The Other McCain

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Crazy People Are Dangerous (Special California Hate Crimes Edition)

Posted on | July 28, 2023 | Comments Off on Crazy People Are Dangerous (Special California Hate Crimes Edition)

Carl Chan (left); James Lee Ramsey (right)

In April 2021, the president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce was assaulted on the streets by a man who yelled, “F–k you Chinatown! F–k you Chinaman!” A week later, 25-year-old James Lee Ramsey was charged with felony assault and a hate crime against Carl Chan, and the case was scheduled for trial in August 2021.

In September 2021, however, Ramsey got a plea deal:

Ramsey, 25, pleaded no contest to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury in exchange for the hate crime allegation being dismissed.
“As long as he’s receiving help and not going out into the community hurting people. I think that’s the important thing,” says Chan.
The district attorney’s office has the option to ask the judge to sentence Ramsey to serve his time in a secured mental health facility. He faces up to four years in state prison.

It was at this point that “activists” got involved:

On April 29th, James Ramsey, a 25-year-old Black Oakland resident with a documented history of serious mental illness, allegedly knocked over, potentially by accident, 62-year-old Chinatown Chamber of Commerce President Carl Chan.
Mr. Ramsey has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and told officers he had been off of his medication for about a month when he was arrested for the alleged assault. Instead of being provided sufficient treatment, James is potentially facing years in prison.
[The Oakland Police Department] is using this alleged assault as justification to get more money from the City, and Carl Chan, in his role as Chinatown Chamber of Commerce President, is pushing for more policing.
The Anti Police-Terror Project condemns anti-Asian hate and stands in solidarity with Asian people and oppressed people everywhere. However, in this case, we see a man with disabilities in need of intensive care, not someone committing a hate crime.
James Ramsey’s sentencing hearing was rescheduled for Thursday, November 18th at 9:30am.
Join us at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse at 1225 Fallon St, Oakland, CA 94612 to demand the charges be dropped!

Whoa! It’s one thing to give the guy a plea bargain — proving “hate crime” charges can be difficult — but it’s something else entirely to “demand the charges be dropped.” Crazy is as crazy does. The state cannot be in the business of policing people’s delusions and fantasies, so whatever was going through Ramsey’s mind while he was off his meds is between him and whatever psychiatrist may be assigned to treat him. But assault? We’re going to just give crazy people a free pass on assault?

And just who is this “Anti Police-Terror Project”?

The Anti-Police Terror Project is a radical-left anti-police activist organization based in Oakland, California. The organization advocates defunding the police, supporting cutting half of the budget of the Oakland Police Department and redirecting those funds towards various social welfare programs including mental health and wellness services.
The group has alleged that the police have caused “community trauma” in the Black community and other communities of color. It has demanded more resources to research “police-related trauma” and the use of any research to shape the policies of the police. . . .
Cat Brooks is the co-founder of the organization. . . .
According to its 2021 tax return, the organization the organization had $5,709,289 in revenue and $313,631 in expenses. It had $5,403,517 in assets.

So, what do we know about Cat Brooks? Conn Carroll explains, “In June [2021], the Oakland City Council voted to cut $18 million from the city’s police budget and spend that money instead on a variety of social programs.” Cat Brooks actually organized a protest at the home of one of the two council members who voted against this measure:

Foremost among those advocates [of defunding the police] is Cat Brooks, the co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, one of the main groups pushing for defunding the Oakland Police Department. She was brought up in Las Vegas by a white mother who was an anti-domestic violence activist. Her father, a black man, struggled with substance abuse and ended up in prison. “I watched him be terrorized and traumatized by law enforcement,” she recalled.
While pursuing a career in acting in Los Angeles, Brooks stumbled into political activism, which eventually brought her to Oakland. In 2018, she ran for mayor, coming in second with about a quarter of the vote.
When I asked Brooks about the two Council members — both black — who voted against the reduction in the police budget she was unambiguous in her contempt. They are “representing the interests of the police, and they’re representing the interests of development,” she said. “If they were representing the interests of the people, then they, too, should want black bodies to stop falling.” . . .
When I asked Brooks if she supports the abolition of police, she said, “Absolutely. Unapologetically.” Describing the role of the police in society, she said, “Their job is to maintain the status quo. And the status quo is race-based capitalism. And so they are the front line soldiers of the larger system of white supremacy, which is the engine of this country, both here locally and globally.”

So, her father was a dopehead who went to prison and therefore, the cops are the bad guys, “front line soldiers . . . of white supremacy.” And rich people gave her $5.7 million to promote this lunatic idea.

Well, how’s that working out for James Lee Ramsey?

James Lee Ramsey, a 27-year-old Oakland resident, was arrested on July 21 after kicking and assaulting an 88-year-old Asian woman and reportedly attacking a witness at the scene, NBC News reported. Ramsey avoided prison in 2021 after having hate crime charges against him dropped by former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.
The elderly woman was rushed to the hospital and is currently in stable condition, according to NBC News.
Ramsey is now in police custody and is being charged with elder abuse, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, and battery causing serious bodily injury. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being held without bail.
San Fransisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins called the crime “horrific” and promised Ramsey would finally face proper justice, according to NBC.
“The crimes that Mr. Ramsey is accused of are horrific. I am grateful to the witness who was able to detain him until police arrived ensuring that he did not flee,” Jenkins said in a statement. “My office, on behalf of the victims, and every San Franciscan who is fed up with brazen violence like this, will stand for justice and seek to hold him accountable for his crimes.”
O’Malley previously dropped hate crime charges against Ramsey in 2021 after he assaulted Carl Chan, president of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce. Ramsey plead no contest and walked free after his public defender cited mental health challenges, the San Fransico Chronicle reported.

It is not mercy to let crazy people run around the streets attacking innocent strangers, and certainly it is not justice. It is folly to permit our sympathy for those afflicted with mental illness to override the need to protect public safety, which is the first duty of any government.



 

Category: California, Crime, Racism

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