If the Second Amendment does not protect the legal right to defend one’s family, it has no meaning. The Founding Fathers unequivocally established the right to keep and bear arms for numerous purposes, and at the top was the fundamental right to ensure the safety of loved ones.
Enter Arkansas, a state with a record of protecting Second Amendment freedoms and the essential human right to self-defense. An explosive recent case proved that, even in such a setting, law-abiding citizens sometimes are forced to fight to protect what is most precious to them.
This is a situation that bears close watching for civil libertarians.
Arkansas father Aaron Spencer is now free on $150,000 bond after being arrested for allegedly shooting and killing the man believed to be stalking his 14-year-old daughter.
The shocking news of his arrest on preliminary charges of first-degree murder was quickly followed by a deluge of details surrounding the Spencer family’s nightmare.
A series of alarming events culminated with the violent confrontation Tuesday after the young teenager disappeared in the middle of the night. The suspect already faced several counts of internet stalking of a child, sexual assault of a child, sexual indecency with a child and 35 counts of possessing child pornography.
The family was alerted to last week’s incident when the girl’s dog would not stop barking.
Spencer immediately left in a vehicle searching for his missing daughter and found her in the car of a man he was quite familiar with. According to Spencer’s wife, Heather, the suspect, 67-year-old Michael Fosler, was already the subject of a “no contact” order.
She posted on social media that Fosler stalked and violently assaulted their child last summer, and the family lived in fear of another attack. The suspect was free on bond pending a December trial.
Responding deputies surprisingly arrested the father when they found the deceased Fosler at the scene. He faces a “preliminary” charge of first-degree murder, though it will be up to the prosecutor’s office to determine official charges.
Spencer was released on bond the day after his arrest.
Heather Spencer vocally defended her husband and attacked the sheriff’s department for its handling of the case. “Some things we will never know, but we know that the police department afforded this predator privacy they did not give our family, including posting our home address. I’m deeply offended by the way this was handled by the county [sheriff’s] office.”
Spencer added, “At the end of the day, our daughter is a victim and we have a long road of recovery for everyone. We are so thankful for all the calls, messages and prayers.”
Locke County Sheriff John Staley balked at the criticism, telling USA Today that the charges against the father are only preliminary. “I absolutely do not support predators. I’m a daddy. I have three daughters. I know she’s hurt right now, but there’s absolutely nobody I would put ahead of our children, their children, my children.”
Still, the controversial situation begs the question of why Spencer was arrested and faces the murder charge. Staley explained that the investigation is ongoing and there is much “fact-finding” left “to determine any concrete justification for the homicide.”
A GoFundMe was established to support the struggling family’s potentially hefty legal bills. However, that was deleted due to the website’s policy against fundraising to defend a person charged with a violent crime.
Still, the family is determined to stand behind the father and husband after what their supporters believe was the justified use of a firearm to defend his 14-year-old daughter.
Heather Spencer posted on Facebook that she is proud of her husband’s decisive actions last week to protect their teenager. “My husband is a hero, and we are so thankful to have him home with us now. We want to do everything possible to ensure he can continue to be here to protect us.”
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