for BigTrial.net
A drive-by shooter on Saturday night opened fire on the storefront of a West Philly deli. Inside, a few customers whipped out their guns and returned the fire.
Meanwhile, a mother trapped inside started screaming when the one-year-old baby girl she was holding in her arms was hit in the leg with a stray bullet.
This is how bad things are right now in Philadelphia. On Monday, the deli owner told 6ABC he was still haunted by those screams. "That night I couldn't even sleep because my mind was still hearing that voice, that crying of that mom," Majid Choudary said.
The child was expected to recover. But it was another violent weekend in Philadelphia, with nearly 40 reported shootings and three murders, as our civic leaders remained completely clueless about how to stop the bloodshed.
How bad is the current epidemic of gun violence in Philadelphia? The Inquirer reported that in July alone, an average of 10 people a day were being shot. So far this year, the city has racked up 1,264 shootings, a record pace.
And how bad is the murder rate? On July 16th, the city set an all-time record when the body count hit 300 murders at the fastest rate in the city's history. In the past 33 years, only a half-dozen times has the city hit 300 murders as early as August.
Such as last year on Aug. 29th, when the body count hit 300 on the way to a near-record 499 murders. The all-time record for murders was set in 1990, at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic. The city hit 300 murders on Aug. 3, 1990, on the way to racking up a record 500 murders that year.
But in the history of the city, Philadelphia has never hit 300 murders in July. Until now. At this current pace, with 304 murders to date, the city will set an all time record this year with 663 murders.
And while the bullets were flying, what was the district attorney of Philadelphia up to? The city official most responsible for the local gun violence epidemic was choking up, and faking tears at a press conference while lying through his teeth.
This is a big lie that the media keeps letting Krasner get away with.
The facts repeatedly show that Krasner doesn't hold anyone accountable for gun crimes.
When people get arrested for carrying guns in Philadelphia, crime stats show, Krasner's office routinely gives out sentences that are well below state sentencing guidelines for gun crimes.
Instead of prosecuting gun crimes to the fullest extent, to protect the public, Krasner, working the other side of the fence, gives every criminal a break who was caught with an illegal gun.
Round one, crime stats that prove Larry Krasner is a liar.
According to a tweet last week from Captain Matthew Gillespie, commanding office of the 18th Police District, out of a total of 303 illegal firearm arrests in his district during 2019 and 2020, under Larry Krasner's D.A.'s office, only two of those defendants received state sentences, which typically run more than two years in jail.
Instead, the rest of those defendants who were found guilty or pleaded guilty received more lenient county sentences, which typically run between 11 1/2 months and 23 months.
Round two, more crime stats that prove Larry Krasner is a liar.
Under D.A. Krasner, the city runs a revolving door for defendants arrested for gun crimes.
A Big Trial study examined Krasner's prosecution of gun arrests in Philadelphia for just one month, July of 2019. Court records showed that of 231 defendants charged in July of 2019 with a gun crime, 73, or 32%, got a free ticket out of jail after the charges against them were either dropped, dismissed or lost by the D.A.'s office.
Of the remaining defendants, only 45, or 19% out of the original 231 wound up pleading guilty. Of those 45 who pleaded guilty, 40 got lenient county jail terms well below state sentencing guidelines that included immediate parole, early parole, house arrest, and probation. Only 5 defendants wound up with state sentences.
The grand result of Krasner's policies -- more criminals out on the streets. As of Nov. 1, 2020, just 16 months after they were originally arrested for gun crimes in July of 2019, a total of 176 out of the original 231 defendants, or 76%, were already out of jail, and free to commit more crimes.
And how many took advantage of that opportunity? Out of those original 231 defendants from the class of July 2019, court records showed, 51 or 22%, of the "graduates" of Krasner's lax prosecution of gun crimes were arrested again and charged with crimes that included gunpoint robberies, armed carjackings, rape, attempted murder, as well as a half-dozen murders.
Round three, even more crime stats that prove Larry Krasner is a liar.
Out of approximately 1,500 defendants who were arrested for possession of an illegal gun over a 12-month period from July 1, 2019 until July 1, 2020, only 23 of those defendants, or 1.5%, received a state sentence.
Out of the original 1,500 defendants, approximately 200 defendants who pleaded guilty to gun crimes received either probation or a county sentence.
What happened in the rest of those cases?
Out of the 1,500 defendants arrested for gun crimes, the D.A.'s office either dropped, dismissed, withdrew or quashed charges against 434 defendants, or 29%, for a variety of reasons that included a lack of evidence or a lack of prosecution.
