Tag Archives: #Crime

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In the wake of two shootings when students were boarding SEPTA buses, Jenice Armstrong wants fewer criminals put in prison

My good friend Daniel Pearson — OK, OK, we’ve never actually met, but we’ve interacted on Twitter, so that should count! — tweeted yesterday that he believed “the single most effective way to keep Philadelphia’s children safe would be passing common sense gun control measures.” An editorial writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mr Pearson is a liberal Democrat, but he’s not the far-left whacko type, and you can peacefully and politely interact with him.

Mr Pearson’s tweet follows the news in the City of Brotherly Love as twice this week, as twice bullets rang out at SEPTA stops where students were catching bus rides home from school: the shooting at the “Five Points” intersection of Rising Sun and Cottman Avenues in the Burholme section of Northeast Philly left eight students from Northeast High School wounded, while Dayemen Taylor was killed, and four others injured at another bus stop shooting, this time on Ogontz, also in North Philly.

Naturally, all of the Powers That Be in Philly are upset, appalled, aghast, and spewing a lot of words. Philly’s softer-than-Charmin-on-crime District Attorney, Larry Krasner, said that the Ogontz shooting brought him to tears, and promised “swift justice,” saying, “This is an absolute outrage. It will be solved, and those responsible will be vigorously prosecuted.” Yeah, uh huh, right. Odds are that, when the suspects are identified, it will be determined that they had previous ‘contact’ with the criminal justice system, and they suffered almost no consequences.

For now, police are focused on recovering more evidence and chasing down tips, (Deputy Police Commissioner Frank) Vanore said. Investigators believe the three shooters were likely juveniles, he said, which makes it all the more concerning that they each had a handgun.

In other words, those “common sense gun control laws” that Mr Pearson advocated were already being broken, in that it is already illegal for juveniles to possess and carry handguns in Philly. Given that they used a stolen, blue Hyundai Sonata, which was later abandoned in Olney, as their getaway car, and that they sprayed more than 30 shots into the crowd, it would seem that the malefactors really don’t give a damn about laws.

But today, Inquirer columnist Jenice Armstrong decided to tell us that the city shouldn’t be locking up people for gun crimes!

Philly program keeps gun offenders out of prison. I’m all for it.

Over the years, I’ve become more skeptical that incarceration is the answer to all our crime problems.

by Jenice Armstrong | Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 6:00 AM EST

I love a graduation ceremony, and the one I attended last month was no exception.

But this one was a little different. For starters, it took place inside a courtroom at the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice in Center City. Also, there was no playing of the quintessential graduation song, “Pomp and Circumstance,” no wearing of caps and gowns. The graduates were dressed in hoodies, jeans, work boots, and other casual attire. There were few family members present, although one graduate carried a small daughter on his hip.

Each had successfully met the requirements for a new diversionary program called the Alternative Felony Disposition program. Created in 2021 by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, with input from the Center for Carceral Communities at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Work, the program allows people with no prior criminal record who have been arrested on illegal gun charges to avoid jail time. The current crop of graduates, who began the program in July, had been assigned social workers they met with regularly. They also had been expected to attend group sessions with other defendants.

There’s more at the original.

Miss Armstrong has forgotten one obvious thing: those who are locked up, for gun crimes as well as other offenses, are not out on the streets, stealing Kias and Hyundais to use as getaway vehicles from planned shootings.

I also better understand that crime is a complex problem — one that Philly can’t expect to arrest its way out of. I agree with officials who say the city’s focus should be on the long-standing structural and systemic issues that drive people to arm themselves illegally, such as underfunded schools, government neglect of impoverished and broken neighborhoods, and a bloated justice system that targets poor and Black and brown city residents.

Miss Armstrong just can’t seem to understand, or at least admit it if she does understand, that the criminal justice system “targets poor and black and brown city residents” because the majority of crime in Philly is committed by those ‘people of color.’ Perhaps ‘incarceration isn’t the answer to all our crime problems’, but it’s the answer to the vast majority of them.

It’s an interesting set of messages: Mr Pearson wants more “common sense gun control measures” to fight crime, while Miss Armstrong doesn’t want those who violate existing laws to be punished. How does that work?

