Tag: crime

Violent Criminal Who Shot at Police and Injured Pregnant Woman Now Behind Bars

Neil Jones

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) announced Friday that Christopher John Garcia, 34, has been placed behind bars after being convicted of violent crimes against police officers and a pregnant woman.

“Victims of violent crime carry with them a lifetime of trauma that in many cases is difficult to overcome. This defendant is where he needs to be; away from society so he will not hurt again,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell (R). “To the victims of this crime and all victims in our community, you are the forefront of why we do the work that we do.”

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Pennsylvania Voters Spurn ‘Scranton Joe’ in Favor of Trump, DeSantis, Poll Shows

The Center Square

More Pennsylvania voters want former President Donald Trump or Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for President than President Joe Biden, despite the fact he has the affectionate nickname “Scranton Joe” after his birth town in the state, according to a new poll.

The Commonwealth Foundation, a group promoting free markets in Pennsylvania, found in a survey last week that 34 percent of registered voters in the state want Trump to run for President in 2024, followed by 26 percent who want DeSantis to run. Biden, however, earned 24 percent in the poll that allowed respondents to select all candidates that they want to see run. Close behind Biden is Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro at 20 percent. Out of the four top potential candidates, only Trump has formally declared his presidential campaign for 2024.

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Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidate Daniel Kelly Makes Statewide ‘Save the Court’ Tour in Closing Days of Campaign

M.D. Kittle

As he lags in campaign donations and — sources say — in internal polls, conservative Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly is making a final campaign blitz before Tuesday’s crucial election.

Kelly’s  four-day “Save the Court” statewide tour begins Friday in Watertown and wraps up Monday in Waukesha. In between, he’ll be making some two-dozen stops across the Badger State. 

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Pennsylvania State House Members Support State Police Funding Increase; Off-Budget Account Questioned

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania’s House Appropriations Committee members signaled general agreement with  Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro’s budget-increase goals for Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) on Monday, though some related issues remain contentious.

Representatives questioned PSP Commissioner Christopher Paris, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Operations George Bivens and other lead staffers at the agency in preparation for the budget process which lawmakers aim to wrap up by June 30. 

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One Week Before Wisconsin’s Pivotal Supreme Court Election, Candidates Make Closing Arguments

M.D. Kittle

With just one week before Wisconsin’s spring election, it’s all hands on deck in the bruising battle for control of the Badger State’s high court. 

Conservative former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly and liberal Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz are making their closing arguments before Tuesday’s pivotal election — the brunt of the statements being made through expensive and negative ads blanketing Wisconsin’s TV markets. 

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Wisconsin Legislature Passes Key Crime Bills, Stops Evers Administration Rule on ‘Conversion Therapy’

M.D. Kittle

In a busy and divisive day, the Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday passed several crime bills, a measure blocking what some say is the Evers administration’s assault on the First Amendment, and a resolution demanding the governor call an election for Secretary of State.

Many of the measures passed mostly along party lines, including a bill that defines “serious harm” and “violent crime” in state law. The proposal is tied to a bail reform constitutional amendment on next month’s spring election ballot. Under the amendment, judges would be allowed to consider expanded factors when issuing bail to violent offenders, beyond whether the defendant would show up for his court date.

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Sparks Fly at Only Debate Before Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

M.D. Kittle

Two weeks to the day before a crucial election to decide whether conservatives or liberals control Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, the two candidates sparred in the only debate before Election Day.

The face-off Tuesday between far-left Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz and conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly quickly took on the feel of bitter divorce proceedings — packed with allegations of corruption, scandals, and lies.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Wisconsin’s Bail Reform Constitutional Amendment

M.D. Kittle

While all eyes are on Wisconsin’s crucial Supreme Court election, the April 4 ballot also includes an important question asking voters to amend the state’s constitution.

The constitutional amendment proposes to reform a bail system that most agree is broken, although there’s argument on how to fix it. State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) and State Rep. Cindi Duchow (R-Delafield), authors of the legislation, offer answers to many of the most frequently asked questions surrounding their proposed amendment.

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State to Fund Public Safety Office in Atlanta’s Buckhead Community

The Center Square

A week after state lawmakers killed a proposal to de-annex and incorporate a portion of Atlanta as Buckhead City, state leaders announced they plan to fund a state patrol office in the community.

Last week, the state Senate voted 33-23 against Senate Bill 114, which would have allowed residents of the proposed Buckhead City to vote on the measure in November 2024. This week, House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, announced the proposed fiscal 2024 budget will include nearly $1.3 million for the state patrol’s “satellite post.”

