Ted Poe: “I spent 30 years as a prosecutor and as a judge at the courthouse in Houston, all in the criminal courts building. I am…”

“I spent 30 years as a prosecutor and as a judge at the courthouse in Houston, all in the criminal courts building. I am very familiar with the individuals who work in the courthouse, who protect those who come to the seat of justice, to the bar of justice to seek grievances against our government. Throughout those years, it became obvious to me that, in our country, the way we settle disputes is at the courthouse where we have two sides, sometimes more than two sides, who show up to argue their cases. Then there is a ruling by the judge on the law. Yet sometimes, as in this case, people show up at the courthouse and wish to take matters into their own hands in a violent manner. We have folks at the courthouse who protect us, not just the lawyers and judges, but to protect those people who come to the courthouse to seek justice. Those people in our system are called the security officers, or bailiffs, as they are called in Texas. More than once, unfortunately, I have had the unfortunate opportunity of having seen people disagree with what took place in the courthouse and of having seen them get out of control. Yet those security officers, those bailiffs, those deputy sheriffs were there to protect the seat of justice. These are examples of two of those. One was killed, and one was wounded in making sure that justice prevails in our justice system and that the law is not taken advantage of in a violent manner.”