Transcript

If we lose this cultural war, we're going to have a hedonistic society

>> Ed Vitagliano: If we lose this cultural war, we're going to have a hedonistic, humanistic society. Discover the story of the culture warrior, Don Wildmon and how he went head to head with Hollywood playboy, the homosexual agenda and the Disney empire. The movement Don started paved the way for Christians to boldly stand for truth and righteousness in a hostile culture. Watch Culture Warrior today for free. Visit culturewarrior movie.

Welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network

Welcome to Today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day.

>> Fred Jackson: here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Today's Issues is the name of this program. It's Wednesday, September 10, 2025. We hope you are having a good day. Why would we hope otherwise? Right? Huh? that's right. Why would we want people to have an average day or a bad day? No, we want you to have a good day.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Amen.

>> Ed Vitagliano: or a mediocre day. We don't want mediocrity.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm channeling my inner Joel Osteen.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I knew it was coming, you know. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: You want me to smile?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, get your smile.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Every day is a Friday, Tim.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, Ed Battagliano. Good morning, brother.

>> Wesley Wildmon: You assumed that there were no bad Fridays, right?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I'm just going by what the, what the brother said wrote in the book. Probably sold 2 million copies.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's fair.

>> Tim Wildmon: More than that, probably. But Wet said. Wow. Good morning, Wesley. Good morning, Fred Jackson.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning, Tim.

>> Tim Wildmon: M. lots to talk about today on the program. Not all of it's good. We, talk about, having a good day, but, we got a lot to talk about.

We want to talk to Abe Hamilton about recidivism among criminals

Abraham Hamilton the third, who hosts, the Hamilton Quarter each afternoon on American Family radio from 5 to 6 o' clock Central time and is a constitutional attorney. He will be with us at the bottom of the hour. Abe worked, a long time in the justice system as a assistant, district attorney, both, I think, in, the Houston, Texas area and his home city of New Orleans, that. That area. Anyway, I want to ask him, why there's, why we have such a high, and this is a hard word for me to say, recidivism.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right?

>> Tim Wildmon: Did I get it right? Recidivism rate among, criminals. In other words, why do we read time and time again about criminals committing acts of violence against people and you learn that their rap sheet is like, I'm like, you know, three pages long. You go. The average person goes, what in the world Is this person doing out of jail? What is he about? What is he on the street? I say he because most time it's a male. Why is he back on the streets? make an unsuspecting public. So we're going to talk to Abe about that because he will have answers. Maybe not satisfactory answers because I've asked other people in law enforcement and, I don't like the answers that I hear.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Our system is not up. It's not a good one. Okay. And, and I'm saying, like in places. Well, well, I'm saying in terms of when we put people in prison, they're not, for the most part, they're not learning how not to do things when they get out, they're not getting. And I'm not saying you, you teach them basket weaving and that kind of thing. But your, your question about recidivism. There nothing happens in prison that makes them think, you know what? I should. Yeah. Rehabilitate. I, maybe I shouldn't spend my life doing this. For the most part, they learn how to do it better and then they don't spend their time, their full time in there.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: To think, well, I don't want to go back in there for seven years, so I'm going to stop doing it. and so anyway, that, when we, when these, when I.

How do you deal with people who are mentally ill? Putting them in prison doesn't help

We're all thinking about these topics. We're all thinking about. I'm thinking about. We're going to get, you know, probably back to, this case, this Ukrainian. Poor Ukrainian girl being murdered. How do you deal with people who are mentally ill? How do you deal with people who are drug addicts? Putting them in prison is not going to help them either. Same thing with homeless. It's. It's just a mess.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes, I want to talk about that aspect. I'm not necessarily talking about that. What you're talking about, which is very important topic. I'm talking about commit a crime, go down to the. Go down to the, judge, and the judge says, hey, come back in 30 days.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, that's too different. I was going to distinguish between the two.

>> Tim Wildmon: That kind of thing. Or here's a slap. Probationary is don't break into any more m. More homes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Or we might have to keep you for three days. You know what I'm saying? That kind of thing. You just go, what in the world?

Federal authorities have charged a man with murdering a Ukrainian woman on a Charlotte commuter train

So, the, the situation though, the story, that's now capturing the attention of the public in the US Is what happened to this Ukrainian girl? she's in the U.S. in her 20s, 23 years old. 23 years old, in Charlotte and North Carolina. And she was stabbed to death by a guy who was ah, one of these people who was out of jail time and time again and also obviously mentally ill. and so Fred, what's the latest on this story?

