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Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to

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this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon

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to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you

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want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream,

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my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron,

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go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the

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subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your

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smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for

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your support. I do want to start off just real

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quick with condolences to the family of Corey crow Smith.

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He was a listener of the station and he and

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his wife, both Jennifer, and he passed away from cancer.

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Attended his funeral service yesterday or Saturday, I guess it was.

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And this was over at Third Presbyterian Church in East Charlotte,

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and the pastor there, the Reverend Jay Weigel I think

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is his name. He I mean, the place was packed,

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absolutely packed, and he did something I have never heard

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of or experienced before. He told the story of how

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he had gone to the Gospel Music awards or convention.

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I think he said it was in pigeon Ford, Fords rather,

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and there was a singer there and she did this,

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and so he brought it to this service and it

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was and I've just offered this up if you ever

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are in a position to have this done, it's pretty remarkable,

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which was to have everybody in the church hum amazing

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grace and it was just it was beautiful and it

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was transcendent. And if you ever get a chance to

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do it, I highly recommend it. And so our prayers

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are with the Smith family and all of his friends.

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He had so many of them, and we'll miss you

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today in Charlotte Congresses in town. It's a subcommittee of

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the House Judiciary. So this is, yeah, the House Judiciary

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Subcommittee on Oversight. They are holding a field hearing. They're

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doing it at the Federal Courthouse in Uptown Charlotte, and

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the topic is victims of violent crime. I was watching it.

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It's still going on. It's happening. I think it's running

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for about another twenty minutes. Started at ten am. I

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pulled some audio, but just because of the nature of

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the it being a live event, that's still going on now,

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I'm gonna have like to get some of this audio

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queued up in the right spots. I haven't been able

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to pull a lot of clips because again the timing

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of it. Anyway, I want to start though with the

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victims families. The people that were invited by the Republicans

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were Mia Alderman. She was or is the grandmother of

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a woman who was murdered in Charlotte. Her name was

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Mary Collins and so Mia Alderman is her grandma. She

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spoke Steve Federico, the father of Logan Federico from Charlotte,

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who was murdered in Columbia, South Carolina while visiting friends.

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We covered this story when it happened as well. He

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was one of the witnesses to testify Officer Justin Campbell

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with Charlotte Mecklenburg Police. He was there and talking about

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the April twenty twenty four shooting that led to the

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deaths of for law enforcement officers while they were serving

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a warrant on a you know, repeat violent offender. And

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I was not aware of this, but Officer Campbell apparently

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lost his foot due to the injury he sustained at

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that at that shootout. And then there was Michael Woody,

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who is the owner and CEO of eight to eight

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Bail Bonds and he is the North Carolina representative for

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the National Association of Bail Agents, and basically his testimony

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can be summed up pretty simply, cashle's bail breaks the system.

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There's no reason to keep doing this. He makes the

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argument that secured bond puts people who are you know,

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friends and family, whoever it is that's posting the bond

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for the defendant. It makes them connected to the defendant

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and that case, and if you don't have the secured

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bond element, then they just walk and there isn't anybody

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there that's like, dude, you better go back to court,

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because like, that's my house that I'm gonna lose. That's

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my money that's on the line, right. So that was it.

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Just he was there to talk trash about the cash

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list bail system, which has been implemented across the country,

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including here in Charlotte, as part of the quote unquote

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reforms that Democrats wanted to see in the wake of

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the twenty twenty summer of fiery but mostly peaceful riots.

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Right like that, this is what these reforms have wrought.

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So a big focus also was on the court system,

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as it should be, because that's really where this is

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breaking down. You've got individuals of a particular ideology, who

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are making decisions that are allowing people to cycle in

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and out, in and out, in and out, repeat, repeat offenses.

