District Attorney Asshat Announces Candidacy for Governor

Bill Gibbons will be running for Governor next year. Bear in mind that this is the same guy who refuses to prosecute Bridges McRae, the unreconstructed uniformed thug who beat Duanna Johnson on camera last February. When I emailed the DA's office last November inquiring about whether McRae would face any charges, I got no reply. There has been no indication that he will be charged. What makes this really interesting is that the feds have filed charges against McRae. Given that the burden of proof for federal charges is extremely high, it is odd that someone who is running for governor with crime as one of his main issues would decline to pursue justice in this case. It certainly is not for lack of evidence; the beating was videotaped. The only logical conclusion is that he really doesn't give a damn about the safety and wellbeing of all citizens, not just the cis, hetero, middle-class, and white ones.

From Gibbons himself:


As governor, I will place priority on two issues - crime and schools - that pose big challenges to our state and that we must address if we are to achieve a better future for Tennessee.

Through safer communities and better schools, Tennessee will be positioned as a state where people want to live, raise their families, work and retire.
[...]
The very first sentence of the very first section of our state constitution notes that state government exists to provide for the peace and safety of the people. As our next governor, I will take the leading in making changes to fix Tennessee's criminal justice system because I believe we must not surrender a single street, neighborhood or community to crime.

Tennessee has the second highest violent crime rate in the nation, and it is a statewide problem. Over the past ten years, we have not shared in the national downward trend in violent crime. Law enforcement throughout Tennessee is doing a good job with the tools we have (ed. note: ha! riiight...), but Tennessee's criminal justice system has deep flaws. (no shit, Sherlock!) As district attorney in our state's largest jurisdiction, I see those flaws up close, every day. We must change the system.

We must do a better job of holding serious offenders accountable by keeping them off our streets and in prison where they belong. At the same time we must address the underlying problem of drug addiction that drives so much of our crime. We must address behavior among juveniles such as truancy that too often results in even more serious consequences. And we must make sure that our state law enforcement agencies, such as the Highway Patrol, develop and maintain a level of professionalism their employees and the citizens of Tennessee deserve


The emphases and snark are mine.

I'm curious to know if he will do anything about the bullying problem that prevents so many students from finishing their basic education, especially since the worst of it largely stems from perceived or actual sexual orientation or the worst slurs are related in some way to sexual orientation or gender presentation. Oh, there I go again, thinking that trans people and gay people are citizens.