A former GOP candidate for Governor of Oklahoma has been slapped with two felonies after shooting a process server last week.
36-year-old Christopher Barnett made a bit of history last year when he ran to be his state’s first openly gay governor. He ultimately finished eighth in a 10-person field, receiving just 5,240 votes for the GOP gubernatorial nomination
But it’s doubtful that’s what he’ll be remembered for.
Last week, Barnett was arrested when he shot at a man who was delivering an eviction notice to his home. The attack was caught on CCTV.
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But Barnett and his husband, Trey, claim the footage has been doctored. They say the process server attempted to lure them outside and that he had a gun hidden under his shirt, which caused them to fear for their lives.
“They somehow digitally made things happen that didn’t happen?” Assistant District Attorney Mark Collier asked in court, to which Trey Barnett replied, “I mean, it’s pretty easy to do nowadays.”
Police say that Barnett, who recently announced his plans to challenge Jim Inhofe for his U.S. Senate seat, admitted to Googling “Can you legally shoot a process server?” prior to the shooting and that, at one point, joked that that “the only good process server is a dead one” during his affidavit.
They also say Barnett has a long history of making threatening statements on social media, including bragging about his collection of 10 firearms and fantasizing about how he would commit a mass shooting at a local university.
In one post, Barnett wrote: “Wait for football season to come, start getting every single AR-15 put into place on the highest floor. Rig up a system that will fire all of the guns at once. … Wait until almost half time or when everyone is leaving the game. When people start to flood the gates to leave, the automatic system built starts firing.”
During his 2018 run for Governor, a post appeared on Barnett’s campaign’s Facebook page that read, “As the next mayor of Oklahoma, I’m going to enact a mandatory nationwide lottery that euthanizes 1 out of every 100 people in the world.”
He later claimed trolls had hacked into the account.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 26. He is currently being held without bond until then.
RomanHans
A gay Republican is mentally ill.
No.
Brian
I guess that’s one way of defending yourself against video of you committing the crime.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Gay Repugnaticans
=
Jews for Hitler
PugsBuddy
Well if the camera was on his property he should have the original video shouldn’t he?
Hdtex
He seems totally sane. Watch for him on the evening news when he finally goes total mass shooter.
truthseeker
@Hdtex
I don’t think you should be the person designating who is sane and insane. In a previous Queerty comment, you said I should die in a mass shooting
Hdtex
Dude has his own website calling for violence against his enemies, complete with addresses and photos. This will not end well.
Jerry
It’s definitely real, sadly, I live in Oklahoma.
Cam
So it’s HIS camera but he claims the video isn’t correct? (Eye Roll)
Invader7
Oh girrrrrrrrrlllll please….Miss Thang it was YOU..You’re goose is cooked. Or are you that paranoid? All signs add up to YES !!
innocentgay
I was at an event which he also attended in an attempt to gin up support. He got the town name wrong right off the bat, said a few words carefully crafted to skirt around the issue of whether or not he supported the so-called President (he almost certainly does, judging by his and his husband’s NRA hats and the fact that he didn’t condemn him without hesitation), claimed to be going to hang around for questions, then almost immediately left the event surrounded by 6 private security dudes with earpieces & they all took off in a black SUV. My God, that was an eyeroll to remember.