WI: Teen defendant threatens alleged victim again

[seamusTX]

Milwaukee -- Two weeks ago, a 17-year-old Milwaukee man allegedly shot an older man that he knew after the two got into an argument at a street festival. The victim was shot once in the hand and once in the groin.

The suspect was arrested and jailed. Friday morning he bonded out at 4:36 a.m.

At 6:50 a.m., the victim was waiting for a bus with his wife and 4-year-old child. A car drove past slowly, and the suspect, who was in the passenger seat, pointed a gun at the victim and mouthed the words, "I got you."

He was rearrested a short time later.

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Where does a 17-year-old get a firearm before 7 in the morning? Do gangs have armories?

- Jim

[dicion]

Of course, this story has to be a lie...
People under 21 cannot own a handgun, or posses one unless under the supervision of a guardian. That's the law.

Oh, wait.. sorry, had a liberal moment there... I thought that criminals followed laws for a second! Silly me!

Maybe the driver of the car was the suspect's father....

Also shows that criminals have no problems obtaining firearms illegally in the shortest of time frames.
... and they want us law abiding citizens to have to wait a few days to get ours

[caldvn]

He had been in the jail after the June 14 festival shooting, in which he was charged with aggravated battery intending great bodily harm and second degree recklessly endangering safety.

You pull a gun out and shoot twice at someone, doesn't it seem the charge is lesser than it should be?

His bail in that case was set at $40,000 but he was released after Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kevin E. Martens granted a request from Rosa's attorney, Michael F. Hart, and Assistant District Attorney Adam Y. Gerol to reduce the bail to $10,000, according to online state court records.

.... to 10k... so bond would be around 1k. I'm a little dumfounded.

[>whiplash<]

Based on the new allegations, I hope they upgrade the original charge to attempted murder as an adult.

As we all know, the real solution to gang violence is for good people to band together and wipe out the gangs but society no longer has the political will or intestinal fortitude to deal with thugs effectively. e.g. OBL

[seamusTX]

You pull a gun out and shoot twice at someone, doesn't it seem the charge is lesser than it should be?

Every state has different names and definitions for the crime of intentionally injuring someone. In Texas it's aggravated assault, and the penalty is up to 20 years for a first offense.

Assuming their prosecutors know what they're doing, they probably had a reason based on Wisconsin state law.

- Jim

[Venus Pax]

Maybe it's socially acceptable in Milwaukee to shoot someone twice, then threaten them once you're released from a few hours in jail.

[seamusTX]

It's nothing special about Milwaukee. Intimidation and murder of witnesses are frequent where gangs are active. Some of these gangs are not content simply to conduct illegal activities under the radar. They want to control neighborhoods and send a message to law-abiding people not to resist them.

- Jim

[Venus Pax]

Not trying to single-out Milwaukee, but wonder why bail was so low.

Having taught a few students that idealize gangs (one I suspected of being an active member), I can't exactly say that your observation on their intimidation tactics are too far off. Dominance of an area is of particular value to them; people within their turf are considered under their control.

[seamusTX]

Bail is a mystery to me. It is a right, but it's shocking how many defendants re-offend shortly after being released. Few are as quick as this guy.

- Jim

[bryang]

He certainly did not wast any time, that's for sure. I can't believed that they set such a low bail for something this serious. Wonder where a 17 year old punk gets money for bail?

There is no reason for these punks to fear the LE, or getting stuck in jail...two hours later they are back to work.

-geo

[Rex B]

Sounds to me like the victim needs to arm himself.
And possibly relocate.

And someone needs to take that "kid" off the street.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Rex B:

The victim does need to arm himself but since he lives
in Wisconsin, that's easier said than done.

[Mithras61]

Rex B:

The victim does need to arm himself but since he lives
in Wisconsin, that's easier said than done.

Just curious - how so?

I've family in WI and they've never had any difficulty arming themselves, and the State AG recently issued an opinion that open carry is both legal and not disturbing the peace (which offense has been used in towns like Milwaukee to prevent OC). There've also been some high profile cases in Milwaukee where defendants used concealed firearms to protect themselves from thugs and won both in the encounter and in court against illegal carrying charges. IMHO, the laws there aren't perfect, but its no Illinois.

If you know something I don't, I'd be plenty happy to learn from you.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Mithras61:

My previous comment was based on my belief that Wisconsin
and Illinois are not "shall issue" states, and it's therefore hard to
impossible to get a CHL-equivalent license.

I believe the WI/IL conclusions were reached by the NRA and are
set forth in their communications.

True, I have seen more leeway in 2A rights in Wisconsin than IL
allows, but not anywhere near what many pro-2A states' citizens
enjoy.

[Mithras61]

Mithras61:

My previous comment was based on my belief that Wisconsin
and Illinois are not "shall issue" states, and it's therefore hard to
impossible to get a CHL-equivalent license.

I believe the WI/IL conclusions were reached by the NRA and are
set forth in their communications.

True, I have seen more leeway in 2A rights in Wisconsin than IL
allows, but not anywhere near what many pro-2A states' citizens
enjoy.

Admittedly WI doesn't have a concealed weapons license of any sort, but they are technically an open carry state. They are having some growing pains with that at this time, with communities trying to figure out how to address the issue and some communities being much more tolerant than others (my family lives way up north and has fewer issues than Milwaukee, for example). The thing is that people tend to think of all of WI as being the same as Milwaukee, and it isn't so. Milwaukee & Madison tend to be anti-2a, where the rest of the state tends to be VERY pro-2a (with hunting being a huge industry for large parts of the state, this is not really a surprise). I guess this is true for most states, though.

I also don't believe that a lack of a CHL or equivalent necessarily reflects poorly on WI either. The state lege has passed bills and sent them on to the Gov. who has vetoed them. At this point, the lege has been unable to muster a large enough majority to over-ride the veto, but they are getting closer. I don't know if the people there feel a lack inthat regard, but the lege seems to be more pro-2a than the Governor. Hopefully that will be rectified in the near future.

Anyway, not to start an argument or anything. Just curious what made you think that a normal citizen might have difficulty, and your above post is a fair response. I feel that WI is more tolerant than what the NRA position claims for them, but it is obviously not an AK or VT, so there is quite a lot of room for improvement in that regard.

Apologies fgor the hijack.

The original article illustrates the futility of anti-gun laws in that regardless of how extensive they are criminals do not obey them and they will always be with us going forward (if someone with a rudimentary forge can make an AK-47, how will we ever eliminate them completely?). It is also beyond ridiculous to suppose that we will somehow be able to eliminate violence by eliminating one of the tools that are used to perpitrate it. People need the ability to fight back against thugs, and as we all pretty much agree, arming average people seems to work better than almost any other nethod so far discovered. Until people pull their collective heads out of their dream that we can somehow all get along just because it would (seemingly) be so nice we will have to continue this fight in the many legislatures and the court systems. Never give up! Never surrender!

(with apologies to Tim Allen & 'Galaxy Quest')