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Atlanta Suburb’s Secession over Rising Crime Moves Forward

Admin

One of the wealthiest suburbs in the city of Atlanta is pursuing secession from the city, citing the rise in violent crime under the city’s Democratic leadership.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, state-level and local Republican lawmakers passed two bills on Wednesday formally proposing that the neighborhood of Buckhead be turned into its own “Buckhead City.” The bills are currently being considered by the State Senate.

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Minnesota House Democrats Pass Voting Rights for Felons Currently in Prison

Admin

Minnesota Democrats want to join just a handful of states where felons never lose their right to vote.

This was revealed during a House floor debate Thursday night, which saw the passage of State Rep. Cedrick Frazier’s, DFL-New Hope, bill to restore voting rights to felons once they are released from incarceration. Under current law, felons are not allowed to vote until they complete their entire sentence, including probation and parole.

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Border 911 Conference in Phoenix Exposes How Bad Cartels, Human Trafficking and Fentanyl Have Become

Rachel Alexander

The America Project (TAP) held a conference on border security Saturday in Phoenix at the Hershberger Theater. The Border 911 event featured leading experts on human trafficking, cartels, and drugs coming over the border, including former acting ICE Director Tom Homan, who also served as a Border Patrol agent in Phoenix.

Homan said, “Under President Trump, we had the most secure border in my lifetime.” He discussed all the progress Trump made, such as getting countries to accept illegal immigrants back, Title 42 restrictions, and implementing the Remain in Mexico program.

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Arizona State University Student Convicted of Criminal Trespassing for Handing Out Copies of the Constitution on Campus Files Appeal

Rachel Alexander

Arizona State University (ASU) student Tim Tizon was convicted in October of criminal trespassing in the third degree for handing out copies of the U.S. Constitution on the school’s campus. University Lakes Justice of the Peace Tyler Kissell, a progressive, conducted the trial. The Liberty Justice Center is now representing Tizon with an appeal, which was filed on Thursday.

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Arizona Oath Keeper Described as ‘Cooking for Protesters’ on January 6 Convicted of Seditious Conspiracy

Rachel Alexander

A jury convicted Arizona Oath Keeper Edward Vallejo of seditious conspiracy and other charges on Monday for his involvement with the protest on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol. Three other Oath Keepers were also convicted of that and other lesser offenses. The 63-year-old Army veteran’s defense attorney, Matthew Peed, said he plans to appeal.

“Ed brought 30 days of food with him, not just for himself but for a group, and he believed he was going to a campground where he would set up a food kitchen and cook for protesters,” Peed described Vallejo’s role during opening statements. “And it would be kind of a, kind of like a festival.”

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After Seattle Defunded Its Police, Local Business Owners Say Crime Is Worse than Ever

Admin

Two years after Seattle slashed its police budget, local business owners say crime has skyrocketed, with police unable to deal with thefts, homelessness and open-air drug use that plague the city.

Seattle and broader King County had more than 13,000 homeless people within its boundaries in 2022, more than every other similar area except Los Angeles County and New York City, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, while the Seattle Police Department (SPD) lost more than 130 officers, KOMO News reported, as homicides, shootings and motor vehicle thefts increased. Local business owners say law enforcement is failing to effectively deter the rampant drug use and theft disturbing their livelihoods.

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Youngkin at 52 Percent Approval in VCU Poll

Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin is at 52 percent approval, 32 percent disapproval in a Virginia Commonwealth University Poll that comes as he makes a pitch for tax cuts and business incentives ahead of a General Assembly session beginning January 11.

“Poll respondents feel that inflation needs to be dealt with and democracy ensured for our future,” former governor L. Douglas Wilder said in an announcement of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs poll.

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Bipartisan Proposal Would Make Pennsylvania Pardon Recommendations Easier

Bradley Vasoli

A bill is re-emerging in Pennsylvania’s new State Senate session to end the requirement that pardon and commutation recommendations from the State Board of Pardons be unanimous. 

The five-member board comprises the lieutenant governor and the state attorney general as well as experts on corrections, victims’ rights, and mental health. Once the panel issues a recommendation for an inmate to receive a pardon or a commuted sentence, the governor reviews those determinations and decides whether to sign off on them. Historically, governors have tended to follow the board’s advice. 

