Another of the “prosecutors” backed by liberal megadonor George Soros is leaving office, giving another city the opportunity to start taking its crime problem seriously.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced she would be stepping down at the end of the month. Missouri’s Republican attorney general was in the process of trying to remove Gardner from office, a push that he said would not stop just because Gardner is resigning. “There is absolutely no reason for the Circuit Attorney to remain in office until June 1,” he said. “Every day she remains puts the city of St. Louis in more danger.”
KIM GARDNER: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SOROS-BACKED ATTORNEY WHO COULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE
He could not be any more correct. Gardner’s tenure as St. Louis’s top prosecutor was an unmitigated disaster for everyone except the city’s criminals. Gardner took over in 2017, and the city’s homicide rate jumped from 64.5 per 100,000 people in 2019 to 87.2 in 2020, its highest mark in 50 years. Even murderers were set free when no one from Gardner’s office showed up to their hearings, and it has happened more than once.
Gardner still hasn’t managed to get homicides under control in St. Louis, with the city recording 68.2 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022, higher than its pre-pandemic number. With a population of just under 300,000 people, St. Louis has the second-highest homicide rate in the country.
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This would make Gardner at least the 13th Soros-backed, soft-on-crime prosecutor to leave or be removed from office since the start of 2022. That list of departures includes San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin, who was recalled by voters, and Tampa’s Andrew Warren, who was removed from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). At least eight other Soros-backed prosecutors have been elected to office in the same time period, meaning the progress for those who care about holding criminals accountable has been slow.
Soros’s attempt to “buy America a less racist justice system” has left people less safe in cities across the country, as “prosecutors” such as Gardner sought to coddle criminals and ensure them little to no jail time, as opposed to doing their jobs to keep people safe. Gardner’s departure is welcome news, but there is still much progress to be made to ensure that criminals aren’t given a pass in cities across the country. For St. Louis, that next step is preventing anyone like Gardner from taking over the office again.