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<v Speaker 1>A story that featured Sheriff Steve Dreams from Weld County

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<v Speaker 1>expressing his displeasure about the fact that his office had

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<v Speaker 1>to release a man who's proven himself to be dangerous. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>that man is back in jail. We don't know how long,

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<v Speaker 1>but I've got Sheriff Steve Riams with me now to

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<v Speaker 1>talk about it. Sheriff, first of all, thanks for making

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<v Speaker 1>time today.

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<v Speaker 2>Hebette, thanks for bringing this an issue to attention. Mandy.

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<v Speaker 1>So, my first question, and just as a reminder for

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<v Speaker 1>my audience from Divisa, is the man's name. If you

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<v Speaker 1>could tell me how you encountered or have encountered mister

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<v Speaker 1>de Visa in the past and what inspired you to

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<v Speaker 1>sort of make this public. What's going on?

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<v Speaker 2>Sure, Well, he's a twenty one year old individual that

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<v Speaker 2>lives in the Weld County area can really specifically most

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<v Speaker 2>of the time. He's a Tanzania national. He's a refugee

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<v Speaker 2>in this country. I believe he's been here for six

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<v Speaker 2>or seven years, maybe even longer. My interaction with him

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<v Speaker 2>is because he's been repeatd brought to the Weld County

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<v Speaker 2>jail from numerous police agencies, and I believe he's been

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<v Speaker 2>arrested as of yesterday, eleven times on some very serious charges.

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<v Speaker 2>But his last arrest was the most significant one, and

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<v Speaker 2>that was for attempted second degree murder. And my interaction

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<v Speaker 2>with that case was because I was I'm friends with

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<v Speaker 2>the victim's family, and so the victim in that particular incident,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, he was beaten very severely by by this individual,

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<v Speaker 2>and all the beating incident was filmed or videoed by

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<v Speaker 2>Debisa's friends, and so that video got posted to social media.

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<v Speaker 2>The victim in that incident, his family shared that video

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<v Speaker 2>with me and said, you got to help us. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>this guy's likely to be released because he's been found

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<v Speaker 2>incompetent to stand trial, and this just seems like a

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<v Speaker 2>travesty of justice. And I agree with him, and so

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<v Speaker 2>I definitely leaned into that situation and tried to figure

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<v Speaker 2>out every possible scenario to keep this person from being

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<v Speaker 2>released from my facility. And unfortunately, the lodge just tied

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<v Speaker 2>my hands and we were forced to release him. This

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<v Speaker 2>a little over two weeks ago, but he was re

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<v Speaker 2>arrested yesterday on new criminal charges.

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<v Speaker 1>Who could have guessed, So let's go back to that release.

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<v Speaker 1>The last time. Governor Jared Polis released a rather snarky

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<v Speaker 1>and terse tweet about it, saying, well, there's other laws

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<v Speaker 1>in Colorado they could have used to commit him to

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<v Speaker 1>a facility or something along those lines. Did you look

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<v Speaker 1>at every other opportunity to get this guy off the streets?

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<v Speaker 1>And if you did, why did that not work?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it might surprise you to hear this, but the

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<v Speaker 2>governor was just dead wrong. He made an assumption that

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<v Speaker 2>my county attorney and the district attorney up here had

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<v Speaker 2>not done their jobs in trying to figure out if

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<v Speaker 2>there was a different way that this person could be

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<v Speaker 2>handled other than released to the street. But that would

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<v Speaker 2>have required some on a mental health commitment. And you know,

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<v Speaker 2>right or wrong, this person does not have an underlying

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<v Speaker 2>mental health issue. Competency and mental health aren't necessarily tied together.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes they are. In this individual's case, his lack of

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<v Speaker 2>competency has nothing to do with an underlying mental illness.

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<v Speaker 2>So the governor was trying to point to provisions in

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<v Speaker 2>the statutes that allow for mental health holds to be

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<v Speaker 2>placed and whatnot, but they're just not applicable with this guy.

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<v Speaker 2>He's just geared wrong. I believe he has an evil

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<v Speaker 2>mind and he has no intention of following the law.

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<v Speaker 2>But does he have an underlying mental health a diagnosed

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<v Speaker 2>mental health issue. No, he's not been on a mental

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<v Speaker 2>health plan at all while he's been in my facility,

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<v Speaker 2>and he probably won't be this time either.

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<v Speaker 1>So wait a minute, how has he been declared unable

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<v Speaker 1>to stand trial if he doesn't have any diagnosed or

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<v Speaker 1>diagnosable mental conditions. I'm confused by that.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, you and me both. Basically what it comes down

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<v Speaker 2>to is my understanding is he does not have the

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<v Speaker 2>cognitive ability and I say that in their quotes to

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<v Speaker 2>understand the gravity of his actions or the legal or

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<v Speaker 2>the criminal justice system as it pertains to those things.

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<v Speaker 2>I think it's a ruse. I think it's a game.

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<v Speaker 2>I just I think this guy is just flippant towards

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<v Speaker 2>towards any consequences. And because of that, you know, he's

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<v Speaker 2>likely he comes off to these professional persons that do

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<v Speaker 2>his evaluation as someone who's just you know, is incapable

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<v Speaker 2>of understanding the severity of what they're doing. Regardless even

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<v Speaker 2>if they're correct. If that is the case, it still

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<v Speaker 2>shows another giant hole in our criminal justice system, because

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<v Speaker 2>if he's if he's incapable of understanding the severity of

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<v Speaker 2>what he's done, then he's probably incapable of functioning in

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<v Speaker 2>society in a way that's not dangerous to folks. But again,

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<v Speaker 2>our laws, for lack of better terms, they sucker right

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<v Speaker 2>now when it deals with when you're dealing with criminals

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<v Speaker 2>and the laws are tilted to their side, and this

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<v Speaker 2>guy's taking firm advantage of it.

