President Trump Stands Up to Kim Kardashian

Brandon Bernard was declared dead by lethal injection last night at 9:27 PM, EST.

Brandon Bernard

Bernard was one of the five black 212 Piru Bloods gang members who, in 1999, murdered Todd and Stacie Bagley in Killeen, Texas. On their way home from church, the Bagleys stopped to use a payphone. Christopher Vialva, one of the gang members, asked Mr. Bagley to give him and his two friends, Christopher Lewis and Tony Sparks, a ride. The Bagleys kindly agreed. Vialva then drew a gun on them, forced them into the trunk, and “drove for several hours, stopping at A.T.M.s to withdraw money from the couple’s bank account and trying to pawn Ms. Bagley’s wedding ring.”

Christopher Vialva

Later, the carjackers got in touch with two fellow gangbangers, Brandon Bernard and Terry Brown, saying they needed help destroying the evidence. Bernard bought lighter fluid and the five met near Fort Hood. Bernard then “doused the car with lighter fluid as the Bagleys sang and prayed.” Before Bernard lit the car on fire with the Bagleys still in the trunk, Vialva shot them, killing Todd, and leaving Stacie incapable of running away — she died of smoke inhalation.

Stacie and Todd Bagley

In 2000, Bernard and Vialva received death sentences, and spent years on death row (Mr. Lewis and Mr. Brown were each sentenced to 15 years in prison, Mr. Sparks was sentenced to life, which was later reduced to 35 years). In July of 2019, Attorney General William Barr announced that the federal government would end its de facto moratorium on capital punishment, and end carceral limbo for murderers.

The government ignored Vialva’s pleas for mercy (“I’m not the stupid kid I was the day I made the most desperate and tragic decision of my life”) and put him to death in September. The New York Times reported that Susan Otto, Vialva’s attorney:

. . . said race had played a “very significant role” in the case. She noted that the Bagleys were white and said that prosecutors had emphasized that Mr. Vialva was the leader of a “Black street gang,” which raised the specter of “organized, marauding Black teenagers in their community.”

“It played into the ‘superpredator’ scenario that was so common during that era,” Ms. Otto said. Only one member of the jury of 10 men and two women that convicted Mr. Vialva and Mr. Bernard was Black, she said.

Earlier this week, celebrity Kim Kardashian West made the same arguments about Bernard to her 67.9 million Twitter followers: “Although all five teens [involved in the crime] were black, 11 of the 12 jurors were white.” She asked her followers to go to HelpSaveBrandon.com and petition Donald Trump to reduce Bernard’s sentence to life in prison.

June 13, 2019, President Trump, listens as Kim Kardashian West makes remarks during an event on on second chance hiring. Reality show star-turned activist Kardashian had a starring role at a criminal justice reform event at the East Room of the White House. (Credit Image: © Ron Sachs/CNP via ZUMA Wire)

Mrs. West and her husband, Kanye West, talk to the President and helped convince him to pass “criminal justice reform.” This time, he didn’t buckle, and the execution went ahead as planned. Mrs. West has since announced:

As he was in the chair his attorney called me and they just had their last call and said this…
Brandon said he loves you and wants to say thank you again
He said he doesn’t feel too claustrophobic in the chair. 💔

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 11, 2020

I could go on and on about what an amazing person Brandon was. I do know he left this earth feeling supported and loved and at peace. 🕊
This just has to change: our system is so fucked up

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 11, 2020

It’s not clear how Mrs. West got to know Bernard, but an affinity for blacks, especially black criminals, runs in the family. Her father was Robert Kardashian, best known for being part of O.J. Simpson’s legal team, but the tie between the two men was stronger than that. They had been friends for years before the murder trial, and after Mr. Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, he stayed at Kardashian’s house to avoid the media. The day after the killings, a TV crew spotted Kardashian with a “bulging bag outside Mr. Simpson’s home and loading it onto a car driven by Mr. Simpson’s assistant, Cathy Randa. The bag was empty when it was introduced into evidence . . . .” Many people suspected that the bag contained incriminating evidence, but once Kardashian joined Mr. Simpson’s legal team, he asserted attorney-client privilege and didn’t have to talk about it.

Robert Kardashian and the bag.

Robert Kardashian’s daughter Kim became a celebrity in 2007 after a porn company released a sex tape of her with black rapper “Ray J.” He never reached OJ Simpson’s heights, but Ray J has faced plenty of criminal charges over the years, including sexual battery, vandalism of a police car, assault on a police officer, and resisting arrest.

The Kardashians are the last people any President should listen to about crime and clemency.