Crime | Boots & Sabers

Once Again, FBI Lied About Crime Stats

by Owen | 1911, 17 Oct 24 | Crime, Politics | 1 Comment

The FBI is no longer a credible agency – if it ever was one.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly updated its 2022 crime data to show an increase in violent crimes, despite previous data showing violent crimes had fallen that year, which was touted as a victory for the Biden-Harris administration.

“For some reason, the media, they did pick the crime data that they think goes and makes the Democrats look as good as possible. And then even when the crime data that they’ve relied on turns out by the very source of that data to be wrong, none of them fix it,” John Lott, the founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview this week.

The FBI released its annual crime in the nation data for 2022 last year, which found a 2.1% decrease in violent crimes compared to 2021, Lott explained. The data was lauded by Democrats and the media as part of a turning point for crime woes in the U.S., following the crime wave of 2020, when defund-the-police protests and riots swept the nation and the pandemic’s stay-at-home orders upended daily life.

Now, the data reflects a net increase of 80,029 violent crimes in 2022 over 2021. Lott found that under the umbrella of violent crime, there were an additional 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies and 37,091 aggravated assaults that year.

Memphis the Dangerous

by Owen | 1205, 12 Oct 24 | Crime | 0 Comments

What a shame. Memphis is a fun city. Beale Street is getting a little worn, but still a lot of fun.

Memphis, Tennessee, once known for its blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll music, has now turned into a haven for crime and drug abuse.

A study by WalletHub has named the Southern city the most dangerous city to live in America among the 182 cities surveyed.

The United States Department of Justice also declared that this once-flourishing metro has the highest number of homicides – 129 in the first half of 2024.

Army Disarms Police in Mexican City

by Owen | 0737, 2 Oct 24 | Crime, Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments

How’s it going to our south?

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Local police in the cartel-dominated city of Culiacan, Mexico have been pulled off the streets after the army seized their guns, officials announced Monday.

The move came just one day after about 1,500 residents of Culiacan, the capital of the northern state of Sinaloa, held a march Sunday though the city’s downtown to demand peace after weeks in which cartel gunfights have killed dozens of people in and around the city.

But rather than announcing a stepped-up police presence, Ruben Rocha, the state’s governor, said Monday the entire 1,000-member municipal police force would not return to duty until they get their weapons back. Soldiers, state police and National Guard will take over patrolling until then.

Rocha said the seizure of the weapons for inspection of their permits and serial numbers was not a routine check, but rather was “exceptional,” and said “we hope it will end soon.”

Historically, the Mexican army has seized the weapons of local police forces they distrust, either because they suspect some local cops are working for drug gangs or because they suspect they are carrying unregistered, private sidearms that would make abuses harder to trace.

Retailers Reduce Theft By Closing Stores and Inconveniencing Paying Customers

by Owen | 2102, 13 Sep 24 | Crime, Culture, Economy | 1 Comment

This story paints this as a victory, but it is not. It is the acceptance of a culture ruled by crooks and the people who coddle them at the expense of law-abiding citizens.

A year ago, America’s stores declared a shoplifting epidemic. They closed stores in major cities, hired extra security, locked up key merchandise and declared big losses in their financial statements.

This year, retailers are telling a very different story — or no story at all. It’s as if the shoplifting crisis suddenly vanished.

[…]

Last year, Target said a scourge of petty theft and organized groups stealing merchandise dented its profit by more than $500 million. Target also closed nine stores, saying “theft and organized retail crime” threatened worker and customer safety and made business unsustainable.

[…]

Stores have also added ways to prevent theft, which may have been effective at reducing the problem, even if they frustrated shoppers. Companies locked up products and removed self-checkout stations.

House Investigates Chronic Fraud in Walz’s Administration

by Owen | 2027, 5 Sep 24 | Crime, Politics | 3 Comments

The fraud was massive and undeniable. The question is what did Walz know and when did he know it?

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was subpoenaed by the House Education Committee on Wednesday as part of the GOP lawmakers’ latest investigation into the Democratic presidential ticket, probing into an issue that has long been Walz’s kryptonite: child nutrition programs.