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You also have. And by the way, I think that

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the criticism that the Democrats made at the hearing today

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against Republicans is legitimate for not funding more prosecutors in

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the DA's office. This has been a problem literally my

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entire adult life in Charlotte, going back thirty years. The

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das have always when it was a Democrat legislature. When

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it's a Republican legislature, the DA's office in Mecklenburg County

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has been understaffed. One of the stats. So Democrats, they

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brought two witnesses of their own. They didn't bring any victims.

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They brought Dina King, who was the former US attorney

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but she was a you know, Democrat appointee, so she's

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now out. Now it's Russ Ferguson for the Western District.

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And she got on. She got up there to talk

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about need more money, because of course, you know that's

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what Democrats are always saying, we need more money. And

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she talked about the burnout. Prosecutors get burned out. They

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have high case loads, which leads to plea deals cases

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getting dropped and that's a problem. So she was there,

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and then there was some other fella I think his

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name was Asher, his last name was Asher, and he

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was like some statistics guy from New Orleans, and he

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came in to talk about how crime stats are actually low,

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which I mean that is I guess that's it is

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relevant to talk about the crime stats. I don't know

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if that's like the best move to do when you're

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sitting next to families who have had their loved ones

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murdered in horrific manner. So like, I'm not sure that

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looks the way you thought it was going to look.

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But yeah, he came in and said, basically, you know,

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there was this like super large increase in crime around

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twenty twenty, but let's just skirt past that. Then after

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you know, twenty two and twenty three, now the numbers

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are dropping and we saw historic declines because we had

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an historic rise first, but we have the historic declines. Now.

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See everything's feeling safer, right, everybody feels safer. Now, Okay,

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that was there. That was the argument Democrats presented. More money,

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Republicans are just trying to score political points and crimes

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Limited time offer. So the House Judiciary Subcommittee excuse me

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in town, wrapped up there or is wrapping up their

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hearing on violent crime. This was a field hearing. One

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of the witnesses that was called to testify was Yeah,

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was Steve Federico, the father of Logan Federico, who was

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murdered in Columbia, South Carolina while she was staying with

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friends overnight at their house, and some violent offender breaks

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into the house and murders her. The family, she and

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her father if the family is from Charlotte. So he

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appeared at this and here's what he said.

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Speaker 2: How about y'all have kids. I'm just curious. Here's what

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I need you to do when I tell you this story.

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Think about your kids. Think about your child coming home

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from the night out with their friends, laying down, going

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to sleep, feeling somebody come in the room and wake

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them and drag her out of bed, naked, forced on

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her knees, with her hands over her head, begging for

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her life, begging for her hero. Her father me, that

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couldn't be there. She was five foot three, she weighed

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one hundred and fifteen.

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Speaker 1: Bang dead.

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Speaker 2: Gone. Why because Alexander Devonte Dickey, who was arrested thirty

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nine goddamn times twenty five felonies, was on the street.

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How about that? How good are we doing for our family?

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How good are you doing for your kids? He should

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have been in jail for over one hundred and forty

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years for all the crimes he committed. You know how

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much time he's spent in prison? A little over six

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hundred days in ten years. He's only thirty years old.

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He was committing two point sixty five crimes a year

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since he was fifteen years old. But nobody could figure

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out that he couldn't be rehabilitated. So you'd have to

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put him in prison to see if he could be rehabilitated.

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Isn't that the idea of prison? But no, my daughter

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wanted to be a teacher. She finally figured it out

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two weeks before she was executed. And I haven't heard

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a damn word from Byron Gibson in South Carolina, not

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one word, four months, no communication. His biggest concern was

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that he was pissed off about my interview and how

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I made him look on the Fox News channel with

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Trey Gowdi. How pathetic is that that we're letting our

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twenty two year old kid visiting friends. It's all she

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ever wanted to do is visit friends. And she literally

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was executed while on her knees, begging for her life.

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Her name's logan Federico, not irena. And you will not

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forget her. I promise you. You will be sick and tired

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of my face and my voice until this gets fixed.

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I will fight until my last breath for my daughter.

