California to Empty Prisons, Dump Convicted Murderers on the Streets

Of course the Times picks the most appealing, sympathetic convict they could find to profile.

This will not turn out well.

See, "California is releasing some murderers due to COVID-19. Some say it should free more":

Although Gov. Gavin Newsom and corrections officials have focused on freeing nonviolent offenders from prisons to slow the spread of coronavirus, they also are letting out people who have committed violent crimes but have serious medical conditions. https://t.co/vB3GUpCLoo

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 9, 2020

Terebea Williams was 22 when she shot her boyfriend, drove 750 miles with him bleeding in the trunk of his own car and then dragged him into a Northern California motel, tied him to a chair and left him to die.

Convicted of murder, carjacking and kidnapping, Williams went on to earn a college degree during her 19 years in prison, where she also mentored younger inmates and was lauded by administrators for her “exceptional conduct” while incarcerated.

The contrasting portraits of Williams as stone-cold killer and rehabilitated model prisoner highlight the difficulties in a plan to release thousands of California inmates to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has killed at least 52 of those incarcerated and sickened more than 8,700 others.

This spring, the state expedited the release of 3,500 inmates because of the coronavirus, and in July it freed 2,345 others early. Thousands more are eligible for release, including at least 6,500 deemed to be at high risk because of medical conditions that make them especially vulnerable to COVID-19.

Although Gov. Gavin Newsom and corrections officials have focused on freeing nonviolent offenders, they also are letting out people who, like Williams, have committed violent crimes but have serious medical conditions.

Williams, 44, walked out of a women’s prison in Chowchilla, Calif., on July 29, lopping decades off her 84-years-to-life sentence for killing Kevin “John” Ruska Jr., who died of infection from a gunshot wound to the gut.

Some prisoners’ rights advocates say Williams exemplifies the type of inmate who should be released — one who has already served a lengthy sentence, poses a low risk of reoffending and is particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. Some are also pushing to expand the criteria for early releases to include similar types of inmates now serving life without parole for murder.

But in Williams’ case and others, officials have drawn the ire of prosecutors, victims’ rights advocates and family members amid questions about which and how many inmates are being released — and whether it is being done with enough transparency to protect the public.

“The governor of California, Terebea’s public defender and the politicians of California have used COVID to allow this cold, calculated, lying, unremorseful murderer out of jail 65 years early, without giving the victim, Johnny, a voice,” said Ruska’s cousin, Karri Phillips...

Keep reading.

Total Badass

Unbelievable.

I mean, the need to waive any tickets for this badassery... pic.twitter.com/iwZsAhbfBE

— DannyTypo (@DanPariah) July 30, 2020

The Coming Black Crime Bloodbath (VIDEO)

She's one of the most politically incorrect women in America, and she's riding a wave of prescience on Black Lives Matter. Super compelling interview with Epoch Times editor Jan Jekielek.

And at Amazon, Heather Mac Donald, The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe.

Interactive Cover

Click through, at the New Yorker:

An early look at next week’s cover, "Say Their Names," by @KadirNelson: https://t.co/Nj3q09OrOL pic.twitter.com/a3w3l1XESb

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) June 14, 2020

Also:

Like men who saw the scroll of #MeToo testimonies & interrogated women, asking “Is it really that bad?,” the shock of Floyd’s death is itself a barometer of inequality, evidence of who has moved through life free of the burden of such terrible knowledge. https://t.co/7Ci2bv3ToO

— jelani cobb (@jelani9) June 14, 2020

It's performative journalism.

The Defund the Police Lies (VIDEO)

A great segment, with Laura Ingraham:

Defund the Police Movement Based on Lies

At NYP, "The movement to defund police is based on nothing but lies."

https://t.co/TpGXVxQ7SY

— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) June 7, 2020

President Trump's Blistering Attack on 'Fake News' Media After the Mueller Debacle (VIDEO)

Scorching:

Leftists Taking the Mueller Debacle Really Hard (VIDEO)

Here's Sarah Kendzior, who's been a regular on MSNBC spreading the hate against this administration, routinely smearing the president as an "autocrat" dictator.

