Monthly Archive: April 2022

The April 3 mass shooting in downtown Sacramento, which left six dead and at twelve wounded, was between two street gangs according to local police.  NBC News reports that the two suspects tied to the shooting were both habitual felons, one of which was granted early release from state prison in February.   In custody are Dandrae Martin, released from an Arizona prison in 2020 for aggravated assault, and his brother Smiley Martin, released to probation after serving three years and four months of a ten year sentence for two counts of felony assault.  Last May Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office appealed to the state Parole Board urging them not to release Smiley, whom, based upon his record, presented a “significant, unreasonable risk of safety to the community.”   The Board denied release at that time, then nine months later, the Department of Corrections  announced that he had accumulated enough “good time” credits to be released after serving less than half of his sentence.  Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg told reporters that he had “serious questions” about why the brothers “were out on the streets.”  Here’s the answer Mayor…you supported the sentencing reforms (AB109, Proposition 47 and Proposition 57, that gutted laws increasing confinement and punishing parole violations of habitual criminals.  You can pass all the gun-control measures you want, but Dandrae and Smiley, and others like them are going acquire weapons and hurt people so long as state law leaves them on the streets.

Five months after the death of drug-addict and habitual felon George Floyd, the racial activist group Black Lives Matter (BLM) secretly purchased a 6,500 sq. ft. Southern California mansion with $6 million in funds contributed to fight racism.  The purchase, reported by Joshua Rhett Mills of the New York Post,  was arranged by Dyane Pascall, the financial manager of a consulting firm managed by BLM founder Patrisse Cullors and her spouse.  Within a week, ownership of the six-bedroom, six bathroom home was transferred to a Delaware LLC, ensuring the property’s owner would be kept secret.  In a video recorded in June 2021, Cullors, Alicia Garza and Melina Abdullah, the leaders of BLM, are seen toasting the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death with champagne on the patio of the mansion.  In the video Cullors complained about last year’s New York Post disclosure of her purchase of four homes, allegedly with contributions.  “It’s because we are threatening the establishment, we’re threatening white supremacy,” she said.   One wonders if Target, Facebook, Walmart, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Square, Etsy, Levis, Gap, Nike, MacDonalds, Wendys, Coca-Cola, Peloton and liberal billionaires that contributed millions to BLM will ever acknowledge that they were hustled by a group of race-baiting  thieves.

Sacramento made national headlines on April 3, after eighteen people were shot with six killed around 2:00 AM at a popular downtown district known for its nightlife.  Police are investigating security video showing a fight breaking out on a crowded street in front of a nightclub before multiple shooters began firing into the crowd.  The Sacramento Bee reports that one stolen handgun was found at the scene but no suspects have been identified.  As noted by Katy Grimes of the California Globe both Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and California Governor Gavin Newsom blamed the shootings on the guns rather than the criminals who fired them.  “Rising gun violence is the scourge of our city, state and nation,” tweeted the Mayor.  “Sadly, we once again mourn the lives lost and for those injured in yet another horrendous act of gun violence,” said Newsom.  I am guessing that when suspects are arrested, we will learn that it is the criminal justice reform policies that Steinberg and Newsom supported that allowed the shooters to stay on the streets and gun down the victims last weekend.

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