>> Fred Jackson: Well, the latest on this story, you know people, this start the murder took place on the 22nd of August. And what really has caught the attention and the reason that this story has caught the attention because of the release of a video from the computer train, commuter train, where Decarlos Brown Jr. Is seen stabbing this young woman from Ukraine. 23 year old Irina Zarutska. She came to this country not long ago, to get away from the war in Ukraine yesterday, after being charged by the state with murder. Now the federal government has charged Decarlos Brown Jr. With the killing of, of this young woman. And the reason the feds can do this we are told is because the murder took place on that. A commuter train. So a vehicle of mass transit. There is a federal law which allows the feds to get involved with a local case like this. Yesterday the US Attorney for Western North Carolina, his name is Russ Ferguson, he held a news conference to announce this federal charge. But what he had to say at this news conference was I just found incredibly compelling. First of all, before he came out to have the news conference, he got out, just got off the phone, with the mother of this young lady. She doesn't speak English very well. They spoke through a translator. But the mom told Mr. Ferguson she wanted to go to America, get away from the war, but loved America. He said as soon as she got a work permit after she came here, she went out the very same day and got a job. She worked at a pizza place. She was just going her business. She wanted to stay in America, become an American citizen. And Russ Ferguson, he broke down a couple of times. This is a US Attorney so it's not all business. He said he grew up in Charlotte. Yeah, this is my home. And to have this horrific incident happen right in the place where I live, just. It, it. He was very emotional about this. But he had just got off the phone with, with this young lady's mom. They had talked about it, how much. In fact, the mom, they, they talked about sending the body back to her mom there in Ukraine. And her mom said no, she loved America so much she wanted to be buried in America. So this is part of the story a lot of the media won't talk about. But I want you to have a listen to U.S. attorney Russ Ferguson and what you're going to hear. Also at the tail end of this audio is FBI agent James Barnacle Jr. Who is also obviously part of the investigation. Coming cut number one.

>> Speaker E: our hearts go out to Irina's, family. they are suffering, like any of us would be. it was a very touching call. Our hearts go out to them. She is a refugee. she literally came to the United States from a bomb shelter in Ukraine to escape the war. And she was going about her day. She was coming home from work on a light rail train like all of us do all the time, and she was brutally murdered. As a native of Charlotte, I'm so sad to say that our city has gotten to this place.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We will continue to work with U.S. attorney Ferguson, Department of Justice, under direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI Director Patel, to pursue justice for Irina and her family and for the people of Charlotte.

>> Fred Jackson: Now, Jane's Barnacle there mentioned Attorney General Pam Bondi. She talked about this yesterday as well. Cut number three, Spencer Meriwether. He believed in letting him sign a written promise to appear.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He participated in passing that, agreeing to.

>> Fred Jackson: Let criminal defendants sign a written promise to appear in court. That's what he was allowed to do in July. Weeks later, he murdered Irena. Now, what, Pam Bondi was talking about there is. She's looking at the string of decisions. This guy, Decarlos Brown Jr. 14 times before the judicial system. And what she's talking about is the last time he appeared, he was allowed to sign, actually took a pen and sign a written promise to appear again, and he was allowed to do this.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's a thing I, would. You know what I'm saying? I never heard of that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, this last. The last case, if my understanding is correct, of course, this guy. I know we're going to get into this. He. He's mentally ill. Okay? The last time he got arrested was for the abuse of the 91 1, emergency phone call system. He called and maybe several times called to report that he had stuff inside of him that was making him act crazy or was speaking to him or something. I forget. it's kind of bizarre. So this last time was not a violent crime. And I'm thinking that the prosecutor and the judge said, well, we don't want to keep him in jail for that. If I, might agree with that, if that's the only thing this guy had done right. But he. This is. He's got a rap sheet that's fairly long and includes violence. And they still let him out. Yes, and that's going to blow back on them.

One story that keeps coming up is how the media has handled this story

>> Fred Jackson: So, what happened also yesterday, since we last were on the program here, some media outlets, Fox for one of them, started to release more than what we have seen in the video. Up to now. Up to now, we. In the video, we saw this man get out. He was sitting behind, Irina sitting behind her. And he gets up, and we now know it's a pocket knife. And we saw him lunge towards her. And that's where the video ended. Well, yesterday the video went beyond that, and we saw her reaction to the stabbing. She was shocked. She turns around, she grabs her neck because he stabbed her three times in the neck. But we also saw he. He then walks away from the scene. and, we also saw three individuals who were sitting near her. They walk away from the scene.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yep.

>> Fred Jackson: To the best of my knowledge, they leave her. They leave her. They just leave her. They obviously saw what happened, but they just get up and leave her.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And there must have been blood everywhere.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So they. They knew she was injured.

>> Tim Wildmon: I did read where one man, went to her aid.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, that wasn't in the video.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Fred Jackson: But three people close by. Now, we. There's also been talk over the last several days that DeCarlos Brown Jr. Said something along the line, I got the white girl. Now, we're going to play a little bit of that, if that's okay with you gentlemen. The train is moving, so you got a lot of train noise, but we're going to try and see if we can pick this up. This. This quote that he's been quoted that I got the white girl. All right, we can play that cut number two.

