Hadiya Pendleton - Liberals' "Go easy on crime & gun violence" policies responsible for teen's death

Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams were charged, earlier this month, in the murder of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, the Chicago teen who was shot and killed just one week after performing at President Obama’s inauguration.

President Obama invited Hadiya's parents to his State of the Union Address last week and used them as a prop to 1) promote his gun control initiatives; 2) portray himself and his Democratic colleagues as the protectors of today's youth; 3) to depict the Republicans as the source of all evil who are responsible for the huge number of murders perpetrated against America's youth.

"Hadiya’s parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight," Obama proclaimed. "They deserve a vote."

But truth be told, a large number of today's teens have been killed as a result of gang violence, soft prison sentences and a left-wing policy that advocates a "go soft" approach toward the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. [I have already alluded to this "go soft" approach in my previous post entitled, "The result of Obama's illegal immigration policies? Gang violence and Gang-Run Prostitution"].

Would Hadiya Pendleton still be alive today if there were stricter gun control laws in place? Would tougher gun laws have prevented the gang members who murdered Pendleton from procuring the murder weapon? I highly doubt it. However, were it not for the "go soft" on crime and gun violence attitude that Liberals hold so dearly to their hearts, Hadiya Pendleton would likely still be alive today.

Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams, who were charged with the murder of Hadiya Pendleton, were members of the SUWU gang faction.

State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said prosecutors had sought prison time for Ward when he was convicted of a weapons charge in 2012, but he was given probation because he was only 17 at the time of the offense. A state law that went into effect that year requires a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison for unlawful use of a weapon but only for offenders 18 or older, she said.

Responding to a Tribune report that Ward had been arrested three times while on probation for his gun conviction but still was on the street, Alvarez said the Cook County Adult Probation Department was responsible for notifying prosecutors of the new arrests and filing for a violation of probation. That can result in an arrestee being sent to prison.

"What I've been told (is) the probation department has admitted that they did not notify us, so obviously we didn't proceed on that violation of probation," Alvarez said.

Michael Ward, the one who actually pulled the trigger and shot and killed Hadiya Pendleton, was arrested three times while on probation for a gun conviction but never went to prison. Moreover, he violated his probation three times before he gunned down Hadiya Pendleton, but only one violation was ever reported to the judge.

The chief of Chicago's adult probation department said that because all three of Ward’s probation violations were misdemeanors, there’s no guarantee he would have been held in jail for long even if the violations had been reported to the judge. Nevertheless, Ward was convicted of a weapons charge in 2012, and he pleaded guilty to Aggravated Unlawful Use Of A Weapon, a felony punishable by 1 to 3 years imprisonment in the state of  Illinois. But Ward never went to prison for the aforementioned conviction because of a state law that mandates a "go soft attitude" towards offenders under the age of 18; Ward was 17-years old at the time of the offense.

Stricter gun control laws, in all likelihood, would not have prevented Michael Ward and Kenneth Williams - the aforementioned SUWU gang members - from procuring a gun because gang members will obtain their guns by hook or by crook. But Hadiya Pendleton would likely still be alive today were it not for this "go soft" attitude toward criminals and gun violence that Liberals so eagerly embrace. As noted earlier, Michael Ward, in 2012, pleaded guilty to Aggravated Unlawful Use Of A Weapon, a felony punishable by 1 to 3 years imprisonment in the state of Illinois. Had Ward received a 1 to 3 year prison sentence, he would have been unable to murder Hadiya Pendleton in January of 2013 because he would have been incarcerated at the time. But sadly, he never served time for his gun conviction, and, he remained a free man even after violating his probation three times.

I noted in my previous post, via Judicial Watch, as follows:

Last fall the Obama administration quietly shut down a crucial FBI division—National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC)—dedicated to countering gang violence. The alarming move came at a time when gang violence in the United States was at an all-time high, according to the government’s own figures.

When the NGIC got the ax, its latest annual gang threat assessment had revealed that gangs are responsible for nearly half of all violent crimes in most parts of the country and up to 90% in many jurisdictions.

Using Hadiya Pendleton's parents as a prop, during his State of the Union address, was a nice ploy by the President to promote himself and to try to fault Republican lawmakers for Hadiya's death, but a more appropriate propt would have been a huge banner proclaiming: "Democrats, stop being so soft on gun violence, and stop treating the criminals with kid gloves!"

Of course, I would never expect the President to do that, not when his image is on the line, not when he has the opportunity to twist the facts and publicly shame the Republican Party. But the American people deserve the truth. And most of all, Hadiya Pendleton deserves the truth, Obama's carefully crafted and phony image notwithstanding.