What is going on with Wisconsin these days?

I posted about this in the Meta section, too.

If this had anything to do with the Rittenhouse case, it makes it more fucking stupid. Waukesha had nothing to do with it, and anyone who feels the need to get political with this can go fuck themselves.

Some dumb fuck racist ran his car into a crowd. He deserves to get hung downtown. Fuck him and anyone who wants to say “well he can claim self defense, that’s the Wisconsin Standard” Bunch of stupid assholes.

@SergeantQueen I don’t think the SUV had anything to do with Rittenhouse other than they are both in Wisconsin. From an emotional rollercoaster aspect, it seems like a really bad place to live. Jacob Blake unrest leads to Rittenhouse shooting 3. Rittenhouse trial leads to all sorts of angst and has led to threats of violence which all fizzled into peaceful protests (thank goodness!). Then, just as things are sort of winding down, some fool runs his car into a parade, killing 5 elderly people and severely hurting dozens of others including children.

@SergeantQueen I wish we had some kind of shield flag that could protect an answer from getting modded. I’d use it on your post above.

Also, “These days”

None of this is normal.

Kenosha happened, and that was a big deal. I do believe the unrest from Floyd sparked that as well, as in made it worse. I really doubt it would have escalated that far. But who knows.

Waukesha however, totally fucking uncalled for. Again, nothing to do with Kenosha.

Social media archival

PLEASE NOTE The twitter commentator says a lot, I am only posting the link so you can see the screenshots of his social media. The stupid commentary additions doesn’t take away that this dude was fucking weird.

It includes a video of him talking about his previous sex offense in Nevada, where he said “I didn’t know the bitch was 16”

Here

are some

Of his

previous

Offenses

And there’s more. Not all violent felonies, some just misdemeanors. Multiple counties however.

Brooks was convicted in 2006 of felony statutory sexual seduction for impregnating a 15-year-old girl, police said.

And different states, too.

@seawulf575 Sorry, That wasn’t aimed at you about the connection. I just am seeing it so much and I wanted to address it.

Connection or no connection, Waukesha (Or any area here in Wisconsin) did not/does not need any “retaliation” over the verdict. What’s done is done, he was found not guilty, you can’t do anything about it.

Not pretending that Waukesha is a crime free, happy place. But the police department had as little as 2 homicides one year (I believe 2019??) It’s just not as common place here compared to Milwaukee and for this to happen here is just insane. It goes to show that anything can happen anywhere. And that you truly aren’t safe no matter where you are. It just hurts me how local this is. I’ve been to that parade past years. I never marched in Waukesha’s parade, but I was in the Milwaukee Christmas parade for band a lot. Never once, as a band kid, did I ever even think someone would do that. It was never a worry of mine. It’s just upsetting to me.

I just ran across this quote last night. It was the solution to a NYT acrostic from 2008 that I had just got around to solving.

”Wisconsin’s politics have traditionally been uproar politics — full of the yammer, the squawk, the accusing finger, the injured howl. Every voter is… full of zeal to get out and nip a little political iniquity in the bud.”
— George (Sessions) Perry, “Cities Of America”

@Jeruba I will be honest, I have no idea what that even means.

@SergeantQueen No apologies are necessary. I didn’t take offense, just wanted to clarify my question. Please…feel free to voice your opinion. That is what Fluther is supposed to be about.

And @SergeantQueen I agree with the idiot in Waukesha being out of control. I saw an overhead video of the actual crime. He didn’t just hit people, he literally ran them over. His SUV was bouncing over the top of people. This was not an accident, it wasn’t him trying to get away from someone. It was him being an asshole. But I’m still wondering what someone in Wisconsin must be feeling and thinking. If I lived there I’d be looking for a job somewhere else.

I live about 15–20mins from Waukesha. I bet there are a lot of people wanting to leave, not just because of these recent events either.

I can tell you, a lot of my friends who also live here are angry about the recent events including Kenosha. A lot of people are hurt as well. And this is on both sides of politics. There are some un-easy feelings here from what I see. People were especially concerned about the aftermath of the verdict.

I can tell you however, that personally, I don’t want to leave. I plan on moving to Waukesha and it is where I want to work. The events hurt me, but the amount of people that are coming together right now is amazing. On & off duty 1st responders and regular citizens all helped out yesterday, transporting and helping the injured. Businesses also stayed open all night for the police/ paramedics to warm up, drink warm drinks, and use the restrooms. As well as provided food. It really restores a lot of faith and it does remind me that despite the issues, Waukesha is overall, a really nice place. And not one person can ruin that or take that away.

Edit: same goes for the state as a whole. I love it here. Lots of people do, and still do :)

There are nutjobs everywhere. I don’t think any one state has a monopoly on crazy actions or safety.

@janbb I agree so much :) Basically what I was trying to get at but I am so emotional on this topic I just ranted instead

^^ I was responding to the question, not to you. I would be freaked out too if it happened near me.

I know you were adressing the question, I just was agreeing with you.

Last year it was Minnesota. The year before it was Georgia. Then it was Florida. Then it was Florida. Then it was Florida. We can probably throw in California now. Let’s not forget Texas.