>> Tim Wildmon: So it's very short, saying, I got the white girl. That white girl. You were able saying that. Go ahead. Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: but you can hear him say, got the white girl. Yesterday, during this news conference with the US Attorney, Russ Ferguson, a reporter asked them about this. Have you heard. Have you determined whether he said that? at that point, the FBI was saying, no, we. We're not ready. But if we can prove it was him that said that, there will also be a hate crime charge, against, Decarlos Brown Jr. In this. The other story that keeps coming up, too, is how the media has handled this story. the media pretty much has ignored it. They've been forced to because of that Video, to deal with it somewhat.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And the reaction in conservative social media.

>> Tim Wildmon: Spaces, especially X and Elon Musk.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes. So yesterday, Caroline Levitt, the spokeswoman for the White House, she did not spare the media in front of her about, as far as what they have done in the way they've covered this story versus other stories where the player's skin color was reversed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Okay. so cut number eight.

>> Pam Bondi: The majority of the media, many outlets in this room, decided that her murder was not worth reporting on originally because it does not fit a preferred narrative. Many of the journalists in this room spilled plenty of ink trying to smear Daniel Penny for defending a subway car from a deranged lunatic in New York City. But none of those same reporters lift a film finger to write stories about an actual murderer. Here is the truth that every American must know. Too many innocent people across the country continue to pay the price of the failed experiment known as cashless bail that has been championed by the Democrat Party for years.

Caroline Levitt wonders if people are leery of stepping into situations

>> Fred Jackson: All right, that was Caroline Levitt.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: She talked about the narrative.

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me ask you that. This. And this is so tragic. This young, lady. I mean, it just breaks your heart thinking about her family back in the Ukraine, learning she was stabbed to death.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Survives the Russia Ukraine war, comes to.

>> Tim Wildmon: The US and gets.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: and she. Unprovoked. Completely unprovoked. Right. let me ask you this. I wonder. This is kind of a side issue, but I wonder if people in these big cities. We've all heard the jokes about people in New York just walking over dead people right down the street because the. Nobody cares or they don't know the person and don't want to get involved. I'm just wondering, after what happened, you, know the Daniel, Is it Daniel Penny?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: The former Marine.

>> Fred Jackson: Hm.

>> Tim Wildmon: I say former Marine. Once a Marine, always Marine.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Remember, he. He. He, took down this guy who was doing similar threats to the people on a subway in New York City.

>> Fred Jackson: Correct.

>> Tim Wildmon: And the fellow that he took down who was doing the threats to the people riding, died. and I don't know why he died, is suffocated or something like that.

>> Fred Jackson: Put him in a chokehold.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, put him in a chokehold.

>> Tim Wildmon: Anyway, eventually, Daniel Penney was, charged. He was charged and then he was acquitted. Acquitted. Okay. So my. Here's my thing. My question is, I wonder if people are leery of stepping into a situation. I know that your natural instinct of most people is to help somebody and who's being attacked. Right. But I Don't know. I'm just. I'm just asking. Do people. Now go. I don't want to get involved in any kind of situation.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Like, I think it's a case by case, and I think. I think it's a, Ah, ah, local by local type thing. I would say, by the way.

>> Tim Wildmon: Excuse me. It would have been too late for her. He had already stepped. By the time people knew what was going on, he had already stabbed her.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: And look, probably in her jugular because she bled out in minutes.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's do it this way. If there was enough people, If there was enough pennies, out there doing what he did and they were all being charged, then I could. I could kind of understand what you're saying. If you watch the video. That's not the case. They sat there and, just didn't move at all. I don't. They didn't look like, oh, should I do it? We should do she run? No, I don't think. They didn't seem that they were wrestling.

>> Tim Wildmon: You see on the bus, on the.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Three people beside them. The video I saw after the fact didn't look like they were wrestling. What do I do? I don't know if I need to get involved because, Because I don't want to get in trouble like Penny did. But they also, But they more so look like empathetic, apathetic. Like.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, what if they. What if there's. When you're sitting there in shock and stunned, maybe you say, I don't want to get stabbed by this guy either. I'm just saying that.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, I didn't run.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, there's nowhere to go. Well, listen, I don't know.

>> Tim Wildmon: I understand.

>> Ed Vitagliano: My, 67, My life experience has taught me that most people in emergency situations are passive. I don't know what the percentage is.

Tim Brown: There's a small percentage of people who are likely to intervene

I'm sure the studies have been done. There's a small percentage of people who get involved in that moment. most people freeze up. Most people are overcome by fear or they, don't know what to do. But they're not the kind of people who are going to jump in and help. They're not. You don't have many Daniel Pennies.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes, but Daniel Penny was a trained marine.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, he was.

