By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. began the most recent meeting of Val Verde County Commissioners Court by calling for a moment of silence, asking those present to reflect on the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Lewis, a Democrat, also spoke to the court and audience about his belief that the attempt to assassinate Trump cannot be considered normal behavior. The county judge made his remarks during the court’s July regular term meeting on Wednesday.
After the moment of silence ended, Owens said, “What happened should not be normal. We have people that are running for office, and we need to respect that. If you don’t like the individual, vote for the other one, but this man was our president, is running for president again, and the actions that were taken, again, just cannot, can’t, be part of our damn society. It just can’t.
“This man deserves all the respect possible, for the simple reason that he has taken it upon himself to run, and us as elected officials, people that have run for office, people that are running for office, it takes a lot on your family, on your friends and everybody else. This is something that should not be part of our society,” Owens said.
After the meeting, Owens expanded on why he felt it was necessary to include the moment of silence as part of the court’s official proceedings.
“Our world seems like it’s come completely unhinged. I mean, people take it upon themselves to run for office. They put their families through it, and it’s okay to have differences of opinion, but whether you agree with (former) President Trump or with President (Joe) Biden, and it don’t matter Republican or Democrat, it just can’t be what you expect to be normal,” Owens told The 830 Times.
He added, “If you have a difference of opinion, if you don’t agree with somebody, now you want to eliminate him. It just doesn’t make sense. Our world has just gotten crazy. When I started (the meeting), I said I wanted to have a moment of silence, and I go back to, this just can’t be normal.
“We can’t have this to be what is expected of our society. You disagree with somebody, and now I take it in my own hands and not only ruin my life, but ruin that individual’s life and their whole family’s life. It just doesn’t make sense to me. If you disagree with him, go vote against him, and if you really don’t go get a bunch of people to vote the way you think, or run yourself,” Owens said.
“At the meeting, I looked out in the audience, and I’ve got three people there who are still running for office, and whether we like or dislike them, whether we agree with them or not, these individuals have taken the time to run, and you have to respect that, and I think we’re just getting further and further away from what we’re really all about.
Owens reiterated several times that behavior like the would-be assassin’s has no place in American society.
“There is just no room in our society for that. (Candidates) put themselves in a position where they want to help, and they put their families through it, and everybody is quick to criticize anything anybody does, but to take that type of action? No. No.
“And then you have innocent bystanders that were hurt, and one that was killed. There is absolutely no room for that in our society. We need to take step back, and think about what we’re doing, and realize that this just isn’t right. It just isn’t right, and it absolutely can’t be normal,” Owens said.
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