Sunday, April 29, 2007

This Is Clearly New Hampshire's Fault

From the Boston Globe:

The cooperation of witnesses led to the arrests yesterday of two Boston men, whom authorities called known gang members, in the high-profile killing of a 22-year-old woman after a house party in Dorchester last month.

Chiara Levin, who was visiting from New York, was caught in crossfire between Manuel Andrade, 33, of Dorchester, and Casimiro Barros , 20 , of Roxbury, Suffolk County prosecutors announced yesterday in a press conference after their arrests. Andrade and Barros will be arraigned tomorrow in Dorchester District Court on murder, assault, and weapons charges, prosecutors said.


This next part will shock your shoes off.

Both men have lengthy criminal records, including gun charges, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.


With the predictability of high tide, the mother of one of the choirboys being charged had nothing but glorious praise yesterday for her cherubic little vaginal extrusion.

"My son didn't hurt anyone," said Barros. "We've never had a problem with him and I don't believe that, that he shot someone."


Yeah, so long as your definition of "problem" excludes anything pertaining to multiple arrests for illegal possession of firearms.

Adam G. at Universal Hub does the more extensive poking around that the Boston Globe seemingly couldn't be bothered with doing, and finds this noteworthy post over at BPDNews.com.

From December '06:

Officers arrested the operator of the car, Casimiro M. Barros, Jr., 20, of Roxbury and charged him with Operating Without Being Licensed, Speeding, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition, Second Subsequent Offense, and Being an Armed Career Criminal.


So, four months ago, they had this scumbag in custody for unlawful possession of a firearm.

Again.

Police and prosecutors even went out of their way to officially designate Mr. Barros an "armed career criminal".

Yet, a mere three months later, he's out on the streets of Boston, exchanging gunfire with some other criminal scumbag using, you guessed it, an unlawfully possessed firearm. Ms. Levin is killed in the crossfire.

Damn you, New Hampshire!

From the parents of the victim:

"We hope that the loss we are enduring that has changed our lives forever and from which there is no recovery will help others to reflect upon the senselessness of violent responses to conflict and the danger of Massachusetts' 'revolving door' system of justice, which routinely allows known, dangerous lawbreakers to walk the streets, and terrorize their neighborhoods, with impunity."


Yeah....just kidding.

"We hope that the loss we are enduring that has changed our lives forever and from which there is no recovery will help others to reflect upon the senselessness of violent responses to conflict and the danger of easy access to and misuse of weapons."


Because, if only we "gun nuts" in New Hampshire and Vermont could get on board the liberal bandwagon being piloted by Boston Mayor Tom Menino and push for more laws and regulations that systematically deprive only our poorer, darker-skinned neighbors of their constitutionally-protected rights, all would be well again in the valley of gumdrops and daffodils.

Right?

Thanks, but I'll pass.

I'm pretty happy with the system we have up here, where all law-abiding New Hampshire residents have the right to own firearms, regardless of their position on the socio-economic ladder.

It's not very "progressive" of me, I know.