The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

A Notorious Menace to Public Safety

Posted on | July 6, 2025 | Comments Off on A Notorious Menace to Public Safety

Say hello to Da’shontay “Day Day” King and, while you’re at it, go ahead and say good-bye, because Day Day got shot to death by a cop in Racine, Wisconsin, in May 2022. The reason I’m writing this up now is kind of a long story, and let me preface this by repeating what I’ve often said before: Crime is a people problem. If you want to prevent crime, you must first understand that the vast majority of violent crime is committed by a relatively small percentage of the population, i.e., habitual criminals. These are repeat offenders, who generally begin their criminal careers while still juveniles, and are more or less constantly involved in criminal activity their entire adult lives. The public is never safe as long as these habitual criminals are on the street, and so the goal of law enforcement should be to identify these hard-core types and, when they are apprehended for one of their many crimes, make sure they go to prison for the maximum sentence. I’ve called this “The Al Capone Rule” — it was difficult to get criminal convictions against the Chicago gang boss, so the feds indicted him for income tax evasion and put him away. It didn’t matter what charge Capone was finally convicted for — he’d obviously gotten away with all kinds of crimes, including murder. What really mattered was getting Capone off the streets. If modern-day law enforcement would use the same approach with habitual criminals, we’d have a lot less crime. And so . . . felon in possession of a firearm:

Quinson De’Shawn Croson, 46, got into an argument with an acquaintance inside a Wawa convenience store in Pasco County, Florida, about 30 miles northwest of Tampa:

Croson reportedly followed the other man and his coworker to their Waste Connections garbage truck, where the argument “quickly escalated.”
Other witnesses told Zephyrhills P.D. that Croson grabbed a handgun from his vehicle and began firing multiple rounds at the garbage truck while chasing it down the street.
Authorities say Croson eventually crashed his vehicle into the garbage truck near Dairy Road, causing the passenger side door to open and eject the passenger. . . .
Croson was later located in Hillsborough County and arrested. He is charged with two counts of attempted homicide and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Dianna Deeley called that story to my attention, and I immediately focused on that charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. We hear so much rhetoric about “gun violence,” but there seems to be little public understanding of how much of this violence is committed by habitual criminals with prior felony convictions who, if prosecutors and judges were doing their jobs right, would have already been locked up. Dianna sent me that story with a Crazy People Are Dangerous suggestion — Florida man chasing a garbage truck — but instead it made me wonder, “Why was this guy out on the streets to begin with?”

Also, how does an argument turn into attempted murder? My guess is that, in kindergarten, Quinson De’Shawn Croson did not “play well with others.” That is to say, this convicted felon has a personality problem, which explains why he was a convicted felon in the first place. No rehabilitation program can fix a problem like that. And now, speaking of Crazy People Are Dangerous . . .

 

That 11-minute video shows a scene recorded on police body cameras in August 2023. Police officers were called to some kind of halfway house, where one of the female residents had assaulted a staff member. When the staff member got in her car to leave, the woman jumped on top of the staffer’s car. As becomes apparent from comments made by some of the officers, the suspect named Kayla was known to them from previous incidents. At one point, Kayla climbs down from the roof of the car, and gets into the backseat of the car to again assault the staffer. As police are trying to drag Kayla out of the car, she kicks a female officer in the face, giving the officer a bloody nose. Did I mention that, as soon as the cops arrived on the scene, Kayla began insulting them as “crackers”?

The most shocking part of the video, however, comes at the end, when we learn that after being charged with a litany of crimes — including bail jumping for prior offenses — Kayla managed to get a plea deal in which she pleaded no contest to a felony charge of battery on a law enforcement officer and was sentenced to three years of probation.

She kicked a cop in the face! She was only in jail for three days!

Despite diligent research efforts, I was not able to figure out Kayla’s surname or find any news articles about her case. However, someone left a comment on the video that indicated it happened in Racine, Wisconsin, where the District Attorney is Tricia Hanson. You know when I go down a research rabbit hole like this, I’m not stopping until I’m down at the bottom, neck-deep in rabbit poop, which is how this inquiry led me to the case of Da’shontay “Day Day” King:

A Racine police officer has been cleared in a deadly shooting.
Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson announced Tuesday that she will not file charges against Officer Zachary Brenner, who fatally shot Da’Shontay King on May 20 during a police pursuit.
The state Department of Justice led the investigation into the shooting and turned its findings over to the district attorney.
Hanson released the body camera footage and her 27-page decision before family had a chance to view it Tuesday.
Brenner said he tried pulling King over for a traffic violation when King stopped the car and took off running.
Video footage shows Brenner chasing King, telling him multiple times not to reach for a weapon or he would shoot him. Still images of the video, included in Hanson’s report show what she says is a gun falling out of King’s pocket, WISN-TV reported.
Hanson said it shows him turning to pick up the gun and then holding the gun. Moments later, Brenner said he feared for his life and shot King several times.
“My review of the facts and circumstances of this case led me to the conclusion that Officer Brenner is immune from criminal liability in this case as the death of Mr. King was a direct result of Mr. King’s conduct that posed a reasonable and imminent threat to Officer Brenner, under the circumstances as they existed at the time,” Hanson wrote.

