Jessalyn Torres This page describes her injuries
and ordeal since she was attacked. It is not my intention to provide tragic news
for its own sake. The point of this page is to point out just one example
of the hazards of criminal justice reform. Viewer discretion is advised.
On November 21, 2021, Darrel E. Brooks, Jr. drove an SUV through
the Waukesha Christmas Parade in Wisconsin, killing six people ages eight to 81
and injuring 60+ others. Jessalyn Torres is just one of the injured victims
fortunate to be alive -- six others are not.
Brooks, who was thirty-nine at the time, is a career criminal whose crimes include
drug possession, obstructing an officer, disorderly conduct, battery, felony bail jumping,
felony possession and use of a dangerous weapon (firearm), second-degree recklessly
endangering safety with domestic abuse assessments (whatever that means), and sex offenses.
(In one case, he impregnated a 15-year-old girl in Nevada and the warrant was for not
appearing in court. Can anyone say Flight Risk?)
Brooks also has a number of open felony charges filed against him on
November 5, 2021, which was 15 days before the Waukesha attack. In this incident:
Brooks confronted his "girlfriend" outside a motel and then at a gas station,
knocked her phone out of her hand, punched her in the face and ran her over with
his vehicle (yes, the same vehicle he used to attack Jessalyn and 60+ others).
The report notes that the woman had tire marks on her pants in addition to
a dislocated left femur and a fractured right ankle. For this attack, he was
granted bail of $1000 (how nice) which his mother posted on November 11. Ten days later
he attacked the Waukesha Christmas Parade. His mother has since said she regrets
posting his bond. Yes, no doubt she does regret turning him loose.
After the Waukesha Parade attack, his bail was set at $5 million.
Oh, so now his bail is set higher. I guess running over one woman with
a vehicle along with already being on probation and having outstanding warrants
didn't warrant any concern for public safety. Really? Ain't Bail Reform grand?
Talk about the War On Women -- here you go.
I've not heard from President Biden nor the Justice Department that this attack
is being investigated as a hate crime. Had a white person run an SUV through a BLM
rally, I guarantee the feds would be all over it. Apparently, hate crime investigations
only swing one way.
According to a FOX News
article from March 29, 2022, Brook's trial date is set for Oct. 3.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who was elected to the
position in 2007, has spent his career supporting cash-bail system reform because
he argues setting bail criminalizes poverty. Since blacks often can not afford
bail, others have called it racist, don't you know.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the year Chisholm was elected,
he said: “Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into 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.” I point out, he's admitting
he saw this coming -- and enacted the policy anyway. The greater good of being nice
to criminals outweighs the suffering of Jessalyn (and many others). I disagree.
When confronted about the Waukesha massacre, Chisholm explained that a novice
assistant district attorney (with 2.5 years' experience -- not a novice in my book)
and a computer error were responsible for Brook's release on $1,000 bail.
Translation? Nothing to see here -- just an honest mistake by one of my underlings
-- whoopsie.
Low/No bail policies are being used as revolving doors and Get Out of Jail
Free cards for even violent offenders*. The thinking is: if we just be
nice to criminals, giving them multiple second chances, they will see what good
people we are and that we mean them no harm. In exchange, they will be better
citizens, stopping their criminal ways. How's that working out? You decide --
but before you do, you might want to ask Jessalyn and her mother what they think.
* Keep in mind, overworked prosecutors and public defenders regularly use
plea bargaining to reduce their case loads, making some violent offenders eligible
for pretrial bail.
I realize extreme cases like this attack are fortunately rare, but there
are too many being let out of jail who commit violence on a much smaller scale.
Usually, we hear nothing about them as they are local matters and don't make national news.
My point is, it behooves us to be more diligent in keeping those who show a propensity
for violence off our streets. Had Brooks been denied bail or had it been set
high enough for him to remain behind bars, Jessalyn and so many others would not
be needlessly suffering nor would six people be dead -- but no. Low/No bail provides
another example of what happens when liberal criminal justice reform policies --
and reality -- collide with an eleven-year-old girl.
Jessalyn appears happy to be home. Let's
hope and pray her recovery goes well.
Conviction
A year later, in November 2022, CNN reported that Brooks received six consecutive life sentences plus more than 700 additional years in prison for the Waukesha Christmas parade attack.
