Dana Perino Breaks Down After Heart-Wrenching Interview With Victim of 'Bail Reform': 'I Don't Think I've Ever Cried on TV'

(Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Fox News host Dana Perino broke down into tears on Friday as she ended an interview with a domestic violence survivor in Illinois whose 18-month-old son was shot to death by her estranged husband after he was released from jail on a cashless bond.

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Tragically, the killer was supposed to be in court at the time. Speaking through her tears as she composed herself, Perino said to co-host Tray Gallagher:

“Trace, I don’t think I’ve ever cried on TV. That was really hard.”

It was hard to watch, as well.

Cassandra Tanner Miller was home with her 9-year-old daughter, Camryn, and 18-month-old son, Colton, when the children’s stepfather, Christopher Michael Miller, broke into the home on Sept. 21, 2019. Miller, a former corrections officer and member of the Illinois National Guard, brutally beat and strangled Tanner until she was unconscious.

He was released that day on an “I-bond.”

I-bond,” is short for “individual bond,” a cashless bond that allows a person to be released from jail on his or her own recognizance, provided he or she promises to obey all court orders, attend all court dates, and not commit any other crimes; a policy avidly supported by the majority of the Democrat Party, including Kamala Harris and Joe Biden’s presidential campaign staff, which we’ll get to in a bit.

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Here’s what happened after Miller broke into the home, and reported by Fox News.

Are you all ready to die?” asked Miller, who was supposed to be in court at the time.

Tanner’s daughter, who attempted to protect her younger brother, was bitten, strangled, and nearly tossed off the second-floor railing.

Although Tanner and her daughter were able to escape while Miller was reloading a gun, Tanner’s 18-month-old was shot 10 times in the head and killed.

“You’re a survivor and a mother,” Perino, becoming emotional, told Tanner. “Thank you for sharing your story and I hope the governor is listening,” she said, as the interview ended.

As she regained her composure, Perino noted to Gallagher: “And I understand that there is concern that cash bail has hurt segments of the population, that minorities are hurt more, but we also have to think about these victims.”

Incidentally, therein lies one of many fundamental differences between the right and the left. The left views those who commit crimes as victims — of racism, oppression, police brutality, whatever — while the right and other sane people view victims as victims.

The debate over cashless bail, while having gone on for years, was brought to national attention during the “peaceful protests” in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in May 2020, while in the custody of Minneapolis Police officers.

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As I reported in a September article titled Fund Still Promoted by Kamala Harris Bailed Out Man Accused of Penetrating 8-Year-Old Child, the “pragmatic moderate” Ms. Harris, along with at least 13 Biden campaign staffers, advocated for the Minnesota Freedom Fund.

The Minnesota Freedom Fund,  actively supported by Harris — in addition to at least 13 Biden campaign staffers — not only bailed out a man accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl, but also posted bail in August for a man accused of assaulting a 71-year-old woman as he burglarized her home, as well as a man who allegedly stomped on another man’s head and robbed him in the streets of Minneapolis — on the very same day George Floyd died while in police custody.

Harris encouraged her supporters to contribute to the fund.

As tweeted by Chicago Tribune reporter Stacy St. Clair earlier this month, Cassandra Tanner Miller has “become an advocate for FOID revocation and domestic violence awareness. She is working with public officials — including DuPage prosecutors —to make sure Colton’s death wasn’t in vain.”

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“FOID” refers to “Firearms Owner’s Identification Card.” Under Illinois state law, if a FOID card is revoked, the person must surrender the card and his or her firearms to local law enforcement — less than half do.

As for Cassandra Tanner Miller and the advocacy work she now does, she said of her son Colton, who will forever be 18 months old:

“He doesn’t have a voice anymore. The victims of the Aurora shooting don’t have a voice anymore. But I still have a voice and I need to use it.”

Tough stuff.

According to Fox News, Tanner met with Illinois Democrat Governor J. B. Pritzker and told him that in order for situations like hers to never occur again, the state needs “stronger,” not weaker bond conditions, and needs to elevate the voices of domestic violence survivors.

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But instead? Gov. Pritzker, on Tuesday, signed legislation making Illinois the first state in the nation to end cash bail.

“He absolutely let me down,” Tanner said. “I made a plea to him prior to him signing this bill and to hold off and to actually think about victims.” Ah, “the victims.”

As I said earlier, the left disagrees with you, Cassandra. Just ask Kamala Harris, 13 members of Biden’s presidential campaign staff, and the majority of the Democrat Party.

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