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Florida School Board Meeting Reveals ‘Everyday’ Violence, Chaos in Schools as Teachers Flee

Admin

Dozens of teachers have fled a Florida school district amid startling reports of ongoing student violence and chaos there, a contentious school board meeting revealed this week.

Brevard County’s lengthy school board meeting on Thursday revealed what one teacher called “an everyday basis” of violent and disruptive behavior from students in the district’s schools. 

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Commentary: Europe Shows a Clear Link Between Immigration and Crime

RealClearWire

Violent crime is becoming common in Sweden, shocking residents of the famously placid Scandinavian nation, where horrific acts of violence have become “all too familiar,” according to Common Sense Media, part of a Swedish nonprofit organization.   

Since 2018, Swedish authorities have recorded an estimated 500 bombings, while what they describe as gang shootings have become increasingly common. The country reported a record 124 homicides in 2020 and many residents were shocked in April when violent riots injured more than 100 police officers.  

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Mehmet Oz Commentary: My Plan to Fix Crime in Philadelphia and Across the Commonwealth

RealClearWire

Much like the inflation crisis created by misguided economic policies, violent crime is running rampant nationwide. Here in Philadelphia, over 400 homicides and 1,000 carjackings have already been reported thus far in 2022 – and those figures are not unique among major cities. Thanks to progressive leaders who refuse to enforce the law, violent criminals are roaming free and American families are left to feel unsafe.

Just last week, Philadelphia’s “Conviction Integrity Unit” earned the praise of John Fetterman. This misguided program, implemented by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, allowed a convicted murderer to be back on the street, and last week he was arrested again for involvement in a second murder. Allowing violent criminals to be let out of prison is a deadly consequence of the soft-on-crime policies that John Fetterman supports.

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Democrat Mayor Wants to Give Herself a Pay Raise Despite City’s Rampant Crime

Admin

Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is lobbying for a raise to her $216,000 salary, according to the Chicago Sun Times, despite the city’s crime problem worsening considerably under her leadership.

The Mayor’s salary hasn’t changed since 2005, but Lightfoot’s new budget proposal includes an annual salary adjustment equivalent to the rate of inflation, capping it at 5%, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Chicago has seen major crime spikes in several categories, including homicide, under Lightfoot’s leadership.

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Detroit Drug Raids Decline 95 Percent Due to Cannabis Legalization, Changing Priorities

The Center Square

Drug raids in Detroit have fallen 95% since a peak in 2012, largely as a result of voters’ decision to legalize recreational marijuana and shifting other police priorities. 

Detroit police conducted 3,462 drug raids in fiscal year 2012. Nearly every year since then, that number has declined. Last year, police conducted 186 drug raids, according to the city’s annual financial report.

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Center for Arizona Policy’s Cathi Herrod: Abortion Clinics Are Reportedly Getting Around Arizona’s Abortion Law

Rachel Alexander

After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich declared that Arizona’s old law banning almost all abortions was back in effect. Some abortion doctors and clinics have been finding ways around it, even though legal challenges successfully got an injunction put in place temporarily halting the 1901 law last Friday. Arizona’s new law banning abortions after 16 weeks, which went into effect this month, has survived requests for injunctions.

Cathi Herrod, the president of the Center for Arizona Policy, posted a statement on the local conservative tipsheet Republican Briefs about what has been reported occurring. “At least one Arizona abortion ‘clinic’ is now reportedly giving pregnant women ultrasounds to determine gestational age, then facilitating a telehealth appointment with a California doctor, who then sends the abortion pills to a post office in a California/Arizona border town to be picked up by the expectant woman,” she said. “Another abortion ‘clinic’ reportedly has been referring women to a doctor in another country with the abortion pills then being mailed to an Arizona woman from India. Still, others are raising funds to pay for women to travel to other states for abortions. One abortionist sends women to his facility in Las Vegas for abortions.”

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Cleveland Area Gets Nearly $8 Million in State Grants for Anti-Crime Efforts

Bradley Vasoli

Governor Mike DeWine (R) announced this week that a new $12.3 million funding package would go to local law enforcement agencies to address violent crime, with Cleveland and Cuyahoga County getting two-thirds of those funds. 

Nearly $1 million will go to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s office, mainly to hire three new staff attorneys to help the jurisdiction make headway in its backlog of sexual and domestic violence cases. The Cleveland Division of police, the Cleveland State University Police Department and the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office will meanwhile receive an approximate total of $6.5 million, largely to enhance police-officer pay. Euclid’s Police Department will also get $107,000, for technological improvements. 

