Shortly after a mass shooting occurred in Sacramento, California early Sunday, Joe Biden was busy using the tragedy to beat the drum for more gun control across the country – despite the fact that California arguably has what are the nation’s strictest gun control laws, and despite not having any facts about the shooting or the shooters. Other gun control activists quickly jumped aboard the train.

Another Sunday, another shooting with mass casualties. Most Americans will look away, DON'T. NEXT TIME, IT COULD BE YOU. I am very supportive of @POTUS, however, the time is NOW for a dedicated office in the @WhiteHouse only working on gun violence.https://t.co/NWGXkYdWqq

— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) April 3, 2022

The President is right — we must take federal action to end these senseless tragedies.https://t.co/PzGg32Joeg

— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) April 5, 2022

The actual story, which most of the mainstream media will likely attempt to erase, has nothing to do with lax gun control laws and everything to do with the “reimagining” of the justice system being perpetrated by people like George Gascon and Gavin Newsom, and enabled by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Board of Parole Hearings.

As it turns out, one of the two men arrested in connection with the shooting has a long criminal record and was paroled in April, 2021, just three years into a 10-year sentence for domestic violence and assault with great bodily injury. In an exclusive report from the Sacramento Bee, we learn that Smiley Allen Martin’s early release was vigorously opposed by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office. Deputy District Attorney Danielle Abildgaard wrote a two-page letter to the Board of Parole Hearings, concluding:

“As shown by Inmate Martin’s pattern of conduct, he is an assaultive and non-compliant individual and has absolutely no regard for his victims who are left in the wake of numerous serious offenses. He has no respect for others, for law enforcement or for the law.

“If he is released early, he will continue to break the law.”

As the nation now knows, Abildgaard and her boss, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, had good reason for concern.

Posted by him on FB the night of. This is what happens when consequences are a joke. pic.twitter.com/SXvJf0u9WA

— Maria Mercedes (@iffylalala) April 5, 2022

Smiley and his brother Dandrae both have criminal records, and both seem to have an affinity for physically assaulting other people — especially women.

Smiley’s adult criminal history begins just a six months after he turned 18. In January 2013 he was in possession of an assault rifle and two loaded 25-round magazines and admitted to “transporting the assault weapon and large capacity magazines to potential buyers” and was sentenced to probation and county jail. (Who knows if there’s a juvenile history here too, which wouldn’t be surprising given the charges he caught shortly after becoming an “adult.”)

Then around Thanksgiving that year he was arrested after a string of robberies at local Target and Wal-Mart stores in which thousands of dollars worth of electronics were stolen and sentenced to two years in prison. In 2016, once out and on parole, a car he was riding in was stopped, and when officers told him he was going to be detained he gave them a fake name and fled on foot. Once he was Tased, officers realized he was a parolee at large.

The crime that led to the 10-year prison sentence occurred in the spring of 2017. Details about that crime, in which he forced his way into his girlfriend’s home before brutally assaulting her, were provided to the Parole Board by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office in the April 2021 letter:

“He located her hiding in her bedroom closet and hit her repeatedly with a closed fist on the face, head, and body, causing visible injuries,” the letter says. “He then dragged her out of the home by her hair to an awaiting car. After he put her in the car, he assaulted her with a belt.

“During the investigation, information was gathered that the victim had been working as a prostitute and that Inmate Martin had been assisting and encouraging her to be a prostitute. Text messages and social media conversations revealed that he would tell her what kind of sex buyer she should date, how much money to charge, how to accept payment, and what forms of payment she should accept.”

At least one firearm used in the shooting was stolen and converted to be used as a fully automatic weapon.

We know what’s causing the unprecedented wave of violence in California, and it’s not lax gun laws.