Getting ready for what's going to happen tomorrow night in Baltimore with the Ravens.
Tony Benner tells me the Bengals are about a four to five point underdog.
Hendrickson might be able to play, might not. But Deshaun Watson in Cleveland
now having a season ending shoulder surgery, so you would think the Brownies are
done. So we'll see what happens there. Coming up later as a live
report from San Francisco on the meetings with Shijao Ping, the premiere of Communist
re at China, and Joe Biden. Hopefully he'll stay awake till six or
some o'clock tonight. It's on the West coast, so it's only three o'clock
Eastern time, so we might get a shot at him being somewhat cognizant.
But until then, how many kind of prosecutor? Melissa Powers is with us
now, and Melissa, welcome again to the Bill Cunningham Show. And before
we talk philosophically, it appears that Philip aul Well, nineteen years old,
is charged with a felony for inducing panic over the Protestations of those on council
who doesn't want him charged as a felony, and I would say the city
council know your role and shut your mouth when it comes to law enforcement.
But nonetheless, in the past this has not been considered to be a serious
offense and it's proliferating. Whatever you put up with, you incentivized. Tell
us about state of ole hire versus Philip Allwell, nineteen years old inducing panic
on a burnout. Give us a full report. Thanks Billy for having me
on your show. So this is from the incident that happened on October fifteenth
on River Road. So it's in reference to multiple vehicles that block the roadway
and not allowing any other vehicles to pay us while other vehicles were in the
pit doing slides and donuts and burnouts. He is now charged with inducing panic.
So thankfully, with the investigation of the Society Police Department, we've been
able to bring one person before to justice and he's been indicted for inducing panic.
It's a felony the fourth degree. This is for causing serious public and
convenience or alarm and having reckless disregard that the commission of the offense of diorly
conduct is also that it resulted in economic carm more than seven hundred and fifty
dollars excuse me, seven five hundred dollars, but less one thousand, less
one hundred thousand dollars. So he also in the indictment using the forfeiture statue,
since the vehicle was used as the instrumentality of inducing panic and committing the
offense, we can under the forfeiture statute seize and forfeit his vehicle. And
that's exactly what the grand jury did, and so he is being brought to
justice. Regarding that incident, Well, when you think about a nineteen year
old boy, you know by law he's a man. I can recall having
drag races. There are fast and furious movies, which I think is incentivized.
This YouTube has done a great job, along with TikTok and incentivizing this
kind of behavior. It used to be there'd be two cars lined up and
maybe on River Road and some of the straight stretch and simply take off down
the road, which is dangerous. But this is different. This is almost
organized and which dozens of people have to literally block River Road or block I
seventy one in the lightle tunnel, back up the traffic to the Brent spent.
This is unbelievable. Do you think social media plays a role in publicizing
all this, Well, definitely, the social media aspect of this is,
you know, this is how they organize. Is also reflecting showing off I
suppose, but it definitely is showing the sheer lawlessness of these actors, how
brazen they are, how emboldened they are, and especially in communities and cities
where laws are not being enforced by prosecutors and police officers and are not pursuing.
So they came here to Hamilton County thinking that a lot of these actors
are out of the not just they're not from Hamilton County. They came down
from Dayton, they came down from Columbus. We're still looking, I know
Sincini Police is still conducting investigation to get others they're going. But there's obviously
there's been some distraction with a lot of the violence that's been happening in the
past two weeks. So some of those resources left and then went off into
more of a focus on a violent crime here, which is where it should
be. But what we want to make sure is that with this is not
an example that we want to continue in Hamilton County and don't want it to
be tolerated. I think it's a reflection of bigger problems that city has,
Large cities have, where there's a lack of respect for law enforcement, there's
organized retail theft, there's mob This is very to me, very mob oriented
type violence is reckless, it's dangerous, and then like you said, you
know there's some aspect of I guess, becoming famous or getting their fifty minutes
of fame on social media and being cool, so it goes way beyond just
drag racing. This. In my opinion, it's just as dangerous, but
somewhat even more dangerous because they're holding everybody in those areas hostage. There's the
fear you don't know what can happen when you have that many people, if
there if some of the cool part of what they're trying to do or they
think is cool, is actually show that they're brave enough to go in the
center and touch vehicles. If you go on YouTube, you can see they
actually post these videos of other people in the crowd getting hurt. I mean
seriously hurt. I don't know about killed, but obviously that's a possibility of
how dangerous this whole activity is. But what outrage is me is that they
think they can come into Hamilton County and the laws won't be enforced. And
they also, I think, are aware of the policy the Cincinnati Police Department
cannot pursue. So they're staying in the city of Cincinnati in that jurisdiction and
there's no real pursuit. But we're finding them another way, really because of
them posting their videos on YouTube. Well, I look at this, and
I'll play Devil's advocate for a moment. I heard one or two say,
after all, in the Hamlet County and the city of Cincinnati, we have
thirty five thousand shots are fired every year in the city of Cincinnati. This
isn't the county, just the city. Thirty five thousand bullets are flying around.
