Houston Dreaming?
Groups try to block Casey Anthony from moving to Texas: When freedom isn't sofree
Casey Anthony is out of jail, but she's not exactly free. She was escorted out of the Orange County Jail in Orlando by two sheriff's deputies toting semi-automatic weapons and whisked away in a waiting SUV in Sunday's first hour.
It made for yet another dramatic TV scene, but it still left the biggest question unanswered.
Where does Casey Anthony — a mom acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in the courtroom but more than guilty of the heinous crime in the court of public opinion — go from here?
Several groups have formed to try and make sure it isn't Texas. It's only been three days since CultureMap became the first news source in the state to report that Texas was in Anthony's sights as a start-over home — and only hours since Anthony's been released — but that hasn't stopped the opposition from mounting.
Within hours of that first Texas report, several Facebook groups sprang up to voice opposition to Casey Anthony in the Lone Star State and they're only upping the effort now that the 25-year-old is a free woman.
"Casey Anthony, Don't Mess With Texas" and "Tell Casey Anthony Texas Doesn't Want Her" are the two most active groups and — like most things with this Nancy-Grace-friendly case — they're anything but subtle. They post Photoshopped images of Anthony with OJ Simpson and others with duct tape covering the mouth of the mom who prosecutors argued used duct tape in the killing of Caylee,
Posts on the Facebook pages also reference "Texas Justice" a lot.
Texas is considered to be a possible landing spot for Casey Anthony because a family source told the Huffington Post that she would be sent here to live with an aunt. Since then, there have been claims that Anthony does indeed have an aunt in Pasadena, Texas and a cousin in Houston. Those reports haven't been even close to confirmed, but it hasn't stopped greater Houston from finding itself thrust into the Anthony story.
Does Anthony see a safe haven in a region that's had Wanda Holloway (the cheerleader mom who hired a hit man in an attempt to kill the mother of her daughter's rival) and Robert Durst (who was acquitted by a jury for hacking up a neighbor and throwing his body parts into Galveston Bay after they were convinced he acted in self defense)?
The Facebook groups seem determined to convince everyone otherwise. The story of the Oklahoma woman who was allegedly attacked because someone thought she looked like Casey Anthony — even though Anthony was still in jail at the time — is an even more stark reminder of the anger that still boils 12 days post verdict.