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Commentary: Youngkin Is Right – Under Democrat Rule, Virginia Is a Border State

Admin

Recently, Virginia Democrats and dishonest mainstream media pundits have attempted to dunk on Governor Youngkin for saying that under Democrat rule, “Virginia is a border state.” But while Virginia doesn’t share a physical border with Mexico, Governor Youngkin’s comments nonetheless underscore a stark reality for Americans in Virginia and throughout the entire country – thanks to Joe Biden and failed Democrat policies, every state is now a border state.

Governor Youngkin’s comments on Fox News were in reference to the opioid crisis that is sweeping our nation – a crisis that Democrats are apparently oblivious to or unwilling to acknowledge is directly related to the surge of illegal immigration at our southern border. The entire country, not just border states, is experiencing a spike in fentanyl overdoses as thousands of pounds of the deadly narcotic pour into the country. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 107,000 fatal drug overdoses in 2021, the highest number on record. In just the past two months, border patrol officers have seized more than 5 million fentanyl pills at just the border crossing in Nogales, Arizona.

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Memphis City Council Discusses the Enforcement of Curfew for Minors Under 18 Years Old

Kaitlyn Osteen

During a public safety committee, on Tuesday, The Memphis City Council discussed strictly enforcing the Memphis curfew for children 17 and under.  

Vice Chairman Martavius Jones said, “Juvenile Crime has spiked over the years…I commend our men and women in blue for all that they are doing. However, the things that are on the books, we definitely want to make those things happen…One thing that we do know, if they are in the house, a lot of this wouldn’t be happening. If they [children] were at home, under parental supervision, some of these things wouldn’t be happening.”

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Commentary: Can’t Forget the Motor City

Admin

“In the 1950s,” writes J. Eric Wise in “The French Exit: A Detroit Love Story,” Detroit was “outwardly living well, a very healthy city, technologically advanced, with economic diversity, prosperity, peace, and civil life supporting the arts and sciences.” That is no exaggeration, as this writer can testify. 

As Wise explains, Detroit prospered enormously from World War II and attracted workers from far and wide. My father, a mechanical engineer, was among them. In 1952, he moved our family from Alliance, Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan. The Big Three automakers gave him all the work he could handle.

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Kari Lake Still Waiting for Katie Hobbs to Denounce Organizations Which Oppose the Police

Neil Jones

Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and the Arizona Police Association (APA) have received radio silence from Democrat Katie Hobbs since sending her a letter six days ago demanding she denounce her allies who support defunding the police.

“Arizona voters are finally seeing who Katie Hobbs really is – a radical BLM activist who signs pledges denouncing law enforcement and fraternizes with dangerous ‘defund the police’ activists on the Left. Maybe that’s why she’s so afraid to share a debate stage with me, because she’ll be forced to defend her extreme anti-public safety positions,” Lake said in a press release.

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Arizona Latinos Most Concerned About Inflation, Jobs, Crime and Bipartisanship, New Poll Shows

Admin

Arizona Latinos are most concerned about inflation, jobs and rising crime, according to a new poll published by UNIDOS US, a research and policy analysis organization that has focused on Hispanic American issues since 1968.

The poll, taken between July 20 and August 1 ranked 14 issues in terms of priorities for Arizona based Latinos, finding that of those categories 49% considered inflation the most pressing concern. Thirty four percent focused on jobs and 27% on crime.

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Soft-on-Crime Shelby County DA Says Fletcher Murder ‘Isolated Attack’

Peter D'Abrosca

Despite reports that the suspect in the Eliza Fletcher’s kidnapping and murder has now been charged with a separate abduction and rape in 2021, Shelby County District Attorney, who ran his campaign on criminal justice reform, says the Fletcher incident was an “isolated attack.”

Cleotha Abston Thursday was charged separately with aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping, and unlawful carrying of a weapon stemming from an event that allegedly occurred in 2021, though details were not immediately available.

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Commentary: Pennsylvania Democratic Senate Candidate John Fetterman Is Soft on Crime

RealClearWire

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, maintains that he agrees with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a socialist, on “virtually every issue.” Sanders, in turn, has endorsed Fetterman and appeared at events with him. But if Fetterman is taking his economic advice from the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party, where is he getting counsel on dealing with violent crime? Sadly for Pennsylvania voters, Fetterman seems to be taking his lead from the City of Brotherly Love’s Larry Krasner, district attorney of Philadelphia.

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