Celebrity-Endorsed Bail Reform Group Closes Las Vegas Branch after Freeing Man Who Shot a Waiter One Week Following His Release
A California-based and celebrity-backed bail reform nonprofit has closed its Las Vegas location after helping free a man who went on to shoot a restaurant waiter just one week after being released on bail.
The Bail Project is endorsed by well-known Hollywood celebrities such as John Legend, Danny Glover, and Richard Branson, and focuses on lobbying to end cash bail, and posting the bail set for suspects who have been detained. Their stated mission is to “challenge a system that criminalizes race and poverty.”
In December of 2021, The Bail Project paid a $3,000 bond for Rashawn Gaston-Anderson, a burglary suspect, enabling his to be released from holding and return into his community while awaiting a trial date, according to Fox News. Just six days after being released on bail, Gaston-Anderson shot restaurant waiter Chengyan Wang 11 times, nearly taking his life, while robbing the Shanghai Taste Eatery located in Las Vegas.
“In September, Wang filed a lawsuit against Gaston-Anderson, The Bail Project and the shopping plaza where the shooting occurred, court records show.
The Bail Project denied it shut down the Las Vegas operation over the ongoing lawsuit in a statement to Fox News Digital.”
Fox News
Earlier this month, 24-year old Gaston-Anderson was sentenced to serve seven to 18 years for the shooting of Wang, which has left the restaurant worker permanently scarred and severely injured. According to his lawyer, Wang “can’t move his shoulder above a certain height,” and has “scars all over his body.”
“In Wang’s lawsuit, he accused the nonprofit of posting his assailant’s bail without considering whether Gaston-Anderson was an imminent danger to the community, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.”
Fox News
In September of this year, Illinois abolished cash bail, allowing a plethora of suspects for various severe crimes to be released into the community without any bail requirement. These are considered, “non-detainable offenses,” which include:
- second-degree murder
- aggravated battery
- arson
- kidnapping
- drug-induced homicide
- burglary/robbery
- intimidation
- aggravated DUI
- aggravated fleeing and eluding
- drug offenses
- threatening a public official
Large cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and others have taken a soft on crime approach, releasing suspects without bail or with low requirements in order to “distribute equity evenly” for perceived “underprivileged” individuals. The lack of punishment for crimes creates and incentive for criminals to proceed with business as usual, tormenting the community they live in and creating havoc.
Career criminals charged with violent offenses have been released around the country, such as Darrell Brooks, responsible for the Waukesha Massacre last year, who has just been found guilty on all 76 charges. Brooks had been “in and out of criminal court for more than two decades, serving time in prison and racking up convictions for domestic violence, child sex crimes, firearms, drugs and battery,” and later went on to kill 6 and injure dozens when he plowed his vehicle through a Waukesha Christmas parade, according to Fox 6.
Allowing suspects who have been arrested on violent charges, who have threatened the safety of community members, to walk free while awaiting trial is reckless, and creates a state of anarchy and chaos, wherein law abiding citizens are put at risk in the name of equity.
