Boots & Sabers

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Category: Crime

Madison Activists Protest at DA’s Home

by | 0730, 27 Jul 20 | , , | 14 Comments

Radical leftists eat their own.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne is highlighting his identity as a Black man and his family’s roots in the Civil Rights Movement after protesters came to his house for the second time in a month Saturday, this time demanding that charges be dropped against two Black men and calling Ozanne a racist.

Ozanne said Sunday that scores of protesters with speakers, generators and a bullhorn showed up around 7:30 p.m. Saturday and stayed for about six hours blasting music, shouting profanity, chanting slogans, and calling him and even his family a racist — all in the name of pressuring Ozanne to drop charges against Kelsey Nelson and Gregg James.

Nelson, 30, is charged in the looting of Goodman’s Jewelers during the first night of protests in Madison on May 30 over the death George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody five days earlier. James, 23, is one of three men accused of making threats at a State Street bar in June.

[…]

A flier distributed at the “Black Out Block Party” Saturday does not name the group sponsoring it, but was instead aimed at letting Ozanne’s neighbors know he’s the DA and urging them to call his office to demand that charges against Nelson and James be dropped. It’s similar to a call to action put out on July 3 by Sawyer Johnson, a leader in the Madison chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, that identifies Nelson, James and two others recently arrested as “Black revolutionary activists.”

[…]

Johnson responded to requests for comment via Facebook on Sunday night with derogatory memes.

Get this…

With activists questioning the cash bail system or claiming people are being held in jail simply because they can’t make small bond amounts, Ozanne said, “we release about 82% of people on signature bonds.”

82%!

Black Trump Supporter Murdered in Milwaukee

by | 0724, 27 Jul 20 | | 2 Comments

How tragic. RIP

The Wisconsin Republican party has called for a federal investigation of a fatal shooting on Thursday, to ascertain whether it was motivated by animosity towards Donald Trump.

Bernell Trammell, a 60-year-old African American man who was a well-known figure in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood, was shot and killed at around 12.30pm on Thursday. Police did not immediately provide any details on possible suspects or motives.

However, the Republican party of Wisconsin said the “senseless” murder may have been politically motivated and called upon federal investigators to become involved.

Trammell, who ran a business called eXpressions Journal in Riverwest, regularly displayed signs on political and religious matters, including support for Trump as well as the Black Lives Matter movement, according to those who knew him.

Trammell was pictured holding a sign calling for a Trump victory in the November election. But community members have said he supported politicians from both sides of the divide, including Lena Taylor, a Democrat who ran for mayor of Milwaukee this year.

Marxist Movements Attack Police

by | 0807, 22 Jul 20 | , , | 146 Comments

Mark Belling has a good column today that goes into the atrocious reactions of public officials in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa as they cave to Marxist attack mobs and abandon their police. In part, he says:

Many Americans sincerely want racial justice, which is why we fight so hard to replace rotten public schools with outstanding private, religious and choice schools. It’s why we support law enforcement that tries to control high crime in minority communities. But this movement is unconcerned with those things. It is singularly focused on attacking police, shrinking their ranks and destroying the lives of people who try to serve their communities by becoming police officers.

This is true. I think many of us are shocked at just how many of our otherwise mild-mannered liberal neighbors truly hate the police and are willing to support the abandonment of law enforcement in their communities. Many of us are still firm supporters of law enforcement and our police departments, but we seem to be a shrinking percentage of the populace.

At the same time, I think many of us were equally shocked by how aggressively some of our police were willing to enforce unconstitutional lockdown orders and the crackdown on our civil rights in response to a health concern. As communities consider and enact further lockdown orders, I would remind those officers who would enforce them that the will erode support in the community from the few of us left who are still supporting them. If we see cops breaking up birthday parties and harassing old ladies to wear a mask, I could see myself agreeing that they are over-funded.

St. Louis Couple Charged for Defending Home

by | 2242, 20 Jul 20 | , , | 47 Comments

This is nuts. They were on their own property with their own, legally purchased and legally owned, guns. So now we can’t even defend our own homes?

Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple that drew national attention last month after footage of them pointing guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home went viral, have been charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon, The Associated Press reported.

The charges come after investigation circuit attorney Kim Gardner launched a probe into the couple late last month over the June 28 incident.

