It doesn’t take evidence for this Texas governor to start leaning toward a conclusion.
News reports suggest a white supremacist group called the Aryan Brotherhood may be connected to the murders of Texas District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife Cynthia Woodward and Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse.
But when Fox News asked Perry on Wednesday about the murders, he speculated that Mexican drug cartels and border security problems were behind the killings, saying:
We know the drug cartels are very, very active in our country now… I would suggest to you, it is really at the heart of this issue. You secure the border, then it makes it harder for these individuals to have access into this country as well as it addresses this whole issue that's hanging out on immigration.
Police haven’t named suspects yet.
Under fire for his foundation-less ramblings, Perry walked back the comments the following day at a press conference.
“It is very premature to be making any statements about who may or may not have been involved with this,” Perry said Thursday.
Perry did, however, try to save some face by adding: “There was a report by the Texas Department of Public Safety that said the greatest threat to Texas safety were the drug cartels.”
The Texas governor has offered a 200,000 reward for information for that leads to the arrest of the killers, according to NBC News.
By many measures, the border is more secure than it has been in decades. More than 20,000 Border Patrol agents are stationed on the border now -- about twice as many than there were in 2004.