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Hold them accountable! Larry Krasner is at least indirectly responsible for Dayemen Taylor's murder. The only question is: is he directly responsible?

Shootings and homicides have decreased in the City of Brotherly Love over the past two years, with 55 murders as of the end of March 5, as compared to 79 on the same date last year. But, as the aggregate numbers decrease, more attention gets paid to some of the individual cases. No one really cares all that much when one gang-banger kills another gang-banger, but when a seemingly innocent kid gets targeted and murdered, even The Philadelphia Inquirer takes notice.

The newspaper had a fairly long story, by reporters Ellie Rushing and Kristen A. Graham, on the apparently deliberately targeted Dayemen Taylor, a 17-year-old student at Imhotep Charter, an African-centered school with a science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) focus.

About 3:45 p.m. Monday, as a group of students boarded SEPTA’s No. 6 bus to head home, police say, two young men in hoodies and masks ran up from behind, guns in hand.

They fired indiscriminately at close range at least 40 times, police said, spraying bullets among the crowd of kids and through the bus windows. In total, five people were shot, including a 14-year-old boy and a 71-year-old woman.

As the shooters closed in on the group in Ogontz, in North Philadelphia, police said, they strode toward Dayemen Taylor, a 17-year-old Imhotep student, and shot him multiple times. He died minutes later — targeted, police said, for reasons detectives don’t yet understand. Taylor, they said, was a respected student with no prior contact with law enforcement. And while investigators are looking into whether a fight at Imhotep earlier in the day may have led to the shooting, the motive remained unclear and no arrests had been made, said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.

There’s plenty more in the story, much of it telling readers what a good kid young Mr Taylor was, which sadly reminded me of past Inquirer stories in which the innocent victims was, in the end, not quite as innocent as depicted. But I’ve grown cynical in my elder years, and I’ve heard no evidence that Mr Taylor was anything other than the innocent victim portrayed.

But what struck me the most were these two paragraphs:

The case brought District Attorney Larry Krasner to tears on Tuesday, and he vowed swift justice.

“This is an absolute outrage. It will be solved, and those responsible will be vigorously prosecuted,” he said.

Oh, Mr Krasner was crying, was he? He was outraged, and he vowed swift justice, did he? That stupid piece of [insert vulgar term for feces here] is responsible for much of the killing on Philadelphia’s mean streets, because he has refused to take ‘lesser’ crimes seriously. He doesn’t like to prosecute crimes involving firearm possession, his minions and he allow very lenient plea deals, especially to juveniles, and he’s proud that the incarcerated population has dramatically declined on his watch. He delights on getting previously convicted criminals released, and on charging Philadelphia Police Officers whenever he can. He is at least indirectly responsible for this homicide, because he has done more than anyone else in Philadelphia to enable a culture and climate in which crime has been enabled.

Is he directly responsible? We don’t know yet, because the killers have not yet been identified. But it would surprise no one if, when the murderers are identified, they are individuals ‘known to the police,’ guys who have been arrested before and given lenient treatment by the city’s softer-than-Charmin-on-crime District Attorney. It would surprise no one if it turned out that the two gunmen both could and should have been behind bars on Monday afternoon.

And if it turns out that they could and should have been locked up on Monday, then Mr Krasner is directly responsible for young Mr Taylor’s murder. When will he be held accountable?

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The credentialed media: Be just as aware of what you are not being told as what is presented That's how you can spot the biases!

We have reported, several times recently, on how the credentialed media write their stories to obscure the incidences in which teachers accused of sexual abuse are actually being accused of homosexual sexual abuse. I stated explicitly, when I see a story in the credentialed media about the sexual abuse of a minor, if it is written in a manner to obscure the sex of the victim, I suspect that the abuse was homosexual in nature.

So, when I saw this story, in the Lexington Herald-Leader, I had to read it to see if it went along with my suspicions.

Kentucky assistant principal with past discipline issues resigns amid investigation

by Beth Musgrave | Monday, March 4, 2024 | 1:14 PM EST | Updated 5:12 PM EST

An assistant principal at McCreary Central High School has resigned amid a police and state investigation, school officials confirmed Monday.Aaron Anderson resigned Feb. 27 rather than face termination, said Superintendent Brian Crawford.

