Murder in Spokane – Police chief suggests 88-year-old partly to blame for thugs killing him

OK, maybe I’m being a bit harsh on the chief in the headline, but suggesting something Delbert “Shorty” Belton did escalated the situation sets me off. Spokane, Wa, Police Chief Frank Straub stated the 88-year-old Belton – who was brutally murdered by two teenagers – fought back during a robbery and “may have made this … a worse situation.”

From CBS News.

World War II veteran Delbert Belton may have fought back against the two teens suspected of beating him to death outside a Spokane, Wash. Ice-A-Rena, police said in a news conference Monday morning, reports CBS affiliate KREM.
Belton, who was shot in the leg during the Battle of Okinawa, was killed during an apparent robbery Wednesday outside the Eagles Ice-A-Rena. Authorities say two young men attacked Belton in his car outside the arena as he was waiting for a friend.

“Our information is that the individual fought back and that may have made this, you know, a worse situation,” said Spokane Police Chief Frank Straub in a press conference Monday morning. “I’m not being critical of Mr. Belton, we certainly encourage individuals to fight back, and he should have. But it shouldn’t have happened to begin with.”

Sorry chief, you can’t have it both ways. The man was rightfully fighting for his life when two teenagers tried to rob him and he resisted. Unlike cable TV, mobile phones and health care, we do have an unalienable human right to life, liberty and our property.

Certainly people have to do what they have to do when being robbed by thugs. They can make the choice to submit – and maybe die – or choose to fight back. Delbert Belton fought back and I have tremendous amount of respect for the man. All of the blame here – ALL OF IT – falls on the two thugs who beat this man to death. For those of you who think he should just have given up his wallet and be a quiet victim, let me remind you of the convenience store clerks who have recently been murdered after handing over the cash. These thugs don’t like witnesses, and there is a possibility they will kill you even if you comply.

I’m not telling you to fight back, that’s your own decision. But facts are what facts are.

The suspected thugs who have been arrested are Demetrius Glenn and Kenan Adams Kinard. Both of them are 16 and already had criminal records. In Washington State, murder while committing robbery is a capital offense, but don’t expect to see the death penalty applied in this case since the alleged murderers are 16. Hopefully they will get life in prison with no possibility of parole, but don’t hold your breath.

Posted in ,

Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

17 Comments

  1. Tim-in-Alabama on August 26, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    WTF?



  2. bien-pensant on August 26, 2013 at 9:10 pm

    Sooooo, are these thugs black?
    ?



    • stinkfoot on August 27, 2013 at 12:20 pm

      “Spokane police are looking for two male suspects in the attack. They said the suspects are African Americans between 16 and 19 years old. One suspect was described as heavy set and wearing all black clothing. The other was described as being about 6 feet tall and 150 pounds. There was no description of what clothing the second suspect was wearing other than a silk do-rag.”



    • stinkfoot on August 27, 2013 at 12:21 pm

      That was from the KXLY website.



  3. ricbee on August 27, 2013 at 12:21 am

    I’d like to laugh in the Chief’s face & punch him in the jaw.



  4. Lynn on August 27, 2013 at 8:14 am

    Blame the victim, that’s the way it’s been since the 60’s.



  5. SeeingRed on August 27, 2013 at 8:35 am

    The chief sounds like he’s going for a larger job or a life in politics.? Dink.



    • bien-pensant on August 29, 2013 at 8:06 am

      Stripped of all the liberal smoke and blame-the-victim rhetoric:
      The state gets two more black inmates.
      A loved and honored WWII vet gets brutally murdered.
      Why? Because these two black youths don’t have jobs and are street predators.
      Where does that one get traced back to? Hip Hop and drug culture, liberals and Obama.



  6. JollyRoger on August 27, 2013 at 2:59 pm

    Never a better argument for the second amendment- nothing says “please go away” quite like a gun. ? ?



  7. TheHole on August 27, 2013 at 5:07 pm

    If I still had a grandfather, he could’ve looked like him.



  8. Gary J on August 27, 2013 at 9:08 pm

    I blame obamacare as it was not fast enough to respond. Nor was the care as good as it was a few years ago



  9. Gary J on August 27, 2013 at 9:10 pm

    That police chief just made himself an easy target for robbery as he believes people should not resist.



  10. Don Lombardo on August 28, 2013 at 7:31 am

    This sad excuse of a chief should be fired.



  11. Vizionmusic on August 28, 2013 at 6:20 pm

    If you are legally able to carry a firearm…DO SO at all times these days…



square-delbert-belton

The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.