Brazen vagrant allegedly punches California mayor, city official in 'random' attack on street with police chief nearby



A homeless man took a swing at a California mayor and then punched a city councilman in the head in broad daylight, the city councilman told Fox News Digital.

On August 22, Mayor Chris Branscum, Councilman Dom Belza, and Police Chief Christian Sachs as well as a pair of congressional staffers were walking along the streets of Marysville, California, a city of some 12,000 residents about 40 miles north of Sacramento.

'I thought I was hit by a car. I was hit so hard.'

The group was examining a historic building that had recently been ravaged by a fire when suddenly a homeless man came up and slugged Mayor Branscum in the back without provocation, Belza told Fox News.

"We were standing on the sidewalk near the site having a casual conversation. An individual was crossing at the crosswalk. And right as he got to the mayor, who had his back turned, the individual reached back and swung and hit him right square in the back," Belza explained, according to the New York Post.

"There was no communication, no altercation. There was nothing that instigated the punch. It was just a complete random act of violence."

Belza said his "instincts kicked in," and he then chased the suspect — later identified as 36-year-old Derek Hopkins — down the street.

Once Belza caught up with the assailant, the man turned and took a swing at him, making contact with the side of his head, he said.

"After that, I engaged him and took him down to the ground and restrained him until the chief of police was able to get there. We held him in custody until he was officially arrested," Belza continued.

Hopkins, who is described as homeless, has been assessed eight charges, including felony assault of a public official and felony elder abuse. His bail has been set at $50,000, the Post reported. As of Wednesday afternoon, Hopkins was still in custody at the Yuba County Jail, records showed.

In a statement to Blaze News, Belza confirmed that he did not personally recognize the suspect but heard that local law enforcement was familiar with him.

Mayor Branscum, 75, expressed gratitude that his younger companions apprehended his alleged attacker, who apparently struck with some force. "I thought I was hit by a car. I was hit so hard," Branscum recalled. "The next thing I know, there's this guy sliding by me, running, and I yelled an expletive at him."

"He's a bada**," Branscum said of Belza, according to KCRA. "So is the chief of police. Dom took him down, and the chief was right there, right behind him. They did a heck of a job."

Belza said that the incident is part of a much larger problem throughout the state of California. "This attack is really a result of the soft-on-crime policy that California has implemented over the last 10 years," he told Fox News.

Belza also views Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who once served as the attorney general of California, as partially responsible for the decline regarding public safety in his state since she once lobbied hard in favor of Proposition 47, which reclassified six minor felony offenses as misdemeanors.

"As AG she titled the proposition the Safe Schools and Safe Communities Act. What it really did was lower the penalties for retail theft, hard drug possession, and drug dealing down to misdemeanors," Belza told Blaze News.

Belza also told Blaze News that Proposition 36, which is on the ballot this November, is a possible solution to the rise in crime.

"The State is just going to have to suck it up. Rather than spending taxpayers ($26 Billion) on useless homeless programs, and a bullet train to nowhere, they are going to have to spend those dollars on dealing with criminals if Prop 36 passes in November," he told Blaze News.

"Situations like this are proof that California is not a safe state and that these small, rural communities aren’t safe anymore," he added on Fox News.

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Blaze News original: 7 times violent crooks were released — sometimes with no bail — and soon were charged with more violence



Stories have flooded the news cycle in recent years about authorities releasing violent criminals from custody — sometimes with no bail and despite violent charges already on their records — after which they're soon charged with committing violent crimes again.

It's an issue that has many observers angry, frustrated, and fed up with woke politicians, district attorneys, judges, and social justice warriors who seem intent on keeping dangerous individuals out of jail and on streets and committing more violent crimes.

Just this month, a 30-year-old male allegedly punched a 9-year-old girl in the face while she was with her mother in the dining concourse of New York City's Grand Central Station.

WNBC-TV said the suspect got away before the Bronx girl was taken to the hospital, the station said.

Turns out just days before, cops charged the same suspect — later identified as Jean Carlos Zarzuela — reportedly for randomly punching a 54-year-old woman and breaking her nose inside Grand Central. But a source told WNBC-TV that while a judge set Zarzuela's bail at $2,500 cash — and Zarzuela went to jail — he went before a different judge soon after and was released.