No, of course the Herald Leader did not include a photo of Mr Anderson, but at The First Street Journal we always include mugshots or other photos of the accused. However, the only image I was able to find was a TikTok video, from which I took a screenshot.

Kentucky State Police is investigating Anderson’s conduct along with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department of Community Based Services, which investigates child and adult abuse complaints, said Crawford.

Crawford said he could not comment on the nature of the investigation.

Officials with Kentucky State Police did not immediately respond to questions about the investigation.

Crawford said Anderson has been disciplined in the past. He was suspended with pay in January but Crawford said due to privacy and personnel laws he could not say why Anderson had been disciplined.

In 2017, Anderson was reprimanded by the Educational Professional Standards Board, which oversees educator’s teaching licenses, for having a sexual encounter with an adult on a school bus during an elementary school basketball tournament, according to a September 2017 article in The Voice, the McCreary County newspaper.

So, reporter Beth Musgrave had the 2017 article she referenced, an article which explicitly stated that the “sexual encounter” for which Mr Anderson was “reprimanded” involved an adult woman, and was thus heterosexual in nature. Miss Musgrave was the same Herald-Leader reporter who wrote the initial article about the accusations against April Bradford, and structured it in a manner which concealed the fact that Miss Bradford’s actions were homosexual in nature. Did she also conceal the nature of Mr Anderson’s actions?

Nope!

The allegations came out after the woman later applied for a position with the school system and did not get it. Anderson told investigators the relationship was consensual and he did not have any say in the woman being hired.

So, Miss Musgrave was perfectly willing to tell us when normal sex was involved, but kept it unspoken when the allegations were homosexual in nature. McClatchy reporter Mike Stunson did the same.

However, journalistic honesty requires that I also report different results. As we reported previously, Herald-Leader reporter Valarie Honeycutt Spears did not include whether the sexual offenses alleged against Henry Clay High School teacher Kevin Lentz were heterosexual or homosexual in nature in her original story on August 8, 2023. However, in her follow-up story on August 9th, she did report that the accusations against Mr Lentz involved attempting to lure a 9-year-old boy into the production of child pornography.

I have stated before that I much prefer newspapers to television or radio news, due to my seriously compromised hearing, and because the print media have the ability to treat stories in significantly greater depth. But in reading newspapers, or getting your news from any of the credentialed media sources, you have to be aware of what you are not being told, as much as what is presented.
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Also posted on American Free News Network. Check out American Free News Network for more well written and well reasoned conservative commentary.

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My White Privilege is nothing compared to Accredited Victim Group™ Privilege

If you check one Accredited Victim Group™ box, prosecution for crimes in the City of Brotherly Love seems to be reduced. If you check two Accredited Victim Group™ boxes, your chances of being prosecuted are further reduced. So, just imagine if you check three Accredited Victim Group™ boxes!

City LGBT official and husband arrested by state trooper will not face charges at this time, DA’s Office said

Celena Morrison and her husband were arrested by a state trooper after a traffic stop Saturday morning.

by Ellie Rushing | Sunday, March 3, 2024 | 10:55 AM EST | Updated: 1:54 PM EST

A top Philadelphia official and her husband who were arrested by a Pennsylvania State trooper this weekend have been released from custody and were not charged with any crimes, a spokesperson for the state police said Sunday.

“Celena” Morrison, from his city biography page, which is a public record.

Celena Morrison, the city’s executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, and her husband, Darius McLean, were taken into custody Saturday morning following a confrontation with a state trooper on the Vine Street Expressway. A video of their arrests, captured by Morrison, quickly circulated on social media and appeared to show McLean lying on the shoulder of the highway, begging the trooper to let him go.

“I work for the mayor! I work for the mayor!” Morrison yelled, before the trooper can be heard telling her to “shut the f— up.”

The trooper then turns to arrest Morrison and, as the video pans toward the sky, she can be heard saying, “He just punched me.”

There’s more at the original.

