Monday, July 28, 2025
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Monday, July 28, 2025

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

Eric Toney on Milwaukee Crime: ‘I Refuse to Accept This as the New Normal’

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Eric Toney Milwaukee press conference: The Milwaukee Police Association and Fraternal Order of Police are urging people to vote for Eric Toney for state Attorney General to help stop the violent crime epidemic in Milwaukee.

Republican Attorney General candidate Eric Toney said in Milwaukee on Tuesday that “I refuse to accept this as the new normal,” just days after a homicide suspect led police on a dangerous pursuit to Water Street and then shot at them.

“People are turning Milwaukee into a shooting gallery,” Toney said. “We had a shootout here in downtown Milwaukee. I refuse to accept this as the new normal. We need an attorney general who is going to make public safety their top priority… not just giving it lip service like Josh Kaul.”

Milwaukee Police Association President Andrew Wagner said the state needs to elect leaders like Republicans Tim Michels and Eric Toney who “will hold criminals accountable for their actions” and won’t “coddle the criminals anymore.”

“Everyone deserves to feel safe,” said Wagner.

Toney said that Democrat Kaul has left key criminal justice and prosecutor positions vacant for two years. “He is trying to balance his budget at the expense of public safety,” Toney said.

Toney, the Fond du Lac County District Attorney, also said that fentanyl is “destroying our communities” and the state needs an attorney general and governor who will “start taking public safety seriously. If we protect Milwaukee, we will protect all of Wisconsin.’

Toney is advocating that the State Department of Justice be given “original jurisdiction” to take on the crime that the Milwaukee County District Attorney is “unwilling to prosecute.”

He also wants legal changes so judges have to consider a criminal’s dangerousness when considering bail.

Watch the video here:

Wagner referenced the officer-involved shooting and pursuit of the homicide suspect that culminated in a barrage of gunfire on Water Street over the weekend and said: “Each day our officers see some of the most horrific incidents and have to deal with some of the most violent criminals. Each day we see them act with professionalism and courage. This was no different Friday night when they pursued a suspect out on bail and awaiting sentencing for the sexual assault of a child.” Milwaukee police shot and killed the suspect.

According to Wagner, police pursued the homicide suspect into the Water Street area. “The brave officers were then faced with a choice solely put onto them by this criminal,” he said. “He fired rounds in their direction, showing no regard for human life. The officers acted bravely and quickly.”

Every officer has seen an increase in violent crime, Wagner said. As staffing levels have fallen at MPD, crime has increased, he said. He said the district attorney’s office, Sheriff’s Department and prison system need to be properly staffed too.

“We need to move forward in state government with leaders who have a plan to fix the crime issue,” Wagner said.

“We need to make sure government puts the safety of their citizens as the top priority. We need leadership in Madison like Tim Michels and Eric Toney, who share our vision of a safer Milwaukee,” Wagner said.

Mark Sette, vice president of the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police, said, “We are here today unfortunately for another example of a horrific crime that happened, perpetrated by a violent criminal that probably should have been behind bars.”

Sette stated that the “streets in our major metropolitan areas are lawless areas in the control of gangs and thugs who little or no fear of the law.”

He said that a “social experiment led to all of this. Liberal soft-on-crime policies got us to this place.” He listed bail reform, vilifying officers, defunding the police and policies that give more rights to criminals than victims.

“It’s a social experiment that failed miserably,” said Sette, adding that the Fraternal Order of Police was “proud to endorse Eric Toney as the leader we need as our next attorney general,” calling him a “tough-on-crime prosecutor” who will “put a stop to the lawlessness we are seeing throughout our state.”

That “social experiment led to all of this; liberal soft-on-crime policies got us to this place,” he said.

Toney said that it shouldn’t “take a shooting here on Water Street” to get people’s attention on crime, noting that “Milwaukee is on pace for its third straight murder record.” He said he announced his candidacy in the City of Milwaukee because of crime.

“The attorney general turned his back on law enforcement in the wake of Jacob Blake,” Toney said, noting that Toney has bipartisan support from police chiefs, sheriffs and district attorneys (Kaul lists zero law enforcement endorsements.)

Kaul’s spokesman Joe Oslund told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in response that Kaul has supported “the funding of 70 new prosecutors around the state and increased funding for law enforcement training, and proposing Safer Wisconsin, a $115 (million) public safety package.”

According to Kaul’s office, that package included proposals for a hate crime hotline, expand treatment and diversion programs, and prohibiting ghost guns.

Toney said it is time to “turn the page.”

The reporters tried to hammer Toney with negative questions, but he answered them each directly. One reporter asked how original jurisdiction was “not government overreach,” and Toney responded that it was “adding resources to keep people safe.’

Rebecca Klopf, a reporter from WTMJ-TV, started to ask, “you were given a $500 cash bail…you saw a $500 cash bail lead to a firefighter’s death,” but Toney interjected. She is referring to the Ruben Houston case, the media reporting over which we have already debunked.

