MAY 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 5

NOT SO BRIGHT AWARD lig

NOT SO BRIGHT AWARD lig ht bul b award SAME TO YOU LADY Describing this disgusting human being as a “lady” is a stretch. To be clear, that’s University of Texas-Austin Professor Barbara Laubenthal and she’s supposedly showing her displeasure with the noise created by some motorcycle clubs during the execution of Carl Wayne Buntion. Buntion was put to death on Thursday, April 21, 2002, for the killing of HPD Officer James Irby back in 1990. By the time the execution ended, many of the motorcycle club members had left the unit. Laubenthal uttered a profanity as she left the unit and flipped her middle finger in the direction of where the motorcycle clubs had been. Standing between her and them was a group of uniformed HPD motorcycle patrolmen who did not participate in the engine revving, Chief Troy Finner and Irby’s daughter. In the minutes before Buntion started his final statement at the Huntsville Unit death chamber, several dozen retired and active law enforcement with the Thin Blue Line and Los Carnales y La Familia motorcycle clubs revved their engines in a parking lot along Avenue H, northeast of the prison. The engines’ roar, which started around 6:10 p.m., could be heard in the chamber, located in the northeast corner of the building. The revving took place about 200 feet away from the chamber and lasted at least five minutes. Laubenthal, who witnessed the execution as a personal witness for Buntion, took issue to the noise caused by the motorcyclists. She said she heard the engines “loud and clear” in the chamber. She lodged a complaint Friday with Texas Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director Bryan Collier about the stunt — calling it harassment. “Parts of law enforcement on motorcycles disrupted the execution of Carl Buntion and roared up their engines to a point that made it hard to hear what was said in the execution chamber,” Laubenthal said in an email to Collier. “It was a childish and spiteful show of power and revenge while a human being was dying.” “This show of disrespect should not have been allowed and I urge TDCJ to prevent this kind of harassment of witnesses and the condemned in the future,” she continued. Following Laubenthal’s complaint, TDCJ spokesman Robert Hurst issued a statement on behalf of the state agency. “Individuals have the ability to gather and express their views outside the facility. TDCJ has no authority or intention of impacting that ability,” the statement read. Ray Hunt, HPOU executive director, defended the revving of the motorcycle clubs and said that is often done at executions of convicted killers of police officers to drown out death penalty opponents. The protesters shouted down Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg at times and banged a drum. “Death penalty opponents are incredibly disrespectful at these events as they use bullhorns and speakers to holler at the prison officials, district attorneys, police, and others who show support for the surviving family members at these incredibly emotional events,” Hunt said in an email to the Board of Regents and president. “The noise was initially intended to drown out the protesters and has since become a tradition showing respect for the fallen officer.” He called on the university to take action against Laubenthal “for her finger gesture” — which in a later email he described as a violation of law. Of course, the university took no action against Laubenthal, saying she has the right of free speech, and her FU was just exercising that freedom. Well that freedom earned you our LIGHTBULB award and we’re issuing a BOLO for Laubenthal in the event that she creates a disturbance in your district that might warrant further investigation. 102 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 103