It is legal to use deadly force to protect statues in Texas?
A viral message claiming to come from a police officer states that it is legal to use deadly force to protect a statue at night time.
On August 15th 2017, Phil Ryan posted the below message that quoted the Texan Penal code, with the “bottom line” that it is legally acceptable to use deadly force to prevent vandals attacking statues (given the timing of the message, it seems plausible that Ryan posted the message to refer to Confederate statues)
Despite Ryan’s potentially dangerous claims, both legal experts and the police have stated that Ryan is outright wrong.
Firstly it should be noted that Phil Ryan’s message was not an official message from the police or the Tioga Police Department where he worked, despite some blogs representing it that way. In fact, upon Ryan’s message going viral across social media, he was consequently fired from his role as a voluntary “unpaid reserve officer.”
Tioga Police Department, who were unaware of Ryan’s post until media bought it to their attention, since stressed that the post doesn’t represent the police department’s position.
Since the post went viral, a number of authorities have denounced the message, including the Granbury Police Department (who have a controversial statue of General Granbury in their jurisdiction).
With all of the current talk and controversy involving the statue of General Granbury, there has been a significant escalation in talk that we feel we must address. There is a person claiming to be a police officer and instructor (unknown if he is or is not) who is posting inaccurate information on social media sites. The posts in question are interpreting chapter 9 of the Texas Penal Code to allow a person to use deadly force against another for simply vandalizing a statue. This is absolutely not true.
The specific section being argued starts with TX Penal Code Section 9.42, which states a person can use deadly force to stop another person from committing Criminal Mischief at night. That section covers a person protecting their own property and is part of a prerequisite for protecting a third party’s property, which is covered under Section 9.43. Unfortunately, there is a very important part of 9.42 that is being missed. That is a requirement that, in addition to seeing a person commit Criminal Mischief at night, the person using the force must reasonably believe the following:
(A)The land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means, or
(B) The use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.
When the entire statute is read, it becomes obvious this issue is not nearly as simple as some would have you believe. It is not legal to shoot someone for simply vandalizing a statue, regardless of what some are claiming. There must be other factors involved to justify deadly force. Additionally, you must ask yourself if it is worth it to take a life over a piece of property which doesn’t even belong to you, even if the action may be legally justified.
The Granbury Police Department does not recommend confronting anyone under these circumstances. We ask that you call 911 and be the best witness you can be. If you can continue to watch the suspect(s) safely, please do so until officers arrive.
As with any other issues, please feel free to call the police department with any questions at 817-573-2648.
Other legal experts have pointed out that the penal codes quoted by Ryan only refer to “tanglible and moveable” private property, and a statue wouldn’t qualify.
The real bottom line is this – if you kill someone because they were vandalising a statue, you’re likely to end up in serious trouble.
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