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<v Speaker 1>So let me ask this, though he's a refugee, what

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<v Speaker 1>about his immigration status, is there any opportunity you know,

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<v Speaker 1>And I realize you cannot coordinate with ICE because of

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<v Speaker 1>the stupid laws in Colorado, but I mean, would that

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<v Speaker 1>be an opportunity for ICE to maybe if they're listening,

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<v Speaker 1>to just go, hey, this guy's in jail right now,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe we need to check this out.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So you know, we've had some i'll just say

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<v Speaker 2>hypothetical questions of ICE. And my understanding is that unless

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<v Speaker 2>he's unless this individual is charged and convicted of a

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<v Speaker 2>serious of a violent crime or a felony, then his

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<v Speaker 2>refugee status cannot be revoked. Well, obviously he's not getting

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<v Speaker 2>convicted of any of these cases because he's being found

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<v Speaker 2>and competent to stand trial. So I pushed this as

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<v Speaker 2>far as I can, all the way up to hopefully

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<v Speaker 2>Tom Holman's desk to see if there's a different viewpoint

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<v Speaker 2>that can be taken with this individual. But you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we're also exploring if if federal charges might apply, especially

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<v Speaker 2>in this most recent case, because of having a firearm

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<v Speaker 2>on a college campus, and so if that's the avenue

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<v Speaker 2>to get him out of a criminal justice system that

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<v Speaker 2>is not as broken as Colorado's, then maybe that's the

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<v Speaker 2>way that we finally could get a conviction on him

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<v Speaker 2>and get him deported from the United States. But he

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't deserve to be here. He doesn't he doesn't add

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<v Speaker 2>any value to the United States or to this this

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<v Speaker 2>state specifically, because all he does is victimize people. He's

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<v Speaker 2>he's a criminal opportunist.

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<v Speaker 1>He's a predator.

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<v Speaker 2>He's a predator. Yeah, that's a that's a great way

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<v Speaker 2>to put it. And he's taken advantage of the citizens

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<v Speaker 2>in Well County and specifically in the city of Greeley,

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<v Speaker 2>and he creates fear and discontent pretty much wherever he goes.

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<v Speaker 2>From what I can tell you.

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<v Speaker 1>Know, basically what you just told me about him, being

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<v Speaker 1>declared incompetent. It seems that he's he's in you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I remember Vinnie the chin Jagante. You remember him walking

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<v Speaker 1>around in his bathrobe to prove to prosecutors in New

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<v Speaker 1>York that he was crazy. That was his whole stick,

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<v Speaker 1>Like he was just going to prove this. To me,

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<v Speaker 1>seems like this guy has figured out if he just

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<v Speaker 1>acts like he cannot follow along and does not understand

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<v Speaker 1>the process, he's going to keep getting out. And is

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<v Speaker 1>that what's going to happen this time?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, that's very likely what could happen in this particular case.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm hoping that with enough attention on this case, we

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<v Speaker 2>get a professional person, qualified person that puts way more

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<v Speaker 2>effort into determining competency with this individual. I don't know

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<v Speaker 2>that that's probably a pie in the sky dream there,

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<v Speaker 2>but ultimately I think you hit the nail on the head.

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<v Speaker 2>He knows, you know, he's he's been trained through the

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<v Speaker 2>system that if he's just you know, if he just

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't care about the consequences the null demi men competent,

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<v Speaker 2>he'll get released and he can go back to doing

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<v Speaker 2>whatever he wants to do. The interesting thing is, oftentimes

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<v Speaker 2>when he commits one of these acts, he has a

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<v Speaker 2>crowd around him where he has, you know, a friend

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<v Speaker 2>with him who's filming this stuff or taking pictures of him,

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<v Speaker 2>and so that he can turn around and post it

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<v Speaker 2>on social media as friends can. In fact, the attempted

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<v Speaker 2>second degree murder was all on video that was posted

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<v Speaker 2>to social media. I was given that video from the

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<v Speaker 2>victim's family that's publicly available. It was so that to

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<v Speaker 2>me does not speak of someone who doesn't understand their actions.

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<v Speaker 2>I just the system's broken, and I've called on Governor

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<v Speaker 2>Polus with every one of these these reports to call

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<v Speaker 2>a special session and fix this. If nothing else, just

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<v Speaker 2>repeal House Built twenty four ten thirty four. That's the

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<v Speaker 2>law that they change that really sped this process up

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<v Speaker 2>and created this bigger hole in the system than it

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<v Speaker 2>ever been. So let's just start by repealing that. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>they don't have to fix everything at once, but just

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<v Speaker 2>undo what you've broken. And it's been crickets.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that's because to admit that they have made crime

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<v Speaker 1>too easy and too available and too soft in Colorado

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<v Speaker 1>would be to admit that all of their efforts at

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<v Speaker 1>criminal justice reform have done nothing but in bolden criminals.

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<v Speaker 2>But that's just me.

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<v Speaker 1>Share Steve Dreams from Welld County. I appreciate your time today, man.

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<v Speaker 2>You bet many. Thank you for having me on now,

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<v Speaker 2>thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>Making the time that is Steve Dreams