Democrat Representative Eric Swalwell, former lover of a Chinese Spy (which may well demonstrate his level of intelligence), posted the following erroneous tweet about the Highland Park killer, thereby falling once again into the Democrat’s favorite pastime — the Blame Game:
“Robert E. Crimo III was a 22 yr. old Trump supporter who was able to legally purchase deadly military-style weapons without background checks because that is what Pro-Killer Republicans in Congress have allowed him to do.”
First, to call Crimo a Trump supporter is a common Democrat ploy. A Trump supporter, he clearly was not! Yes, there are photos of him at a Trump rally, one of him even with a Trump flag on his back, but his friends say he was there to mock Trump supporters. His likes on Twitter all voiced leftist talking points and those he followed most were Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The Daily Mail reports that they have found a video in which he says “What’s up, Communists?” to his followers, and “Death to America,” neither of which would ever come out of the mouth of a Trump supporter. Crimo also had facial tattoos and was a would-be rapper. Not a lot of those to be found among Trump-supporting conservatives, who tend to be, you know, CONSERVATIVE. And no Trump supporter would be firing into a 4th of July parade!
By the laws of any state Crimo should never have had a legal fire arm. As early as middle school he had begun struggling with mental issues. His social media posts were filled with rants and drawings of killing people. Further, he was known both to local and Illinois State Police. His first encounter with police came when he attempted to commit suicide. Later, in 2019, his family reported that he was threatening to “kill everyone.” Police responded to the home and removed from him 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword. There was no probable cause to arrest him since no one would file charges, and the police were forced to return the weapons when the father swore they were his. Like an abused spouse, the family protected him. But the police did report him report the incident to the Illinois State Police, one of the agencies charged with clearing those applying for permits to legally purchase fire arms in the state, flagging him as “a clear and present danger.” This should have prevented him from ever getting a Firearms Owners ID or purchasing a weapon in the State of Illinois. Ever.
So, his family knew of his mental issues, of his attempted suicide, of his threats to “kill everyone,” of his love of dangerous weapons, and yet his father co-signed for him to legally purchase his first firearm after the 2019 incident (those under 21 cannot purchase a weapon without a parent or guardian’s co-signature in Illinois) and the State Police cleared him in the background check.
And how exactly did that purchase, and every purchase of guns he made since then go?
He had to first obtain a FOID (Firearms Owner ID) card (the one his father co-signed for him when he was 18 or 19). That requires a background check and fingerprints. Despite the flag as “a clear and present danger” sent to the State Police, he passed the background check. It seems the State Police dismissed the “clear and present danger” flag because the family had failed to press charges. And so, he was given permission to own as many guns as he wanted.
Every time he purchased a gun, he had to present his FOID card, undergo another background check, and then, when he passed it, wait several days before being able to take possession of the gun. Every single background check should have should have brought up the State Police record of his threat to “kill everyone” and should have prevented him from buying a gun. But again, they had dismissed the incident as someone’s over-reaction. Threatening to kill all of your family members and frightening them enough that at that moment they call the police on you apparently does not register with our State Police as a warning sign of a violent and disturbed personality. The law is there and it should have kept Crimo away from guns, but some police official dismissed his incident and thus the law didn’t work.
Illinois also has Red Flag laws which would have resulted in his inability to purchase firearms had anyone in his family or anyone reading his social media posts had reported him to the police as a potential threat. But no one did.
As for the guns being “military-style weapons,” they were not. They were simply semi-automatic rifles. They only fired one bullet every time he squeezed the trigger, just like my handgun. Military-style weapons, which are automatic and fire repeatedly until the shooter takes his finger off the trigger, can be legally purchased, but only through the federal government in a very stringent background clearance process that takes 8 -10 months to complete. The guns are very expensive and in addition must have been built before May of 1986. Crime did not have any of these.
And if Swalwell wishes to label a Party as Pro-Killer, he had best look closer to home! It is not Republicans who have called for defunding the police. It is not Republican mayors who stood by and ordered their police to stand by while rioters burned down their cities. It is not Republican lawmakers who have bailed rioters out of jail. It is not Republican District of Attorneys who have freed murders from prison to ease “overcrowding” or released violent criminals without bail to reoffend. It is not Republicans who wish women to be able to kill their babies up to the very moment of delivery. Republicans cherish life. And Republicans are, and have always been, the Party of law and order. But we also believe in the right of all law-abiding Americans to carry arms to protect themselves from the criminals that the liberals release onto our streets.
As for Crimo, it was once again not the fault of the guns, nor the lack of sufficient laws that allowed him to commit his heinous crime, but rather the fault of those who could have followed the current laws and chose not to. His family could have stopped him. Friends could have stopped him. The Illinois State Police should have stopped him through the background checks. None of them did.
Yet who gets blamed? The guns and Republicans. Without the guns, Crimo could as easily have driven an SUV into the parade as was done in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Five were killed and forty-eight were injured in that incident, but I didn’t hear any Democrats calling for the banning of SUVs!
Laws exist to stop mass shooters. But they only work if the people, all the people, involved do their due diligence. And even if they do, mass shootings would give way to bombings or to the knifings that have ravaged London, England. Or homemade guns could be used as the one the assassin used to murder the former Prime Minister of Japan. Those who are intent on killing will find a way. If one weapon is not available to them, they will simply find another. Disarming law-abiding citizens who in fact, according to the CDC, prevent between 500,000 and 4 million crimes per year with their legal guns — often without firing a shot, is not the answer. We must be more vigilant and alert to the warning signs. Those who commit mass murders are almost always already known to police. Furthermore, those who are unstable enough to plan such a crime usually boast of their plans ahead of time. Those who hear of those plans must speak out.
Over the same Fourth of July weekend, two illegal aliens in Richmond, Virginia planned a mass shooting of their own at the Dogwood Dell Amphitheater. But someone overheard the two Hispanics talking about their plans and phoned the police. The two were apprehended with rifles, a handgun and 223 rounds of ammunition. The caller is being hailed as a hero by the police and there is little doubt that he saved countless lives.
Homeland Security, in an effort to make us aware of possible terrorists in our midst, launched the idea of “If you see something, say something!” This needs to extend also to mass shooters. If you see or hear something, say something! If you do, you will be a hero. But if you do not, many innocent people may well die!