That article has some important omissions, which I’ll explain momentarily, but you can watch the video here:

 

If you’ve watched that video, you know that the most relevant fact omitted from the news article was that Day Day King wasn’t pulled over for any “traffic violation.” He was a suspect in prior shootings:

On May 17, 2022, Officer Zachary Brenner was working as a Community Oriented Policing (COP) Officer for the Racine Police Department. An Investigator from the Racine County Gang Crime Task Force advised Officer Brenner of an active search warrant that had been signed by a Judge, and provided Officer Brenner with a copy of the search warrant. A judge found that there was probable cause to believe that Dashontay L. King, dob 8/84, and/or EAS [a criminal associate of King’s], dob 5/80, would be in possession of firearms, despite both being prohibited from possessing a firearm due to prior felony convictions. Probable cause was also found by the judge that a rental vehicle being used by Mr. King and EAS might contain firearms, a gray 2021 Volkswagen Atlas with a Wisconsin registration of AKT8763.
Officer Brenner stated that he reviewed the search warrant and that he recognized the names from other recent shooting investigations where the names had been mentioned as being involved, but that he had never had contact with the two people mentioned in the warrant. Officer Brenner was given photos of Mr. King and EAS, and that he kept the photos of the subjects and a copy of the search warrant with him at all times on the visor of his vehicle. Officer Brenner stated that he also looked up the vehicle type, a Volkswagen Atlas, on Google to make sure he knew what type of vehicle he was looking for.

That’s from the 27-page official report from the DA and, as you see, the local Gang Crime Task Force was very familiar with Day Day King, who was sufficiently notorious in Racine that Officer Brenner recognized the name “from other recent shooting investigations.” Furthermore, I’ve read the affidavits in the case, and can tell you that (a) the car was rented two weeks earlier by a female associate of Day Day, and (b) police noted that there was a bullet hole in the car. We may presume that at some point in the previous two weeks, Day Day (or his accomplice “EAS”) had been in a shootout with rival gangsters while driving the rented Volkswagen.

That’s a screenshot from the police chief’s briefing which includes more relevant facts that didn’t make it into that news article. Day Day King got his first felony conviction while still a teenager and had since twice been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, raising the question: “How many second chances does a criminal deserve?”

If Republicans ever recapture control of the legislature and governor’s office in Wisconsin, they need to take a long, hard look at this problem. Every time I hear liberals bemoaning “gun violence,” this issue of felons in possession of firearms comes to mind. Surely the first conviction on such a charge ought to merit at least five years in the state penitentiary, and a second conviction ought to be worth at least 10 years behind bars.

You just can’t keep turning loose repeat offenders like that, and the fact that Day Day King was still on the streets of Racine is an indictment of the criminal justice system in Wisconsin, which is clearly failing in its duty to protect public safety. The Al Capone Rule should apply.

Oh, but there are more relevant facts that didn’t make it into that news article. The pistol that Day Day King was carrying was sent to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab:

Recovered in the field on Carroll St. was an olive green and black Springfield XD 9/40, .9mm handgun. The magazine had 15 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. Analysis at the Wisconsin State Crime Lab revealed that the Springfield handgun had also been used at a shooting that resulted in property damage in the area of Edgewood and St. Patrick Street on April 21, 2022.

How many crimes had Day Day King gotten away with before he finally got shot to death by Officer Brennan? You might as well ask, how many stars are in the sky? There is simply no way of knowing, but permit me now to call your attention to an interesting coda to Day Day’s death:

A manhunt is on for the gunmen who opened fire at a Racine funeral.
The gunfire broke out as family and friends laid Da’Shontay King to rest Thursday afternoon [June 2, 2022] at Graceland Cemetery.
Two women were injured, and King’s family is grieving and outraged.
King’s family told WISN 12 News they had just begun a prayer at his burial when bullets started flying at Graceland Cemetery.
Their final goodbyes were violently interrupted by gunfire.
His casket was grazed by a bullet. . . .
King’s family doesn’t understand why a man being laid to rest would be targeted.
“You have all of these innocent people who were there who could have been seriously hurt or worse. Enough is enough, something has to give. This is not acceptable and, obviously, we want someone to be caught for this because this is absolutely absurd,” [King’s sister Natasha] Mullen said.

