for BigTrial.net
U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain has come out swinging, pinning the blame for the senseless murder of a 7 year-old boy on District Attorney Larry Krasner's lax policies for prosecuting gun crimes.
In a two-fold attack, McSwain also took a swipe at the Progressive media in this town for continuing to cover up Krasner's obvious guilt for the epidemic of gun violence that's resulted to date in the shootings of more than 100 innocent children caught in the crossfire.
"Here's what the media won't tell you about the murder of Zamar Jones," McSwain tweeted yesterday. "The alleged shooter, Michael Banks, would have likely been off the streets had the DA's office not reduced a felony gun charge against him to a misdemeanor in 2019."
"By reducing the lead gun charge against Banks for no reason, the DA's office could then plead it out to nothing and Banks was immediately released -- and the rest is history," McSwain wrote. "The reason for the carnage is not hard to figure out."
It may not be hard for law enforcement types like McSwain to figure out which public official in town is most responsible for the surging gun violence. That would be our Progressive District Attorney who doesn't care about crime victims, runs an office that caters to criminals, and has a pathetic record when it comes to prosecuting gun crimes. But when it comes to the media, led by the corrupt Philadelphia Inquirer, they remain clueless shills who do nothing but cover for Krasner.
Kudos to McSwain for calling out both Krasner and his enablers in the media.
In his tweet where he ripped the media, McSwain linked to an Aug. 6th WHYY story that covered the West Philadelphia neighborhood "rocked by a weekend shootout" that resulted in the murder of 7 year-old Zamar. According to the story, distraught neighbors were "trying to figure out what's next in what feels like a losing battle against a surge in gun violence."
WHYY was covering a meeting organized by the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network that was attended by City Council members, D.A. Krasner and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.
It was another day of official handwringing and empty speeches filled with platitudes as the criminals on the streets continue to shoot it out for control of the local, flourishing drug trade.
A tweet included in the story from WHYY reporter Ximena Conde quoted Krasner as saying that three suspects in the murder of Zamar Jones were being held without bail and would be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." It was an announcement that the reporter noted was greeted by residents with applause.
Only McSwain, however, talked about the ugly truth behind Zamar's death as spelled out in court records -- that D.A. Krasner was responsible for one of Zamar's killers being out on the street. To Big Trial readers, it's an all too-familiar story that involves Krasner operating a revolving door system of justice for criminals caught carrying illegal guns that puts them right back out on the street again, so they can commit more mayhem.
On Aug. 28, 2017, Michael Banks pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit retail theft, a third-degree felony that resulted in a sentence of two years probation. But on Oct. 23, 2018, Banks violated his probation when he was arrested for carrying firearms in public.
As a convicted felon, Banks was barred from possessing a firearm. The D.A.'s office should have charged Banks with a felony for the carrying the gun, an offense that carries as a maximum punishment a jail term of three and half to seven years.
But what did Krasner's office do? Plenty of favors for Banks, starting with only charging him with a misdemeanor when he was caught carrying an illegal gun. Then, Krasner's office gave Banks a few more favors when it came time for sentencing.
On Feb. 13, 2019, before Judge Shanese Johnson, Banks was sentenced to 3 to 9 months in jail and two years probation on the gun charge. On April 3, 2019, Banks was sentenced to 12 to 24 months in prison for violating his probation on the conspiracy to commit retail theft charge.
But the two sentences apparently were to be served consecutively. And rather than having to do any further jail time, on April 3, 2019, Banks got credit for time served and walked.
On Aug. 1st, on the 200 block of North Simpson Street.Zamar was sitting on his porch on a Saturday night, with his toy race car and scooter, when men began shooting at each other. One of those shots hit Zamar in the head. He was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. on Aug. 3rd.
In the Inquirer story about the death of Zamar, the paper of record quoted Krasner as faulting for the escalating gun violence "the availability of guns, as well as poverty, a lack of opportunity, and substance abuse."
"Every kid deserves to live free of violence, harm, or fear," Krasner was quoted as saying. Every kid also deserves to live free of a district attorney who endangers children every day by not enforcing state laws against criminals caught carrying illegal guns.
And what does the district attorney of Philadelphia have to say in response to those serious charges leveled against him by U.S. Attorney McSwain?
As he has done for more than a year now, Krasner -- and his loyal henchman Jane Roh -- did not respond to a request for comment.
When it comes to answering hard questions about the corruption of his office, Larry Krasner has no answers.
All he can continue to do is try to fool all of the people all of the time. While his Progressive friends in the press corps -- like Chris Palmer of the Inquirer -- continue to cover for him.
This past weekend, the city was the scene of 40 shootings and 10 stabbings, resulting in 13 homicides. The murder rate is now up to 278, a 31 percent jump over last year.
But the current body count doesn't include a couple of homicides over the weekend that instead of being marked with an "M" for murder, were marked by the cops with an "S" for "special assignment," which includes "suspicious deaths."
It's a curious practice of the Philly PD, this business of marking dead bodies with an "M" rather than an "S," a system that Big Trial has previously shed some light on.
As usual, the vast majority of the assailants in last weekend's shootings, stabbings and murders, as well as the victims, were identified by the cops as black males.
While the bodies are piling up, and the cops were looking for suspects, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw was busy expressing concern about something else that she considers a big problem -- the possibility of racial discrimination by the police during traffic stops.
In an email sent out yesterday by Francis Healy, special advisor to the police commissioner, Healy said that "the PC" is asking each commander to come up with "at least one idea on how to reduce the number of stops and frisks still being made without the necessary suspicion."
The email was addressed to all "Police Captains, Police Staff Inspectors; Police Chief Inspectors." In the email, Healy informed the commanders that the PC was also looking for "at least one idea on how to address racial disparity in our stops."
The ideas were to be submitted by Aug. 31st "through the chain of command to my office [Room 312] at police headquarters," Outlaw said, through Healy.
"With respect to the lack of reasonable suspicion, a consistent number of reports deemed improper are really based upon clerical mistakes or errors," Healy wrote. "So, any ideas to avoid making the same mistake over and over again would dramatically change the percentage of improper stops."
"As to reducing racial disparity, there really is no clear answer," Healy wrote. "Everyone has an opinion, but few offer any real tangible solutions. So, the PC is looking to tap into the expertise of the Command Staff for ideas. If we, as law enforcement professional, don't come up with ideas that we can pilot or test, attorneys sitting behind desks, with no police experience, will come up with ideas."
Meanwhile, there's a peaceful protest scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the corner of Broad and Snyder for "THE 100 PLUS CHILDREN AFFECTED BY GUN VIOLENCE" on Philly's unsafe streets.
All are welcome
