The Chronicle is distributed in both Denver and Arapahoe counties. If you were alleged to have committed a crime it didn’t normally matter on which side of the county line it occurred, but today it can. Denver District Attorney Beth McCann is a longtime Democratic politician and she approached her job as D.A. with her political sensitivities very much intact. George Brauchler, the term-limited District Attorney for Arapahoe County, has been a Republican candidate for governor and attorney general and is considered a viable candidate for statewide office as a Republican in the future.
McCann’s and Brauchler’s different views of what is a crime in Colorado has been on great display regarding political protests/ riots in both jurisdictions. In a May 28th protest at the State Capitol, demanding justice regarding the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, a group of protesters surrounded the car of Jennifer Watson, 37, who was on her way home. A protester jumped on her hood and smashed her windshield in two places which obstructed her view. She appears to turn and brush against the protester who was previously on her hood without real injury.
A petition on Change .org gathered 38,000 signatures demanding that D.A. McCann charge the driver with a crime. In response, two months after the incident Watson was charged by McCann with third degree assault for knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury. She faces 6 to 24 months in jail on those charges. She was also charged with reckless driving. The person who jumped on the car, nor anyone connected to the May 28th events in Denver, was charged by McCann.
Over in Aurora on July 25th, protesters seeking justice in the death of Elijah McCain in the hands of that city’s police department, poured into the streets and sought to block traffic on Alameda Avenue and Interstate 225. A driver of a blue jeep sped through the protesters on I-225 while a protester apparently fired two shots at the vehicle, hitting two other protesters.
Brauchler publicly declined to charge the driver stating that: “If this guy wants to run into people he had plenty of opportunity to do that [but didn’t].”
Brauchler did, however, file charges against four persons who organized the protest for rioting, and the attempt to commit first degree kidnapping. Dave Young the Democrat D.A. for the 17th Judicial District which includes that part of Aurora in Adams County also charged those four and two additional individuals.
In response to Brauchler’s actions, Aurora protester Rebecca Wolf declared: “It doesn’t surprise me, but it’s all nonsense. I’m pretty sure if it was my son driving, who is young and brown, he’d be behind bars already.”
We are not sure skin pigmentation is necessarily how D.A.s in Colorado charge in most cases, but the politics of the D.A. sure does make a difference. In the recent September 23rd Breonna Taylor protest, there was a driver going through the crowd that was blocking downtown and he was detained. His chances of getting charged are significantly greater in the City and County of Denver than they would have been in Arapahoe County.
These days you can get the justice you want by voting for a D.A. candidate that reflects your values. If you identify with the protesters there are justice warrior D.A.s like Kim Foxx of Chicago, Kim Gardner of St. Louis, and Larry Krasner of Philadelphia. If law and order is your mantra there are viable candidates that fit that slot, except, of course, in Denver. Beth McCann knew the danger to her re-election this fall would be from the left and she shored up her support on the left with her charging decisions. Her only opposition is Libertarian William F. Robinson III which means she is a shoo-in.
However, it is a different story outside Denver. In the 18th Judicial District (Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln) George Brauchler is term-limited and Amy Padden (D) and John Keller (R) face off, while in the 1st Judicial District (Jefferson and Gilpin counties) Democratic candidate Alex King is reputedly strongly supported by George Soros affiliated groups over Republican Matt Durkin.
At one time Arapahoe and Jefferson counties were deemed Republican strongholds, but no longer. The two races should be close. Pick your D.A. and get the justice system you want. In Denver, you get Beth McCann and her politically oriented justice, for better or worse.
- Editorial Board