So, what boxes are checked? Miss Morrison is black, so that’s box number one. Miss Morrison is homosexual, so that’s box number two. And Miss Morison is actually Mr Morrison, a male who believes he is female, and thus checks the transgender box. Mr McLean is black, so that’s box number one for him, and he is homosexual, given that he is married to another male, so that’s box number two.

According to the newspaper, Mr Morrison was pulled over on the Vine Street Expressway, because:

  • the vehicle’s registration was expired and suspended;
  • the windows were illegally tinted;
  • the vehicle’s headlights were not illuminated in the rain; and
  • Mr Morrison was following too closely behind another driver.

Those are all important issues. If the vehicle’s registration was expired and suspended, that means that in any accident in which Mr Morrison might have been involved, even if the vehicle had insurance, the insurance company could refuse to pay any liabilities required. If the vehicle’s headlights were not on while driving in the rain, that created a safety violation, as other drivers would be less able to see the vehicle. And if Mr Morrison was following another car too closely, and had to stop quickly, he might not have been able to do so, especially on wet roads.

What was a city official doing driving a vehicle in that condition?

Mr McLean saw his “wife’s” vehicle having been pulled over by a state policeman, and decided to stop and interfere.

State police initially filed several misdemeanor and summary charges against the couple, but the charges were declined by the District Attorney’s Office “pending additional review,” said agency spokesperson Lt. Adam Reed. They were released from custody Saturday evening.

Jane Roh, spokesperson for the DA’s Office, said that no charging decisions have been made but that officials are investigating all aspects of the incident.

Translation: they’re going after the state trooper for doing his job.

At one point, McLean said: “Please just stop. It’s because I’m Black.”

The state trooper did not stop Mr McLean; he stopped himself. Given that the vehicle Mr Morrison was driving was cited for having windows which were illegally tinted, among other things, the trooper couldn’t really see that the driver was black.

The Keystone State ceased issuing annual stickers for license plates in 2018, and went to automated license plate scanners mounted in police cars. The state policeman did not need to run the plates on Mrs Morrison’s car; that was done automatically by computer, and the trooper was alerted to this in his vehicle. Pennsylvania only issues rear license plates, so the trooper was behind the grey Infiniti sedan when the plate was scanned.

There’s some real privilege being shown here, and it isn’t that dreaded “White Privilege” about which the left so frequently whine. If my wife, who is white, had been pulled over for the same infractions, and I proceeded to stop behind the police car, and pulled the same bovine feces Mr McLean did, I’d be in jail, awaiting a Monday morning arraignment to get bail set. Of course, my wife would simply have accepted the tickets, even if she was unhappy about it, and I wouldn’t be stupid enough to try to interfere with a law enforcement officer. But, then again, we don’t have Accredited Victim Group™ Privilege.

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You in a heap o’ trouble, boy! There are some real super-geniuses in the criminal world!

Daquis Sharp, mugshot by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

It was just Thursday that we reported on three absolute super-geniuses, for shooting and wounding a Lexington police detective. Well, now on what the talking heads at the Weather Channel are calling the first day of meteorological spring, we’re learning more, and it isn’t pretty.

Two suspects charged for firing on Lexington police detective linked to other shooting

by Christopher Leach | Friday, March 1, 2024 | 7:39 AM | Updated: 9:45 AM

Two of the three suspects who have been accused of shooting a Lexington police officer earlier this week are facing new charges from a another shooting this past summer, according to the Lexington Police Department.

Daquis Sharp, 27, and Jatiece Parks, 19, have both been charged with two counts of first-degree assault (complicity) and one count of first-degree wanton endangerment (complicity). Police said the charges are connected to a shooting that injured three people, including a juvenile.

Jatiecee Parks, mugshot by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

The shooting happened on July 4 on the 500 block of Stonehaven Drive. Police said they found shell casings and damaged property on the scene and while investigating, three people showed up at a local hospital with gunshot wounds. Their injuries were described as non-life-threatening.

Parks was one of the three people injured in the shooting, according to court documents. He told investigators he was lighting fireworks at a party when an unknown vehicle drove by and fired shots.