And at the video, Rachel Maddow calls for the entire Mueller team to testify before Congress. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross had something to say about the stages of grief, man.

"The public has a right to know whether its own government constitutes a threat to national security and if the president is complicit in a crime." https://t.co/lPkanzgOK7 pic.twitter.com/YIMptkV88r

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) July 25, 2019

The 2020 Election: The One Way to End the Trump Presidency

It's not gonna happen, although this is an excellent piece.

At WaPo, "Democrats are now left with one option to end Trump’s presidency: The 2020 election":

From @danbalz: “Many Democrats long have considered Robert S. Mueller III a potential savior, as the agent of President Trump’s eventual undoing. Wednesday’s hearings on Capitol Hill probably shattered those illusions once and for all.” https://t.co/gjfPgTt52C #TheLedeOfLedes

— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) July 25, 2019

Many Democrats long have considered Robert S. Mueller III a potential savior, as the agent of President Trump’s eventual undoing. Wednesday’s hearings on Capitol Hill probably shattered those illusions once and for all. If Democrats hope to end the Trump presidency, they will have to do so by defeating him at the ballot box in November 2020.

In reality, that has been the case for months. Still, scheduled testimony by the former special counsel before two House committees offered the possibility that he would say something that would suddenly change public perceptions and dramatically jump-start long-stalled prospects for an impeachment inquiry. That was certainly the Democrats’ goal. If anything, things could move in the opposite direction.

Regardless of the evidence of obstruction contained in Mueller’s report, impeachment is a fraught strategy for the Democrats, given public opinion and the dynamics in the Senate. After Wednesday, the prospects for impeachment appear more remote, which means it will be left to the eventual Democratic presidential nominee, with the help of the party, to develop a comprehensive case against the president, one that can win 270 electoral votes. To date, that hasn’t happened.

House Democrats have fumbled in their efforts to hold Trump and his administration accountable, despite promises to do so. Presidential candidates are more focused on one another and playing to their internal constituencies than on organizing the brief against the president to take into the general-election campaign. That remains a major challenge as the contest moves forward.

Next week’s Democratic debate in Detroit will offer the candidates a fresh opportunity to begin to frame the election — the case for their party and the case against Trump — as well as to state or restate their views about impeaching the president. With Mueller’s testimony over, the onus will be on them to show the leadership what rank-and-file Democrats are looking for.

Mueller gave the Democrats some things they wanted. In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, he rebutted Trump’s claim that he was totally exonerated by the report. Not true, Mueller said. Nor, he told the House Intelligence Committee, was his investigation a hoax or a witch hunt, as the president has claimed. And he seemed to suggest that Trump was not charged with obstruction because Justice Department regulations say that a sitting president cannot be indicted and that a president can be charged after leaving office.

But there was some ambiguity surrounding statements about whether Trump would have been indicted absent those regulations. Before the intelligence committee, Mueller corrected his previous comment, noting that the report did not definitively answer the question of whether Trump had committed a crime.

Meanwhile, the rest of Mueller’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee proved a disappointment to any Democrat who thought that he would take up the role of witness for the prosecution. Laurence H. Tribe, a Harvard law professor and impeachment advocate, tweeted Wednesday afternoon: “Much as I hate to say it, this morning’s hearing was a disaster. Far from breathing life into his damning report, the tired Robert Mueller sucked the life out of it.”

Mueller proved to be a reluctant — and at times shaky — witness. He had warned the Democrats in a brief public statement when he exited the Justice Department in May that he would not go beyond the written report if called to testify...

Mueller Testimony Sinks #Dems Hopes for Impeachment

There's just too much titillating commentary on yesterday's debacle. I'll try to get to some of it throughout the day.

