The Waukesha District Attorney whose office let out parade killer Darrell Brooks on a $1,000 bond three weeks ago previously admitted he knew his laxed bail reform would lead to killers being set free and murdering others, saying flippantly in a 2007 interview: 'You bet, it's guaranteed to happen.'
John Chisolm was elected as Milwaukee County District Attorney in 2007 and he immediately started advocating for lower cash bonds for criminals, like Brooks - a felon with a history of domestic violence charges who was most recently locked up for running over the mother of his children.
In 2007, Chisolm told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into treatment program, who's going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It's guaranteed to happen.
'It does not invalidate the overall approach.'
His shamefaced office, which yesterday admitted they'd set an 'inappropriately low' bond amount for Brooks, has not commented on the resurfaced interview in light of Sunday's atrocity.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisolm (right) is an enthusiastic bail reform advocate who previously suggested the state should replicate San Francisco's bail reform to do away with cash bond on minor crimes
Chisolm's premonition came true in 2013 when convicted drug dealer Jeremiah Schroeder, 35, was let out on a deferred prosecution and injected a fatal dose of heroin into Cassandra Lutz, a 26-year-old woman.
Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into treatment program, who's going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed.
John Chisolm in 2007 interview
Schroeder was caught trying to move her dead body afterwards and was put back in prison.
The victim's family said afterwards that they were 'p****d' that he'd been let out, and even the judge in the case said he regretted it.
After being elected on 2007, Chisolm made clear that he sought to send fewer Wisconsin residents to prison while maintaining public safety amid an unprecedented influx of crime in Milwaukee County.
To combat the crime wave, Chisolm enlisted the help of the Vera Institute of Justice, a New York-based nonprofit group that works with leaders in government and civil settings 'to improve the services people rely on for safety and justice,' according to the organization's website.
Its website explicitly says that Vera opposes cash bail.
Advocates say the measure unfairly penalizes the poorest, and results in disproportionate numbers of ethnic minority suspects in jails awaiting trial.
But opponents say the measure often results in career criminals being immediately released back onto the streets to commit more offenses, with the measure partially-blamed for NYC's ongoing crime spike.
Chisolm's office agreed to a $1,000 bond for Darrell Brooks on November 11th, despite him being held on charges