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You need to fight for the rest of our children,

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the rest of the innocents, and stop protecting the people

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that keep taking them from us. Please, you have the power.

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We put you in the power to do what you

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have to do. We're asking you, we're begging you all

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to stop this. Thirty nine crimes in ten years, twenty

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five felonies. Can anybody here explain to me? Well, how

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possibly he could be on the street, possibly be on

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the street.

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Speaker 1: How is it possible?

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Speaker 2: I could sit down a room and I can explain

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the whole process I have it failed? How South Carolina failed? Logan, Okay,

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how lack of communication? What y'all did? You woke up

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a beast and you pissed off the wrong daddy? Because

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I'm going to put it out there and I'm not

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going to be quiet until somebody helps. Logan deserves to

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be heard. Everyone on this panel deserves to be heard,

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and we will trust me. My daughter laid on the

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floor for seven hours before somebody in that house recognized

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that something was wrong and that cure criminal. An hour later,

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went on a spending spree with her debit card. When

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they saw his face on a video. They didn't have

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to do a check. He was arrested so many times.

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I knew who he was, They knew exactly where to

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go get him. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic that I'm here today.

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Thank you for your time.

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Speaker 1: All right. So that's Steve Federico. That comment where he

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said her name was Logan, not Arena, that was a

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response to Congresswoman Deborah Ross from North Carolina Democrat from

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Wake County, who mistakenly thought he was a member of

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the Zarutzka family or something or saw the photo that

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he's got this big picture. It was hard to see

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just watching the live stream, but it seemed like she

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misidentified him and he interrupted her during her opening statement.

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So that's that's how this started. You know, stories are powerful.

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They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences.

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Stories connect us to the people of our past while

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transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life

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and art. Stories are told through images and videos. Preserve

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your stories with Creative Video. Started in nineteen ninety seven

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dot com. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight meeting in Charlotte

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today at the Federal Courthouse. They brought in witnesses, family

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members of violent crime victims. You heard from Steve Federico,

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the father of Logan Federico. This is Mia Alderman and

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her granddaughter was Mary Collins.

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Speaker 3: I'm the grandmother of Mary Collins. Mary Collins. Mary was

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sadistically tortured. She was tortured, She was brutally murdered in Charlotte,

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North Carolina, in twenty twenty. This is twenty twenty five

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and a half. Mary was only twenty years old when

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her life was taken in the most horrific way, imaginable, imaginable.

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Speaker 4: She was bludgeoned in the head.

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Speaker 3: She was stabbed over one hundred and thirty times. Mary

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was then bled out in a bathtub. All of Mary's

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blood went down into the Charlotte sewer system. Mary was

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then wrapped in plastic and hidden inside a mattress while

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myself and my family and then members of the community

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tried to get to Mary. I myself was inside the

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apartment yelling Mary's name to no avail we I'm sorry,

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this is very difficult.

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Speaker 4: I have it written out.

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Speaker 3: But then as I sat here, I sort of decided

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that I needed to go a little further. Our families

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now endured more than five years of waiting, and still

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her case has not gone to trial. Five years is

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not justice. Five years is torment. Every day of delay

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deepens the wound for our family and makes a mockery

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of accountability. What makes this even more unbearable is how

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the justice system has handled those accused of Mary's murder.

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Speaker 4: Thank you. Two of them were released on bond.

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Speaker 3: As if their crimes were minor, as if they stole

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a candy bar or you know, maybe broke in a

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car or something one in particular. Her name is America

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Ray Deal. She remains free on bond today. Despite repeated

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violations of her curfew and ankle monitor conditions. She has

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faced little to no consequence. We know she has broken curfew,

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left her home, pushed the boundaries of the very system

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meant to contain her. She basically thumps her nose at it,

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which you can see for yourself on the photos that

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she posted on social media. They've now been taken down,

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but we have copies. Nothing's been done. How can someone

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accused of such cruelty walk free? Why we Mary's family

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serve a life sentence of grief. The failures did not

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begin in the courtroom. They began when Mary was killed.