You got four hundred people that are wounded. We got Mayhem Constant eighty
to nine. You're going to be killed. Thirty two juveniles have been shot
and killed. So why would the prosecutor care about a traffic matter. Tony
Bender, for the sake of argument, would say, how about focusing on
the serious stuff in which there's Mayhem and Louis Vauton stores are being looted there's
mass there's mass looting of department stores, you have bricks falling off the crew
tower. Oh, hell's breaking loose, And we're going to focus on a
drag race. Are you kidding me? That's the argument of some What would
you say to that, Well, the focus isn't just solely on drag racing
or the street takeovers. The focus is on making sure that mob and violence
and activity that can hurt others in the community does not happen here. And
if you start forgiving one law or allows something happen, you know, and
not enforce the law and not hold people accountable in one area, it just
trickles down and creates bigger problems within the community. It also is saying these
people are saying, we're coming here. We know you're not going to do
anything about it. We don't think even if you did something about it,
nothing's going to happen to us. And so we feel so emboldened to come
into your community, stop traffic, put the middle finger up to law enforcement
and say you know, haha. And if there's an inconvenience to other people,
if there's somebody that can't get to a hospital because it's in the middle
of the of the expressway, you know, along those lines. So what
do we just let that go away? I agree with you did. We
have big problems here in Hamilton County. The Prosecutors Office as well as the
Society Police Department, and as in all the police departments throughout the Camilton County
are working very very hard to keep our neighborhoods and our people safe, and
that's what our focus is. But we cannot allow the decay of society to
happen, to allow things to trickle down, to have the lack of respect
for law enforcement, or to allow any dangerous behavior, because it just leads
into more. And that's what made me so angry when I saw it coming
here. They think that we're not going to enforce the law, and we
are. We will enforce the law if it takes time. If you look
at the January sixth investigations that that was all by video that they were able
to it took time. This will take some time. But I also think
we can do more than just one thing in order to enforce the laws.
I think we can stay focused on violent crime. We can stay focused on
making sure we're putting the bad guys away, and we can also stay focused
on making sure that we keep neighborhoods. But it starts with enforcing all the
laws. I don't just pick and choose what law we're going to enforce,
because that sends the wrong message. And if I'm just picking and choosing,
that's where the burning of every city that we're seeing on TV is happening.
Because there's prosecutors out there that are just picking and choosing what laws to enforce,
and they're willing to allow nine hundred dollars to be stolen from home depot
and so five hundred people go in and nothing's being done to them. They
they'll get away with it. We cannot send the message that you can get
away with crime. It'll be enforced. And the best way I think,
you know this young man, maybe he'll roll a lenient judge. I don't
know, Maybe nothing will be done, Maybe they'll take the attitude as you
said, playing the devil's advocate. But the one thing, the one thing
I know that'll put an end to it is seizing that car. They do
not want to lease their property, so regardless of the outcome of the case,
I can still take that car, and I want that to be the
message to anybody thinking that they're going to come in here, whether they get
away with it or not, if I'm going to catch you or the police
catch you, I will make sure that car is taken. So you're saying
missing powers that even if this has rolled to a liberal, left wing,
progressive judge who doesn't put anybody in jail, even in that case, you
can start a civil forfeits are proceeding against the car itself. That's exactly right.
There's no discretion for that liberal judge or the lenient judge on that car.
They have to it has to be forfeited, so the car will be
taken. Great now. On an unrelated matter, I had on David Yost
the other day, the state prosecutor, I'm sorry, the state attorney general,
and I brought it to him a pot enforcement, marijuana enforcement, and
right now. His answers mainly were, we're not sure, don't know.
It appears starting December the seventh, that from that point on, a person
in their home can possess certain amounts of marijuana. And he said, it
appears they can grow marijuana in their home a certain number of plants. I
think the number is six in your home and it takes several months actually bring
a marijuana Tony Benner tells me, from seed to fruition. But nonetheless,
are you and your top assistance reviewing what the law is going to be in
marijuana when according to Mike DeWine, and according to Huffman, and according to
Stevens, the head of the House in the Senate, they're not sure how
to proceed. What is the county prosecutor do on the front lines when you're
actually in court every day. What you allow means you encourage it. So
at this point, as we sit here this Wednesday afternoon, what's the status
of enforcement of marijuana law in Hamlin County. Well, obviously with the new
law, now I have to say I have not read through the entire law
yet. My appellate division is working. They're the ones that are looking into
the and reviewing and making recommendations. But I can say, you know,
obviously the people have spoken it's struck creational marijuana, and like you said,
it seems like you can grow a certain amount even in your own home.