Surge in Crime

by | 2143, 14 Jul 20 | , | 60 Comments

Sure… criminals run rampant as liberal city leaders demand that their police stand down. I’m sure those two things aren’t related.

Shootings and homicides, which dipped during the initial lockdown phase of the pandemic, are now rising at alarmingly high rates.
In New York, the homicide rate for the first half of the year is up 23% over 2019, led by a huge spike in recent violence. In Chicago, homicides jumped 39% during the last week of June and the first week of July compared to the same period last year. And Los Angeles has seen double-digit rises in homicides the past two months.

California to Release Violent Felons Because They Might Get Sick

by | 2244, 10 Jul 20 | | 15 Comments

This will not end well.

Prison officials have announced California will release up to 8,000 people from state prisons to curb the spread of Covid-19 throughout the institutions.

Officials on Friday announced three separate efforts, approved by the governor, Gavin Newsom, that they say will decrease the prison population by 8,ooo by the end of August. The measures mark the largest release efforts the state administration has taken since Covid-19 began to circulate among prison staff and incarcerated people.

The first initiative expands a previous effort to expedite the release of people with 180 or fewer days left on their sentences to include people serving time for serious felonies.

The second measure is an immediate review of cases of people with less than a year left to serve in eight prisons that have large populations at high risk of developing Covid-19 complications.

The state will also launch a one-time program under which those incarcerated in state prisons, including people serving time for violent felonies, will receive a credit shortening their sentences by three months. People with recent rule violations and those who are sentenced to death or life without parole are excluded from the program. Prison officials say the program will affect roughly 108,000 people, or about 95% of the state prison population. For 3,100 people, the credit will allow their release when the program begins on 1 August.

Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention

by | 2242, 8 Jul 20 | , | 5 Comments

One wonders if they will be able to even fill this new agency with people. Who would want to work for it? Talk about a no win situation.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Members of the Minneapolis City Council are pledging a thoughtful approach to their proposal to dismantle the city’s police department following the killing of George Floyd.

Council members sought Wednesday to reassure the Minneapolis Charter Commission, with some commissioners expressing concerns that the council was rushing to push through the proposal so voters can decide it in the November election.

The proposal would eliminate the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a new agency, the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. The commission needs to sign off on the question by Aug. 21 for it to be possible to make the November ballot.

Blue Flight

by | 2233, 8 Jul 20 | , , | 34 Comments

What a shame.

In the past week, the number of officers filing for retirement has more than quadrupled on this time last year, with the exodus reportedly causing such a backlog of applications that the department is struggling to meet the demand.

Many of the officers hanging up their badges have cited a ‘lack of respect’ from the public amid national protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, and a loss of overtime pay following Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $1 billion cut to the department as the reason, the NY Post reported.

The NYPD said Wednesday that 179 cops filed for unemployment between June 29 and July 6 – a staggering 411 percent increase on the 35 who retired during the same time period last year.

The apparent evacuation comes as an astonishing 503 cops have reportedly filed for retirement between May 25 – the day of Floyd’s police killing – and July 3, according to the department.

That figure represents a 75-percent increase on the 287 cops who retired from the force during the same time period in 2019.

According to the Post, a line of officers were spotted lined up outside of One Police Plaza on Tuesday, where retirement paper are filed and processed.

‘Apparently, the pension section is only taking a certain amount of people per day and I think they are backed up till late July, early August,’ one officer told the outlet. ‘That’s why you don’t see like 100 a day, because they are only doing like 35 to 40 a day, by appointment.’

Standoff After Arm Wrestling Match

by | 2202, 7 Jul 20 | | 10 Comments

Meanwhile…

A father is in jail after losing an arm wrestling contest to his young son which led to a shooting and an 8-hour standoff with the police.

The incident occurred on July 6 shortly before 1 a.m. in the morning when Boone County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to Florence, Kentucky, about a 20-minute drive southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio, to a report of a person in a home with a weapon.

When authorities arrived, they found two family members had vacated the premises safely and were unharmed but 55-year-old Curtis Zimmerman was still inside the home and refused commands to come out, according to a statement by the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

“Deputies learned that Zimmerman was intoxicated and challenged his juvenile son to an arm-wrestling contest,” said Boone County Sheriff’s Office. “When Zimmerman lost multiple times, he became agitated which led to a physical altercation with his son.”