Meanwhile, at the Los Angeles Times, "Mueller’s testimony seems unlikely to boost impeachment — but could vindicate Pelosi":

WASHINGTON —  Robert S. Mueller III did little on Wednesday to boost the prospects of impeaching President Trump.

The former special counsel’s highly anticipated testimony before Congress did not deliver the sort of splashy moment that circulates on cable TV. Instead, as he promised, Mueller stuck carefully to the text of his investigative report, occasionally — at times haltingly — offering a nuance, but often providing one-word answers to questions.

The result seemed likely to do little more than harden the opinions held by the public — and lawmakers — on President Trump and whether he should be removed from office.

Even Democratic supporters of impeachment were openly disappointed that the hearing did not deliver fireworks...

More.

And at Instapundit, "GUY BENSON: As America Yawned, Mueller’s Testimony Damaged Him, Made Impeachment Less Likely," and "LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: ‘The Robert Mueller Story’ Was Box Office Poison."

The Mueller Disaster

Well, things didn't go well today for the Dems, and it's a laugh right, heh.

At BuzzFeed, via Memeorandum, "A Bit of a Dud” — Some Democrats Say the Mueller Hearings Didn't Live Up to Expectations."

And at the Other McCain, "Mueller Hearing a Democrat Debacle."

And Instapundit, "WHEN YOU’VE LOST CHUCK TODD: Todd calls Mueller hearing an optics disaster for Democrats."

NYC’s Anti-Cop Anarchy: What Say You, Dante de Blasio?

From Michelle Malkin:

MORE ANTI-NYPD HARASSMENT: The @NYCPBA just tweeted a video of another street thug verbally harassing two @NYPDTransit officers on a subway. While saying "freedom of speech" the man verbally harasses the professional officers as they keep their cool. #BlueLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/p3vm9X5xJJ

— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) July 23, 2019

Dante de Blasio is the son of Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has abandoned his crime-wracked city (but not his public office, tax-subsidized salary or perks) for a quixotic presidential bid to become America’s social justice warrior-in-chief. Calculated to promote his race card-playing dad’s campaign, Dante stoked anti-cop hysteria a few weeks ago with a widely disseminated USA Today op-ed. Dante’s screed came just days after de Blasio declared at the first Democratic debate:

“I’m different from all of the other candidates in this race in that I’m raising a black son in America.”

De Blasio reminds audiences that Dante is black as often as former GOP presidential candidate John Kasich reminded every unfortunate person within earshot that his dad was a mailman. A Google news search for “De Blasio black son” yields nearly 85,000 hits. We get it. We get it. We get it.

Because his pigment and political bloodline give him the special privilege of making blanket assertions about, well, anything, Dante was rewarded with a major media platform to ply a kinder, gentler version of the vile “Cops=pigs” narrative to an audience of millions. Police officers are menaces on the streets who pose a greater threat to “people of color” than unknown strangers, homeless people and drug addicts, Dante de Blasio argued. He had “no fear on a night walk until the police came,” the op-ed declared darkly.

“We’re taught to fear the people meant to protect us, because the absolute worst-case scenario has happened too many times. This reality cannot continue.”

But actual reality smacked NYPD officers in their heads in two viral videos this week that had non-white witnesses in the ‘hood laughing and jeering hysterically. In Harlem and Brooklyn, cops were attacked with buckets of water while onlookers hooted, hollered and incited chaos. A brazen young thug, not paralyzed in the least by the anxiety that de Blasio conjured up for his column, hurled a bucket that hit one of the LEOs in the back of the head. Members of the neighborhood mobs where the attacks occurred — similarly unaffected by Dante’s manufactured disquietude — whipped out their phones to share their glee and cheered like they were watching an episode of “WWE RAW.”