>> Tim Wildmon: Psychologically and emotionally and physically. He had already been trained for moments like this.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: While you're saying. And police officers are too. that's why they run to problems.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Rather called first responders.

>> Tim Wildmon: While most people flee from them, like you're saying.

>> Wesley Wildmon: So that's something to consider.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So I was just going to say in most situations like that, especially with a small sample, I saw the picture look like there were three people sitting on the other opposite side of. Of the train from Irena. And then there was, decarlos Brown right behind her, and it seemed like there was another person behind him. So that's a pretty small sample of people. One of them was a woman. I'm not saying women don't respond, but they're less likely to have that aggression to. To jump in. It takes a lot. It takes a lot to put yourself into a dangerous situation, Tim, like you said, where you could get stabbed. All those people wanted to go home to their families. And that's why what Daniel Penny did and his training probably entered into it, but it's a small percentage of people who are likely to intervene anyway.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, several people on that. On that train. Did you call it a train?

>> Fred Jackson: Commuter train?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Light Ray did call 91 1. That was registered. So they, they evidently arrested this guy, the police, almost immediately.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: So, the car, what's his name?

>> Ed Vitagliano: The Carlos.

>> Fred Jackson: The Carlos Brown Jr. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, what about, the. Carolyn Levitt's sort of bringing up a double standards. What she's pointing out to on the.

>> Fred Jackson: Media coverage, the narrative she's referring to deals with the. The race issue. In this case, this is a black man attacking a white woman. When, Daniel Penny took down this guy who was a black man on the train, the media went crazy. It's another case. You know, Daniel Penny's a racist.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right? Right.

>> Fred Jackson: That's why he, he put the chokehold on this guy.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And that's why the prosecution in New York City again, framed it that way.

>> Tim Wildmon: It was a hate crime.

>> Fred Jackson: It was a hate crime.

>> Wesley Wildmon: If y' all notice this too, on this issue that you're not. I'm not hearing any of these. The judge or the mayor or anybody or anybody on the left putting themselves in the shoes of the victim. But they're putting their selves that we constantly are being told, put yourself in the shoes of the criminal.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Wesley Wildmon: You know, and they list off all the problems he had. But we're not putting ourselves first and foremost in the shoes and of the victim and their family and what they experience and the people are. And the. And the fear that goes into now riding on this, train, those type things.

>> Tim Wildmon: Do you see?

>> Wesley Wildmon: I mean, that. That should be. That's a shift that's happened in the Media over the last, 10 to 20 years. As it relates to the race issue, it's irrelevant. It should be first putting yourself in this.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. You know, once you enter, once you start talking about the racial dynamics of a situation, people's, sensitivity is heightened. People, as I said yesterday, going to camps, you know, we. Sir. But you have to ask yourself what is really racially, motivated. Daniel Penny, for example, he just happened to be on a train with a bunch of people, and the guy who was threatening people happened to be a black fella.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and the people who defended Daniel. What Daniel Penny did were some of the black people and brown people on the train who were afraid.

>> Tim Wildmon: So what I'm saying is Daniel Penny. Daniel Penny didn't get on that train that day going, you know what? Who can I get into it with here? Let me pick out a black fella here. I don't like black people.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's the way the media sort of want to present it then. The case of this, man to Carlos, the Carlos Brown. I know he did say, and I heard it. If he.

I don't think that necessarily was a hate crime

If that's him, and it sounds like him, m saying, I got that white woman. But when you read what happened with his sayings, to his sister, while he was in jail. This is post arrest. He, is mentally whacked. Okay? He thinks materials are in him that the government put in him. He thinks that, So, he's talking in third person about who stabbed her, who would stab this girl. So he is mentally, So I'm not excusing his behavior. He needs to be punished to the fullest sin of law. He'll probably get the death penalty or life in prison. But I don't think, he. I know he said, I got that white woman, but I. I'm wondering now, would it have mattered who was in front of him? Because he was demon, possessed, is how we Christians would look at what he did right here. So I. I know he said, I got that white woman, but I don't think that necessarily was a hate crime. Because I'm saying he, she just happened to be the victim because she was right in front of him. Yeah, at the time, that's. That's the way I'm looking at this situation. There are. There are racially motivated crimes in America. There always have been and probably always will be.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: But.

>> Tim Wildmon: But we have to be careful about talking about that issue.

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Today's Issues comes from American Family Radio Network

>> Fred Jackson: To more of today's Issues.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Tim, Wildmon, here with Ed Battagliano, Wesley Wildmon and Fred Jackson. And joining us now is our colleague, Abraham Hamilton iii, host of the Hamilton Quarter, heard each afternoon five to six o' clock Central time right here on American Family Radio. Abe also serves as our general counsel here, and he, came to us, after spending several years in the, justice system, as they say. Abe, good morning to you.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Good morning. I'd, just like to clarify. My involvement in the justice system was not as a, accused.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You weren't a client?

