Fox News "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" - Transcript: Australian Athlete's Murder

Interview

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WALLACE: Governor, we associate these kind of cold-blooded murders with inner cities, not small-town Oklahoma. How much has this case shaken your state?

GOV. MARY FALLIN, R-OKLA.: Well it's absolutely shaken our state down to the core. It's just unimaginable, unbelievable, that something this tragic could happen in the state of Oklahoma, especially in one of our great communities in our state, in Duncan, Oklahoma.

But we are all heartbroken, we're shocked, and just can't believe that something as horrible could happen to someone that was a very active member of the community, someone that was an active member of the student campus, was beloved by his friends, and our hearts and our--and our prayers are with Chris Lane's family, and especially the community of not only Duncan, Oklahoma, but certainly of Ada, Oklahoma, the Central University where Chris was a student.

WALLACE: Governor, the former deputy prime minister of Australia has advised tourists that they should boycott the United States to make a statement about gun control, and some gun control advocates are making the same point. What do you think of attempts to link this murder to the easy availability of guns in your state?

FALLIN: Well I don't think this issue is about gun control. It's an issue about murder. It's an issue about three young men who did something very terrible to a very innocent bystander, that was jogging through his community, and it's very unfortunate what has happened.

And I certainly understand that Australia is very upset. People in Oklahoma are very upset too, people in the United States are very upset with what's happened, because it's just such a shock that anyone would do what they had done to Chris Lane. And it's unfortunate that Australia feels that way, you know, the United States has been a great friend to Australia.

But I certainly understand that there are some raw feelings out there, certainly raw emotion, and I think that's something that would be anticipated, that people would have different concerns and different ideas about America itself.

WALLACE: Let me pick up on that, because on the other hand, there are some people on the right who note that civil rights leaders and President Obama spoke out quite quickly about the Trayvon Martin case, and yet have remained silent in the case of Christopher Lane. On Wednesday, 48 hours after this became international news, the White House spokesman was asked about the case. Take a look.

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REPORTER: Do you have any reaction to the Christopher Lane case?

EARNEST: I'm not familiar with it actually.

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WALLACE: Governor, what do you make of the silence of people like Al Sharpton, and quite frankly, the silence of the president?

FALLIN: Well, you know, I don't know what to think about that, but I think it would be nice, and I certainly am going to say something on behalf of the state of Oklahoma, to the family, but it would be nice if our nation were to certainly express their condolences, how very sorry we are.

This is a very unusual circumstance that you don't anticipate, that someone would create such a brutal crime upon such an innocent person, but I will tell you that I have been to the campus of East Central University last night, I was able to shake hands with some of his colleagues on the campus, some of the students, some of the baseball players.

I expressed my condolences to the East Central campus itself, the faculty, the students, the community.

We certainly are going to try to reach out to the family, I have the family's phone number, and when the time differences allow, I'm going to personally call the family, and hopefully I can get a hold of them, and visit with them, just to tell them how very, very sorry and sad the people of Oklahoma are for this tremendous loss.

WALLACE: Excuse me, Governor, do you think the president should speak out on this as well? Particularly given his involvement in the Trayvon Martin case?

FALLIN: I think it would be a nice gesture for him to do that, and especially since the country of Australia has expressed their sentiments as to the murder itself. You know, I think it would be a nice gesture for them to be able to do that, and I certainly know that's what I'm going to do.

WALLACE: And briefly, we have less than a minute left, and I'm going to ask you a big question, which I'm sure you've thought about, what on earth do you think would lead three teenagers to gun down a complete stranger, because they say they were bored and had nothing to do?

FALLIN: Well it's hard to get into the minds of those three teenagers, and it's just unbelievable and unfathomable that they would even have a thought in their mind to gun down somebody who is so innocent, just taking a jog through the community.

But, you know, in America, we do have different families that are broken, we do have poverty rates, we have those that are uneducated, we have substance abuse issues, we certainly have a lot of video games, a lot of movies that depict violence in our society, and that is something we as parents, certainly, as community people should take at heart, to always try to make things better in our communities for our families and selves, and certainly--and make things better in society.

WALLACE: Governor, I'm going to have to leave it there, obviously a big discussion, and we'll have to continue with it. Thank you so much, Governor, for talking with us.

FALLIN: You're welcome. Thank you very much.

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