“Who does that in their right frame of mind? People who believe there’s no consequences,” a law enforcement source fumed to the New York Post. “There’s total anarchy out here.” Another NYPD supervisor warned: “Today it’s a bucket of water. Tomorrow it could be a bucket of cement.” In 1993, a Housing Authority cop John Williamson was murdered after a Washington Heights mob went wild because NYPD officers were towing illegally parked cars. Someone hurled a 30-pound bucket of spackling compound from a building rooftop that struck and killed Williamson.

Here’s more of the reality Dante de Blasio and his cop-hating daddy won’t acknowledge: The Big Apple’s police force has long been the target of racially driven vigilantes who are frightened of nothing and nobody.

Long Beach City College Gun Scare Lockdown (VIDEO)

My college's Pacific Coast Campus was on lockdown yesterday, although it turned out the weapon was a fake gun, I guess to be used in some kind of theater production.

Campus security sent out emergency notifications through email and text messaging around 11:00am or so. The college took this very seriously, which is good. I'd like more answers about why some theater production was having fake guns in use and there was no formal notification to the college beforehand?

My school's newspaper, the Viking, has the story. Turns out is was a theater professor himself who "stupidly" walked across campus carrying the fake weapon, without a bag or anything. You think people might freak out?

See, "Film professor carrying prop gun caused campus lockdown."

And at ABC 7 News Los Angeles:

Traffic Camera on Stop Sign in La Jolla (VIDEO)

About 15 years ago I was pulled over by a highway patrolman after I picked my kid up from daycare. The daycare site was located in Fountain Valley, in a residential neighborhood, way out of the way of commuter traffic or what not. I rolled the stop sign nearby, making a right turn heading back towards Magnolia Street and the 405 freeway. As I reluctantly signed the ticket I asked the cop if he didn't have better things to do than ticket a generally law-abiding citizen picking up his preschooler from daycare? How about all the folks on the freeway nearby driving in excess of 80 mph? He said he was under a lot of pressure. (*Shrug.*)

Anyway, I stop more carefully at stop signs these days --- it's been 15 years since that ticket at least --- but I notice most other drivers do not. Cops maybe should station themselves at stop signs, like the one where I got busted, to better police these infractions. Sometimes drivers show no courtesy to pedestrians or oncoming traffic. It's actually pretty dangerous. I'm getting old though, even in my Dodge Challenger, heh.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:

Peter Maas, Serpico

I watched this film last night on cable. It's excellent. And I especially love Al Pacino. I don't know (nor care) if he's a leftist: he's just so good on film.

At Amazon, Peter Maas, Serpico.

Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke: 'Cops Are the Good Guys' (VIDEO)

Via Prager University:

Bizarre Police Pursuit (VIDEO)

Really bizarre.

At CBS News 2 Los Angeles, "Bizarre Police Pursuit From O.C. to I.E. Ends With Driver Fleeing on Foot, Passenger Jumping Into Unwitting Couple's Car":

JURUPA VALLEY (CBSLA) — A driver was placed in police custody Monday afternoon after taking police on a three-hour, high-speed pursuit from Anaheim to Riverside County, heading into oncoming traffic at times, with one of his passengers making a bizarre attempt to flee in a different vehicle.

The pursuit began shortly after noon when an Anaheim police officer determined a dark Toyota Camry had a stolen license plate, City News Service reported.

The vehicle got on the eastbound 91 Freeway, reaching up to 100 miles per hour. The driver got onto the El Cajon Pass in Riverside County before turning back towards Riverside proper.

Police twice attempted PIT maneuvers on surface streets with no success.

The male driver ended up in the Jurupa Valley, where police said he changed his shirt, exited the car and ran into a parking lot adjoining an industrial building.

A female passenger then exited the vehicle and got into another dark sedan that happened to be coming out of the parking lot.

A freelance photographer who was covering the pursuit recorded the moment he warned the driver of the second vehicle to stop. “No, that’s not us,” a confused woman in the front passenger seat told the stringer. “I don’t know who she is,” the male driver can be heard saying.