Police arrested Zarzuela a few hours after the girl was punched, WNBC said. He was charged with assault, WPIX-TV said, adding that the MTA indicated additional charges are pending.

The girl suffered from dizziness and pain, WPIX reported, citing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She's expected to recover, WPIX added.

Man arrested for punching girl in Grand Central: MTAyoutu.be

“It doesn’t make any sense that this guy — who recently was released after being charged with randomly punching someone else and breaking that victim’s nose — should be back in a public space where he can attack others, especially children,” MTA Communications Director Tim Minton told WPIX. “The people responsible for the criminal justice system need to learn from this episode before more innocent people become victims.”

The following are similar recent examples:

Ex-con released with no bail after his arrest for domestic violence against estranged wife; the next day he allegedly shoots her to death in front of her children 


Adam Bennefield, 45, was charged with low-level misdemeanors in 2022 in connection with his alleged domestic violence against 30-year-old Keaira Bennefield — and the judge couldn't set bail, so he was released. Keaira Bennefield was so afraid of what might happen to her that she wore a bulletproof vest to drop her children off at school. A day later Adam Bennefield allegedly shot her to death in her car in front of her kids, ages 6 months to 9 years. The victim's mother said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's support of cashless bail led to her daughter's murder: "She should be charged for the crime. She's also responsible for the crime. She failed me. She let me down and my daughter down, and she needs to make a change with the bail reform."

Woman released on zero bail after allegedly ramming car into businesses; a week later she's charged with arson and attempted murder


Jacqueline Whatley, 36, was arrested last October after allegedly ramming a car into a Coffee Bean and a sushi restaurant in Los Feliz, California, KTTV-TV said. Police charged her with vandalism, which was eligible for no-cash bail, and she was released, the station said. About a week later, she faced attempted murder charges in connection with setting fires that destroyed a business, a home, and an occupied tent — and this time she was being held on $1 million bail, KTTV said.

Woman beats man with pole, released with no bail while deemed 'moderate risk'; days later she kills mother of 8 


Vanessa Harvey, 49, pleaded guilty in 2023 to voluntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of 42-year-old Machina Goodjoint, KLAS-TV reported, adding that two weeks before that crime Harvey beat her first victim — a man — with a metal pole. After the first attack, Harvey refused to appear for her probable cause hearing on a charge of battery resulting in substantial bodily harm, the station said. In the attack against Goodjoint, the victim's injuries were so severe that an officer reportedly believed Goodjoint was shot in the face. Harvey was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison and will be eligible for parole next year.

Thug reportedly released without bail after allegedly punching woman in face on NYC street — and despite suspect's 7 prior assault arrests


“He just punched me on the right side here, very strong,” Dulce Pichardo told WPIX-TV of the late March unprovoked attack in Brooklyn. “I was surprised. I said, ‘What’s going on? Why did you hit me? Why did you do it?’ I didn’t do anything. No reason to hit me." Officers arrested 33-year-old Franz Jeudy, WABC-TV reported. Jeudy was charged with third-degree assault — a misdemeanor, which means he wasn't bail-eligible — and he was released, the New York Post reported. The paper added that one of Jeudy's prior arrests took place in 2018 when he was charged with second-degree assault for an attack on a cop.

Thug arrested multiple times for assaults reportedly released from custody — then just 2 days later accused of brutal hatchet attack against elderly man


The suspect in a brutal hatchet attack against an elderly man last December reportedly was released from custody two days before the attack — and also had 19 bench warrants since 2012 and had been arrested for assaulting firefighters, health care workers, police officers, and strangers. Paleti Anikesi Veniale, 30, was charged with first-degree attempted murder, and prosecutors cited his extensive history of criminal violence when they asked for bail of $1 million.

Punk released with no bail after being charged with randomly attacking 2 men; a month later he's accused of punching 19-year-old female in face, breaking her nose


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CWB Chicago reported that after prosecutors charged Diashun Dixson with randomly attacking two men — one of them 64 years old — at the Chicago French Market in May 2023, a judge ordered Dixson to pay a $10,000 bail deposit. But the outlet said he couldn't post bail and stayed in jail until December when his attorney — citing the state's elimination of cash bail — filed a motion and got Dixson released. CWB Chicago said not even a month later Dixson was accused of randomly punching a 19-year-old female college student so hard in the face that her nose was fractured. The outlet said Dixson was soon back in jail.