That total includes 25 cases that were dismissed because of "abatement," meaning that the D.A.'s office dropped the case because the defendant himself was murdered.
Regarding the rest of the cases, the defendants haven't come to trial yet. That's because Krasner's office, staffed by poorly-trained, bleeding heart former public defenders and social justice warriors, is so slow at disposing of cases, they routinely have to ask for one continuance after another.
The grand result of the D.A.'s incompetence: more armed and dangerous defendants are out on the streets to menace the rest of us.
What Mayor Kenney could do today to stop gun violence.
While Krasner was play-acting and lying to avoid all responsibility for his part in the gun violence epidemic, the Inquirer, our paper of record, was pressing the hapless Mayor Jim Kenney on why he hasn't declared a state of emergency in Philadelphia yet because of gun violence.
In a letter to City Council member Jamie Gauthier obtained by the Inquirer, Kenney wrote, “Local government leaders across America are doing everything we can within our powers to bring resources, coordination and attention to the epidemic of gun violence that continues to spread like a disease across our nation."
I don't know about what the rest of those local government leaders across the nation are doing, but there are two things Kenney could do to right now in Philadelphia to fight gun violence.
Step one would be for Kenney to use his bully pulpit to call out his progressive pal Krasner on a daily basis, to get him to start prosecuting gun crimes seriously.
Instead of watching the D.A. give every criminal a break who's arrested for a gun crime, Kenney could demand a mandatory state sentence in every case.
Then, Kenney would be acting like a leader who cares when the citizens he's been sworn to protect who are getting shot and killed in record numbers. Instead of posturing, pandering, and spouting pablum, which is what Kenney usually does.
Step two would be for Kenney to admit he made a big mistake and immediately fire Police Commissioner Outlaw.
Since Outlaw took office in February, 2020, she's kept a low profile but has repeatedly shown everyone she's a lightweight who's not up to the job.
When Outlaw does step out in the limelight, it's often for a frivolous cause. Instead of fighting crime, Outlaw has proposed going on a goodwill tour of local barber shops and nail salons, having one of her top honchos run a talent search for cops who can sing and dance, or she's assumed a starring role at WaWa Hoagie Day.
With the city in crisis, we need a police commissioner who knows how to fight crime and is serious about it.
When Action News tried to interview Outlaw Monday about the weekend's gun violence, she didn't respond. When bullets are flying, we've got a police commissioner who shuns the spotlight.
There's a reason why her troops call her MIA.
Why Danielle Outlaw is the Rodney Dangerfield of police commissioners.
This is how bad things are going for Outlaw. This morning, Outlaw attended the weekly "shooting" meeting originated by the rookie police commissioner to discuss the most recent shootings in town.
On the line for the Zoom conference with Outlaw were approximately 100 local, state and federal officials, people that Outlaw refers to as her "partners" in law enforcement.
Outlaw, who had turned the camera off and was on her cell phone, had a request.
The next time law enforcement agencies gain a victory in the war on crime, she asked, would any of her "partners" be willing to have a "presser" or press conference with her?
For the next painful few minutes on the Zoom conference, nobody said a word. Nobody volunteered to stand at the side of our embattled police commissioner.
"The heat is getting to her," said one official who was in on the call. "She realizes that nobody respects her. She realizes that she is a failure."
Maybe someday Clueless Jim Kenney will figure it out. Or maybe the City Council, when they get back from their well-deserved three month vacation, will figure it out for him.
The council should have fired Outlaw already after she lied to them about not authorizing the use of tear gas on the Vine Street Expressway during the George Floyd protests.
Maybe somebody should subpoena former Deputy Police Commissioner Dennis Wilson, place him under oath, and have him explain to the City Council what really happened that day on the Vine Street Expressway.
And why both Kenney and Outlaw went in front of the cameras and lied about whether they were in on the decision to use tear gas.
What every reporter in town could do to stop the violence, starting with Chris Palmer at the Inquirer:
Get up off your knees and stop mindlessly repeating progressive propaganda.
While people are getting shot and killed in record numbers, instead of covering for our incompetent and corrupt leaders, start holding Krasner, Kenney and Outlaw accountable.
It's your job, it's what you're supposed to do.
What every editor in town could do to stop the violence, starting with Gabe Escobar at the Inquirer:
Admit you're part of the reason why the public hates and distrusts the media, and resign immediately.