Yes, ma’am, I think we do understand why your brother’s funeral was targeted. Didn’t I mention that the Gang Crime Task Force was familiar with Day Day King? Arrests were made for the funeral shooting:

Left to right: Lamarion Blair, Cornelius Evans, Cameron Elam

All three suspects were 19 years old, including Elam, “who was found to be in possession of a stolen Glock pistol with an automatic switch at the time of his arrest,” and there was this very relevant information:

Following Blair’s arrest, the Racine Police Department said the shooting at Graceland Cemetery was the result of gang rivalries; Blair is a known member of the Racine-based NFL (North Side For Life) gang, “a younger, more violent offshoot of the Vice Lords street gang,” according to the RPD, while King was a member of the 12th Street Gangster Disciples.

Oh, the Vice Lords and the Gangster Disciples! Wikipedia tells us that the Vice Lords are “the second-largest and one of the oldest street and prison gangs in Chicago,” while the Gangster Disciples are “an African American street and prison gang” that “began in Englewood (in Chicago, Illinois’s South Side).” Racine is about 75 miles north of Chicago, and we may surmise that many gang-bangers in Racine are the offspring of folks who relocated from Chicago, bringing with them their gang affiliations.

This shows why it’s wrong to think of crime as a problem confined to inner-city ghettos. What starts in the ghetto is unlikely to stay in the ghetto, and I guarantee you there are residents of Racine who are old enough to remember when they didn’t have a problem with Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples shooting up their streets every night.

Once this culture of violent thuggery takes root in a community, it is very difficult for law enforcement to eradicate it. Anti-gang efforts in Racine have been making headlines for many years:

Forty-one men were charged Thursday [October 22, 2009] in federal court with being part of violent, drug-dealing gangs in Racine — the third wave of indictments against criminal outfits in the city, officials said.
The arrests in Racine were part of a larger law enforcement effort this year in federal court in the Milwaukee area, where more than 200 people have been charged with drug crimes. In October alone, 70 defendants from three drug organizations have been charged.
The latest indictment, unsealed Thursday, targeted two gangs: the North Side Gangsters and the North Side Vice Lords.
Nineteen defendants were in custody before Thursday, and 200 officers raided 20 Racine homes, arresting 15 people during the bust, officials said.
Besides drug dealing, the 41 defendants are suspected in more than 200 acts of violence, including shootings and homicides, all to protect drug-dealing turf in Racine, officials said. . . .
The investigation — known as Operation Cracked Cane — began a year ago, teaming up FBI and other federal agents with state and local law enforcement, officials said.
Their first move came in June 2008 when 16 members of Racine’s Midtown 12th Street Gangster Disciples were indicted. Then in February, 14 Racine-based drug dealers were charged.

That was in 2009. Then in 2011:

Early morning raids here Wednesday [January 26, 2011] resulted in the arrests of 18 alleged members of the Gangster Disciples gang, who are now facing either federal or state charges related to drug trafficking and firearm offenses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that 10 indictments were unsealed between December of 2010 and this month, charging 10 of the men. Another eight were arrested on state charges and will be prosecuted by the Racine County District Attorney’s Office.
Most of the defendants, if convicted, face between 10 years and life imprisonment, a fine of up to $4,000,000 and five years to life on supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The raids and arrests were reportedly part of a lengthy and ongoing investigation by local, state and federal authorities, with the purpose of eradicating the sale of crack cocaine and other controlled substances by violent gang members in Racine.

Racine is not a big city. The population is less than 80,000, of which about 18,000 are black. If the feds were rounding up Gangster Disciples by the dozens, year after year, and if the Gangster Disciples in Racine are constantly at war with the local Vice Lords, what percentage of the total population of young black males in Racine are involved in gang activity?

Someone with better math skills than me would have to make that calculation, but if the local residents of Racine were to assume that every young black male they encounter is a gang-banger, you couldn’t say this was ignorant prejudice, but just erring on the side of caution.

(Scott Adams could not be reached for comment.)

When thug life becomes normalized, this leads some people to believe they have a right to thug life. It is therefore not surprising that the family of Day Day King — the convicted felon Gangster Disciple who had been thugging since adolescence — recently filed a federal lawsuit:

A Racine family is pursuing justice in federal court following the death of Da’Shontay King, who was shot and killed by a police officer three years ago.
“There was no reason for him to be shot multiple times while he was running away from a police officer,” said King’s sister Natasha Mullen. . . .
“Da’Shontay doesn’t do anything to turn toward the officer, point a firearm at the officer, or anything like that,” said civil rights attorney William Sulton.
Their lawsuit filed by Sulton argues Officer Brenner used “excessive and unreasonable force.”

This lawsuit will almost certainly be thrown out of court — one hopes the federal judge will use some subtle sarcasm in explaining his decision — and we return, once again, to the “Al Capone Rule.” Identify the habitual criminals, and get them off the street. It doesn’t matter how. You can put them in prison, or you can put them in the graveyard.

You live the thug life, you die the thug death.

Officer Zachary Brenner deserves a marksmanship medal.



 

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Category: Crime, Wisconsin

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