Zimmerman then reportedly grabbed a gun and fired two shots in the house as his son was going upstairs.

Violence Spikes As Mayors Retreat

by | 0741, 6 Jul 20 | | 6 Comments

Defund the police?

At least 41 people were injured and at least nine killed following a troubling spike of shootings in the Big Apple across the holiday weekend. A spokesperson for the NYPD said the majority of the incidents occurred within a 15-hour time period.

Shootings in New York City have doubled every week for the last three weeks. In the last seven days alone, the city has experienced a 142 percent surge in shootings compared to the same time period last year.

[…]

Memphis, Omaha, Cleveland and several other cities were also rocked by a spate of shootings amid the holiday revelry.  In total, 37 have been killed in shootings across the US.

[…]
A total of 63 people were injured and 17 killed in the Windy City from Thursday afternoon to Sunday 6am.
[…]
In Detroit two people were killed and five were injured in gun violence over the holiday weekend.

[…]

In St. Louis, three people were killed and 11 injured across a 15 hour period. Four of the injured victims were children.

Couple Charged for Felony Assault

by | 2009, 2 Jul 20 | , , | 4 Comments

Looking at the video, this seems like a case where they were overcharged. I don’t see how a jury convicts them for felony assault for this. I expect it will be plead down.

It is a good lesson for concealed carry holders. We don’t see the alleged “bump” that precipitated the incident. The couple seemed to keep their cool pretty well as they got in their car and began to back up. It looks like, but is not clear, the mother and/or her friends got behind the car to block the couple in. That’s when it all went to hell.

The woman in the car got out and drew her weapon (much better control and discipline than the St. Louis couple). Given how we have seen several incidents of mobs surrounding cars and assaulting innocent people, perhaps the woman could be forgiven for overreacting. Context matters. But this was not a mob and there didn’t seem to be an imminent threat of anything except someone getting run over. By introducing a weapon into the situation, she escalated the situation unnecessarily. Judging by her yelling, she seemed legitimately fearful for her life, but her response was still inappropriate. She would have been better served by staying in the locked car and calling the police. As long as nobody tried to enter the car or assault them, it would have ended there.

In any case, as all of us watch riots and roving mobs assaulting people, people are going to continue to be on edge. Look for more of this to happen.

Middleton Enacts “Unlawful” Restrictions

by | 0920, 2 Jul 20 | , , | 50 Comments

There is a huge disconnect between the draconian laws that we are expected to obey and fact that the government is letting protesters and rioters ignore all of the laws. Equal application of the law is a fundamental pillar of a free society. And yes, Middleton does not have the legal authority to enact these restrictions.

MIDDLETON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Tavern League of Wisconsin is calling restrictions on bars and restaurants “unlawful,” after public health officials announced a new emergency order Wednesday to slow the spread of coronavirus.

At restaurants, the restriction (Emergency Order #7) brings indoor dining capacity down from 50 percent to 25 percent. Bars can no longer allow indoor dining, only takeout and outdoor seating with physical distancing.

Janel Heinrich, the director of Public Health Madison & Dane County, said that the county has experienced a high number of cases recently. She also said that contact tracers found much of the spread has come from public gatherings, restaurants and bars.

Madison Schools Kick Out Cops

by | 2246, 29 Jun 20 | , | 12 Comments

Brilliant /sarcasm

Three hundred and eighty-five days.

That’s the difference between the Madison School Board approving a contract to place police officers in each of its four comprehensive high schools for three years, and the board voting to end that contract immediately.

In an illustration of how local activism and a national movement can combine to reshape policy, board members took a major step toward removing officers from from schools Monday night. The vote was unanimous.

Last year, the contract was approved on a 4 to 3 vote, with Nicki Vander Meulen, Ali Muldrow and Ananda Mirilli opposed. Savion Castro and Christina Gomez-Schmidt are new to the board since then. Gloria Reyes, a former police officer, changed her stance recently amid ongoing community activism and Cris Carusi changed her vote from last year given recent events.

[…]

It remains unclear how security will be handled this fall, but the district has been working toward including a pay raise and opportunities for advancement for its School Security Assistants in the 2020-21 budget. They hope that will help keep turnover rates low and make the positions more attractive.

