Utah has magnificent arches, hoodoos, and stunning mountain ranges. Most people who are not familiar with Utah think it’s a bizarre mixture of Mormons and tough-as-nails cowboys. That is a common narrative that many locals believe to be true. It is, to a certain extent.
This would seem to be the case at first glance. That is at least what the ads would lead you to believe. For more than twenty years, Utah’s “quaint” status has been lost to me as someone who used to follow crime and politics. If you dig deeper into Utah’s history, it will likely be longer. It is safer than most other areas of the country, but it also experiences protests, rampant drug abuse, and homelessness. It also has more child abuse cases than it should. Perhaps an old layer is starting to wear away or perhaps it’s the inflow of the real world into a once quasi-hermetically sealed environment.
My experience covering many court cases has taught me that the abuse problem has been a persistent problem in Utah for years. The Summer of Floyd brought a lot of activism to the state, and drug abuse has been increasing for many years. Hundreds of blocks have been turned into colonies by the homeless as they continue to flood in.
KSL reports that Christian Francis Taele, 28, is being held for attempted murder and one murder. The first occurred in Spanish Fork in Utah and the second was in Ogden. The body was found next to a dumpster, not far from a popular shopping area. Taele claimed to be the one responsible and gave police clues that were not available to the public. The second case involves Taele being accused of strangling a victim and repeatedly kicking him before dragging him into an apartment gym and hanging him from a piece. The victim is conscious and there is no evidence of brain activity. A witness saw the second attack, and it is not known if this person just decided not to intervene or if they even tried to contact the police.
For the family of the victim, a GoFundMe account was set up.
Taele, for his part, has admitted to his crimes but expressed no regret.
Taele claims that he purge the city under orders from a “higher power” as an explanation. However, it is not known how Taele got there. We know that he faces charges of disarming officers and resisting arrest. He was on a commuter train and took a Taser out of the hand of an officer.
This is not a defense of the Second Amendment. Taele could have been addicted to drugs or extremely mentally ill. However, all evidence so far indicates that he didn’t use a firearm in the commission of his crimes. Why didn’t anyone notice Taele’s struggles and intervene if he was suffering from mental illness or drugs? It probably wouldn’t have mattered. Whether there are red flags or not. I have been reliably informed by a source within the healthcare industry that there are simply not enough facilities or beds to address the problem. You can see this from a walk down any street in any American city. When I took my wife to dinner for her birthday, I saw a large homeless man arguing with another person he couldn’t see. He was heading our way. We made a hasty retreat towards the restaurant.
Leaving aside the indicators, why did this witness to his second crime choose to ignore them?
Utah isn’t the only state that has experienced protests, drug use, perversion, and murder. The number of bodies in Chicago continues to rise. My day job has me working with a client in Portland. I shared with the client that my wife and I had always dreamed of seeing the Oregon coast. For my safety, the client suggested that I stay away. And the comments in every news story predictably read: “San Francisco/Chicago/Philadelphia/Seattle used to be a nice place. Until…”
Just as a Supreme Court decision won’t prevent abortions, banning firearms will not stop murders. There is always a way around it. Prohibition was ended, but you can still get a Sunday scotch from someone in Utah. Fentanyl flows across our borders, and the war on drugs was ended.
These things, along with violence, drugs, abuse, and porn, will not stop until the country’s nature changes. Joe Biden is still working tirelessly to legalize abortion, despite being the head of the most scandalous first family in American history and continually bungling his presidency. Jeff Reynolds noted that drug overdoses rose 700% after Oregon legalized hard drugs. Then there were the cartel members recently caught with $1.2million in methamphetamine and released by the state of New York. What about the $150,000 worth of fentanyl-laced drug dealers who were released by the state of New York after just two days of fun in the local clink. You guys, keep the story going! Let your donkey freak flag fly, no matter who suffers or dies!
Americans, like the people who saw Christian Taele choke a man and kick him before dragging him away, preferred to not get involved. Every American is now involved. They were involved at the pump, in an attack, in high gas prices, and in their children being made into a mockery of humanity. It doesn’t matter what “it” is, just because it doesn’t involve you right now, it or another thing will.