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For days, family, friends in the community pleaded for help, pleaded.

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I was pleading as Mary's.

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Speaker 4: I don't know the right word.

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Speaker 3: Mary had a disability, and an invisible disability. If you're

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familiar with invisible disabilities, that means that you can't really,

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you know, look at her and tell.

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Speaker 4: Caregiver would be the right word.

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Speaker 3: The police department and the detective would not comprehend what

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I was saying about Mary and how these people had

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her and they were hurting her, and I needed to

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get to her. It was long and it was torturous

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to even get him to go through that apartment door

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where she lay wrapped in plastic and concealed inside a mattress.

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It was eight days since Mary left home when they

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brought Mary out. It was finally the night of April fourth.

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She left the house on March twenty eighth. The next

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day was Mary's mother's birthday, April fifth. That delay costs

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precious time, and it compounded the horror of what we

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later learned had happened inside. I cannot speak everything that

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happened to Mary, because if I try to speak what

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happened to Mary, I will no longer be able to

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sit or stand. So you're gonna have to use your

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imagination on that part. Justice delayed is justice denied, and

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time is stealing our justice with the backlog court system

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for murder trials. And Mary is not the only victim.

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We're here because Irana Urania Zoruska was also brutally stabbed

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and killed in Charlotte. She now brings us here today.

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The same system that failed Mary failed to Irania. Our

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hearts are broken for her family and her friends, and

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we grieve with them. We carry the heavy knowledge of

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the continued agony, agony that they now face.

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Speaker 4: This is not just about two young women.

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Speaker 3: It's about the justice system in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

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that is failing the very people it's sworn to protect.

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We need accountability, We need reform. We need to ensure

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that those accused of heinous crimes are swiftly prosecuted, that

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they're not allowed to be released on bond and just

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live their life.

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Speaker 4: They get to go.

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Speaker 3: Home and sleep in their own bed, and party and

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have Christmas. And I wondered when they released America, did

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her mom. Did her mom get to smell her hair.

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Speaker 1: Did she know?

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Speaker 3: Did she wrap her in in a warm blanket at night?

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Because I thought, I think about that sometimes Mary being

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in the ground, in the ground, in the ground dead.

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Speaker 4: And she was so decomposed by.

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Speaker 3: The time they got her out of that apartment that

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we never saw her again. We couldn't look at her,

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I couldn't smell her hair, touch her face, hold her.

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Speaker 4: I didn't know what to do.

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Speaker 3: Was I supposed to wrap her in a blanket for

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her to be buried or her siblings. You know, they

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wanted her to be buried in her favorite clothes. It

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was COVID, so only ten of us could go to

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a graveyard.

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Speaker 4: We couldn't have a.

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Speaker 3: Funeral for Mary has had no funeral, no funeral.

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Speaker 4: None. Her murderers have not faced trial. They've been out

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free on bond.

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Speaker 3: And we had to go to a cemetery where there

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was a casket that they told.

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Speaker 4: Us Mary was in, and only ten of us could go.

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Speaker 1: She said later on in this hearing that the DA

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is right now getting through the twenty nineteen murder trials.

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That's how far behind they are on taking murderers to trial.

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So when I was a kid, my grandpa died with Alzheimer's,

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and before he died, my mom and my dad took

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00:26:27,559 --> 00:26:29,759
care of him as he got worse. Forty years ago,

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00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,000
there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers

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00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,559
and family. But things are different today because of the

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00:26:35,599 --> 00:26:38,799
work of so many people, including the Alzheimer's Association of

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00:26:38,799 --> 00:26:42,400
Western Carolina. It's a great organization with awesome people with

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00:26:42,599 --> 00:26:45,359
huge hearts. I've been a supporter for twenty five years.

