Prosecutors have a lot of variables to consider when deciding who to prosecute and what kind of sentence they're looking for. One criterion would absolutely have to be that someone with one offense should get a bit more leniency than someone who committed multiple of the same crime, right?
Well, that would be true...unless the prosecutor shares the accused's politics.
That's precisely what's happening in Hennepin County in Minnesota, where its woke county attorney is riling a lot of people up:
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty found herself in a familiar place Wednesday afternoon.
It was not the Brooklyn Park library, where she held a press conference announcing a new initiative that will make gun locks free at 11 libraries in Hennepin County, it was, instead, at the center of a political firestorm.
“That is the reality, I guess, of this job, this work,” Moriarty said.
Moriarty placed 33-year-old Dylan Bryan Adams into an adult diversion program rather than filing criminal charges after he keyed six Teslas around Minneapolis last month totaling more than $20,000 damage. As a result, her political critics exploded.
In recent months, people across the country and in the Twin Cities have vandalized Tesla vehicles in protest of Elon Musk, an advisor to President Donald Trump, and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as they significantly cut federal workers and programs.
Moriarty said Wednesday that her office made the decision outside of any political consideration.
“We try to make decisions without really looking at the political consequences,” Moriarty said. “Can we always predict how a story will be portrayed in the media or what people will say? No.”
The Daily Mail called Moriarty “America’s wokest” county attorney. The New York Post said Moriarty let a “thug” walk and it was “open season on Team Trump.”
Moriarty claims that the fact that Adams is a first-time offender played into her decision, not politics.
Of course, that kind of rings hollow in light of some similar cases that had nothing to do with going after Tesla:
But one case is striking for the argument Moriarty has made around Adams being a first-time offender.
A 19-year-old Robbinsdale woman with no criminal record was charged with first-degree felony property damage on Monday after she allegedly keyed her coworker’s car at the White Castle in Brooklyn Park. The damage to the car was estimated at $7,000. She is due to make her first court appearance in two weeks.
Now, I don't have a problem with this woman being prosecuted. Doing $7,000 in damage to someone's car should result in prosecution.
But Adams keyed six Teslas and did $20,000 in damage. Both are first-time offenders as well.
Adams, however, keyed numerous vehicles resulting in multiple charges. It wasn't something that happened on an impulse sparked by being angry at a coworker or anything else. Doing something six times isn't a pique of irritability. It's a premeditated attack on property driven by political motivations.
But since he shares Moriarty's politics, that got him a sweetheart deal.
Oh, he's supposed to be on the hook for the repairs and all that, but it should still result in felony charges. The fact that it doesn't shows that in that part of Minnesota, if you're leftist enough, you can get away with a lot more than the rest of the people can.
