Category Archives: crime news

crime news

Let’s hear from Pence!

After the testimony concluded today in the House select committee’s televised hearing, some of the after-action commentary posed a fascinating question.

Why haven’t we heard a word from former Vice President Mike Pence about what went down on 1/6? 

So, here’s a corollary question: Can the committee ask for the VP to testify to set the record straight on what he heard, what was said, what he did and what Donald Trump pressured him to do on that day?

Today’s testimony focused on the VP’s role on the day of the insurrection. It was to perform a ceremonial duty in counting the Electoral College ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election. The traitorous mob sought to end that process by storming Capitol Hill on 1/6.

Donald Trump pressured Pence to “show courage” by throwing out the votes cast for Joe Biden and insert phony votes cast for Trump. The vice president resisted. He told Trump that was a non-starter.

So … why not hear from the vice president directly? Why not summon the VP to Capitol Hill to tell the committee what it needs to hear about the measures Trump took to pressure Pence to break the law and violate the U.S. Constitution?

Pence already has said out loud that “no man” can change the votes of the people, that there’s nothing “more un-American” than seeking to override will of the voters.

The former vice president has a political future to consider. Testifying before the committee and condemning the former Imbecile in Chief would rile the GOP base that Pence would need were he to run for president in 2024.

Then again, Pence and Trump have returned to the non-relationship they had prior to Pence running as VP on the ticket led by Trump in 2016.

My wish? Issue a summons to the former vice president, set him down in front of the House select committee and get to testify — under oath — to what went down on 1/6.

A lot of people already have put words in Pence’s mouth already. We need to hear from the man himself.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Criminality: it’s everywhere!

One of the takeaways I am getting from the televised hearings of the 1/6 House select committee on the insurrection is one that I didn’t quite expect.

It’s the presence of criminality in the hearts and minds of many principals involved with the Donald Trump administration during that horrible time in our nation’s history.

You might recall when Trump was running for president how he said anyone who sought to proclaim Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination was certainly guilty of a crime. Then several of his key aides did that very thing when they answered summons to testify before the House select committee.

Now we hear during the televised hearings that many other Trumpkins sought presidential pardons in the immediate aftermath of the 1/6 insurrection that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump granted some pardons. Not all of ’em got the mercy extended from the POTUS as he was preparing to exit the White House.

Still, it is worth pondering: Why would anyone ask for a full pardon from the president if he or she didn’t have a fear of being prosecuted for criminal acts? 

It looks as though there was a whole lot of criminality going on in the White House during the insurrection. I feel confident the legal eagles at the Justice Department are paying careful attention.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Uvalde cops are stonewalling

The term “stonewalling” became known to Americans during the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.

We are seeing it play out once again in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman walked into an elementary school and opened fire with an AR-15 rifle. Nineteen precious children and two educators died in the carnage.

Police didn’t respond as they should have to stop the madman. Meanwhile, the families of the victims are horrified because they don’t yet know what happened. Nor will they learn the truth if police and politicians have their way.

Stonewalling remains the tool of those who seek to cover up the truth, to withhold it from the public that has every right on Earth to demand it from those who know it.

However, we are not getting the truth.

Were there cops in the building? Did the Uvalde school district police chief — Pete Arredondo — know he was in charge of the response, and why did he wait so damn long before taking action?

We need the truth! We need it now!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

How does town recover?

I continue to grapple emotionally with the tragedy that has cloaked Uvalde, Texas, the site of the hideous slaughter of 19 fourth-grade children and two teachers.

Twenty-one innocent victims lost their lives to a madman.

What seems to give this story an extra dose of pain is the reporting about the tightly knit nature of the city of 15,000 residents.

We heard in the immediate aftermath of the massacre at Robb Elementary School that the entire town seems to know someone involved in the school, and how the entire community is feeling a sort of visceral pain as a result of the madness.

Yes, there remain questions about the police response, the horrifying length of time it took for officers to storm the structure and engage the shooter. The Uvalde school district police chief, Pete Arredondo, is still perched on the hot seat and for the life of me I am puzzled as to why the school board hasn’t gotten rid of the chief.

But the pain still throbs as it emanates from Uvalde.

The Uvalde Independent School District is going to tear down the school that is the site of the massacre. That won’t eliminate the intense pain being felt in a community that, I fear, is going to remind everyone who hears its name will think first of senseless gun violence.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Is this the tipping point?

U.S. senators from both parties are actually saying something few of us thought possible, which is that there might be some legislation coming forward that could impose some limits on gun purchases.

A gunman killed 10 shoppers at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. Then just a few days later another gunman slaughtered 19 fourth-graders and two teachers.

Americans have taken to the streets in protest. They are demanding something be done. President Biden has joined the chorus for gun reform.

Republicans in the Senate aren’t budging on a couple of key points: raising the age limit to purchase a firearm and extended universal background checks.

But … there appears to be some movement. Something might come forth. There could be a “red flag law” enacted allowing states to withhold possession of a firearm if a buyer comes up suspicious.

I guess I am heartened only a little by the apparent change of heart among some lawmakers. Get a load of this: Some Republican senators, such as Mitt Romney of Utah, said he now supports raising the age limit from 18 to 21 years of age to buy a firearm.

I won’t call this a tipping point. Indeed, many of us thought that the Sandy Hook Elementary School (Conn.) tragedy a decade ago — when 20 second-graders and six teachers were massacred — would have spurred some action. It didn’t.

Some in the Senate, naturally, are blaming reformers of “politicizing” events such as Buffalo and Uvalde. What an utter crock! Their refusal to act in the wake of this senseless violence in itself is a highly political demonstration. Therefore, they can cease the “politicization” argument … OK?