During the investigation, detectives learned Parks was not an attendee at the party and had lied in his initial statement. Court documents say Sharp planned the shooting and was present with Parks when it occurred.

There’s more at the original.

No, of course what my best friend used to call the Lexington Herald-Liberal didn’t publish the (alleged) malefactors’ mugshots; it seems that exceptions taken to the McClatchy Mugshot Policy are only taken when the accused criminals are white.

There’s more below the fold, because I have a video embedded there. Continue reading →

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Why don’t we take sex crimes against children seriously? Perhaps just 3½ years for a lesbian in lady jail isn’t really “address(ing) teachers who prey on students”?

April Bradford. Photo via Kentucky Today.

We have twice previously mentioned the very lovely April Bradford. Miss Bradford sexually assaulted (at least) two female students, beginning when at least one of them was in middle school.

According to the Floyd County Chronicle, Miss Bradford was indicted on

  • KRS §530.064 First-degree unlawful transaction with a minor (class B felony), 11 counts. Under subsection (2)(b), this offense is a Class B felony if the victim is less than 16 years old;
  • KRS §510.080 Second-degree sodomy (class C felony), one count. Under subsection (1), second-degree sodomy is defined as deviate sexual intercourse with a victim who is under 14 years old, or is incapable of consent due to mental deficiency or incapacitation; and
  • KRS §510.090 Third-degree sodomy (class D felony), seven counts. Under subsection (1)(d) this is deviate sexual intercourse with a person under 18 over whom the perpetrator holds a position of authority.

There was clearly some heavy-duty plea bargaining which has occurred, because under KRS §532.060, the minimum sentence for a Class B felony is not less than ten years, and for a Class C felony, not less than five years. According to WYMT, Miss Bradford pleaded guilty to eight counts of third-degree sodomy and 11 counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Under KRS §510.110, First degree sexual abuse is a Class D felony, the sentence for which is not less than one year, nor more than five years. Miss Bradford received a medium sentence for Class D felonies, and was not convicted of the Class C or B felonies.

Perhaps the state attorney general, who was prosecuting this case, didn’t want to have to put the two known victims on the stand, a fairly reasonable thing in cases where the victims are kept anonymous, but the two victims, Jessica Hensley and Mary Prater, chose to come forward publicly, and made their statements.

Also on this topic: Robert Stacy McCain, “Let’s Talk About Things That Never Happen, According to Mainstream Media“

It may still be the case that the victims did not wish to relive their cases on the witness stand, but they did state that they wanted to have Miss Bradford serve her sentence in prison, rather than some sort of home confinement.

Miss Bradford was formally sentenced to 3½ years on Thursday, February 29th, and this time Lexington Herald-Leader reporter Valarie Honeycutt Spears did not write her story in a manner which concealed the fact that Miss Bradford’s sexual abuse was homosexual in nature, the way reporter Beth Musgrave had done on Thursday, November 30, 2023.

In addition to her prison sentence, Bradford will be a lifetime sex-offender registrant under the Kentucky sex offender registry, which includes five years of post-incarceration supervision by the Department of Corrections. A condition of the plea was a 10-year interpersonal protective order against Bradford for the benefit of the victims.

Survivor’s of Bradford’s abuse read statements at the sentencing:

“April Bradford was a terrible influence on my life and caused more damage than good,” said Mary Prater. “She deceived me, my family, our school and everyone in the community. I can stand today with my head held high knowing that God gave me and Jessica the strength to grow up and make it stop.”

Prater and Jessica Hensley recently told the Herald-Leader they are frustrated more hasn’t been done to address teachers who prey on students.

Perhaps just 3½ years for a lesbian in lady jail isn’t really “address(ing) teachers who prey on students”?

More, I have to ask: where is Miss Bradford? For someone who should already be in jail, the Kentucky Online Offender Lookup (KOOL) search function does not return any information on Miss Bradford. Was she free during the three months between her conviction on November 30, 2023 and formal sentencing, on Leapday? I would have thought that a sexual predator would have been locked up right away, but perhaps I’m mistaken.