[…]

Police have been stationed in Madison schools since the 1990s, with proponents highlighting the relationships the officers could establish with students and the need to have an officer on site in case of a school shooter or other emergency.

It’s all virtue signaling and fun until that next school shooting.

Couple Defends Home

by | 0805, 29 Jun 20 | , , | 80 Comments

Good for them.

A couple brandished an AR-15 and a handgun at protesters marching past their mansion in an upscale St. Louis neighborhood.

Husband and wife, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, could be seen aiming the guns at demonstrators who walked by their palatial property in the wealthy Forest Park area at around 6pm on Sunday.

While the couple is easy to tease for their poor weapon handling and wealthy trappings, they are expressing what many of us are feeling. Our neighborhoods are being overrun by violent rioters and the police are letting them do it. That leaves it to each of us to defend our lives and our property by ourselves. Given the current state of things, did this couple have any reasonable expectation that the cops would come and defend their home? Was there a reasonable expectation that this crowd might decide to sweep through their home, rob it, and burn it? That kind of violence is happening all over the country and this couple acted to defend themselves and their property. Good for them.

Minneapolis Council Members Get Private Armed Security As they Vote to Defund Police

by | 1339, 28 Jun 20 | , , | 20 Comments

I notice that they are blaming that old bogeyman, “white nationalists.” I call BS. True White Nationalists are not generally supportive of law enforcement. Why would they be upset about defunding the police? It gives them just as much relief from their criminal and terrorist activities. No, I suspect those death threats are coming from the same people who are already making threats in their efforts to destabilize civilized society.

In any case, the hypocrisy is thick and the callous disregard for the safety of the citizens they represent is appalling. They get taxpayer-funded, armed security while they push to strip the streets of protection for those same taxpayers.

Three members of the Minneapolis City Council have been provided with a private security detail after receiving death threats for supporting proposals to defend the city’s police department in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

A city spokesperson said the private security details ordered for council members Andrea Jenkins, Phillipe Cunningham and Alondra Cano have cost taxpayers $63,000 over the past three weeks – a rate of $4,300 per day.

News of the arrangement surfaced Friday, the same day the council voted 12-0 to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department, initiating steps toward establishing ‘peace officers’ and a new ‘holistic’ approach to public safety.

[…]

The security detail is being provided by two firms, Aegis and BelCom as an interim fix until other security solutions can be established

When asked why MPD are not providing security to the councilmembers, a city spokesperson said the department’s resources are needed elsewhere in the community. The hourly cost of private security is similar to the cost for a police officer, the spokesperson added

Government Asks Tech Companies to Forbid Advocating Crime

by | 1326, 28 Jun 20 | , , | 0 Comments

This whole censorship thing gets a bit slippery, eh?

As protests against police brutality and racism stretch into their fourth week across the US, the Trump administration is pressuring tech companies to take action against posts that encourage the toppling of statues, describing them as “criminal activity.”

Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf sent letters to companies including Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Snapchat Friday. They claim that social media sites have enabled “burglary, arson, aggravated assault, rioting, looting, and defacing public property,” according to copies of the letters obtained by Business Insider.

Police Officers Leaving The Job

by | 1726, 26 Jun 20 | , , | 34 Comments

Can you blame them?

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee police say a recent spike in retirements and resignations is a result of the recent unrest.

“Our law enforcement people don’t want to be here anymore,” Assistant Chief Regina Howard said. “I think that’s really tough because of everything going on out there.”

To date in 2020, 75 officers have resigned or retired. Since May 25, 26 (about 35 percent) of those letters were filed. In all of 2019, 69 officers retired or resigned.

“Every single day, there are resignation and retirement letters coming up to the chief’s office,” Howard said. “From members we wouldn’t have expected.”

“These are lieutenants, captains, that play integral roles as it relates to this department,” Assistant Chief Michael Brunson said. “They had dates they were planning on retiring. Because of the environment, because of what’s going on in the zeitgeist, they are deciding to push those retirements up because of this.”

And how many more are taking a step back from policing? How many are just looking the other way when that car blows through a red light? How many are only responding to calls? How many are spending their tours just driving around minding their own business? How many crimes are being committed as our police retreat into the safety of inaction?