[…]

A Minnesota-based nonprofit, Feeding Our Future, is accused of misusing $250 million of taxpayer dollars from a COVID-19 relief fund intended to feed children in need.

Walz has not shied away from addressing the largest pandemic relief fraud in the nation, which happened right under his nose.

At a press conference in August, before being picked by Harris, Walz addressed his administration’s lack of fraud prevention and a scathing legislative audit that called the MDE’s oversight “inadequate.”

“I think what you’re seeing is if you commit fraud in Minnesota, you are going to be caught as you are going to go to prison,” Walz said. He pointed to administrative changes and safeguards to prevent future fraud, such as implementing an inspector general for the MDE.

The federal government charged over 70 defendants, five of whom have been convicted of fraud, while the rest await trial.

Feeding our Future benefited from the child nutrition program designed to aid hungry children during the pandemic, as schools and care facilities were shut down. Prosecutors allege Feeding our Future submitted fake names of children to the Department of Education to receive funds.

Walz and the other officials subpoenaed have until Sept. 18 to release the documents requested.

U.S. Releases Drug Cartel Leader Early

by Owen | 0756, 31 Aug 24 | Crime, Foreign Affairs | 2 Comments

Seems like we should make someone who is responsible for brutally murdering thousands of people serve their full sentence, eh?

A U.S. Bureau of Prisons official said Cárdenas Guillén had been released from prison and was placed in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That would normally suggest he would be deported back to Mexico.

A Mexican official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Cárdenas Guillén faces two arrest warrants in Mexico, making it likely he would be detained upon arrival.

The former head of the Gulf cartel was known for his brutality. He created the most bloodthirsty gang of hitmen Mexico has ever known, the Zetas, which routinely slaughtered migrants and innocent people.

Cárdenas Guillén was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010 and ordered to forfeit tens of millions of dollars. It was not clear why he did not serve his full sentence, but he had been extradited to the U.S. in January 2007.

Biden Starts Protecting Illegals from Deportation

by Owen | 1925, 21 Aug 24 | Crime, Politics | 0 Comments

Read this story and think to yourself… how much vetting did the Biden administration really do before granting the illegal immigrant protection from deportation? They are likely getting thousands and thousands of applications. Are they really checking the information in them if they are able to grant immunity in 24 hours?

Cecilia sat in front of her computer repeatedly refreshing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services webpage on Monday, waiting for the application for the Biden administration’s “Keeping Families Together” program to show up on her screen.

Minutes later, she clicked it open and submitted the form in less than 20 minutes.

A little more than 24 hours later, she got an e-mail sharing the news that she had been waiting 20 years to hear.

“I see that I got approved, and I’m like, oh that was quick,” she told ABC News in an interview. “I was lost for words…a whole bunch of emotions were going on.”

Cecilia, who asked ABC News not to disclose her full name so she can freely disclose her immigration status, is one of the first immigrants to receive parole in place, a temporary relief from deportation under a new program that allows undocumented spouses and stepchildren of United States citizens to apply for permanent legal residence without having to leave the country.

Charity Hands Out Candy Meth

by Owen | 2135, 14 Aug 24 | Crime | 1 Comment

Ope.

A New Zealand charity that works with low-income people says it unknowingly distributed candies containing potentially lethal levels of methamphetamine.

[…]

Ben Birks Ang, a spokesperson for the NZ Drug Foundation, told the AP that each candy had a street value of 1,000 New Zealand dollars ($608), suggesting the donation was not intentional. Authorities said it was possibly a smuggling attempt that had gone wrong.

Secret Service Breaks Into Business During Kamala Fundraiser

by Owen | 0836, 11 Aug 24 | Crime, Law, Politics | 26 Comments

This is a much bigger deal than the story makes it out to be.

A Massachusetts Salon owner feels ‘violated’ after the United States Secret Service broke into her business during a nearby fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Footage from a Ring security camera shows an agent approaching the front door of the business in Berkshire, Massachusetts last week before coming back to tape over the video camera.

Alicia Powers, the salon owner, said after the camera was covered, agents broke into the building by picking the lock and then allowing multiple people to use the bathroom inside over a two-hour period.

