State Representative Janel Brandtjen says she will fight to cut state funding for Milwaukee, unless city leaders take steps to dramatically cut crime.
The Menomonee Falls Republican says residents in Washington County were forced a few days ago "to unlock their gun cabinets and instruct their loved ones to shoot to kill" when five armed youths wanted for a car-jacking in Milwaukee fled into that neighboring county and law enforcement searched for them overnight.
In a release, Brandtjen says "the violence and the crime that has plagued Milwaukee for decades has now begun to spill over into Milwaukee’s suburbs. I lay the responsibility for this growing and out of control problem at the door of the mayor’s office."
Among the demands she makes of Mayor Tom Barrett are that he fill vacant police officer positions, arrest car thieves, demand prison time for repeat criminals and stand up to judges who go easy repeat offenders.
Democratic state Senator Lena Taylor of Milwaukee released a statement in response. It reads, in part: "This is a serious problem that needs serious answers, not dangerous rhetoric. It’s sheltered logic to lay this entire problem at the foot of one city...If Rep. Brandtjen wants to stop the violence, she should spend her time authoring legislation to end violence, not writing press releases to incite it.”