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00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,720
This cause means a lot to me. I participate in

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00:26:48,759 --> 00:26:51,599
the annual Walk to end Alzheimer's and I'm leading a

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00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,799
Charlotte team again this year and it's called once again

371
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,240
Pete's Pack. You can sign up and you can join

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00:26:57,279 --> 00:26:59,960
the team and walk with us. It's on October eighteenth,

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00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:04,200
that truest field. Sign up at alz dot org slash

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00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,640
Walk and then you could search for my team name

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00:27:06,759 --> 00:27:10,200
Pete's Pack. There's also a link at thepetepod dot com.

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00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:12,920
There's also a link in the description of this podcast. Also,

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00:27:13,279 --> 00:27:16,640
I'll be am seeing the Gastonia Walk on October eleventh,

378
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,480
and so you can make a team and join that

379
00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:20,839
one too, or make a donation and help me hit

380
00:27:20,839 --> 00:27:23,119
my goal of five thousand dollars. If you do, I

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00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,559
really appreciate it. There are a bunch of other walks

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00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,279
all over the Carolinas. You can go to alz dot

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00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,359
org slash Walk for all the dates and locations. We're

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00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,240
closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's. Can you help us

385
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,599
get there? Will you walk with me? For a different future,

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00:27:36,759 --> 00:27:40,440
for families, for more time for treatments. This is why

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00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,359
we walk. I mentioned when we played the audio from

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00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,839
Steve Ferederico, the father of Logan Federco from Charlotte, who

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00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:55,000
was murdered down in Columbia, South Carolina by a career criminal, repeat, repeat,

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00:27:55,039 --> 00:28:03,279
repeat offender. And there was a moment where he points down.

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00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:06,599
He brought a big picture of his daughter and put

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00:28:06,599 --> 00:28:08,680
it in front of the table that they were sitting at,

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00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,880
and at one point he's like, her name is Logan Federico,

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00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,440
and he's pointing at the photo and he's yelling it's

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00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:22,960
not Arena. And he's yelling that at Deborah Ross, the

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00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:27,720
ranking Democrat on the committee from North Carolina. She's a

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00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:31,119
former state lawmaker. She's been in Congress now, I think

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00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:36,599
two or three terms, maybe longer. But this is what happened.

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00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:42,079
When she was making her opening remarks, and you'll hear

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00:28:43,359 --> 00:28:47,720
she doesn't know who she's pointing to in that photo.

401
00:28:48,519 --> 00:28:52,759
You'll hear her identify this photo of Logan Federico as

402
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:57,359
Arena Zarutzka, and that's what ticked off her dad.

403
00:28:57,599 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 5: I also want to express my deepest, deepest condolences to

404
00:29:03,559 --> 00:29:08,920
the family of Arena Zaruska. What happened to her is

405
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:14,640
simply unimaginable and unconscionable, and I hope that we will

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00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:19,160
take to heart her family's request not to remember her

407
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:24,880
by her last moments or politicize her death, but instead

408
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:30,599
to remember her as the vibrant and exceptionally kind person

409
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:32,920
she was. And I'm thrilled that we have a picture

410
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,319
of her in that state right in front of us. Finally,

411
00:29:37,599 --> 00:29:41,079
we're here in North Carolina and we had a tragedy yesterday.

412
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:49,160
I want to express my prayers and my absolute heartbreak

413
00:29:49,839 --> 00:29:55,039
to the victims of the Southport mass shooting yesterday. I

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00:29:55,079 --> 00:29:59,559
know our governor is there today, and I know our

415
00:29:59,599 --> 00:30:05,240
hearts go out to the victims and their families. So

416
00:30:05,759 --> 00:30:10,680
the majority has brought us here together. And I would

417
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,039
say I went to the Philadelphia hearing. I've been on

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00:30:13,079 --> 00:30:18,119
the Judiciary Committee since I was in ever in Congress.