“We had a $5,000 cash bail in the case that my prosecutor asked for,” Toney said, noting that the defense attorney then asked for a signature bond, but the “prosecutor objected to the signature bond. It was the judge who ordered $500 bail. The prosecutor objected.” He noted that this prosecutor was later hired by Josh Kaul.

Another journalist asked whether Toney would support the state Legislature giving Milwaukee more shared revenue. He responded, “The attorney general doesn’t have the authority” to increase shared revenue. He said that the governor has the ability with COVID-19 funds to give more money to Milwaukee now but he is “not doing it.”

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U.S.-Canada Border Illegal Border Crossings

Border Patrol Agents Continue to Arrest Iranians, Weapons Traffickers at Northern Border

At the northern border, Border Patrol agents continue to arrest Iranians and weapons traffickers and are helping seize record amounts of fentanyl.

While illegal border crossings are down at the northern border under the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents in the busiest northern border Swanton Sector are continuing to interdict crime. The sector includes all of Vermont, six upstate New York counties, and three New Hampshire counties.

Earlier this month, Border Patrol Agents from the Champlain Station in New York responded to a report of suspicious activity near Mooers Forks, New York. Upon arrival, they located a minivan occupied by five Iranian citizens and two Uzbekistan citizens – all adult men in the country illegally.

Border Patrol agents then determined all seven men “had previously illegally entered the United States at various locations along both the U.S./Mexico border and the U.S./Canada border,” Swanton Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said. They were detained and are being processed for removal.

“Border security is national security and directly correlates to public safety,” Garcia said, adding that “Swanton Sector agents remain vigilant and committed to protecting our borders and enforcing immigration laws.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are also arresting Iranians in the country illegally, including Revolutionary Guard soldiers, after more than 1,500 Iranians illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, with more than 700 released into the U.S., The Center Square exclusively reported.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents notified the New York State Police about a suspected driver of a vehicle allegedly involved in smuggling activity in upstate New York. State troopers responded, located and stopped the vehicle near Albany, Garcia said. A subsequent vehicle search resulted in a seizure of roughly 4.7 pounds of powdered fentanyl, enough to kill more than one million people.

“This seizure is a powerful reminder of why strong partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement are vital to our national security and public safety,” Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents helped ATF federal partners apprehend a criminal foreign national wanted for weapons trafficking. Honduran national Yubert Yasiel Lopez-Lopez, 31, was arrested in North Attleboro, Mass., after he illegally reentered the country after he was previously deported.

He was first apprehended in 2014 after illegally entering the U.S. in Hidalgo, Texas, under the Obama administration. A federal immigration judge in Houston ordered his removal, which occurred four years later under the first Trump administration. In 2022, he again illegally entered the country in Yuma, Arizona, under the Biden administration. It took another three years to arrest him, this time in Massachusetts, with authorities learning he was wanted in Honduras on weapons trafficking charges. A federal grand jury indicted him last month in Vermont, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted and removal from the U.S. for a third time.

“We continue to enforce federal immigration laws and seek maximum consequences against those who violate them,” Garcia said.

Garcia also regularly thanks members of the public for supporting Border Patrol efforts, sometimes acting as the eyes and ears for agents in rural areas by calling in sightings of illegal border crossers or suspicious activity. He continues to encourage members of the public to report suspicious border activity in the Swanton Sector by calling 1-800-689-3362.

The sector was hit hard under the Biden administration with illegal border crossings from Canada reaching record levels, totaling nearly one million, according to CBP data and gotaway data exclusively reported by The Center Square. The greatest number ever reported in U.S. history in the sector was in fiscal 2024 of nearly 200,000, excluding those who evaded capture, The Center Square reported.

Evers Drew Congressional Maps Eric Wimberger Republican’s Second Tax Cut evers vetoes evers budget

Wisconsin Republicans Introduce Bill to Repeal Evers’ 400-Year Veto

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin state legislators have started circulating a bill to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto.

Evers’ veto in July 2023, which turned a temporary $325 per student K-12 funding increase – originally slated for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years – into a permanent increase through the year 2425, was recently upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April, The Center Square previously reported.

However, the court’s ruling suggested lawmakers could still draft legislation as a recourse to the governor’s partial veto, and Republicans are seeking to do just that.

“The pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock 402 years before this veto. It is hard to justify locking in a funding increase for just as long into the future,” the bill’s four co-authors said in a cosponsorship memo circulating at the state Capitol, WPR reported.

The bill would effectively reverse Evers’ 400-year veto, eliminating the $325 per pupil adjustment in the school district revenue limit formula beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

“One man locked in a tax-raising mechanism that no one voted for and no one approved,” the cosponsorship memo reads. “Evers’ move bypassed both the elected Legislature and the hard-working people who pay the bills.”

However, if the bill passes both chambers of the Legislature, it would ironically require Evers to not veto it in order to become law.

While the Senate had voted to override Evers’ original veto in September 2023, the Assembly never held a vote on the override, so the effort failed and the veto stood.

