Robert Crimo III, the 21-year-old man charged in the Highland Park parade mass shooting, had prior run-ins with law enforcement.
From The Washington Post:
Police were contacted in September 2019 by a relative who reported that Robert Crimo III had a collection of knives and “said he was going to kill everyone,” said Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force. Police took the weapons but did not seek criminal charges.
“At that time, there was no probable cause to arrest,” Covelli said at a news briefing. “There were no complaints that were signed by any of the victims.”
Officers had also been called to the home earlier that year because of a reported suicide attempt by Crimo, Covelli said.
The police didn’t arrest Crimo after he threatened to “kill everyone,” because they didn’t think there was a probable cause to make an arrest. There was probable cause to seize his massive knife collection, but not enough to arrest him.
Okay, if they say so.
This case shows that passing new gun safety laws is a complete waste of time. Red flag laws do not matter. Background checks? Robert Crimo III threatened to “kill everyone,” yet he was allowed to buy five different firearms and a significant amount of ammunition.
As long as we allow the police to pick and choose which laws to enforce, making new laws is a waste of time. Robert Crimo III and the innocent people he murdered are proof of that.