Businesses in Downtown Madison Struggle

by | 0811, 25 Jun 20 | , | 2 Comments

Not that I go there very often anyway, but I doubt I’ll be sitting at a sidewalk cafe in downtown Madison for a very long time. I expect I’m not the only one. These businesses are going to struggle for a long time thanks to the deliberate inaction of their mayor and police department.

But several business owners and the head of a Downtown business organization said the disturbance at Coopers Tavern was not an isolated incident. They said Johnson and others entered multiple businesses on State Street on Monday and Tuesday, played loud music, called business owners racists, threatened to burn buildings, demanded free food and drinks and knocked over patio chairs and tables.

[…]

A number of business owners who spoke to a reporter were unwilling to be named or have their businesses identified for fear they or their businesses would face retribution from protesters. They said the government needs to do more to ensure State Street is safe and protect their businesses, including calling in the National Guard if needed.

Man Gets Beaten and Robbed By Rioters

by | 0800, 25 Jun 20 | | 2 Comments

At some point, some of these rioters are going to be shot by one of their victims. It will be completely justified, but they will twist it as if THEY are the victims.

Some individuals smashed the windows of his car, while a handful of others went after him and started beating him “into the ground.”

Protesters yelled at those beating him up to stop, saying, “That’s enough.” They called for a medic to come and help, but Mike got up and drove away in his car.

Mike said he has cuts on his hands, arms and upper lip. He also took “quite a few” blows to his head. He said there is swelling on several spots of his head and his jaw.

In the scuffle, someone stole his wallet and phone, Mike and Madison police said.

Madison police are asking for anyone with information on the incident to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at (608) 266-6014.

Mike said even after the incident, he has no ill will toward the movement because “Black lives do matter.”

“I’m by no means against Black Lives Matter,” he said. “I definitely am against being beaten and robbed and having my car destroyed.”

Some individuals smashed the windows of his car, while a handful of others went after him and started beating him “into the ground.”

Protesters yelled at those beating him up to stop, saying, “That’s enough.” They called for a medic to come and help, but Mike got up and drove away in his car.

Mike said he has cuts on his hands, arms and upper lip. He also took “quite a few” blows to his head. He said there is swelling on several spots of his head and his jaw.

In the scuffle, someone stole his wallet and phone, Mike and Madison police said.

Madison police are asking for anyone with information on the incident to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at (608) 266-6014.

Mike said even after the incident, he has no ill will toward the movement because “Black lives do matter.”

“I’m by no means against Black Lives Matter,” he said. “I definitely am against being beaten and robbed and having my car destroyed.”

Madison Mayor Ramps Up Appeasement

by | 1258, 24 Jun 20 | , | 10 Comments

What a joke – an unfunny joke. 90% of the statement from Madison’s mayor is about how Madison is doing its best to appease the rioters as fast as possible. You elected this, Madison.

However, what happened last night in Madison was far from peaceful and exceeding dangerous. People attacked a State Senator who championed workers’ rights in 2011, tore down a statute of an abolitionist who died trying to end slavery during the Civil War, and attempted to set fire to a building with dozens of people inside. We need to separate First Amendment protests from those engaged in criminal conduct. People engaged in violence and criminal conduct against people or property on the streets of Madison will be held accountable.

Madison Police are involved in a wide-ranging investigation of activities that lead up to the arrest on the square yesterday and will have further information on this investigation when it is available. Officers are also investigating Sunday night hit and run involving a pick-up truck and a pedestrian.

People are asking for real, substantive changes, and the City is responding. The Council moved forward with the creation of an independent police auditor and an independent civilian police oversight committee, and we will continue to work to implement the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Task Force on Police Policy and Procedure. The Public Safety Review Committee and the City Attorney’s office are reviewing the Madison Police Department’s use of force policies, comparing them with the 8 can’t wait standards, the NAACP recommendations, and other best practices from around the country, and will make recommendations for any needed changes. Our Community and Economic Development divisions are working to develop programs and move funds to support wealth-building, housing assistance,small businesses and more in the Black community. Alders are exploring the mental health ambulance model and how to adapt it for Madison. My office is engaging with the question of how to reimagine public safety, and working to engage the community in all of these issues. At the State level, the Governor and Lt. Governor introduced a strong package of proposals around police reform and racial equity.

I’ll wager that there are zero arrests out of this.

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