What I also, we also are cognizant of we will continue to be prosecuting
drug dealers that people that will be dealing because that's still illegal and we will
be prosecuting. I can tell you anybody that's under the OVI Statute, if
they are impaired drivers, they will be prosecuted. So there are things that
our office will continue to prosecute, just as if we did before. So
this bill is recreational use. It's not allowing people to sell marijuana. They
have to they have to go to those dispensaries to buy it. So the
drug dealers are going to be out of business when it comes to marijuana.
And if they're not, then they'll be continued to be prosecuted on the other
nuances of it. I haven't I don't have those answers for you today,
but like you know, i'll get back with you on that. Another issue
is when on Donovan and I, along with the People's Judge, walk across
Washington Park on a summer's day, the smell of marijuana is ubiquitous. So
I walked up to a command officer who was a block away and I said,
eighth Captain, he said. I talked to him a little bit.
I said, how come you can openly smoke marijuana in Washington Park. This
was a couple three months ago. And he said, well, it's not
something we're focusing on. City council and the mayor has kind of told the
police division, you know what, focus on something else. You can't arrest
people, you can prosecute and once they're arrested. What is your view on
police being told by civil authorities essentially not to arrest individuals who break the law.
Well, that goes back to what's going on around the country and some
of these other cities where laws aren't being enforced, and then how that affects
overall society and the quality of society. My focus is always on, and
I do with this every day, is how do I keep our county stay
for every citizen, and to keep our businesses have the ability to continue to
thrive and grow and a great place for us to live and raise a family.
So safety is always number one. I think picking and choosing what laws
to enforce and what not to enforce is not a good philosophy. You know,
if you want change, it needs to come from the state legislature.
So I'm not in charge of the police, you know, like you said,
I don't make the you know, this office does not make the arrests,
but we do enforce the law when it comes to us and hold people
accountable. All right. Now, Lastly, according to the Inquirer, I
don't think this comes as a shock. The headline is that you have an
announced opponent to run against you, that being Connie Pillage, and she has
said in this column written by Sharon Coolidge that she wants to professionalize your prosecutor's
office. She wants to quote professionalize your office. Are there professionals prosecuting in
Hamilton County or are there a bunch of unranked amateurs. Well, the voters
in Hamilton County the next ball will have a clear choice as to who they
want to be their Hamilton County prosecutor. I can tell you the talent in
this office are the best litigators, even civil litigators. They get the rank
as the top litigators in the in the county, in the city. And
maybe I'm not even sure. I haven't seen and prosecutor or have been in
other court rooms throughout the state, but I think they're some of the best.
They're in the court room every single day. I'm working hard to make
sure that the people are held accountable and bad actors are put behind bars.
So next November, the voters will have a really clear choice. You have
me. I have spent my entire career thirty one years in public service keeping
people safe and helping others. I was a prosecutor. I put bad guys
behind bars. We helped criminals accountable. As a judge, I had great
compassion, but I had great strength to be able to do what was the
right thing to do to make sure that the people and the community was safe.
And I supported law enforcement. Victims were always paramount. They had a
voice in every case. And I found real solutions to real problems. And
I've got an entire You can go through my career and history to be able
to see some of the solutions, such as the Veterans Treatment Court that I
started when I was a municipal court judge, or when I was in juvenile
court. We had problems with graduation rates and children with trauma and behavioral health
issues. We addressed that and we're able to get real results to keep kids
out of the criminal justice system. And then I did a number of years
as a defense attorney, protecting the constitutional rights of others and represent them ballously.
So my opponent, she's basically going to say a career politician. She
has thrown her hat in every open position she thinks that she can get a
government job and has a chance to win. And she's lost on her last
three that she entered in. She or lost her or with Drew, I
should say, And when she loses this race for prosecutors, she'll run again
until she finally finds something she does win at. She does not have the
experience that I have to be prosecutor. She doesn't even want to be prosecutor.
I think she's just an open seat that she thinks because she's got a
d behind her name and she can put that on the ballot that qualifies her
and she'll win. And quite sadly that could be the case. But I
also believe strongly and confident that the residents of Hamilton County are very smart.
They know and they will They're concerned for their safety and the safety of their
family, and that means more than any political affiliation. And it is my
goal here and next year to make sure that they look at the two candidates
and one the one that's most qualified, which is going to be me.
Like I said, I have the proven track record, I have the results.
I always love this office and I've always you know, to be prosecutor.
I mean, this is just a dream and a great honor. It's
such just another job. She probably needs a paycheck. And a wise person
once said she's the latest mouthpiece for the liberal crusade to ruin American cities through
lawlessness and chaos, and Melissa Powers would say, not on my watch,
so exactly, Melissa, good luck, and we'll see what happens down the
road relative to marijuana laws, et cetera. And once again, thank you
for coming on the Bill Cunningham Show. Melissa, thank you very much.
You're welcome. Thanks Bill. Let's continue with more your comments. Bill Cunningham
News Radio seven hundred WULW Hey Bengals fans. You know, great tackling can
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and a ship