419
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,960
But to be honest and for our victims, this hearing

420
00:30:23,359 --> 00:30:28,000
is too little, too late. We should have been doing

421
00:30:28,119 --> 00:30:32,480
more to prevent crime and address the lack of mental

422
00:30:32,519 --> 00:30:40,680
health care long before this hearing. Particularly, Oh, I'm sorry,

423
00:30:41,319 --> 00:30:45,519
I am so sorry. I am so sorry. Thank you

424
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:50,640
so much for bringing that. Thank you, thank you, sir.

425
00:30:51,319 --> 00:30:56,119
I am so sorry for you. I'm I am so sorry.

426
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,799
I'm so sorry for your loss. And my heart goes

427
00:30:59,799 --> 00:31:01,920
out to you. My heart goes out to you.

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00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:04,279
Speaker 2: Oh, they did not know her.

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00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 5: So we should have been doing things to prevent Logan's

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00:31:12,279 --> 00:31:18,680
death and Arena's death. And I am so sorry to

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00:31:18,759 --> 00:31:20,119
my Republican friends.

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00:31:20,599 --> 00:31:24,119
Speaker 1: And then she says, we shouldn't weaponize this, let's not

433
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,799
politicize this stuff. And you guys need to spend more

434
00:31:26,799 --> 00:31:30,599
money on programs and services that we totally think will

435
00:31:30,599 --> 00:31:32,839
fix it. And you can trust us on this criminal

436
00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,920
justice reform stuff, you know, because we've got such a

437
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:42,599
great track record. Yeah, so that's not exactly a great

438
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:48,599
moment for Congressman Deborah Ross. This is from Rodney P.

439
00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:51,119
Do you think the mayor and all the other Democrats

440
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,559
will be walking over their self if the Congress was

441
00:31:54,559 --> 00:31:58,640
controlled by Democrats and they were holding the hearings today, Yo, definitely,

442
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:03,000
like all of the local Democrat officials would be. They

443
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,400
would be at the federal courthouse for this hearing, no

444
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:10,839
doubt about it. And you know, look, I've got more audio.

445
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,920
You're going to hear Alma Adams from Charlotte, congresswoman from Charlotte,

446
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:19,960
and she says that This is all just basically political theater.

447
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,440
They're just trying to score points, trying to cast us

448
00:32:22,519 --> 00:32:25,759
as soft on crime Democrats and that we're to blame

449
00:32:25,839 --> 00:32:27,920
for this, Deborah Rossa, that they're going to tell you

450
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,480
that Democrats are to blame. We're not to blame for this.

451
00:32:31,839 --> 00:32:35,359
You guys control the court system here, right. I mean,

452
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,400
Rush Limbo used to talk about how the police departments

453
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:44,440
like the only agency of local government left that is

454
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,599
populated with conservatives, like all of the other all the

455
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,319
other agencies are packed with Democrats. But like and so

456
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,359
they're they're making these arrests, they're dropping them off at

457
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,720
the jail, and the court system that's controlled by Democrats.

458
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,160
You guys set these bail guidelines. The judges do this,

459
00:33:04,359 --> 00:33:10,400
the district court does this, they have the guidelines. That's

460
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:14,000
not Republicans that did that. You guys have the control

461
00:33:14,119 --> 00:33:17,119
to do something differently. And all we hear about is

462
00:33:17,799 --> 00:33:21,200
you got to put more money into mental health, which

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00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,160
is something that Republicans have been saying after mass shootings.

464
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,160
And you guys are like, no, no, no, we're gonna

465
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,079
talk about guns. This isn't the time to talk about

466
00:33:29,119 --> 00:33:33,839
mental health, all right, that'll do it for this episode.

467
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:35,960
Thank you so much for listening. I could not do

468
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,160
the show without your support and the support of the

469
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,240
businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like,

470
00:33:41,359 --> 00:33:43,440
please support them too and tell them you heard it here.

471
00:33:43,599 --> 00:33:46,119
You can also become a patron at my Patreon page

472
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,799
or go to thepetekaalanershow dot com. Again, thank you so

473
00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:57,440
much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.