Posted on 04/07/2025 6:51:53 AM PDT by Twotone
'Based on the totality of the circumstances here, and along with our core value of being compassionate, this is the best outcome for everybody involved in this case.'
In a twist amid the recent and widespread rash of attacks against Tesla vehicles, a Minnesota police chief is following his department's "core value of being compassionate" and won't be charging a Tesla vandalism suspect.
What's more, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges earlier this week declared that "the suspect in this case may have been a victim — and I mean victim in terms of the rhetoric that is being spewed out here by some of those in leadership."
A woman walked past a Tesla parked outside the Cub Foods on France Avenue north of Old Shakopee Road and scraped it with a key on March 26, causing $3,200 in damage, police told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Police posted a video on social media of the woman in the parking lot and asked for tips on how to find her, the paper said.
Hodges on Tuesday announced that the woman came in with her family just one day after the video was posted and confessed to the crime, the Star Tribune said.
But it turns out that the Tesla owner only wanted the woman to cover the cost of repairing the damage, and Hodges said she did just that.
“The victim in this case just wanted their car fixed, and they just wanted the suspect to pay for that,” Hodges said. “Based on the totality of the circumstances here, and along with our core value of being compassionate, this is the best outcome for everybody involved in this case.”
Continuing with his criticism of leaders — presumably those railing against Tesla CEO Elon Musk's cost-cutting work with the DOGE for President Donald Trump — Hodges added that "we need our leaders to start leading and stop feeding this rhetoric. People should be able to drive whatever car they want without fear of going into a store and someone scratching their car, or people yelling at 'em because of the car … they choose to drive. It’s time for all of us, you know, just to start getting along and knock this stuff off, man. People should be able to be left alone.”
While Hodges didn't refer to a specific leader, the Star Tribune said Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — who unsuccessfully ran for vice president with Kamala Harris last fall — told a crowd last month that he gets an anti-Musk thrill by checking Tesla's stock price: “I take great pleasure in the fact that this guy’s life is going to get very, very difficult."
As readers of Blaze News likely know, Musk responded with a dig against Walz on X: "Sometimes when I need a little boost, I look at the @JDVance portrait in the @WhiteHouse and thank the Lord." Anything else?
Hodges made sure to warn others who assume they'll now scoot past criminal charges if they damage Teslas: “But rest assured, if you damage these cars or target people, we are going to arrest you, we are going to prosecute you to the fullest extent that we’re able to."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IZER9km8dU
Liberal on liberal crime.
These new, far left, “defunded”, clowns posing as “Police Chiefs” and LEOs are a joke. None of them GAS about Americans. Just a bunch of homosexual clowns.
Enablers and coddlers.
The perp is the victim.
But it turns out that the Tesla owner only wanted the woman to cover the cost of repairing the damage, and Hodges said she did just that.“The victim in this case just wanted their car fixed, and they just wanted the suspect to pay for that,” Hodges said. “Based on the totality of the circumstances here, and along with our core value of being compassionate, this is the best outcome for everybody involved in this case.”
I'm OK with that. The wrong got righted, by the person responsible. Done. Everyone moves on with their lives.
Because she is ideologically aligned to our beliefs the law will not be applied to her.
This is how you created civil unrest and is patently unjust.
You can bet if a conservatives keyed a liberal’s car with a hate symbol they would not stop at just paying for the damages.
Does he mean the Dem Party leaders who are demonizing Musk? Is this sheriff going to arrest them? Or is he going to let murderers and robbers off the hook because they may have been influenced by rhetoric too?
The wrong was not righted, it was not an accident, it was a willful act of destruction done to oppress a perceived opinion of another citizen.
This is justice perverted. This is a two tired justice system favoring those with the “right think.”
seek justice elsewhere
Headline left out critical context.
Wake me when the shooting starts. Till then, just another day in psycho land.
I’m OK with that. The wrong got righted, by the person responsible. Done. Everyone moves on with their lives.
______
Ordinarily I’d be OK with that, but this is getting out of control. If politics has driven you so insane you feel it’s okay to abuse your fellow citizen, then you need to get some serious punishment. Charge her & convict her & maybe she’ll lose the right to vote as a felon. Then maybe she’ll stop taking politics so seriously.
To me, that is the minimum acceptable outcome.
What it does not address is the needs of society writ large. Capital Punishment works simply because the punishment does not “even the scales” of a murder, but because it sends a message to others who may consider performing a similar crime to think twice.
If your expected outcome is $3200, you might think a little but you still may proceed. If your expected outcome is $3200 plus a year in jail and criminal record, plus probably $20K in legal bills ... you will think harder.
The worst type of people.
True.
Absolutely true. In these Democrat controlled urban areas the appointed police chiefs are often sadistic homosexuals who like playing dress up in police uniforms. Major reason many cops retire and virile men are avoiding the job. One day there will be a reckoning.
You make a valid point, except "the victim" isn't the only victim. Society is victimized, too, when vandals run amok among us.
Exactly. The message this sends is that you can vandalize a Tesla and in the unlikely event you get caught the only penalty will be to pay for damages. Lots of lefties would be happy to take that chance.
After she has paid for the damage she should be sentenced to community service at least.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.