On Monday, at a meeting of the local Republican Party in the third-most-populous county in the United States, a Christian pastor who serves as chaplain for the Harris County GOP tried to stop a Muslim man from serving as a precinct chair because of his religion. “Islam does not have any basis or any foundation,” the pastor, Trebor Gordon, said. “It is the total opposite of our foundation.”

Police said on Monday that Shannon Miles, 30, who is accused of shooting and killing Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth, has a history of mental illness, the Associated Press reports. After an arrest in 2012, he was sent to a state mental hospital for several months.

Here's one way to avoid being imprisoned for life on a felony charge: Try to be in jail on a less-serious misdemeanor charge at the same time that the felony crime occurs. This strategy worked for LaDondrell Montgomery, whose armed robbery conviction was just overturned by a Harris County, Texas judge.