(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Many conservatives celebrated the primary defeat of Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., an infamous member of the Squad whose opposition to Israel has earned them the label “Hamas caucus.”
However, some may not realize that Bush’s replacement, St. Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell, could be just as problematic—if not worse—to America’s law and order.
On Tuesday, Bush lost her primary with 45.6% of the vote (56,492 votes) to Bell’s 51.2% (63,340 votes). Bell is now poised to become the next representative of Missouri’s 1st congressional district, a safe Democratic stronghold, ahead of the 2024 general.
Bell, who served four years as the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, has implemented several radical changes to the criminal justice system, according to The Intercept.
These changes include abolishing cash bail for misdemeanors and refusing to prosecute individuals busted with marijuana and others who fail or refuse to pay child support.
Bell has also replaced warrants with summonses, ended the practice of overcharging defendants to secure plea deals and relaxed penalties for those who fail to appear in court, The Intercept reported.
Additionally, he has refused to seek the death penalty for violent offenders. His leftist activism was so rampant that by 2020, he reduced the number of people jailed for minor offenses by 30%, effectively putting more criminals back on the streets.
Bell first gained notoriety in 2014 during the Ferguson protests, triggered by the death of Michael Brown.
Brown was shot by St. Louis officer Darren Wilson, who acted in self-defense and was later cleared of any wrongdoing, according to the Obama administration-led investigation into Brown’s death.
Like Bush, Bell became a leftist activist with an extreme focus on police reform. He ran for Ferguson City Council and later primaried Bob McCulloch for St. Louis County prosecuting attorney in 2018, a position he held until he challenged Bush.
As the elected prosecutor, Bell introduced new procedures for investigating police misconduct and pledged to convene grand jury proceedings in all homicide cases.
Despite a grand jury clearing the officer who shot Brown in 2015, Bell reconvened another grand jury, which again refused to bring charges against the officer in 2020.
During his campaign, Bell criticized Bush as a weak politician who prioritized her Squad membership over the needs of her constituents. His campaign was heavily supported by over $7 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a pro-Israel group dedicated to strengthening U.S.-Israel relations.
While Bell has expressed support for Israel, it remains unclear which, if any, Republican positions he might endorse in Congress.
St. Louis may soon have a pro-Israel representative, but one who shares Bush’s anti-law and order ideology. His record suggests he will continue to prioritize radical criminal justice reforms, potentially at the expense of police officers who risk their lives daily to protect the lives of Americans.