We have a right to our private property and that right is strongly protected in several places in the U.S. Constitution. Without a warrant or probable cause, these agents broke into a private business to use for their own purposes. The purpose is immaterial. The Secret Service had no more right to enter that building without permission than any thug on the street. If a rando had broken in, they would be prosecuted and put in jail. The same thing should happen to the agents. They don’t get to say, “ope, our bad” and move on. I wouldn’t be able to do that. They should be held to the same or higher standard.

The whole thing speaks to a culture at the Secret Service that disregards the rights of citizens and does not hold itself accountable. It speaks to a culture of an agency that considers itself above the law. They are behaving as a modern Praetorian Guard instead of as a law enforcement and protection agency in a Constitutional Republic.

It seems that all of our federal agencies have become rotten to the core.

Venezuela Erupts After Fraudulent Election

by Owen | 0702, 30 Jul 24 | Crime, Culture, Foreign Affairs | 2 Comments

I hate to say “I told you so,” but I did. You can’t oust communist at the ballot box. They don’t allow it.

Protests erupted in the Venezuelan capital the day after President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory.

The opposition has disputed Mr Maduro’s declaration as fraudulent, saying its candidate Edmundo González won convincingly with 73.2% of the vote.

[…]

A heavy military and police presence was on the streets of Caracas with the aim of trying to disperse protesters and prevent them from approaching the presidential palace.

Crowds of people chanted “freedom, freedom!” and called for the government to fall.

[…]

In a speech on Venezuelan state television, Mr Maduro said it is his “obligation to tell you the truth”.

“We are all under the obligation to listen the truth, to gear up with patience, calmness and strength because we are familiar with this movie and we know how to face these situations and how to defeat the violent.”

[…]

Mr Maduro has accused the opposition of calling for a coup by disputing the results. “This is not the first time we are facing what we are facing today,” he said.

“They are trying to impose in Venezuela a coup d’etat again of fascist and counter-revolutionary character.”

The Venezuelan attorney general warned that the blocking of roads or breaking any laws related to disturbances as part of protests would be met with the full force of the law.

Does that rhetoric look familiar? The claim to speaking the “truth” and labeling all opponents as liars? The claim that opposing an obviously fraudulent election is a “coup?” The rigorous enforcement of laws against political opponents while allies run wild? All of this after disarming average citizens in the name of “safety.” Only those ignorant of history don’t know what’s going on. This is the classic Communist playbook and we are seeing it here in America.

Alleged Sabotage Disrupts Rail Traffic Before Olympics

by Owen | 0640, 26 Jul 24 | Crime, Foreign Affairs | 0 Comments

Olympics are going to be entertaining in many ways.

French rail company SNCF says 800,000 passengers have been affected by what the country’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described as “acts of sabotage”.

A series of fires caused the disruptions early on Friday morning, hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.

Several high-speed TGV lines have been hit to the west, north and east of the capital and SNCF has warned the disruption could last for days. Eurostar has also warned customers of longer journey times and cancellations.

FBI Director Spins Conspiracy Theories

by Owen | 0641, 25 Jul 24 | Crime, Politics | 1 Comment

The FBI is utterly corrupt and needs to be stripped down to the lab and records and left as nothing more than a support agency for state and local law enforcement.

The FBI‘s director has cast doubt on whether Donald Trump was struck by a bullet during the attempt on his life at a Pennsylvania political rally.

Christopher Wray was updating Congress about the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler on Wednesday when he made the explosive statement.

‘With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,’ Wray said.

Hartford School Board Protects Girls

by Owen | 0652, 24 Jul 24 | Crime, Education, Law, Politics - Wisconsin | 0 Comments

Good for them. We win back this country at the local level with work like this.

HARTFORD — The Hartford Union High School (HUHS) Board voted not to accept a revised definition of the term “sex” under Title IX on Monday night.

[…]

The current HUHS process regarding students wanting to use different pronouns or a different name would not change. The school would still contact the parents and set up a meeting or have conversations with the parents, and only the parents’ written permission would allow HUHS to address the student by that name or pronouns.