Under Miss Bradford’s original charges, she faced a possible 265 years in prison, yet her attorney managed to negotiate it down to 3½. Simply one conviction on a Class B felony yields a maximum sentence of 20 years, which would seem to seem to be appropriate. As it is, Miss Bradford will be only 54 or 55 years old when she gets out, plenty of time left to enjoy life as best she can.

We should take sex crimes against minors much more seriously than we do.
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Update: KOOL shows, as of 8:25 AM EST on Saturday, that Miss Bradford is incarcerated in the Floyd County Detention Center. Other information, including prospective release dates, parole eligibility, and latest possible release dates, have not been added as of this update.

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You in a heap o’ trouble, boy!

Daquis Sharp, mugshot by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

It’s safe to say that Daquis Sharp isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. Mr Sharp’s record with the Fayette County Detention Center shows eight previous mugshots, and he’s only a couple of months past his 26th birthday. This time, he shot a cop, though fortunately did not kill the officer.

Three arrested for attempted murder after shooting injures Lexington police detective

by Christopher Leach | Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 7:16 AM EST | Updated: 8:16 AM EST | Updated: 10:47 AM EST

A Lexington Police Department detective was injured after being shot while conducting an investigation, according to police.

The shooting happened at approximately 11:54 p.m. Feb. 28 on the 900 block of Royal Avenue, which is near Winchester Road. Police said detectives were following up on an investigation when unknown suspect(s) opened fire on a detective inside a vehicle.

Jatiecee Parks, mugshot by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

The detective suffered minor injuries but did not require hospitalization, according to police. The detective was able to return shots and no other injuries were reported.

Three people were detained on the scene. Later Thursday morning, police said the three suspects, 27-year-old Daquis Sharp, 19-year-old Jatiece Parks and 19-year-old Zalan Dulin, were all arrested and charged in connection to the incident.

Arrest citations for the suspects say they fired multiple shots into the detective’s unmarked vehicle. One shot hit the detective in the thigh.

The vehicle sustained over $1,000 in damage from the shots, according to court documents.

All three suspects have been charged with attempted murder of a police officer, second-degree assault (police officer), first-degree criminal mischief and six counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, according to police. The suspects are also accused of firing shots into an occupied home on Royal Avenue with six people inside.

Shockingly enough, Mr Sharp was also charged with possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, which means that he was violating one of the gun control laws which we have been told would make us all safer.

Zalan Dulin, mugshot by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

The two other accused were charged with the same offenses, other than possession by a convicted felon. Mr Dulin’s mugshot shows a neck full of tattoos, which is perhaps not the sign of a particularly intelligent individual, along with an “Oh, poop! What have I done?” look on his face.

  • Attempted Murder of a Police Officer, a Class B felony, which carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years
  • Assault, second degree, of a police officer, a Class C felony, which carries a sentence of 5 to 10 years
  • Criminal mischief, first degree, a Class D felony, which carries a sentence of 1 to 5 years
  • Possession of firearm by a convicted felon, a Class D felony, unless the weapon is a handgun, in which case it is a Class C felony
  • Wanton Endangerment, first degree, a Class D felony (six counts)

Personally, I believe that those gradations are each one step too lenient. Perhaps, just perhaps, the two 19-year-old offenders have some chance of rehabilitation, but Mr Sharp has been a persistent felon, and, if convicted, needs to enjoy the pleasant accommodations of the Kentucky State Penitentiary near Eddyville for as long as the law allows.

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Journolism: The credentialed media don’t exactly lie, but they conceal politically incorrect facts Is justice in Philadelphia a matter of the color of your skin?

We have used the headline, “Journolism: The credentialed media don’t exactly lie, but they conceal politically incorrect facts”, thrice before, and yup, here they go again.

The First Street Journal reported on this story at 12:07 PM EST today, which was 28 minutes after Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Ellie Rushing‘s story, but our sources were older. Fox 29 News reporter Steve Keeley published the accused’s mugshot at 10:02 AM, but he also published the (alleged) offender’s previous record, and the fact that he’d been released with a completely unsecured bond, at 7:42 PM yesterday.

The image to the left is a screen capture from the Inquirer’s website taken at 2:18 PM today; I thought it important to document it, with the newspaper’s timestamp visible.