The woman from the first vehicle then jumped out of the back seat...

Tomi Lahren Calls Out John Legend for Fomenting the War on Cops (VIDEO)

Ms. Tomi's a hot chick, and a firebrand of an analyst. Sure, she's pretty much a bitch, but easy to look at, in any case.

At Fox News. The John Legend comments come toward the last part of the clip:

Chicago Police Commander Paul Bauer Shot and Killed During 'Tactical Chase' of Armed Suspect (VIDEO)

This is really intense.

At the Chicago Tribune, "Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer shot to death at Thompson Center in Loop."

Epic Police Partnership Ends

This is really cool.

At LAT, "After nearly 30 years patrolling together, these two LAPD officers end an epic partnership":

The cops have patrolled together for more than 28 years, one behind the wheel, the other riding shotgun, scanning the streets of northeast Los Angeles for signs of trouble.

Both are bald with mustaches, as set in their ways as a married couple. Duarte, the smoother talker, is first to approach a suspect or defuse a tense situation. Marinelli, whose "aw shucks" demeanor masks a sly wit, hangs back to stand guard.

They are friendly or fearsome, depending on what they think you deserve. Homeless people and street vendors get a pass. Car thieves do not. Their adversaries call them Los Dobermans, the Doublemint Twins, Heckle and Jeckle.

In the Los Angeles Police Department, partners typically last a year or two in the same car. Sometimes, working styles clash. More often, someone gets transferred or promoted. A decade together is long, three unheard of.

Patrolling in Cypress Park on a late afternoon last fall, they recall the tragedy and mayhem they have seen on these streets. They point to the alley where Marinelli fatally shot an armed man in 1993. Around the corner on Bank Street two years later, a 3-year-old girl was killed by gang members.

This is one of the last days Harold Marinelli and J.C. Duarte will work together. Marinelli is leaving for knee surgery, then retirement.

"I'm always right, and he's always wrong," Marinelli says.

"I always let him think he's right — just like my wife," Duarte responds.

In June 1988, when the two young police officers climbed into a black-and-white for the first time, their chemistry was immediate. They were the same kind of cop, itching for a caper, obsessed with catching car thieves. No need for promotions or to check out other stations. All they wanted was to work Northeast Division together.

Supervisors tried to break them up. They resisted. Once, they joined a vice squad to avoid being paired with novice cops. When they returned to patrol, they took a demotion, losing two stripes and 5% of their pay to stay together.

Spending all day, every day cooped up in a car with the wrong person can be hellish. One officer wants to run after a suspect while the other insists on summoning reinforcements. One may power through a whole shift without a break, while the other gets cranky without his customary burger stop. In a dangerous situation, partners move in an improvised choreography, wordlessly reading each other's intentions.

"If you don't gel, you can hardly wait for that day to get done," says Jack Richter, a sergeant in media relations, whose longest pairing lasted two years.

Like a good marriage, a good police partnership can thrive off differences. Duarte, 53, speaks Spanish and is better at writing reports. Marinelli, 58, is the quiet one who notices the detail others miss — the one that leads to the bad guy.

Duarte is a meticulous record-keeper, jotting down every hour of overtime the partners have worked. A black binder holds mug shots of every person they have arrested — page after page of scowling photographs, a rogues' gallery of northeast Los Angeles.

There was the suspected robber who led them on a car chase in 1998; the woman they arrested almost a dozen times for drug offenses in the early 2000s before she turned her life around; the boxer known as "Eddie the Animal," whose freedom ended when the partners spotted him in Highland Park on Jan. 3, 2006, and arrested him on a burglary and robbery warrant.

At the station, they are the Baldies, who pepper roll calls with jokes and are admired for their old-fashioned "obs skills" — the ability to size up a situation at a glance.

A few years ago, the partners were driving around Cypress Park, looking to pick up some overtime, when they spotted a man molesting his niece in a parked car. They later took the girl to Disneyland...

More.