WASHINGTON, D.C.- On Wednesday, March 9th, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) expressed his frustration after the Washington, D.C. government decided to drop its charges against a Florida man who was accused of assaulting a police officer who was protecting Paul in 2020.
Surprise, surprise. DC government drops charges against the thug who attacked and injured a DC policeman (a policeman who protected Kelley and I from an angry mob). And people wonder why violence is consuming our cities.
Attacker at RNC arrested https://t.co/uVhgvphxKW
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 9, 2022
On Twitter, Rand posted:
“Surprise, surprise. DC government drops charges against the thug who attacked and injured a DC policeman (a policeman who protected Kelley and I from an angry mob). And people wonder why violence is consuming our cities.”
According to D.C. court records, the government gave notice of nolle prosequi on January 27th, which effectively dropped the charges against the man. The Latin legal term refers to a “legal notice or entry of record that the prosecutor or plaintiff has decided to abandon the prosecution or lawsuit.”
The accused, 27-year-old Brennen Sermon, of Orlando, Florida, was arrested by D.C. police on the night of August 28, 2020. At the time, Sermon was charged with one count of assault on a law enforcement officer.
Just got attacked by an angry mob of over 100, one block away from the White House. Thank you to @DCPoliceDept for literally saving our lives from a crazed mob.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 28, 2020
On August 28, 2020, Paul and his wife were surrounded by protesters in D.C. as they returned to their hotel from the White House. Sermon was arrested after allegedly punching one of the officers who was protecting the couple.
Rand Paul just got chased by a crowd back to his hotel, after leaving the White House from Trump’s Republican Party Nomination #DC #DCProtests pic.twitter.com/h1kPcZG1jh
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 28, 2020
At the time, Paul hailed the officers as “brave” for “likely sav[ing] Kelly and me.” An initial police report said that an officer was holding a police line at around 12:30 a.m. when Sermon kicked his bicycle and fled. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release:
“The officers pursued and the defendant punched the officer in the left side of his face.”
According to the release, the officer’s face was cut and swelled above his left eye, and he had to get stitches at the hospital. However, body camera footage showed that the person who kicked the bicycle and the person who punched the officer were wearing different colored shirts.
Because of that discrepancy, Sermon was only facing charges over the punching allegation. After the incident, Paul tweeted:
“One of the brave DC cops who likely saved Kelley and me was assaulted by one of the violent mob. The attacker was arrested and charged with assault, then released. (If you’re looking for him, maybe try Kenosha).”
WATCH: Protesters confronted Kentucky Senator Rand Paul after attending the RNC at the White House, shouting at the lawmaker to acknowledge the shooting of Breonna Taylor https://t.co/JmxvZJy29u pic.twitter.com/tTONwewPcR
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 28, 2020
Video of the incident shows police officers using their bicycles to hold back the crowd. Protesters can be heard shouting “Justice for Breonna Taylor!” and “Say her name!”
Reportedly, police were able to prevent most protesters from getting close to Paul and his wife and the officer escorting them was briefly knocked off balance before being punched in the face. Paul later told Fox News that he feared for his safety. He said:
“I truly believe this with every fiber of my being, had they gotten at us they would have gotten us to the ground. We might not have been killed, might just have been injured by being kicked in the head or kicked in the stomach until we were senseless.”
On the night of the attack, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House as former President Donald Trump prepared to give his speech from the South Lawn.
Two months prior to the attack, Paul introduced the Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, which would ban no-knock raids like the one that resulted in Taylor’s death.
Teenage felon indicted on ten charges after ambushing and murdering Cleveland Police Officer
February 6th, 2022
CLEVELAND, OH – A woman who was allegedly responsible for attempting to carjack an off-duty Cleveland Police Officer and killing him on New Years Eve has formally be indicted in the officer’s death.
Tamara McLoyd indicted on 10 charges in murder of Cleveland Police Officer Shane Bartekhttps://t.co/2SIQW2mSZf
— WKYC 3News (@wkyc) January 7, 2022
The suspect in the case, 18-year-old Tamara McLoyd, has been indicted on several criminal charges, including aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and possessing a weapon with a felony record.
McLoyd’s charges are related to the fatal shooting of off duty Cleveland Police Officer Shane Bartek.
The indictment came down from a Grand Jury that had been convened in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. As a result of the indictment, a judge has ordered McLoyd to remain in custody at the Cuyahoga County Jail on a $5 million bond.
The incident originally occurred on December 31st of 2021 when Officer Bartek was in a parking lot near his car. McLoyd, who was allegedly armed with a gun, “ambushed” the officer and ordered his keys and anything else of value he had.
Officer Bartek decided he would fight back and began to struggle with McLoyd to take her gun.
During the physical encounter, McLoyd allegedly shot Officer Bartek in the back and then got into his vehicle and left the officer for dead.
Prosecutors allege that the carjacking and murder of Officer Bartek was captured on nearby video surveillance.
After leaving Officer Bartek for dead, McLoyd allegedly gave his car to Anthony Butler, Jr.
At some point after the homicide, officers located Butler and Officer Bartek’s car and attempted to stop it. Instead of stopping, Butler allegedly led officers on a high-speed vehicle pursuit.
Butler allegedly drove through East Side suburbs until he lost control and crashed Officer Bartek’s car into a fence surrounding an apartment complex on East 260th Street and Lakeshore Boulevard in Euclid.