You know what isn’t in Miss Rushing’s story, at least as published at 11:39 AM? There is absolutely no mention that Kenneth Rogers, the accused, was previously accused of attempted murder and first-degree aggravated assault last June, or that he was released with no bond in December, and, of course, the Inky used a stock photo rather than Mr Rogers’ mugshot. The newspaper seems to only publish photos of people accused of crimes if they are policemen.

Mr Rogers initial bond was set at $750,000, on June 3, 2023, requiring a cash bond of 10%, or $75,000. The accused was unable to post that bond, and languished in jail until December 15, 2023, without being convicted of anything, when he was finally released with his bond being unsecured, which means no money was posted.

Which brings us to the case of Cody Monroe Heron. As we reported on October 5, 2023, Mr Heron was charged with aggravated assault, the same charge that Mr Rogers faced last June, but he was not charged with attempted murder, as Mr Rogers was in June of 2023, and again today. District Attorney Larry Krasner and the DA’s Office requested that Mr Heron’s bail be set at $5,000,000, though it wound up being initially set at $2,500,000. We then reported, on October 16, 2023, that when Mr Heron’s attorney requested a reduction in bail, because there was no way Mr Heron could meet that $2,500,000 bail amount, it was instead increased to $4,000,000.

After four months and two days in jail, Mr Heron pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of an instrument of crime. He will be sentenced in June, and prosecutors stated that they intended to seek a sentence of three to six years in prison.

The obvious question becomes: why was Mr Heron effectively denied bail, by having it initially set more than thrice what Mr Rogers’ bail originally was, and why was it then increased by $1,500,000 while Mr Rogers was just set free? Mr Heron’s offense, while certainly serious, despite the fact that no one was actually injured, was one not likely to be repeated, while Mr Rogers’ offense was not only more likely to be repeated, and (allegedly) has now been repeated.

Miss Rushing’s story did conclude with the note that it was a developing story, and would be updated, but at least as of this publication, at 3:22 PM EST, it has not been.
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Update! There was an update to the story time stamped at 4:44 PM EST:

On Monday, Rogers was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, making terroristic threats, and related crimes. He is being held on $750,000 bail.

This is only the latest time Rogers has been accused of violence. In just the last three years, he has twice been charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing two people in separate incidents. And over the last decade, he’s been in and out of jail on robbery, theft, and drug possession charges, records show.

In June 2020, Rogers was arrested after police said he stabbed his cousin in the torso. According to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest, Rogers owed his cousin about $7,000, and the two got into a fight over it near Tioga and Jasper Streets. Rogers then stabbed his cousin in the chest, puncturing his lung, and vowed to kill him before a bystander intervened, the victim told police, according to the records.

Rogers was arrested and charged with attempted murder, but after the victim failed to appear at multiple court hearings, a judge dismissed the charges, records show. The district attorney’s office refiled the charges, records show, but a judge again tossed the case after the victim failed to appear four more times at scheduled preliminary hearings.

Then, in June 2023, Rogers was again charged with attempted murder after police said he stabbed a man multiple times at the Allegheny station on SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line in Kensington, according to the arrest affidavit.

He was originally held on $750,000 bail. But the victim in that case, who was also unhoused, did not maintain contact with victim’s services and similarly failed to appear at court hearings, said Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the DA’s office.

Following those failures to appear, Common Pleas Court Judge Nicholas Kamau in December reduced Rogers’ bail to unsecured — meaning Rogers could be released without posting bail so long as he did not violate the conditions of his release. Rogers was ordered to house arrest with an electronic monitor following an agreement that he could stay at his mother’s home, Roh said.

So, will we find that the latest victim will choose not to appear?

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When The Philadelphia Inquirer tells us more than was perhaps intended Why does DA Larry Krasner oppose a special prosecutor for crimes on SEPTA when his office can't handle the cases it has?

As is the case with many newspapers, The Philadelphia Inquirer likes to use on-hand, stock photos to illustrate some of their online stories. This one greatly amused me.

