最新杏吧原创

In politics, tough-on-crime talk normally does.

It was June 1, and protests were spreading like wildfire including in 最新杏吧原创, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In some cities, there was looting and rioting. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt made it clear he wouldn鈥檛 stand for that in the Show-Me State.

Schmitt announced what he called an with the U.S. attorneys in 最新杏吧原创 and Kansas City, to jointly prosecute any cases of illegal looting and rioting in the state.

His news release even announced the first two such arrests, of Marcus Hunt and Mike Avery of 最新杏吧原创, one accused of inciting a riot on Facebook, the other of sharing information on social media about how to make napalm.

The next day, Schmitt upped the ante, going on social media himself to allege 鈥� wrongly 鈥� that 最新杏吧原创 Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner was releasing 鈥渆very single one of the 最新杏吧原创 looters and rioters鈥� back to the street.

Schmitt was inciting a metaphorical riot.

The white Republican attorney general made the Black Democratic local prosecutor the target. Schmitt got his headlines and ran to Fox News for two appearances and another on right-wing Newsmax. He did the right-wing talk radio circuit and established the narrative, aided by an army of social media trolls. He was tough on crime. Gardner was weak.

It simply wasn鈥檛 true.

In fact, most of the 鈥渓ooters and rioters鈥� were released by the 最新杏吧原创 Metropolitan Police Department before they ever sought charges in Gardner鈥檚 office, as is often the case in the criminal justice system. Such investigations can take weeks or months because of the tedious work of gathering video and making identifications. Gardner asked for more investigation on some of the alleged looters and rioters, and when she got it, she filed charges.

Here鈥檚 the math on what Gardner鈥檚 office has done since the June 1-2 looting and rioting in 最新杏吧原创:

Within 48 hours of police seeking warrant applications against nine people, eight of them were charged by Gardner鈥檚 office. In June, a total of 15 people were charged with various looting or rioting offenses. Gardner declined charges in four cases for lack of evidence.

Two people were charged by Gardner鈥檚 office in the murder of former 最新杏吧原创 police Capt. David Dorn. Four more were charged with burglary and stealing from the pawn shop that Dorn was trying to defend.

That鈥檚 a total of 21 people in 最新杏吧原创 charged by Gardner鈥檚 office related to rioting and looting.

How about Schmitt, and his unprecedented tough-on-crime partnership with the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office?

Zero. Schmitt鈥檚 office hasn鈥檛 been involved in a single charge related to the rioting and looting that he鈥檚 been on Fox News and social media talking about.

The cases against Hunt and Avery fell apart and both men were released. By the way, after the embarrassment of those charges being mostly by federal judges, Schmitt鈥檚 office said they had nothing to do with it. When I asked Schmitt鈥檚 office how many cases the unprecedented partnership led to, a spokesman said three. When I asked for names of those charged, I got two.

Neither of those men was involved in looting or rioting. One, Devante Coffie, was charged with stealing guns from an Affton pawn shop, on May 31, in south 最新杏吧原创 County. There was no looting or rioting in Affton. The other, Christopher Gaston, is the man I wrote about recently, who was charged with being a felon in possession of a gun, after standing in front of his condo with a shotgun to protect his family while the 7-Eleven across from his home was burning the night of the rioting.

Gaston didn鈥檛 shoot at anybody. He wasn鈥檛 rioting or looting.

But if Schmitt wants to count that one, fine.

It鈥檚 Gardner 21, Schmitt 1.

The Gaston case is interesting because of what鈥檚 likely coming next. On Friday, 最新杏吧原创 police searched the home of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the Portland Place couple caught on video pointing their weapons at protesters who walked through the neighborhood on the way to Mayor Lyda Krewson鈥檚 house.

When Gardner saw the video, she said she would investigate, and apparently, she has. As soon as news broke that police had seized a gun at the McCloskey residence, Schmitt ran to Fox News to take another shot at Gardner.

鈥淜im Gardner has an abysmal record in prosecuting violent crime,鈥� Schmitt said, in defending the McCloskeys before a case has been filed. 鈥淪he has a sketchy track record of making politically based decisions.鈥�

Wait, you mean like when Schmitt sued China in April, did a round of Fox News interviews, and then did absolutely nothing on the case after that? According to the case file, nobody has been served. No documents filed. No movement at all.

Or like when Schmitt falsely accused Gardner of not prosecuting rioters and looters, when in fact, she has done precisely that and he has not.

The numbers are clear: Schmitt is on the losing end of the score.