Stunning Announcement: All St. Louis Rioters Have Been Released from Jail
Lawlessness in St. Louis apparently has spread from the city’s streets to the district attorney’s office, as many of those who are accused of attacking the fundamental rule of law are being released from jail after being arrested for allegedly rioting and looting.
It’s the kind of thing you would expect to see in California, where a “zero bail” policy sets criminals free immediately after their arrests in some cases, or in New York, where “bail reform” sees looters also walk free despite their violent actions.
In Missouri, the state’s attorney general is livid after police officers risk their safety and their lives daily to protect St. Louis from violent mobs, only to see those people not charged with crimes and released from custody.
Early Tuesday morning, four police officers were shot in downtown St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
On Monday, David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired black police captain, was murdered in cold blood as he attempted to protect a business in his beloved city.
Police, family and friends march today in honor of retired St. Louis Police Captain David Dorn, killed fending off looters at Lee’s pawn shop on June 2nd. pic.twitter.com/IONTqBQsbC
— David Mueth (@DavidMueth) June 4, 2020
Nobody has been arrested for the apparent indiscriminate shootings of law enforcement officers, but people are being arrested for other violent acts, which is a start.
But those people are being released as quickly as they’re being apprehended, according to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
KMOV-TV reported Schmitt is calling out St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner for offering apparent immunity to rioters in the city, noting that 36 people who were arrested between Sunday and Monday for allegedly rioting and looting were quickly released.
“In a stunning development, our office has learned that every single one of the St. Louis looters and rioters arrested were released back onto the streets by local prosecutor Kim Gardner,” Schmitt wrote Wednesday on Twitter.
Schmitt, a Republican, also shared a video documenting the mayhem occurring in St. Louis. The 60-second clip shows a lawless environment with motorists speeding away from an inferno while gunfire engulfs the area.
In a stunning development, our office has learned that every single one of the St. Louis looters and rioters arrested were released back onto the streets by local prosecutor Kim Gardner. pic.twitter.com/tMZVAyHssw
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) June 3, 2020
“There wasn’t one person looting and rioting and shooting at police officers that could have been charged? It’s absurd,” he told KMOV of the people who were released.
Gardner, a Democrat, responded to Schmitt’s criticism by blaming police officers and accusing him of attacking her for some apparent political gain.
“We need the police to bring admissible evidence to charge. My office cannot issue any case when there is not admissible evidence. Point blank,” she said in a video defending her decision not to prosecute those accused of ransacking the city.
Gardner also said prosecuting the alleged looters and rioters without “admissible evidence” would be “unethical.”
She further leveled an attack against law enforcement that leaves little doubt about which side of the law and order argument she sits on.
“I’ve noticed that the attorney general is tweeting quite a bit about looters and rioters and not about the fact that we have a history of police violence in this city and nation,” the city attorney said.
Gardner said the violence in the wake of George Floyd’s death last week in Minneapolis police custody is the result of people demanding “accountability and change in our criminal justice system.”
With that kind of attitude from a prosecutor, it is no wonder that, by all appearances, the criminal mobs in St. Louis feel emboldened to destroy their community and attack police officers with little fear of consequences.
St. Louis now joins California and New York in seemingly siding with mob rule.
The three locations all have one thing in common: They are run by Democrats.
Schmitt is working to circumvent Gardner and the St. Louis court system by taking the cases to federal authorities instead, he told KMOV.
“We’re working to assist with anyone that wants to cooperate with us. And that’s why we are working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” he said.
Until the city’s prosecutor is willing to support the rule of law, justice will have to be served by taking other avenues.
Schmitt wants to restore the rule of law to a city that now resembles a battlefield almost every night after the sun goes down.
Gardner, meanwhile, apparently has chosen to use her office to advocate for social justice as the residents in her city are held hostage by domestic terrorists.
How many attacks on America’s law enforcement officers and citizens will Democrats tolerate before they are willing to do their jobs?
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