Written by Nathaniel Mannor
Just yesterday, Waukesha was reeling from a tragedy that involved a violent criminal, Darrell Brooks, plowing his SUV into a group of Christmas parades. This incident left five dead and dozens more wounded. Such a vicious act of murder is enough to put someone away for a lifetime, right? Well, think again because earlier that month, Darrell Brooks ran over the mother of his child with little repercussion. But how did this happen?
The answer comes from Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, whose progressive policies allowed Brooks to leave prison with only a $1,000 bail. When pressed on this, Chisholm responded, saying, “Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into a treatment program, who’s going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.”
Let me get this straight: You’re saying that you willingly let people out of prison, knowing full well they intend to kill again? And what’s worse is that Chisholm chalks this up to ‘systematic’ failure rather than looking inwards at his incompetence.
This isn’t the first example of Chisholm’s faulty thinking at work. In 2013, Jeremiah Schroeder committed similar crimes. However, after Chisholm allowed him to leave custody on a deferred prosecution agreement, Schroeder committed first-degree reckless homicide after a young woman overdosed on heroin he provided her.
Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker weighed in with a strategy to help clean up bail reform as a a strategy for Republicans to win in 2022. “…I am all for rehabilitating people dealing with opioid and other addictions out there, that’s different. But, when we talk about violent criminals, these are people that are in and out of the system. We need to keep them safe from society and this is sadly one more classic example of that…We saw last year during the pandemic when you let violent criminals back out on the street, they commit crimes. That’s what criminals do. And we need to push back and make the case that the most fundamental responsibility of the government is to keep people safe – whether it’s the federal government with the military or state and local government when it comes to law enforcement.”
Hopefully, Walker’s vision comes to fruition in the upcoming midterms that reduce violent crimes not just in Waukesha but across the nation. Then, perhaps the people of Milwaukee will see through Chisholm and oust him in 2025. Or better yet, put him in the one place he never sent any criminals: behind bars.
Photo Cred: AP Photo/Ivan Moreno
