Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Public safety

GOP reps demand removal of judge who freed violent offender before train murder
Daily Wire, Approved, National

GOP reps demand removal of judge who freed violent offender before train murder

By Virginia Kruta | Daily Wire “Ms. Zarutska’s murder was not only a profound personal tragedy but also a direct result of a failure of judicial responsibility.” Ten North Carolina Republican Reps., led by Rep. Tim Moore (R-NC), called on Tuesday for the removal of Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, who released 14-time offender Decarlos Johnson Jr. before he murdered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. Moore shared a letter, signed by nine of his colleagues, in which he called on Chief Judge Roy Wiggins to begin “formal removal proceedings” against Stokes, saying that her decision to release Johnson — based solely on his written promise to return for his next court date — had been, at best, “reckless.” “Despite his history of violent and unstable behavior, Magistrate Stokes release...
Evergreen Community Mourns After Deadly High School Shooting
Local, Approved, kdvr.com

Evergreen Community Mourns After Deadly High School Shooting

By Shaul Turner | KDVR Fox 31 EVERGREEN, Colo. (KDVR) — Residents in the small community of Evergreen remain in shock after a deadly shooting at Evergreen High School on Wednesday. Many gathered at familiar places along the town’s main street to show each other support. “Some people might say there’s not a safe place to live in America,” Kevin Shepard told FOX31. Shepard, a former Western Slope school teacher, tells FOX31 that students deserve a chance to learn in a safe environment. “You feel like living in a small mountain town outside of Denver, the city here that, like you kind of can avoid violence and things like that, but it’s really we have such a crisis of mental health among our young people,” Shepard said. Many are shocked by the realization that a school shoot...
Operation Midway Blitz launched in Chicago to tackle crime crisis
The Federalist, Approved, National

Operation Midway Blitz launched in Chicago to tackle crime crisis

By M.D. Kittle | The Federalist DHS says the new effort is in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a hit-and-run car crash earlier this year. A lot of things about Jan. 19, 2025, haunt Joe Abraham’s dreams. But one fact in particular about the way in which his 20-year-old daughter, Katie, was senselessly killed that day in a hit-and run crash keeps him up at night.  “They didn’t just kill Katie. They killed Katie’s kids, Katie’s kids’ kids. Her legacy is no longer there. She has been stopped,” Abraham, of Glenview, Ill., told The Federalist in an interview Monday evening.  You just can’t get past that,” the grieving father added. “Not only did she get a death sentence and we all got a life sentence, but her whole chain has been broken. And the silence [from Illin...
Shooting at Evergreen High School leaves 3 critically wounded
CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Shooting at Evergreen High School leaves 3 critically wounded

By Christa Swanson | CBS Colorado At least two students were wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a high school in the Denver metro area. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the shooting took place just after noon at Evergreen High School. The school is located at 29300 Buffalo Park Rd. in Evergreen, which is 28 miles southwest of Denver. JeffCo emergency communications said there are reports of "an active assailant in the area of Evergreen High School." The sheriff's office said at least two students have been shot. St. Anthony's Hospital said there are three patients there in critical condition. It's still an active scene, and authorities asked those with students at the school not to go directly to the school at this time. A teacher told CBS Colorado that th...
Mourning or Margin? What the Silence Over Iryna Zarutska’s Murder Reveals About Media, Policy and Political Deadlock
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Mourning or Margin? What the Silence Over Iryna Zarutska’s Murder Reveals About Media, Policy and Political Deadlock

By C.J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The brutal and senseless murder of 23‑year‑old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train has been met not with widespread grief, but with unsettling silence. When a story like this fades from national coverage, especially after being shared widely on social platforms, it raises urgent ethical and political questions - questions the mainstream media seems unwilling to confront. A Refugee’s Promise Meets a System’s Failure Zarutska fled war-torn Ukraine seeking safety. Tragically, her fresh start ended in horror: she was stabbed to death by Decarlos Brown Jr., a 34‑year‑old man with at least 14 prior arrests, on August 22, 2025. Footage capturing the killing - which has shocked millions, revealed bystander...
City of Denver Promises Cleanup of Abandoned Home Tied to Crime
Local, Approved, kdvr.com