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, yeah, well, okay, that does need to be clarified. Nor were you a superhero. You weren't a part of the Justice Hall?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Justice League?

>> Tim Wildmon: Justice League?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: No, I wasn't.

>> Tim Wildmon: Justice Hall. was that embarrassing?

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, that's. There is. There is a hall of something. I forget. Yeah, you're not far off.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hall of justice, whatever. Like that.

I was a prosecutor for a decade. First in Texas and then in New Orleans

Hey, you know the topic we want to talk to you about. How many years did you spend, what is your background in, Yeah, you call it law enforcement.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, yeah, it is. It is. It is law enforcement, broadly speaking. I was a criminal. Major felony criminal prosecutor. I was a prosecutor for a decade. First in the, Harris County District Attorney's office in Houston, Texas, and then in the New Orleans area. I was a major felony prosecutor as well.

>> Tim Wildmon: Why'd you want to do that?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, the major reason why I wanted to do it because I grew up hearing about all of the problems with the Justice System. And, you know, the Lord has kind of bent me in a way. Instead of just complaining about it, why not get involved and see if you can make a difference in a positive direction? and so, that's what led me to do so. And I enjoyed trial work. I enjoyed being in the courtroom and securing justice for the, families of victims of criminal tragedy.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, go ahead. Can I jump in? And before you jump right in, I just want to jump in and ask the first question to Abe.

Daniel Penney used chokehold on Jordan Neely on a train

Okay. So of course we've been talking, about the case in Charlotte, Irena, Zaruska. Okay. So, everyone's been talking about that. I also went back before the break and looked up some information about the Daniel Penney case. Case. Former United States Marine. He used a chokehold on Jordan Neely on, also on a train. This was in, New York. And Jordan neely was a 30 year old. This is the description. 30 year old homeless man who had a history of mental illness and over three dozen prior arrests, including charges related to assaults on women. Okay, so I think it's going to become clear that, decarlos Brown, this is the Charlotte, incident, is also going to be characterized as someone with mental illness. How did, in New Orleans and then Houston. How do you, how does the justice system flesh this out? Because we're talking during the break. What the system calls mental illness now may very well be, you know, influenced by, or possession by demons or simple evil. How did, you guys kind of try to separate this guy? Jordan Neely had three dozen prior arrests to Carlos Brown Jr. Had 14. Yet mental illness is going to be thrown in. How do you, how do you separate these kind of things and handle it?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, so you have, in a mental health profession the mental illness standards, but in the criminal justice context, you have the mental competency to stand trial. So whenever we had a case, especially whenever I handled a case, and especially when you had some of the more egregious offenses, homicides, armed robbery, segregated assault, things of that nature. Almost as a matter of routine defense, attorneys would file a motion for mental competency examination. And in that circumstance you would have a mental health professional that works with the state that would evaluate the defendant. And so competency to stand trial is to evaluate whether or not the person is aware of the charges that have been made against them, whether or not they have the mental capacity to assist in their own defense, and whether or not they have the ability to assess, the criminal proceedings that are lodged against them. If A defendant is ruled because some people try to say, ah, not guilty by reason of insanity. I understand that's a TV thing. And there are some things in different states that happen like that. But usually in my experience with. When you have a defendant who's been ruled legally incompetent to stand trial, they then are put in custody of the state and in a mental health facility in an effort to enable them to regain competency. And then upon regaining competency, then they would face the charges for which they were. They were, the charges were filed against them in the first place. And so the, competency standard is what is employed to determine whether or not they can stand trial to face the charges that they have been accused of.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You get.

>> Tim Wildmon: You get your answer.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

People often say, does the punishment fit the crime

Okay, so, Abe, here's what, the average citizen gets tired of reading about. I know you do too, and you saw it. And I don't know if there's a satisfactory answer to the question about that, because I talked to two gentlemen here who are on our staff that Abe knows that are former police officers. And I asked them, why do we read time and again or see on the television news somebody who does something heinous like murder somebody or, And you go. You read, well, their rap sheet is, like, 14, 15, 20, 25. Who know how many encounters with the law, arrest some, you know, and you go, how are they? How are these people out walking the streets?

>> Ed Vitagliano: And.

