Three days back a gunman killed three and seriously wounded five others after opening fire on the East Lansing campus at Michigan State University (MSU).
How
did the Democrats react?
A member
of the Michigan House of Representatives, Ranjeev Puri even began with
profanity to express condolences to the relatives of the victims.
Puri
knew that his swearword-laced message would receive attention and elevate his
profile. Puri made the tragic situation about himself instead of the victims
and perhaps used it to raise funds.
Puri
pledged to work tirelessly toward “common sense gun reform” in the U.S.
https://twitter.com/RanjeevPuri/status/1625368903776972800
Michigan Governor,
Gretchen Whitmer, called mass shootings “a uniquely American problem.”
https://twitter.com/GovWhitmer/status/1625376163299307524
Michigan
Democrat Congresswoman Debbie Dingell demanded the enhancement of
background checks and red flag laws
https://twitter.com/RepDebDingell/status/1626352108793393152?s=20
Biden issued
a statement urging Congress to enact common-sense gun laws and to
eliminate “immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on
our streets”
The
mainstream media which is the PR Wing of the Democrats echoed these sentiments,
blaming everyone but the culprit.
Finally,
the truth revealed itself.
The
NY Post reported that Anthony McRae, the shooter who died of a
self-inflicted gunshot at the site of the shooting, was
arrested in 2019 when for being in possession of a loaded gun near an
abandoned building.
This
led to McRae being charged with illegally carrying a concealed handgun without
a permit. The Detroit News reported that McRae faced up to five years in
prison for the felony charge.
However,
those charges were dismissed by the office of Ingham County prosecutor Carol
Siemon (D.).
Siemon’s
office allowed McRae to plead guilty to a lesser misdemeanor gun charge, and he
served a little more than a year on probation, which ended in May 2021.
The
Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office said
in a statement that McRae’s 2019 offense would not have received "the
legal maximum" prison sentence, should they have pursued it.
"The
sentencing guideline score would have been the same if he had been convicted of
either the original charge (possession of a concealed firearm) or the offense for
which he was convicted (possession of a firearm in a vehicle)."
A
few months after McRae’s release in August 2021, Siemon made it her official
policy to drop mandatory prison sentences for felony firearms charges.
Siemon,
like most Democrats, turned into a race issue.
She
claimed the sentencing enhancement led to "dramatic racial inequity"
and was "not in any way linked to the goal that we share of keeping the
public safe."
Now a bit about Siemon.
She
is part of George Soros’s network. She has
participated in international criminal
justice reform junkets. Siemon also backed far-left San
Francisco prosecutor Chesa Boudin ahead of a recall campaign that
eventually ousted him from office last year.
In
2021, the Vera Institute for Justice, a think tank funded by Soros’s Open
Society Foundations, praised Siemon
for pledging to reduce racial disparities in prosecution.
Siemon
seemed
proud of the changes she made in her office when she announced her
retirement in November.
She
branded it as “substantial progress to reform the justice system and provide
for a proportionate response to criminal charges,"
She claimed
to have “changed the prosecutors’ office’s charging and sentencing practices,
to provide a greater range of options to hold people accountable for the harm
they cause while reducing incarceration and continuing to serve victims and to de
But
her progressive politics wasn’t celebrated everywhere, Siemon who retired from
the prosecutor’s office earlier this year faced criticism from judges and law
enforcement officials for her soft-on-crime policies.
A
Michigan circuit
court judge excoriated Siemon for disregarding her duty. Judge Rosemarie
Aquilina said Siemon " is not a legislator, she is not a judge, and she is
making our community unsafe,".
Siemon’s
successor, John Dewane, pledged to be different by toughening up charges for
repeat offenders, according to an
interview.
"My
number one goal, and I put out some policies with regard to this issue, is the
increase in gun violence in our community, specifically the Lansing area,"
he said.
Johnson,
president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund said that "progressive
prosecutors such as Ms. Siemon continue to value reducing the incarcerated
population over their duty to protect the public by enforcing the law."
Now
about the shooter McRae.
Neighbors
revealed that McRae would dangerously fire off his gun in his backyard after he
completed probation in May 2021. McRae’s father revealed his son struggled
with mental health issues that turned him “evil” following the death
of his mother in 2020.
If
Siemon had done her duty and McRae charged with a crime and would have been
in prison till 2024 for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. He would
have been barred from owning a gun after his release.
Considering
he was unstable and a repeat offender, he may have committed further crimes in
prison which would have led to tougher and increased sentencing.
But
instead, Siemon allowed him back into society and now three are dead. The lives
of their close ones have been irrevocably devastated. The situation with the
five seriously wounded is no better. Some may suffer life-altering injuries
while their families struggle to take care of their loved ones.
It
was not just the physical being that was harmed, it was also the death of many
dreams and aspirations. The psychological trauma for all impacted by the event
is unfathomable.
Siemon
should have strictly followed the law but instead remains focused on gratuitous
matters.
But
instead of ensuring that prosecutors do not commit such an act ever again, the
Democrat politicians and media experts want to punish law-abiding
citizens.
It
must be remembered that firearms are often the sole means of affordable
protection for regular people. As always people demanding red-flag laws which
allow confiscation of guns on mere suspicion or other draconian anti-gun
measures are themselves protected by armed bodyguards.
They
are also targeting gun manufacturers for which there is no rationale. Any
manufacturer is responsible for delivering a functioning product. Once the
product leaves the firm, the maker is not responsible for its misuse or entry
into the black market. If we go down that road even baseball bat makers
and car manufacturers will be sued when people misuse them to commit
violence.
In
a civilized society, prosecutors such as Siemon who failed to perform her basic
duties and hence have blood on her hands should have been
punished. Perhaps the pension amount is reduced or she is fined or some
other form of punitive action, perhaps some prison time.
In
fact, she should have been forced to quit the moment she started going soft on
crime and her light sentencing of hardcore criminals should have been
overridden with a suitable punishment.
But that will not happen and sadly the cycle of violence continues
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