The two incidents are quite separate. Immature kids with assault rifles, that’s America. Cars driven through crowds, that could be anywhere.

@flutherother

Either could happen anywhere. The likelyhood may be low, but the “It would never happen here” mindset can be dangerous

For those not on the other thread and wanting an update, (I feel this is relevant so I hope it can stay up)

4PM he appeared in court. 5 million dollar cash bond. As of now 5 counts of intentional homicide are the charges, but an 8 year old just died today so I suspect it will be 6 counts.

There is another aspect of this case that is just coming out. He was just arrested about two weeks ago. He was charged with trying to run is ex over with his Red SUV. And he got out on a $1000 bail. Why so low? Because anything more is racist, apparently. A guy with a record a mile long, going back to when he was a teenager, most of it violent, is arrested for trying to run his ex down. We are supposed to feel he is no threat and it is unfair to keep him in jail on a more apt bail amount so we let him right back out onto the street. And now 6 people are dead and more may be coming.

@seawulf575

That has been the issue since we first discovered who the asshole is. $1000 bail for charges such as battery, assault.

It is disgusting.

Still more in ICU, as you said. Pray they make it.

@SergeantQueen Way ahead of you. Already included them and their families in my prayers.

Thank you.

@SergeantQueen We don’t say “it would never happen here”, it could, that’s why we don’t allow 17 year olds to walk about with assault weapons. It makes it less likely.

@flutherother The rioting, looting, and assaults were already going on before the 17 year old showed up.

@seawulf575 I’m not disputing that.

Very bad politically for the Judge who let the idiot out of jail on 1k bail. Tragic for the families of the deceased, and too late for them, but I’m sure the Judge will be under review now, unless his/her hands were tied due to local laws. Here in NYS, the laws were changed recently (within past few years) to make things more lenient and more people are out on the streets now without bail.

State of Wisconsin doesn’t have a no bail option so I have heard- trying to find an actual source though.

Doubt they were tied legally. He could’ve had it higher.

Good thing though that Wisconsin does not have a “pay 10% of bail” thing. You have to pay full amount.

Bail/bond agencies are illegal in Wisco.

@SergeantQueen: I’m not saying Wisconsin has that and I’m not saying the person who drove through the parade is not at fault in any way, shape or form.

I know :)

@flutherother You may not be disputing that, but what exactly are you saying couldn’t happen there? The rioting was going on as it has in many cities over the past few years. Are you saying that couldn’t happen there? You are demonstrating the “it could never happen here” mindset that @SergeantQueen was talking about. You are narrowing things down and not looking at all the contributors. By ignoring the riots/looting/arson/assault you are missing why the teenager with the gun was there. So you are missing the “why” and will likely see the exact same thing again. Only next time it could be near you.

Maybe next time the teenager with the gun will be gunned down by someone else…...or maybe this teenager will be gunned down by someone else. He said in the Fox interview that people want to kill him. It’s not a one way street.

@seawulf575 exactly.

What is preventing this from happening? Certainly not the laws. Rittenhouse’s friend is still being charged for giving a gun to a minor. That happened despite it being illegal.

@jca2 he almost was gunned down. It is a bit disturbing you are hoping a teenager gets gunned down. Would you feel better if the rioters just beat him senseless and took his gun and then used it?

@SergeantQueen shootings are always an angsty conversation. Let’s stop for a moment and realize that shooting someone is a horrible thing to do. Even Rittenhouse has stated that he wakes up most nights because of the actions of that night.

Every time there is a shooting that makes the news, it gets politicized and therefore polarized. Example: There is a riot going on and the rioters attack a kid with a gun. He shoots several, killing 2. There is huge news all over the airwaves and the internet. Sites like this go crazy with some people saying he was defending himself and others saying he is a murderer. There are all sorts of political comments on both sides, the kid is either heralded as a hero or condemned as a White Supremacist (even though all the people he shot were white). But last weekend in Chicago there were 38 people shot, 6 died. A large percentage of the victims were under the age of 18, the youngest was 14. There is not a peep out there about the horror of this. Unless you specifically go looking for the stats (as I did), you will not hear one word.

In every single shooting, there are things going on, there are circumstances that led up to it. It can be a riot going on. It can be a gang related shooting. It can be a murder of passion (found spouse in bed with someone else, for example). It can be self-defense. It can be a complete accident. But it is 100% of the time the stuff going on that results in the shooting, not the gun itself. As we can see with the most recent event in Waukesha, guns are not the only way for someone to kill others, even large numbers of people.

Until there can be honest, open, all encompassing discussions that don’t get into political rhetoric, it will continue.

@seawulf575 If you look at Chicago’s homicide figures for November 2021 you will fine that of 38 deaths by shooting 37 were black. Could that be why “there is not a peep out there about the horror of this”?

@flutherother It is racist, but yep, that might be exactly why. But it shows how politicized the entire thing is. The outrage isn’t generated because someone got shot, it isn’t generated because a child got shot. It is only generated when it is right wing or left wing.

I agree, where is Black Lives Matter for all the people lost in these huge cities?

They are out there supporting their communities. The media just rarely covers it.