WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joined five of his Republican colleagues in a press conference to discuss rising crime in communities across America. Sen. Johnson explained how Wisconsin’s rise in crime is due to the failures of Democrat governance, such as soft on crime policies and defund the police rhetoric.
In 2022, Milwaukee homicides increased by 40%, and Wisconsin set a new record for the lowest statewide total of law enforcement officers ever recorded. Additionally, Wisconsin’s Parole Commission, under the leadership of Governor Tony Evers and Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, has released at least 884 convicted criminals on to the streets.
“It’s because the policies, the rhetoric of the radical left is dispiriting law enforcement. Who is going to keep us safe? How can we expect to protect our citizens in our communities if we attack the police? If we propose defunding? Now the radical left realized that was not particularly popular. So they’re running away from that as fast as they can, but that’s really what they believe. Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes,” said Sen. Johnson
Excerpts from Senator Johnson’s remarks can be found here and below.
“The statistics in Wisconsin, in Milwaukee, are equally grim. 2019, we had 106 homicides. The next year, 197. 2021, 205. And this year, we’re 40% above those levels at 161 year to date. It’s important to understand that these grim statistics didn’t just happen. This was caused by radical left, soft on crime policies. You know, for example, the Defund Police movement. In 2008, Wisconsin had 14,400 law enforcement officers. Today we have 13,400. 1000 less. And as I talk to local sheriffs, their recruitment numbers are way down. Where they used to maybe have 100 recruits, they maybe got a dozen now. It’s because the policies, the rhetoric of the radical left is dispiriting law enforcement. Who is going to keep us safe? How can we expect to protect our citizens in our communities if we attack the police? If we propose defunding? Now, the radical left realized that was not particularly popular, so they’re running away from that as fast as they can, but that’s really what they believe. Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes.
“In Wisconsin, our Governor Evers and Lieutenant Governor Barnes started the administration with a goal of reducing the prison population by 50%, cut it in half. They unfortunately have already cut it down by 15%. They released at least 884 criminals. Only 11%, about 100 of those were nonviolent. The rest of them were all in prison for violent crimes, including 44 child rapists, 270 criminals who either committed, and most of them committed, or attempted murder. These people are now released and free on the streets. If not in Wisconsin, maybe in a city near you.
“I just have to go through five examples of who has been released. A 79 year old male randomly murdered a young mother who worked at a La Crosse hospital raping, stabbing and strangling her after spotting her through her home’s picture window while driving past. They were strangers. A 54 year old male is a convicted domestic abuser who sexually assaulted a female relative who was under age 13 at the time. A 62 year old male aided in the gang rape and near beheading of a young woman who was left to die in a manure pit. Prosecutors said the biker gang members slashed the woman’s throat. A 79 year old male who shot and decapitated his wife with a large kitchen knife, and then tried to burn her head in a wood burning stove. And finally, a 56 year-old male shot and killed his mother, stepfather and eight year old half-sister while they slept inside the family mobile home. He told a sister he was playing to get rid of everyone in the family, to have a free run of the home.
“These are just five of the approximately 784 violent criminals, the radical leftists, Wisconsin’s governor and Lieutenant Governor Barnes have let out to prey on our fellow citizens. These people have to be stopped.”
