easy it’d be to invade & take over. 🙂
Ya, I know, you’ve no humor on this subject & you feel strongly & that’s ok.
I’m not trying to sell you anything just attempting to show you that line in the sand you’re up against everywhere else.
OS,
It’s ironic this subject came up at this time.
I’ve many friends that are JW’s, I am not.
All the one’s I’ve meet over the last 40 years are nice people, they just have different beliefs then I & others.
I been thinking the past week or so I needed to call one of them.
One of the things I was going to address was they’re cult like behavior as I don’t believe it’s healthy for their group.
**Justice Holmes 1, October 2, 2013 at 10:50 am **
Are all you Big city boyz & Easterners a bunch of Girl Men wizzy?
Thinking like that & you’ll have all our enemies thing how easy it’d be to invade & take over.
Jeeze! 🙂
Back when my brothers/friends & I were younger, back in the Real USA, & we’d go fishing & hunting, we knew sometimes we were trespassing on other peoples land.
I have no idea how many times we’ve had guns drawn on us or shots fired at or in our general direction.
I can’t recall once ever even thinking about calling the laws or suing.
Property owners have property/livestock to protect & liability issues.
Check the other case out of Arkansas, Dogpatch USA & the 2 boys trespassing that ending getting killed all by themselves, trespassing, yet the owner was sued & Lost!!
Last I heard Oklahoma law required you to have Written Permission to be on someone else’s land legally.
So, ya, if you’re somewhere you don’t belong that citizen has some Rights Against you.
Now it could be Joe6pack was just target practicing, or maybe he was exercising his free speech Right & the Jesus had told him to speak in a language the JW’s would understand, with a 9?
Whatever the case the more you limmy Red Coat Brit types hate on the 2nd amd the more guns & pro 2nd congressmen/senators you are going to get!
Nobody has ever been as good a gun salesman & Republican vote getter then Obama. Is that what you want?
All that said, Joe6Pack Arky should have just helped them move along “Without the 9”.
Oky1,
The judge did not cut out the guy’s visitation, he just did a workaround for holidays and birthdays. The father was against any kind of gift giving or celebrating any sort of achievement. The kids told me he never complimented or praised them for any of their school or extracurricular achievements because of his religious beliefs.
These were good kids. Smart, accomplished and good candidates for full-ride scholarships. Their father was against them going to college, especially the girls.
I find that a stern look and “Get the (expletive of choice) out of my yard, you’re trespassing” usually works just fine and saves on ammo.
Another sicko bites the dust.
**The judge not only didn’t give him added visitation, but cut out visits on birthdays and holidays because he had forbidden them to celebrate or exchange gifts. **
**Judge was careful to not mention religion in his ruling, but based it on the desires of the kids, who were now old enough to make some of their own choices.**
OS,
Some of us think it’s better to attempt to give gifts & do nice things all year long for people rather then some govt’s arbitrary or celestial event.
And I guess that father should sue/bill that judge for any trouble those kids may get into since he’s taken on the roll to act as their father.
“E pluribus unum”
Ya, I guess the state must pound everyone down & Homogenize us to be all the same.
On the other hand I noticed some troubling tendencies with at least some JW’s of cultish type behavior.
That didn’t seem to work out so well for the Heavengaters.
And people said I was out of line when I used the water gun at the end of a hose.
I guess Baldwin is another one of those “responsible guns owners” we have all been hearing about. The thought that this man could even think that firing shots at these women was appropriate and acceptable conduct makes my blood run cold. He should be put away for attempted murder and they should file a law suit and take his house. While justice in the next world may be the Lord’s Baldwin deserves a little earthly justice as soon as possible!
@Mike Spindell Best. Response. Ever.
I have worked on cases where Jehovah’s Witnesses were involved, both as litigants and witnesses. The oath was altered to “promise and affirm” rather than “swear” to tell the truth.
One was a child custody case, where the father was petitioning for increased visitation with the kids, who were in their early to mid-teens. What he had managed to do, because of his militant religious views and practices, was to turn the kids into militant atheists as a reaction formation. The judge not only didn’t give him added visitation, but cut out visits on birthdays and holidays because he had forbidden them to celebrate or exchange gifts. Judge was careful to not mention religion in his ruling, but based it on the desires of the kids, who were now old enough to make some of their own choices. One of them told me she would be glad when she was free of the court orders, so she could cut ties with her father altogether.
Did he stand his ground against a dire threat to his religious sensitivity?
“get me my Nine” And she actually did? Both husband and wife are that far out of their skulls? And “any other person going door to door must have ID and a police background check”? How far out of the skull did that come from?
“Any other person going door to door, must have an identification and have passed a police background check.”
lolwhut, Brittious?
I heard that Jehovias Witnesses would not swear under oath in court and refuse jury service. Is that true? If so, how could they take an oath to testify? And still get into heaven. When they come to my door I sick my brother Jack on them. They get horrified when he tells them his name. Then he gets into his rant about God creating Dog on the Eighth Day. Then he lets the dogs out.
I read this on another blog, actually, but I totally agree with the thought…… This guy fired 19 shots, and he missed? This guy must be banned from ever owning a gun again…. with his poor marksmanship!!!!
Brittius, don’t get too hung up on Christians not proselytizing, since it occurs every day on the floor of Congress and on FOX News, and both of those organizations are pretty destructive in their own right.
JWs can be a pest, but so can Mormons and other oddball religions for sale. Threatening peaceful people with a gun is unnecessarily extreme. Saying please leave me alone, I don’t want to hear about your silly religion would have sufficed. If they persisted, threaten to call the police or mayor or whatever.
Sadly for too many Americans, thinking clearly is not the first option when a loaded gun is nearby and much easier to operate than your brain.
He may just get his due process…. But then again you got to get the witnesses to court first…..
They are a nuisance, and they are persistent.
Anybody can get an armful of comic books and go door-to-door, but who are they? How many have felony records? How many people are sex offenders?
Any other person going door to door, must have an identification and have passed a police background check.
Any other person, when told to leave, must do so. Not the Jehovah Witnesses! The door-to-door nonsense should be made unlawful for religious purposes. Why is it, that after Hurricane Sandy, there were Christian volunteers helping people. They worked removing debris and flood damaged furnishings from people’s homes. They brought cans of food for some people. Those Christians were told to leave by the municipality. None of those Christians ever went door-to-door to further religious memberships.
If I were on the jury, the Defendant in this case, would have an automatic “Not Guilty”.
Oh God. I know I should be outraged at this guy. But still. I think I may use that “get me my nine” line.