>> Tim Wildmon: And so I know that's a general view, but that's the way most of us react. On me, when you heard you. When you heard about this, situation in Charlotte, you go, how is this fella walking around when even his own mother said he's a threat to society, that, paranoid schizophrenic. anyway, yeah, go ahead, talk about that.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: No, it's a legitimate question. And I read it and see the same thing. And you just had Zoram Hamdani. I played this clip on my show last night where he's saying we need to get people out of jail faster. He's not saying we need to have them adjudicated for the charges that they're facing. He said we just need to get him out of the jail. Is that the solution? Not to secure justice? That's not the solution at all. But it is greatly frustrating. And it's a question that is multifaceted, and it's hard to address it broadly because you have individual circumstances that vary. But generally speaking, we have circumstances where we have, jurisdictions that do not enforce the law at the greatest extent possible. Now, each individual instance should be assessed in and of itself. Like, you have a person who commits shoplifting. Well, they shouldn't be put in prison for the rest of their lives, right? But if you have a person who commits shoplifting and then they become an armed robber, and then they become a home invader, then you have that kind of escalation that is transpiring. There should be the capacity when our justice system to assess the reality. People often say, does the punishment fit the crime? Well, actually, that really isn't the question. The question should be, does the punishment fit the criminal? Because when you're assessing punishment, when a person is guilty of a particular crime, you have to take into consideration their history. Is this somebody who is escalating criminality? Are they showing an increased disdain increase and antisocial behavior? Are they demonstrating, an increasing lack of capacity to be a beneficiary of the freedoms that we enjoy in our country? That should be taken into consideration as well. You have two different people. You have one guy who may have a possession of drugs, and, on his charge, he's possession of a small amount of drugs. Then on another charge, you have a murderer who is a drug dealer who has a long rap sheet for a number of serious egregious felonies. But it turns out witnesses disappear, witnesses have passed away, things of that nature. You don't have the evidence to prosecute the homicide, but you still have them with this small amount of drugs, should that guy get the same amount of sentence as a person has a first offense, small, possession of drug for personal use? Of course not. But the only way you make that assessment is does the punishment fit the criminal? Not does the punishment fit the crime exclusively.

I'm already answering emails over here, so you just carry on, all right

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, couple. I got a bunch of questions here. So, guys, I don't even need you anymore.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I feel.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I feel like sandwich.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay, I'm already answering emails over here, so you just carry on, all right?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: And my answers will be shorter, too.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's okay. says the pastor slash lawyer. And the Bible says, thou shalt not lie. No. All right. it's not Abe's intent of the heart to tell untruth. My mom would say, don't call somebody a liar. You don't,

>> Wesley Wildmon: I know.

Abe Shapiro says cashless bail played a role in last year's election

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, here we go. Here's. Here's a couple of questions I have because we did have a bone to talk about this whole situation that frustrates Americans and I think played a large part in the last, election. You know, the Democrats are seen as Soft on crime, the Republicans seen as law and order. That's, that's just a perception and I think that played a part in and some of the election results. But. Okay, I want to ask you about this, Abe. When people, a lot of people say that so that not so called, but cashless, bail. Okay, is a problem. Okay, I want you to please tell me what, what cashless bail is as opposed to what and where do you come down on that?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, people that make that assertion usually are saying cashless bails is a problem because you have people who are standing jail and only because they can't afford to bond out. But the issue is that this is, is this is in a circumstance where the criminal defense has not been adjudicated. The whole purpose of bail is to make sure that the criminal to try and say it better to try to enable the criminal justice system to move freely. So we have a person who's accused of a crime, if it's not dismissed that the person doesn't plead guilty, well, they can have a trial of their peers in a reasonable amount of time. And what often happens in the law enforcement environment when cases, and this is just a fact, when you have defendants who bond out, those cases usually take a longer time to prosecute. You ask any criminal justice, attorney on either side, defense or prosecution, they'll tell you the longer a, case lingers, the harder is going to be for the prosecution to prove. And so you have people that are arguing and saying cashless bail is a problem. But really these are the same people that are like Zoran Mamdani, that they want those who have been accused of crime, they, they are more than willing than I am, and I think a lot of other Americans to have people who have a reasonable likelihood of having committed a crime to regain their ability to live freely amongst us. So say cashless bail is a problem. That is a decontextualized statement that requires some facts to determine whether or not that's actually true.

>> Tim Wildmon: But aren't people, of the liberal persuasion, so to speak, going to say, okay, the reason we have cashless bail is because it's unfair for people who are poor, who are, who are accused of crimes, they don't have the money to put up, the bail. Whereas people who are middle income or wealthier have the money to put up for bail. So there you have an injustice. Isn't that what they would say?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: That is what they would say. Now once again, that would be a statement that's Made in pure ignorance. Very similar to the point that Wesley was making earlier. A lot of people are invoking empathy for the murderer in North Carolina who is talking about empathy for the victim in their family. In this instance. The beginning of the assessment shouldn't be with the charged party of the crime. Because the reality is bail only escalates based on criminal history. If you have a person who is charged with a crime, they don't have an extensive rap sheet, they often will be released upon their own recognizance, also known as cashless bail. Or they'll have a very, very, very, very, very low bail. The only time bails get higher is when you have people who have demonstrated over time their propensity to commit crime. And the purpose for the bonding and the bailing process is not only to facilitate that individual charge, but also to keep the community safe in the process of this charge being adjudicated. And that is often left out of the discourse. Bail only escalates based on criminal history and the imminent danger presented by the particular charged party. It not a general application of high bills to everybody who's gets arrested.