Officers were able to take Butler into custody after the crash and charged him with fleeing and attempting to elude as well as receiving of stolen property. He is being held on a $5 million bond.
Tamara McLoyd indicted on 10 charges in murder of Cleveland Police Officer Shane Bartek https://t.co/zPFoKJh77n pic.twitter.com/GOHl7BWwJq
— Frank Macek @WKYC Studios (@MacekNewsNation) January 7, 2022
In addition to these charges, McLoyd is also facing an unrelated aggravated robbery charge in Cleveland Municipal Court. In that case, McLoyd is accused of participating in a robbery at Happy’s Pizza where two employees were pistol whipped. The group allegedly stole $300 from the business as well as a handgun.
Prosecutors state that McLoyd was on active felony probation at the time of both incidents for another armed robbery case in Lorain County. In that case, McLoyd was convicted for allegedly orchestrating an armed robbery of a 37-year-old man she had met on a dating website called “Plenty of Fish.”
On October 28th, McLoyd faced a judge in Lorain County who sentenced her to five years of probation for her participation in the armed robbery.
Now that she faces two different new law violations, prosecutors are asking a common pleas judge to sentence her to adult prison for violating the terms of her probation.
McLoyd was clearly not deterred by the actions taken by the court and allegedly decided that she would set her aunt’s 2015 Cadillac CTS on fire on November 12th. Prosecutors allege that the car was parked in the street and in front of a residence when McLoyd allegedly set it on fire.
When police and fire crews arrived, they were told by witnesses in the area that they had seen a person running from the car after the fire was started. Prosecutors were unsure of who might have set the vehicle on fire until McLoyd allegedly admitted to doing it on a recorded jail phone call.
Widow of slain NYPD Det. Jason Rivera rips new Manhattan DA in eulogy to her husband
In a tearful eulogy to her slain husband, Dominique Luzuriaga blasted Bragg after claiming the system has failed, the Washington Times reported.
“The system continues to fail us. We are not safe anymore, not even the members of the service,” she said during the funeral mass, held before a full congregation at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“I know you were tired of these laws, especially the ones from the new DA. I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now,” the young widow said, amid thunderous applause and a standing ovation from those sitting in the pews.
“I’m sure all of our blue family is tired too.”
“But I promise—we promise—that your death won’t be in vain,” she said.
Bragg, who was present at the service, assumed his post earlier this month. One of his first directives was to order his prosecutors to apply minimal prosecution standards for what he called “low-level” crimes.
For example, resisting arrest will no longer be prosecuted under Bragg, and he also reduced some felonies to misdemeanors, including for armed robbery.
After some in the city, including the new police commissioner, expressed outrage, Bragg tried to walk back the memo, saying people were getting the “wrong impression” about his policies, and said he understood why New Yorkers were concerned.
Bragg was one of a number of city officials who attended Rivera’s funeral, along with thousands of police officers from New York and the surrounding area, as well as out of state.
In a statement after the funeral, Bragg said he is “grieving and praying” for the two NYPD officers who lost their lives in the past week. Rivera’s partner, NYPD Wilbert Mora died from his wounds this past week.
“Violence against police officers will never be tolerated. My office will vigorously prosecute cases of violence against police and work to prevent senseless acts like this from ever happening again,” he said.
Bragg’s so-called lack of “tolerance” for violence against police officers didn’t transfer over to the Bronx.
The New York Daily News reported Friday that New York’s new mayor, Eric Adams was livid over the fact that a teen who shot another police officer last Friday was released on bond.
In that case, a so-called “up-and-coming rapper,” Camrin Williams, who uses the name C Blu is accused of shooting NYPD Off. Kaseem Penman in the Bronx last week. He was released on a $250,000 bond.
“New Yorkers should all be outraged that a repeat offender, accused of shooting at a police officer, is today walking free on bond because judges are precluded from even considering danger to the community, like every other state and our federal courts,” Adams said in a written statement.
“It is further proof that our current system is failing us.”
Adams’ statement came just a couple of hours after he had attended the funeral of Rivera in Manhattan. In that case, the suspect was sent where he belonged, having been shot to death by NYPD officers.
Since the deaths of Rivera and Mora in Harlem last week, Adams has argued that judges should be allowed to consider the level of danger a suspect poses to the community before they are released. He also pointed to Williams’ release as another example of lenient bail.
Williams’ attorney however has, as one might expect, a different version of the events, and claims that he never shot the police officer.
“My client didn’t shoot a police officer. He never pointed a gun. He never had a gun in his hand,” she said. “Police officers jumped on top of him and that’s how the gun went off and the bullet hit my client in the groin and went out through his thigh and grazed the leg of the police officer.”
Ah yes, the magic self-firing gun.
“My client is a victim as well as the police officer,” she said.
In addition to focusing on judges, Adams has also called for the city’s district attorneys to step up. While he didn’t criticize Bragg directly, he said that DAs need to do their part too,
At Rivera’s funeral, Bragg directed his criticisms toward the courts;
“Today of all days, with the city in mourning over the deaths of Detective First Grade Jason Rivera and Police Officer Wilbert Mora, we all must come together and agree that changes are needed,” he said.
“We cannot allow those who carry guns to walk free. We can pursue safety and justice at the same time, and we must, for the safety of us.”
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