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Washington state Democrats push to reduce sentences for drive-by shooters in the name of 'racial equity'



Washington state Democrats have introduced a bill that would reduce penalties for drive-by-shootings as part of an effort to promote "racial equity in the criminal legal system."

The proposal, House Bill 1692, would remove drive-by shootings as a basis for elevating a first-degree murder charge to aggravated murder in the first degree, which carries a greater sentence of life in prison without parole. It was introduced by state Reps. Tarra Simmons (D) and David Hackney (D) on Dec. 23, pre-filed for the upcoming legislative session that will begin on Jan. 10, according to the Center Square.

House Bill 1692 would apply retroactively to anyone convicted of aggravated first degree murder where a drive-by shooting was the only aggravating factor in the charge. Such persons "must be returned to the sentencing court or the sentencing court’s successor for entry of a conviction of murder in the first degree and sentencing according to the sentencing guidelines in effect on the date of the offense.”

Additionally, the bill grants Washington state judges the discretion to discard the mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for anyone who was convicted of aggravated murder for a drive-by shooting committed when they were under age 21. In such cases, the bill says judges may "take the particular circumstances surrounding the person's age and all other pertinent factors into consideration when determining an appropriate sentence."

In a statement to KTTH-AM, Simmons' office said first degree murder "is a heinous crime which already carries a long and serious sentence." But she added that, “it’s clear that [this aggravated classification] was targeted at gangs that were predominantly young and Black.” She went on to argue that the current law is an example of "systemic racism."

According to the Center Square, Washington state added drive-by shootings as an aggravating factor for first degree murder charges in 1995, amid a surge in gang-related crime. A 1997 annual report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs catalogued gang-related homicides, showing just 3 cases in 1991, followed by 17 in 1992, 31 in 1993, 26 in 1994, and 13 in 1995.

Republicans lawmakers opposed to the bill charge that Democrats are pushing soft-on-crime policies as part of the "defund the police" movement at a time when violent crime is rising again in Washington.

“Violent crime is on the rise in our communities, in part, because law enforcement officers do not believe under new laws passed by the Legislature earlier this year that they have the authority to detain or pursue individuals, for whom they reasonably suspect have committed criminal acts,” Rep. Gina Mosbrucker (R), the ranking Republican on the state House Public Safety Committee, said in a press release.

She continued: "It was reported during the summer that at least nine drive-by shootings in the Yakima area this year have left a trail of injuries, deaths and traumatized neighborhoods. This horrific crime is happening more and more across our state, taking the lives of innocent victims, destroying their families, and leaving neighborhoods and communities in fear."

Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber (R), the House Republican floor leader and a former law enforcement officer, asserted House Bill 1692 is the latest in a series of Democrat-backed criminal justice reform bills that are soft on crime.

“The Defund the Police movement pushed by progressives in this state brought forth a package of law enforcement ‘reform’ bills during the 2021 legislative session that, in the end, have made families and communities less safe, law enforcement less effective, and criminals were emboldened,” she said in a press release.

Maycumber cited statistics showing a surge in violent crime in Washington, questioning why Democratic lawmakers are pushing to reduce sentences for violent criminals.

“Washington state is already seeing a surge in violent crime which is currently at a 25-year high, with murders at an all-time high in 2020, up 80 percent from five years ago,” she said. “Rape is up 40 percent from five years ago and aggravated assaults are up 50 percent from five years ago. In light of this, why are some elected officials so intent on making it easier to be a violent criminal and releasing murderers back onto our streets?

“House Bill 1692 is a tragedy in the making as our children and families will be less safe in their own homes and even their own beds. This bill will allow those who have committed murder when engaged in drive-by shootings to get out of jail sooner.”

The Center Square reported that murder and manslaughter rates both rose last year, citing a more recent WASPC report.

According to the WASPC, there were 302 murders in 2020 compared to 206 murders in 2019, an increase of 46.6%. Manslaughter rose 100%, with 34 cases in 2020 compared to 17 in 2019.