City of Denver Promises Cleanup of Abandoned Home Tied to Crime

By Hanna Powers | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — Less than 24 hours after FOX31 highlighted an alleged drug house in Denver’s Swansea neighborhood, city inspectors posted a 24-hour emergency abatement notice on the property. Neighbors had long complained about the vacant home on Fillmore Street, saying it had been used for drugs, stolen cars, and squatting. They told FOX31 the house was a magnet for crime, trash, and even rats. James Hicks, manager of Denver’s Neglected and Derelict Building Program, confirmed inspectors were already tracking the property and said it’s on the city’s radar. “Even though it may look like nothing is happening, we’re very busy, we’re very aware,” Hicks said. “Especially these properties that are very visible. I saw your story this morning and I immedi...
Transgender offender threatened girls in bathrooms and plotted attacks on schools and churches
The Daily Signal, Approved, Commentary, National

Transgender offender threatened girls in bathrooms and plotted attacks on schools and churches

By Tyler O’Neil | Commentary, The Daily Signal What if I told you a man who identifies as a “transgender woman” threatened to victimize girls in girls’ bathrooms, shoot up schools, and bomb churches? Would that make you more likely to support efforts to investigate whether some people who identify as transgender pose a terrorist threat? Most Americans haven’t heard the name of Jason Lee Willie, a man who identifies as female and goes by the name Alexia, but his case highlights the unnerving possibility that many people who identify as transgender may pose a violent threat to their fellow Americans. Americans are more familiar with the man identifying as a woman who killed two and injured 17 at a Minneapolis Catholic school last month before taking his own life....
Trump condemns Charlotte stabbing, says nation must stand against evil
The Epoch Times, Approved, National

Trump condemns Charlotte stabbing, says nation must stand against evil

By Tom Ozimek | The Epoch Times The president called the Charlotte train stabbing ‘horrible’ and said nation must confront evil. President Donald Trump on Sept. 8 denounced the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a “horrible” act, saying the nation must stand up against “evil people.” “We’re all people of religion, but there are evil people,” Trump said during remarks at the Museum of the Bible. “And we have to confront that. I just give my love and hope to the family of the young woman who was stabbed this morning or last night in Charlotte by a madman.” The victim, Iryna Zarutska, was killed on Aug. 22 while riding the city’s light rail, minutes after taking a seat in front of the man accused of attacking her, according to police...
Public safety or politics? Mesa County sues Polis over sanctuary crackdown
The Daily Caller, Approved, State

Public safety or politics? Mesa County sues Polis over sanctuary crackdown

By Jason Hopkins | Daily Caller One of Colorado’s biggest counties is taking on the state’s “unconstitutional” sanctuary law after it was used to crack down on a sheriff’s deputy who helped federal immigration authorities. The Board of Mesa County Commissioners is moving forward with its lawsuit against a Democrat-led sanctuary law that prohibits local law enforcement in Colorado from sharing personal information about a foreign national with federal immigration authorities, the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed. The lawsuit was filed after state officials sued a Mesa County sheriff’s deputy for helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and effectively forced him out of the job. “The Constitution makes clear that immigration is a federal responsibility, not something ...
Mass Shooters Who Transitioned Raise Questions Not Answers
National, Approved, Colorado Politics, Commentary

Mass Shooters Who Transitioned Raise Questions Not Answers

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Colorado Politics The 23-year-old shooter of Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis was born male. He identified as a woman and legally changed his name before he killed two and injured 18. The shooter of the Nashville Covenant School in March 2023 was born female. She identified as a man and killed six. So was the shooter at a Rite Aid in Maryland, female identifying as male. She killed three and injured three more. And in our backyard, the 22-year-old who killed five and injured 19 at Club Q in Colorado Springs was born male but declared himself nonbinary. The 16-year-old shooter at STEM School in Highlands Ranch was female identifying as a boy. She murdered Kendrick Castillo, the hero who died saving his classmates. Is there a connection ...