GDL Jr is serving life in prison for the death of Harold J. Mansfield. But who was HJM? He was described by the media [The Florida Times Union 23 Juli 1992] as "an air traffic controller aboard the USS Saratoga". But was he? One has to ask: who attacks someone with a brick?
In his biography [American Sniper NYC Harper Collins 2012] the recently deceased US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle was described by his wife as: "SEALs never admit to strangers what they really do" (p.48) i.e. they are trained to lie. They are also experts at unarmed combat with whatever object presents itself. Such as a brick.
Are they given to criminal behaviour? Kyle admits (p.235) :
"we had a long break from the War [in Iraq] but we were busy retraining and learning new skills. I went to a school run by FBI agents and CIA and NSA officers. They taught me how to do things like pick locks and steal cars. It was in New Orleans.
Learning how to blend in and go undercover, I grew a goatee. Lock-picking was a revelation. We worked on a variety of locks and by the end of class there wasn't a lock that could keep me at bay. Stealing cars was a little harder but I got pretty good at that, too.
We were trained to wear cameras and eavesdropping devices without getting caught. To prove that we could we had to get the devices into a strip club and return with video evidence that we'd been there.
I stole a car off Bourbon Street as part of my final. I had to put it back when we were done. As far as I know the owner was none the wiser".Why is this relevant? The whole assault on GDL Jr just seems too odd. Let's look at the facts, as described by The Florida Times Union.
"Mansfield first met trouble about 6pm after he went to buy chicken. As he was driving from an exit that runs along the shopping centre parking lot a car driving into the lot nearly clipped Mansfield's car.
Mansfield blew his horn, the other driver backed up and they exchanged words. Mansfield returned minutes later with a shipmate in search of the other driver.
About 6.20pm Mansfield and his shipmate parked near the other driver's car and waited for him. Mansfield, holding a brick, began to get out of his car, the shipmate said."This sounds like a professional 'hit'. GDL Jr was a high-profile White Nationalist. Is it is beyond belief to suppose some of Chris Kyle's friends may have been tasked with shutting him up? Mansfield is said to have 'gone to buy chicken' and was nearly clipped as he exited the chicken joint car lot. So why is there no further mention of the chicken?
Honestly, the shipmate testified that Mansfield went to buy chicken for both of them. Suddenly, it is forgotten. If he did buy it, where was it? It is hard to sustain the assertion that Mansfield's intent was to 'buy chicken'. Instead, it is clear he was there to locate GDL Jr then return with 'back-up'.
Instead of the missing chicken we hear of a brick. How many people carry bricks in their car? The fact Mansfield 'returned... with a shipmate' i.e. an accomplice and 'waited' implies premeditation. Two against one. The shipmate, a fellow African American whom we now know to be Stephen Ruttledge, was to assist in the killing of GDL Jr.
This was no spur of the moment attack. It was planned to look like a 'road rage' incident. The only detail the two conspirators omitted was that GDL Jr was armed. Did he anticipate an attempt on his life, due to his high profile?
