Yes They Can Be

Travis Reinking

As Stacy likes to remind us Crazy People Are Dangerous

Travis Reinking is crazy. Among other things, he believed that Taylor Swift was stalking him. Last year, he was arrested at the White House after crossing a barricade, saying he wanted to talk to the President. The FBI and police in his Illinois hometown were aware of Reinking’s craziness, but they failed to lock him up in the nuthouse:

Good legs for stalking

The suspect in the killings of four people at a Waffle House restaurant in Tennessee had an encounter with law enforcement days before the rampage, when he stole a BMW, led cops on a chase, but ultimately got away, authorities revealed Monday.
The Nashville Metro Police Department said Travis Reinking, 29, stole a BMW from a dealership in Brentwood on Tuesday and let authorities on chase before they lost him in heavy rush hour traffic.
Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters cops chased the vehicle, but then opted to track the car via a GPS device.
The vehicle was recovered the same day at Reinking’s apartment complex in neighboring Antioch. Aaron said that authorities did not know Reinking’s identity at the time since he did not provide identification at the dealership before taking the vehicle.
“They had no idea who the man was,” he said. . . .
Reinking, 29, who was naked during the shooting except for a green jacket and assault rifle, may have “mental issues,” authorities said.

Reinking was captured this afternoon and will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. Too bad he wasn’t put in a lunatic asylum before he killed four people, but our society is so afraid to discriminate against the mentally ill that kooks are allowed to run loose.

Not all crazy people are dangerous, but enough of them are that we really need to deal with the issue getting known violent crazy people off the streets. Since the movement to allow the crazy to live free in the 60s came to fruition (deinstitutionalisation), society has been faced with this problem. Housing them was expensive, but forcing them out on the street has proven more expensive. And no, he should not have been given his guns back.

Also, another case where the law enforcement institutions failed:  Breaking: FBI Admits Being Warned About Waffle House Killer

The FBI is admitting it was warned in advance about the crazed killer who randomly killed four people at a Tennessee Waffle House. The FBI, which interviewed the killer, is nonetheless defending its conduct.

"I've come with a prepared statement from the FBI and I'll read it to you and then we'll be available for questions later," the FBI special agent in charge, Matthew Espenshade, said. "'In July of 2017, the FBI’s Springfield, Illinois field office received information regarding Travis Reinking from the U.S. Secret Service. In coordination with the Secret Service and state and local law enforcement, the FBI took investigative steps to include database reviews and interviews. Coordinated action was taken with the Illinois State Police to revoke Mr. Reinking's firearm owners identification card and Taswell Country Sheriffs Office to then remove firearms in his possession. After conducting all appropriate investigation, the FBI closed the investigation of Reinking in 2017. I feel confident the FBI took all the steps of federal jurisdiction that we could at the time."

It wasn't nearly as much fun as trying to take down a President.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Bikini Barrel Racing?" and "FMJRA 2.0: Exactly What You Wanted" up and running at The Other McCain.