GREEN BAY, Wis. — Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Rick Crosson, Democratic candidate
for Congress in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District, today responded to Rep. Tony Wied’s press conference in Green Bay promoting what Wied calls the “Safe Cities Act,” legislation that would authorize the Department of Justice to strip federal funding from any jurisdiction the DOJ labels “anarchist” or “sanctuary.”
Crosson, who swore an oath to the Constitution over 20 years of military service, raised three concerns about the pattern illustrated by Wied’s press conference.
On Wied’s silence on the January 6 pardons:
“Congressman Wied stood in Green Bay today and said he refuses to watch the men and women in uniform be disrespected. He talked about violent criminals attacking officers in 2020. He promoted a bill to make sure violent criminals serve their full sentences,” Crosson said. “Those are the right words. He just doesn’t apply them to everyone.”
“Three days after the January 6 pardons, Congressman Wied told WBAY that the ‘overwhelming majority were peaceful protesters’ and that ‘we need to move forward now.’ When he was asked about the more than 600 people charged with violence that day, many of them against police officers, he said he didn’t know the specifics of each case and that he ‘tends to trust President Trump’. Approximately 140 officers were injured on January 6. Almost 200 of the people pardoned had been charged with using a deadly weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.”
“You cannot promote a full-sentence bill for violent criminals today after telling this district it was time to move on when the people who harmed police officers walked free. Violence against police is wrong in Minneapolis, and it is wrong at the Capitol. The standard does not change based on whose side you are on.”
On the Safe Cities Act and the pattern it fits:
“The Safe Cities Act is not a public safety bill. It is a mechanism that lets a politically appointed Department of Justice decide which American cities get punished for the speech of their residents. ‘Anarchist jurisdiction’ is not a legal term. It is a subjective label. Giving the executive branch the power to label a city and defund it is giving the executive branch the power to punish political dissent at the local level. That is not conservatism. That is not public safety. That is the kind of authority our founders specifically designed the Constitution to prevent.”
“This is the same pattern as his vote last month to pass the resolution denouncing socialism. A messaging bill and a label with no actual policy or problem solved. Just a vote designed to attack a group of Americans while the real problems in this district, affordability, healthcare costs, farm economy pressure, veterans’ services, go unaddressed.”
On what the 8th District actually needs:
“The people of Northeast Wisconsin need a representative who shows up for everyone in this district, including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, and gets to work on the problems that are hurting families right now. I have spent this campaign in all counties of this district. The conversations I have are about grocery prices, about whether a rural hospital will still be open next year, about whether a dairy farmer can keep the farm in the family. Nobody has stopped me at a diner to ask for a stronger resolution against socialism. Nobody has ever asked me to help the Department of Justice defund Madison.”
“Congressman Wied told those officers today that Democrats want to defund and abolish the police. That is not where I stand. I spent 20 years in an institution built on discipline, accountability, and the rule of law. I support the officers who protect this district. Having their backs means standing up for them even when it is politically challenging, not only when they are standing behind you at a campaign event.”
“Those officers live here too. They pay the same prices at the grocery store. Their families drive the same distance to the nearest hospital. Supporting them means working on improving the things that make life in Northeast Wisconsin harder, not thanking them from a podium and moving on.”
“When I am your congressman, I will show up for everyone. I will work to bring down what families pay for groceries and health care, keep rural hospitals open, help farm families hold on to what they built, and make sure veterans can get care close to home. I will stand with the officers who keep this district safe. I will work with anyone who wants to solve real problems. And I will tell you the truth when something is wrong, including when it is wrong on my own side. That is what the oath to the Constitution requires, and that is what representation looks like.”