Will Flanders, the research director at Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, previously wrote, “The Governor is not a king, even if the state Supreme Court says he is. Given this increase, the legislature should fight hard against any further increases for public schools that are now set up for a boondoggle.”

Governor’s Veto Powers Wisconsin Republicans Parental Bill of Rights Outlaw Child Sex Dolls Embrace Them Both Unemployment Reforms Wisconsin’s Professional Licensing Bail Reform Amendment wisconsin covid-19

Wisconsin Cities, Counties Saw Drop in June Unemployment Rate

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin saw the June unemployment rate go down in 24 of the state’s largest 35 cities over the month while the rates lowered in 63 counties and stayed the same in eight more, according to new numbers from the state’s Department of Workforce Development.

Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate went down to 3.2% in June, less than the 4.1% national rate.

Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate went down to 65.1% in June while the national rate decreased slightly to 62.3%.

Wisconsin saw 10 of its largest metropolitan areas show unemployment decreases while three of those areas remained the same. Twelve of the metropolitan areas saw unemployment decreases over the year while the rate in Sheboygan remained the same.

Menominee, meanwhile, was the only county that saw a month over month increase in unemployment rate while the rate increased in just four counties year over year.

Trump Expects Indictment White House Cocaine president trump covid-19

Tulsi Gabbard Releases New Intel Claiming FBI, CIA ‘Knowingly created’ Russia Hoax

Federal officials have released more documents indicating a Democratic-led intelligence community politically targeted President Donald Trump by claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin influenced the 2016 presidential election to help Trump win.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a 2020 House Intelligence Committee report Wednesday that “exposes how the Obama Administration manufactured the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that they knew was false.”

“The Russia Hoax was a lie that was knowingly created by the Obama Administration to undermine the legitimacy and power of the duly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump,” Gabbard posted on X.

Notably, the report found that the majority of the intelligence community’s judgements on Russia’s confirmed attempts to meddle with the 2016 election were “sound,” including its findings that Putin ordered “conventional and cyber influence operations” to undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process and the legitimacy of an expected Hillary Clinton presidency.

However, further judgments from the intelligence community alleging that Putin “developed a clear preference for candidate Trump” and “aspired to help his chances of victory” were not only false but also the result of apparent bad faith, the oversight investigation reveals.

To reach their conclusion that Putin had attempted to help Trump win, top intelligence officials cherry-picked inconclusive information that supported the narrative, omitted or suppressed information contradicting the narrative, and based their “high confidence” assumptions on untrustworthy and dishonest sources.

The report builds upon other documents that Gabbard declassified over the weekend showing that Obama, along with his senior advisors, reportedly pressured the intelligence community to contrive evidence that Russia intended to manipulate the vote count in Trump’s favor.

The Trump administration believes these efforts amounted to a “coup” meant to delegitimize the results of the 2016 election and cast doubts on Trump’s presidency.

Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said Wednesday that the “Russia hoax will go down as one of the most troublesome events in U.S. history” that caused the country to become “more polarized than ever before.”

“A President of the United States was falsely accused, and a nation had to endure lies fabricated by rogue personnel within their own Intelligence Community,” Crawford said on X. “There are still Americans who passionately believe the fabricated narrative. That is why releasing this document to the public has been so important.”

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2026 GOP Candidate Josh Schoemann Challenges Evers’ Budget Approach

(The Center Square) – Josh Schoemann, the only Republican currently in the race for governor next year, is criticizing Gov. Tony Evers’ approach to the next state budget by comparing it to his plans in Washington County.

“In Washington County our budget cycle starts right now, and it’s not due until November. We will propose our budget goals to the County Board in the next couple of months. We will share ‘This is what we’re thinking.’ It gives them months of time to think those through, give us feedback, and [have] that kind of dialogue,” Schoemann explained in an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN.

Schoemann said that is far better than the approach Evers is taking again this year.

“That’s not how government is supposed to work,” Schoemann said. “It’s not the vision of the governor. It’s not the vision of any one person.”

Evers and the Republican legislative leaders who will write the budget have been involved in on-again, off-again budget talks this month. On Thursday, the governor’s office said those talks were off once again because of gridlock in the Senate.

“Ultimately, the Senate needs to decide whether they were elected to govern and get things done or not,” Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a post on X.

Schoemann’s criticism of Evers is nothing new. He has long been a critic of the governor and has turned that criticism up since launching his campaign for governor.

But the recent criticism was also aimed at other Republicans who may jump into the 20206 governor’s race later this year.

“Nobody else in this race on the Republican side, being rumored to this point, has the executive leadership of skills and history to be able to show ‘This is how I’ve done it before, and here’s how we’ll do it Madison,’” Schoemann said. “The results in Washington County speak for themselves.”

Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany is also rumored to be looking to get into the Republican race. Before he went to Congress, Tiffany was a Republican lawmaker in Madison.

Businessman and veteran Bill Berrien is also on the short list of likely GOP candidates for 2026.

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