Democrats Support Felon Foreign Agent in Senate

by Owen | 1703, 23 Jul 24 | Crime, Politics | 0 Comments

The fact that this corrupt POS is allowed to keep his seat in the Senate and leave in a manner of his own choosing speaks volumes. However, I don’t think anyone is listening anymore.

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will resign his office on Aug. 20 following the conviction in his federal corruption trial, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

Murphy, who will select an interim replacement, said Tuesday afternoon he has received Menendez’s resignation letter.

In the resignation letter to Murphy, obtained by ABC News, Menendez said he intends to appeal the verdict but does not want the “Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work.”

This is what Democrats support:

Sen. Bob Menendez was found guilty on all counts Tuesday in his federal corruption trial.

Federal prosecutors in New York alleged the New Jersey Democrat accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and more in exchange for the senator’s political clout. Three New Jersey businessmen who were also charged, along with the governments of Egypt and Qatar, were the alleged recipients. Two of those co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also convicted of all counts they faced.

I’m Not Into Conspiracy Theories, But…

by Owen | 1635, 23 Jul 24 | Crime, Politics | 1 Comment

Meh. It’s not an act of honor or worthy of respect if it is only done after being forced into it.

US Secret Service director Kim Cheatle has resigned after security failures surrounding an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

“As your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” Ms Cheatle said in a resignation letter to agency staff on Tuesday.

She had faced calls from both Democrats and Republicans to step down after a contentious House committee hearing on Monday about the incident.

Lawmakers became increasingly frustrated when she refused to answer questions about the shooting at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this month.

For a few days after the assassination attempt on Trump, I took it for what it looked like. It was a loony, disaffected, young man – probably radicalized by toxic anti-Trump rhetoric – who acted out his hate trying to enter immortality. I don’t usually go for conspiracy theories – Occam’s Razor and whatnot.

But after the infuriating testimony of Cheatle, the missing recordings, the refusal to beef up Trump’s protection after repeated requests, the deliberately ignored perfect shooting platform, the encrypted comms, and more and more and more. I’m beginning to think there’s more to this.

Hunter Deploys Trump Defense

by Owen | 0634, 19 Jul 24 | Crime, Law, Politics | 0 Comments

I’m not a lawyer, but this seems to hold some merit. Some.

Attorneys for President Joe Biden‘s son Hunter Biden, citing the recent decision by a federal judge in Florida to dismiss the classified documents case against Donald Trump, filed a pair of motions in California and Delaware Thursday seeking to dismiss both federal criminal cases against him.

“The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason,” attorneys for Biden argued in the filings.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled this week that special counsel Jack Smith‘s appointment in Trump’s classified documents case was unconstitutional, prompting several legal observers to argue that the same logic should apply to Hunter Biden.

Cannon’s order, however, draws a distinction between Smith and other special counsels.

Attorney General Merrick Garland pulled Smith from The Hague, where he was prosecuting war criminals — not the Justice Department. By contrast, the special counsel in Hunter Biden’s cases, David Weiss, previously served as U.S. Attorney in Delaware, where he had been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Cannon characterized Smith as a “private citizen exercising the full power of a United States Attorney,” saying that his appointment was unconstitutional because it “effectively usurps” the authority of Congress.

ATF Used Firearms Records to Identify Killer

by Owen | 1711, 17 Jul 24 | Crime, Firearms | 0 Comments

It’s almost as if the fears of gun rights folks are valid.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives analysts at a facility in West Virginia search through millions of documents by hand every day to try to identify the provenance of guns used in crimes. Typically, the bureau takes around eight days to track a weapon, though for urgent traces that average falls to 24 hours.

[…]

In an era of high-tech evidence gathering, including location data and a trove of evidence from cell phones and other electronic devices used by shooting suspects, ATF agents have to search through paper records to find a gun’s history.

In some cases, those records have even been kept on microfiche or were held in shipping containers, sources told CNN, especially for some of the closed business records like in this case.

The outdated records-keeping system stems from congressional laws that prohibit the ATF from creating searchable digital records, in part because gun rights groups for years have fanned fears that the ATF could create a database of firearm owners and that it could eventually lead to confiscation.