Man died after falling on SEPTA tracks, getting electrocuted at City Hall

The man — who has yet to be identified — fell on the tracks before train service began at 4:40 a.m.

by Beatrice Forman | Monday, February 26, 2024 | 7:52 AM EST | Updated: 8:16 AM EST

A man died at SEPTA’s City Hall station after falling onto the tracks early Monday morning, the transportation authority confirmed.

The incident occurred before Broad Street Line service starts at 4:40 a.m. when a man “made contact with the energized third rail” and was electrocuted, said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.

The man has not been identified, and it is unclear what caused him to fall.

“All we know is that he was by himself,” said Busch. “No one else was there.”

So, no foul play is suspected. Considering how much crime has been reported on SEPTA and at SEPTA train stations, that’s actually a relief, not that a story about anyone being killed is somehow good news.

But, as the newspaper continually touts public transportation, I looked closely at the photo used, and there it was, shown through the open subway car door, a man (?) keeled over in his seat, doing what? Sleeping it off, drunk, keeping warm on a winter night, or just another junkie riding the rails while riding high. The Grateful Dead’s Casey Jones, “Driving that train, high on cocaine,” comes to mind.

A hatchet attack and a shooting at SEPTA stations this weekend continued a spate of high-profile violence

Two suspects are in custody after the separate incidents occurred within hours of each other.

Latest @PhillyPolice booking photo of Kenneth Rogers,28,arrested after police say he attacked man in @SEPTA concourse with hatchet while he had active arrest warrant for attempted murder. Detectives tell me “Hopefully a Philly judge won’t release him on unsecured bail again.”

by Jeremy Roebuck and Ariana Perez-Castells | Saturday, February 24, 2024 | 10:49 PM EST |Updated: Sunday, February 25, 2024 | 10:21 PM EST

Two attacks over the weekend at SEPTA stations in Philadelphia continued a recent spate of high-profile violent crimes that have plagued the transit system.

A 20-year-old was shot on a Broad Street Line northbound subway train that had just left the Hunting Park Station just before 9 p.m. Saturday.

Then, less than five hours later, a hatchet-wielding assailant attacked another rider on the subway concourse near the SEPTA station at 8th and Market Streets, police said.

That incident occurred just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The victim told officers his attacker had struck him six times with the hatchet and kicked him four times in the face. He suffered cuts to the back of his head and bruising to his face, according to police reports on the attack.

No, of course the Inquirer didn’t publish the (alleged) “hatchet-wielding assailant’s” mugshot; it was up to Fox 29 News’ Steve Keeley to do that!

The distinguished Mr Rogers was arrested and jailed on June 3, 2023, for several charges relating to an assault, including attempted murder and aggravated assault PA 18 §2702(a)(1) with an attempt to cause serious bodily injury with extreme indifference to the value of human life. That is a first-degree felony, which under PA 18 §106 has a maximum sentence of twenty years in the penitentiary. His bail amount was set at $750,000, with a 10% minimum cash bond.

On July 5, 2023, Mr Rogers was ordered held for court. However, on December 15, 2023, he was released on an unsecured $750,000 bond, which means, for all practical purposes, no bail at all.

The Eighth Amendment guarantees a right to reasonable bail for criminal suspects; Mr Rogers had, upon his arrest, been imprisoned for a crime of which he had not been convicted, and spent six months and 12 days behind bars, without being convicted. To release a criminal suspect, without bail, who has a bail which has been set at an amount which he cannot raise, can be argued to be reasonable.

The real problem is that, in the six months and 12 days Mr Rogers was locked up, District Attorney Larry Krasner and the District Attorney’s Office had not brought Mr Rogers to trial. This isn’t even an issue of Mr Krasner and his office having ridiculously lenient policies toward crime, but simply not doing their jobs at all, not bringing a criminal accused of a violent, first-degree felony, to trial quickly enough for him not to be released.

So now, just 72 days after he was released without any bail, Mr Rogers, who is apparently homeless, is once again accused of trying to kill someone.

The Powers That Be in the City of Brotherly Love have been going full speed ahead on promoting public transportation and SEPTA, but the first step is to clean out the junkies and criminals from the buses, trains and train/subway stations, and that can’t be done until Mr Krasner and his minions start doing their jobs!