Wesley Brown: Over overcrowding in prisons and jails is an issue

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I have one last question, counselor. okay. I also hear this from, that, from people in law enforcement. And then you go to asking these kind of questions. I'm asking you, why can't we keep the bad people in prison or in jail? I hear this too. Well, the prisons, the jails are full, they're overflowing. And the public doesn't want to spend the money to bill more. because that's not a popular thing to run on. as a politician, I don't know whether that's true or not, but that's what I hear, that the over overcrowding in prisons and jails, is that, is that part of the equation here or. Go ahead.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Well, so keeping the bad people in jail is an issue primarily for, for jails more than prisons. You do have overcrowding in some instances. But the issue of having proper, proper, incarceration facilities is a, it's a, it's a law enforcement issue. It's an issue of keeping your society safe, keeping your community safe. And so to say that it's not a popular issue to run on. I understand that to some degree, but at the same time, I would encourage those who are politicians to argue it in that fashion, that this is about public safety. We gotta have the facilities to keep people incarcerated, who need to be incarcerated. And so we need to have the facility to do that.

>> Wesley Wildmon: this is Wesley Here. So as dad pointed out earlier that even I mentioned yesterday the importance of all Americans to exercise their second amendment, but especially women, elderly, those that are more vulnerable. Now that's true. That and that pointed out. Well, in this case, this woman couldn't have. She, she couldn't have used it anyway, like, you know what I mean? Like it couldn't have necessarily.

>> Tim Wildmon: She never had a chance.

>> Wesley Wildmon: She didn't have a chance.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Honest.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's true. My point, both, both things are true because I still believe, Americans should practice your second amendment for self defense. However, could this be. My question is to you is, could this still been, could this still have been avoided, from a him being kept in jail standpoint, You're m saying like it still could have been, could this.

>> Tim Wildmon: In other words, he shouldn't have been out, on the train.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Is it fair to say that?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Okay, well could have versus should have is the operative assessment there. He. Could he. Could it have been prevented if he had been kept in jail? Yes. Should it have, should it have happened? That's hard to say because he has some, he has a pretty extensive criminal history, but some of the more recent crimes aren't the types of ones that he would be. He would have a protracted incarceration anyway. So this is just one of those scenarios where you have a combination in my mind, frankly, I think some demonic influence, and just evil. Evil that was brought to bear on this issue. And to your point about the second Amendment, I do think as more people, especially women, ah. Take advantage of their second amendment rights, that you have a less likelihood of things like this happening in places where people are known to avail themselves of our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. You don't see as much of these things transpiring. You tend to see these things happening generally. Now there are always exceptions, but generally these things tend to happen in environments where it's kind of like soft targets where you don't have a proliferation of second amendment adherence.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, just watching that. Didn't she get on the train and he was already on there, right? Yes, she sat down. So I'm just going to. Being from the Ukraine, she may not have known many people. They meant. She may not have been wise to the world to say, a, young lady like that doesn't need to be getting on a train late at night anyway. Any.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and I'll say something else too. You, you've got it to your point, Tim, about being streetwise, you gotta. She came in head down, looking at her Phone sat down without looking around. I'm looking at the picture and I see on, one side of the train, if I'm getting on, you gotta be able to glance. I see three people who I would not ordinarily think would. Would be a threat. M. Lady, a guy, another guy in the back. Just a hat. But DeCarlos Brown was in his seat with his hood pulled up. I'm up making fun of hoods. Okay. But if someone is hunched over, head down with a hood on, I'm not sitting in front of that guy. Okay? So you've got to make. You've got to be able. And I'm not blaming her.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's what I mean. She may not have been wise.

>> Ed Vitagliano: She may not have been wise. You've got to make immediate assessments. And, and I'm thinking, what, you don't sit right in front of somebody you don't know and then put your head down.

>> Tim Wildmon: Look at the three people looking as he stabs her.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's what we talked about earlier.

>> Tim Wildmon: They're looking at her and they're. And they're, they're like, you know, like, what's going on?

>> Ed Vitagliano: She probably cried out and then they looked at her because of that. And I don't know.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just minutes later, she was bled out. She was dead.

>> Ed Vitagliano: This is a terrible thing I did.

Nobody wants prisons built near their neighborhoods, Alligator says

Do want to say one additional quick thing, to what, Abe was saying, by the way, Abraham Hamilton III has been our guest during this segment, heard on the Hamilton Corner, heard weekdays at 5pm Central Time on American Family Radio. I'm all in favor of building more prisons, but it's not just the money. Nobody wants prisons built near their neighborhoods.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Near their neighborhoods.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And so that's a good point. That is. I remember there was a big discussion, I think it was in Michigan or Ohio, several years ago. Everyone was saying, we don't want it near. We need it, but we don't want it near us because of escaped criminals and that kind of thing. So this is a complicated value of.