Assassination Attempt

by Owen | 0553, 15 Jul 24 | Crime, Politics | 0 Comments

Wow… take a few days off…

There is so much to say about the attempted assassination of former President Trump. For the moment, I just want to do my small part to ensure that the hero who was killed and the other two injured men are remembered. RIP, Mr. Comperatore.

BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — The former fire chief who was killed at a Pennsylvania rally for Donald Trump spent his final moments diving down in front of his family, protecting them from the gunfire that rang out Saturday during an assassination attempt against the former president.

Corey Comperatore’s quick decision to use his body as a shield against the bullets flying toward his wife and daughter rang true to the close friends and neighbors who loved and respected the proud 50-year-old Trump supporter, noting that the Butler County resident was a “man of conviction.”

“He’s a literal hero. He shoved his family out of the way, and he got killed for them,” said Mike Morehouse, who lived next to Comperatore for the last eight years. “He’s a hero that I was happy to have as a neighbor.”

Comperatore died Saturday during an attempt to kill Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. At least two other people were injured: David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. Both were listed in stable condition as of Sunday.

Trump’s Sentencing Delayed

by Owen | 1806, 2 Jul 24 | Crime, Law, Politics | 1 Comment

I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t see how the SCOTUS ruling would impact a state case about something that candidate Trump allegedly did. Even if one accepts the facts of the case, it would not be an official act of a president.

A New York judge has delayed Donald Trump’s sentencing until September as his lawyers seek to challenge his conviction after a Supreme Court ruling.

Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced on 11 July.

His legal team asked for his conviction in a hush-money case to be overturned after the nation’s highest court ruled Monday that former presidents had partial immunity for “official” acts during their presidency.

Justice Juan Merchan said on Tuesday that he would issue a decision on the motions by 6 September.

If sentencing is necessary, the judge wrote, it will take place on 18 September.

Call me cynical, but I believe that the sentence will be in direct correlation to Trump’s position in the polls at that time.

“Absolute Immunity”

by Owen | 1819, 1 Jul 24 | Crime, Law, Politics | 2 Comments

SCOTUS made this ruling today. It gave me pause.

Held: Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.

Affirming that any person in our United States has “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution” is a very, very serious thing. In this case, however, I think the court got it right.

Go read the whole opinion and the dissents. It’s an informative read and fairly easy to follow.

Such an immunity is required to safeguard the independence and effective functioning of the Executive Branch, and to enable the President to carry out his constitutional duties without undue caution. At a minimum, the President must be immune from prosecution for an official act unless the Government can show that applying a criminal prohibition to that act would pose no “dangers of intrusion on the authority and functions of the Executive Branch.” Fitzgerald, 457 U. S., at 754. Pp. 12–15.

(3) As for a President’s unofficial acts, there is no immunity.

In any system of government, the Executive is granted immense power and authority precisely to do things that regular citizens can’t do. We give the Executive the power to wage war, use violent power to strip people of their rights, enforce the collection of taxes, and so much more. Any of these powers, if exercised by an ordinary citizen, would be a crime. An ordinary citizen is not permitted by law to kill someone except in self defense. An ordinary citizen may not lock up their neighbor in prison. An ordinary citizen may not legally take their neighbor’s money to spend on other people.

Since the Executive is empowered and charged by the People to exercise these extraordinary powers on the People’s behalf, the Executive must be free of the threat of criminal prosecution for executing their charge within their official capacity. The People have ceded their right to exercise violent authority on their fellow citizens in exchange for an orderly society enforced by the government to which they ceded their power. It’s a trade.

In our system of government, the proper remedy for correcting an Executive who is using their extraordinary power inappropriately is found at the ballot box. In exceptional cases, an Executive can be removed from office via the Constitutional impeachment and removal process. Our Founders thought this out.

No, it’s not perfect, but no representative government is. It is merely the least objectional form of government necessitated by the pervasive evil imbued in our fallen race.

Once again, this court got it right. It is worth noting that no previous court has ever had to consider and opine on this issue because no previous DOJ had ever sought to prosecute a former president for acts done in office. But here we are…

Boots & Sabers