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Notes -
I present to you a true crime story from Miami from last year – I’m assuming it wasn’t discussed here yet.
"This fella is a really bad guy. He is the epitome of evil. He hunts his prey. He’s patient with his prey, and then he kills them," Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne A. Jones said at a news conference last month. “There’s no doubt in my mind, had he not been caught, he would’ve done this again and again and again."
According to detectives, Zsolyomi is a Hungarian national listed as an illegal overstay by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He wore an ankle monitor after he was released from custody from a robbery arrest in Miami Beach in July of 2024.
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/man-accused-of-murdering-elderly-victims-in-miami-miami-beach-pleads-not-guilty/3565482/
The Hungarian man who police said was responsible for two brutal murders in Miami-Dade County is now believed to have been targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community.[…] Zsolyomi is facing two counts of second-degree murder from the cases dating back to November and January, in which police said he had befriended both men before strangling them to death. Zsolyomi is currently being held without bond and he has been placed on an immigration hold because authorities said he overstayed his visa.
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/hungarian-zsolt-zsolyomi-miami-beach-little-havana-murders-lgbtq-targeting/
A Hungarian national who was set to be deported disabled his ankle monitor before he murdered two men in Miami-Dade County, triggering an investigation that led to his arrest, federal authorities said.[…] Investigators said the monitor was placed on him a month earlier by ICE officials while at the Krome Detention Center in West Miami-Dade.
In a statement, an ICE spokesperson wrote that in July of 2024, “Miami Beach Police arrested Zsolyomi for strong-arm robbery, [and] he was encountered by ICE” shortly thereafter.
Federal authorities said the Hungarian was in the U.S. illegally and scheduled to be deported, but in September, the ICE statement reads, “He was processed and then released” with the GPS monitor.
https://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade/ice-hungarian-national-charged-in-miami-south-beach-murders-was-set-to-be-deported-before-crimes/
Obviously a clear-cut case it is. Since then it was reported that he’s probably getting sentenced to death. What possible culture war angle is there besides the involvement of ICE, you might ask? Well, I’m not much of a true crime nerd and don’t know much about law enforcement procedures, but I’ll say this: when the guy was arrested for armed robbery, I’m sure he still had his passport in his possession. Would have he just thrown it away after his tourist visa expired? I’d be surprised.
It’s not like I’m expecting much of any police force anywhere, but had they checked his identity and then contacted Hungarian authorities, they’d have learned that there are multiple outstanding arrest warrants against him. He’s the sort of dime-a-dozen criminal hoodlum who was probably never planning to do a single day of honest work in his life and he isn’t even a nobody, as he participated in an episode of some lame-ass local TV reality show. Had they learned about this in time, I assume federal authorities could have just deported him to his native country, right? Not only is he a criminal, by the way, but also a white guy, probably a bisexual, but is not identifying as a homosexual, so he wasn’t even going to get any sympathy points.
To address another aspect, him being described as ‘targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community’ sort of insinuates that these were somehow hate crimes, when in reality he was simply selecting victims who had money and were easy to victimize, and took pretty much the easiest path there is.
And there’s a sort of funny aspect to this too: there are local liberal-leaning news sites simply describing him as an ‘illegal immigrant’. Technically speaking he is one indeed, but the journalists in question have otherwise completely adopted US Blue Tribe narratives on no human being illegal, welcoming refugees etc. and would never describe anyone as an ‘illegal immigrant’ in other contexts.
We’ve completely given up putting people in prison in this country.
Armed robbery and he’s out with an ankle monitor?
I’d vote for anyone who says ‘ commit a violent offense and never leave prison ‘ Give them books and stuff but never let them out.
That’s the culture war angle: the left is wrong about our prison system and the right won’t do anything to fix it.
That would fall to "hard cases make bad law" in no time flat.
The first one that comes to mind: although personally I'm a big First Amendment fan, and I don't think there should even be a "fighting words" exception, I also think there should be room for some leniency toward people who are triggered by some types of "fighting words". "Talk shit and the guy who punches you will get arrested and maybe serve some time" would be justice enough and wouldn't set up as many bad incentives as "Talk shit to a guy and take a punch and you can see him put away for life" would.
Also: this only works if you can first solve the problem of bad DAs ... but if you could then that alone would already greatly reduce the problem. If you've got a garbage DA who might consider dismissing felony charge after felony charge after felony charge before each of their beneficiaries finally hospitalizes and/or kills a victim, they'll just be even more likely to dismiss charges when they know the consequences of not doing so are even harsher. He was just about to turn his life around!
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