A little bit of movement, though, toward a legislative remedy — no matter how timid — is far better than what we’ve had so far. It gives me a glimmer of hope.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Are we no longer shocked?

The thought occurred to me a little while ago, which is that I cannot remember my reaction to the first incidence of mass slaughter, the first time I heard about a gunman opening fire and killing dozens of innocent victims.

There have been so many of them, it appears I might be hardening somewhat to these tragedies. I do not want to harden my heart.

The Uvalde massacre in Texas has hit me harder, perhaps, than most of the recent events. Nineteen fourth-graders were gunned down along with two of their teachers. President Biden has implored Congress and state legislatures to “do something” to stop the carnage. I have some hope this time that we might get something done, although not nearly enough.

But, my goodness, there have been so many communities linked by these horrific events. There are too many of them even to list. Doing so would likely result in my forgetting one or more of them. They all have broken our hearts.

Abcarian: Endless mass shootings make our outrage dim. We can’t let gun violence harden our hearts (yahoo.com)

It’s just that these events are occurring with such sickening frequency that I fear we’re becoming — odd as it seems — numbed to them.

If left to a choice between frequency and shock value, I would prefer to be shocked.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Why not make the fight?

My thoughts on a New York Republican congressman have changed a bit in the past couple of days, and I want to express my new feelings here.

Chris Jacobs was running for re-election to his suburban Buffalo congressional district. Then he said he favored banning AR-15 rifles, one of which was used by the gunman who killed 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket; another gunman several days later then used an AR-15 to slaughter 19 children and two teachers in a Uvalde, Texas, grade school.

Jacobs’s support of an AR-15 ban and support for increasing the minimum age to buy weapons from 18 to 21 years of age drew the rage of New York conservatives. Jacobs then pulled out of his re-election effort.

Wait a second! Why not stay in the fight and argue vigorously for your position? If he knew he was doomed to lose his re-election effort, Jacobs could have stayed the course and fought until Election Day to make his case.

He didn’t do that. Instead, he took the path of least resistance … and denied voters of his district a chance to hear an honest debate about what is arguably the most compelling issue of the 2022 midterm election season.

It saddens me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Gun lobby digs in on age requirement?

You have to be 21 years of age to buy a beer, a jug of wine or a mixed drink at your favorite watering hole.

To be emancipated from parental control? That’s generally accepted at age 21.

Some insurance companies won’t sell insurance to you until you turn 21, unless you’re in school.

What, then, is the reason we don’t require someone to be 21 years of age to purchase a firearm? The issue has burst onto the forefront in the wake of recent spasm of gun violence. The moron who shot those 19 precious children and two of their teachers to death in Uvalde turned 18 and then purchased an AR-15 rifle right after his birthday; he bought a second one days later.

President Biden has called on government to increase the age from 18 to 21. Republicans — naturally! — are digging in against even that modest notion.

The GOP is marching to the cadence called by the gun lobby.

These politicians are acting disgracefully.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Congressman quits … because he showed common sense!

An outrageous political development has just occurred that demonstrates how totally off the rails the once-great Republican Party has flown.

U.S. Rep. Chris Jacobs, a New York Republican, has ended his re-election bid because — and hold onto something with both hands — he said he favored a ban on assault rifles, a position that enraged GOP officials in his state so much that Jacobs has been forced to end his public service career.

Jacobs made the statement after the Uvalde school massacre and the Buffalo shopping market carnage.

“I want to be completely transparent of where I am in Congress. If an assault weapons ban bill came to the floor that would ban something like an AR-15, I would vote for it,” he said, according to Spectrum News 1. What’s more, Jacobs said he would favor increasing the minimum age of people purchasing a firearm from 18 to 21 years old.

That was too much for New York conservatives to handle. Jacobs, by the way, represents an area of suburban Buffalo, so he feels the community’s grief deeply.

What in the name of political sanity has gone wrong here?

According to The Associated Press: “The last thing we need is an incredibly negative, half-truth-filled media attack funded by millions of dollars of special interest money coming into our community around this issue of guns and gun violence and gun control,” he said, according to footage of his announcement. “Therefore today I am announcing I will not run for the 23rd Congressional District.”

GOP Rep. Jacobs to retire after backing assault weapons ban (msn.com)

This is an utterly insane development in the growing debate over gun violence in this country. A House member speaks honestly and candidly about his views on gun violence and he is then forced to withdraw because his views anger the rigid adherents to a philosophy that is on the wrong side of history.

Scary.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

My outrage is real

Mr. President, I have some news for you: I happen to be ahead of your call to make my “outrage” over gun violence central to my vote.

I made that call actually long before the Uvalde tragedy. Or even before the Buffalo slaughter in the supermarket.

You see, Mr. President, I am as outraged as you are — maybe even more so — at the cowardice exhibited by your Republican “friends” in Congress and their unwillingness to enact what you refer to as “sensible” gun-control legislation.

I listened intently to your remarks the other evening and I continue to stand with you as you grapple with the myriad crises that have befallen us.

President Biden Speech On Mass Shootings: “Make Your Outrage Central To Your Vote” In November | Video | RealClearPolitics

Our governor and lieutenant governor are up for re-election this year. Mr. President, I have heard your pleas for “unity” among Americans. I just cannot support either of these guys, Greg Abbott or Dan Patrick, because of their stubborn resistance to even discuss or debate gun legislation.

I also am going to ask our Third Congressional District candidates where they stand on gun control. I know what the GOP candidate will say; he’ll be a solid “no” on any legislative measure.

Furthermore, I also stand firmly on the notion that legislation does not have to mean we trample on the Second Amendment. I get it, Mr. President! So, to that extent you are preaching to the proverbial choir in our North Texas home.

I just feel the need to assure you, Mr. President, that you have many of us out here in your corner. Keep fighting, sir.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com