>> Tim Wildmon: Your neighborhood goes down.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I mean, if you got a. A prison, but, you know, even in the next county, so in the swamps of Florida, then. Well, that's, that's what did Alligator. Outrageous.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, thanks so much. what are you going to be covering this afternoon on the Hamilton Corner?

Professor at Texas university accused of indoctrinating students in elementary education

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, yesterday on the show, we talked a bit about this whole episode at Texas A and M University, where this professor was indoctrinating these students in elementary education in the children's literature course. Well, today the news broke that that professor has been fired. So they hadn't fired her now, but it seems like the pressure has ramped up to such degree to where that professor has been fired.

>> Tim Wildmon: What did she do?

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Dig into that a little bit. Yeah. You had a college professor at the Texas A and M University in College Station who was teaching a children's literature course and basically was indoctrinating the students concerning lgbtq, all, all of those things to prepare them to teach children. And you had a student in the class who objected and saying, wait, the president has passed an executive order that says you can't do this kind of things. And the state of Texas also has legislation, against DEI training things of that nature. And so, she objected to the teacher, got kicked out of class. The student did sought an audience with the president of the university. Initially, the president said, oh, would you want us to fire the professor? We're not gonna, that's not gonna happen. well, then that, that college president came out and reversed course a bit and saying, well, the dean of that department and the chair of that department have now been removed, and now that professor has been fired. And so all of that was caught on video. And once after it went viral, the Texas A and M president began to change his tune a little bit.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, all right. Brother Abel's, be looking forward to the Hamilton corner this afternoon. Take care.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: All right, thank you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, bye. Bye.

Poland says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace

All right, you're listening to Today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. Next story. Fred?

>> Fred Jackson: Well, I think it's about three weeks ago that we had this summit between President Trump and, Putin, the Russian leader. Putin, yeah. And there was a degree of optimism. They acted like old friends. And coming out of it, there was talk that, you know, there was going to be a next summit with Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader, in involved. But almost immediately, Putin began to up his war efforts against Ukraine, and things have gone from bad to worse. He is targeting civilian targets. But now, this morning, there is a new element in this. The headline is this. Poland says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace. Poland is a NATO country.

>> Fred Jackson: this raises the level. If Russia, now, if Putin is so determined to win the war against Ukraine that he's willing to even now irritate NATO countries and the United States, into a position where they have to come and get involved militarily because a NATO country perhaps has been deliberately attacked by Russia. This, this, this brings a whole new element to this war. And the question a lot of people are asking, okay, where do we go from here? Are we going to tolerate this? Russian drones inside Poland's border.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know how I look at this? No, Tim, how do you look at this? I think Russia and Vladimir Putin, you know, the bully on the on the playground.

>> Fred Jackson: Sure.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who's out there? And he goes, he pushes a smaller kid to the ground and he goes, what are you going to do about it?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, that's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: So what are you going to do? Like, there's nothing you can do about it because I'm bigger and better than you. So I think Putin is. And then you have other people watching this who are as big as the bully, are bigger, who could step in to stop it, but won't for whatever reason. I know I'm using maybe a bad analogy here.

>> Wesley Wildmon: You were good up until that last point. Well, you.

>> Tim Wildmon: So they just push Ukraine around and bomb their cities and everything like that. I know Ukraine's passing, fighting back. I understand that. But I just think Vladimir Putin and ah, he just, he doesn't care. He can meet with Trump in Alaska and get on the plane, going home and laugh in his face, laugh about the meeting, how he, he duped Trump again. You see what I'm saying? So that's kind of how I'm looking at this. But drones in Poland, that's a NATO situation.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And this wasn't just like one drone that got off course. The report is 19 of these drones entered the country's airspace overnight. And I don't think that this is the first time this has happened. So to your point, Tim? I think, I think this is Putin testing maybe their defenses and the willingness of these countries to fight back. Poland is no slouch, militarily and the, the, the, I would think Putin's military has got to be trying to reign this guy in. Putin, I mean, because you do not want to start a war with a NATO country. You'll have all of NATO and that includes the United States being obligated to get into it. He might get pushed out of Ukraine.

>> Tim Wildmon: At that point, Vladimir Putin says, what are you going to do about it?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, if he, if he, if he attacks Poland, he'll lose. Putin will lose if he starts a war with NATO. My fear is that if that happens, he'll use nukes.

>> Tim Wildmon: You think this was a mistake on the part of the Russian military?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think, I think it's just what you said. I think Putin's going, you know, we might want Poland, we might want, Estonia Latvia and Lithuania.

>> Tim Wildmon: And I know the US Is not getting involved because. Because Trump already told me they're not going to get involved.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Directly, militarily.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: We'll be back after this short time. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.