Two recent arrests of young men who had used guns to commit violent offenses expose a criminal justice system that is failing to see the big picture and consequently failing to keep law abiding Minnesotan’s safe.
The system has become paralyzed by the social justice narratives that demonize incarceration. The failure to incapacitate offenders when they have been arrested for violent offenses reinforces, in the minds of offenders, that there are no consequences to crime. It also handicaps the correctional system in its effort to rehabilitate.
The two young men that I will describe had violent criminal histories which should have ensured they were incarcerated, making it impossible for them to commit more crime. Had the system worked, as the public expects it to work, there would be one fewer murder, three fewer aggravated assaults, and two fewer armed robberies. But the system didn’t work, not for the victims, the law-abiding public, or the two young offenders who now face dozens of additional years in prison – years that should have been avoided through a criminal justice system that made appropriate use of incapacitation and rehabilitation.
Instead, a social justice led system returned both men to the streets far too quickly and without assurances they had been rehabilitated or even had a single tool to help them avoid re-offending. It should surprise no one that each of these men quickly failed.
It’s become far too easy to find examples of our criminal justice system failing to incapacitate violent offenders when it has the chance. That failure has seriously damaged the system’s ability to deter, punish, or rehabilitate offenders, and law-abiding Minnesotan’s are paying the price. It needs to stop.
The cases of Arlonzo Williams Jr
In early October, I reported on a “mass shooting” that had occurred at Bar Zia, located just across the street from the Hennepin County Jail. One man died and three others were shot and injured during the shooting. The shooter, Arlonzo Williams Jr., 26, shot multiple rounds at the victim in the middle of a busy downtown dance floor, killing the victim on site, and injuring three other random people dancing nearby. Williams slipped out of the bar with everyone else who was fleeing after the shots were fired.
The brazenness of the murder was shocking, yet looking at Williams’ previous violent offenses, any casual observer of the criminal justice system would demand to know why he wasn’t still locked up for his previous and pending cases.
In 2015, when Williams was just 16, he and a co-defendant conducted an armed robbery of five people in a Minneapolis city park. During the robbery, Williams pointed a handgun at each of the victims and threatened to shoot several of the victims. He eventually fled after robbing the victims of their cell phones and cash. Williams was arrested later that morning and was still in possession of the handgun and stolen items. He was charged with four counts of First-Degree Aggravated Robbery and four counts of Second-Degree Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. According to the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines, each robbery count carried with it a 48-month presumptive commitment to prison, and each Second-Degree Assault count carried with it a 21-month presumptive stayed prison sentence.
Williams was certified to stand trial as an adult and was convicted as part of a plea agreement offered by the Hennepin County Attorney. The agreement dismissed the four assault charges, and Williams was sentenced concurrently on each of the robbery counts, minus 63 days for time he had served in jail. While the records are unclear, it appears Williams served just under five years in prison for these violent armed robberies and assaults.
At least he was prohibited for life from possessing firearms, right?
We hear so much about how society wants to rid itself of gun related violence – and that’s a good thing. The problem is in the follow-through when the system has a violent armed offender in its grasp and fails to hold the offender, often due to misguided social justice influenced decisions.
Last November, Williams was once again arrested after police observed him making a drug deal at 19th and Nicollet Ave in Minneapolis – a notorious open air drug market and area of numerous gunfire incidents. When Williams was stopped after leaving the area, police noticed a loaded firearm on the floorboard near his feet. A search of William’s car revealed a backpack with four additional ammunition magazines, including a drum magazine that would allow dozens of rounds to be fired without reloading. Again – Williams was prohibited for life from possessing firearms but was unmoved by the prohibition, given his experience with the system. Here was the chance for the criminal justice system to walk the walk. It stumbled.
Williams was charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, which carried with it a three-year mandatory minimum sentence. Unfortunately for his future victims, Williams was afforded a reasonably low bail and secured a bond for his release, with the conditions to “remain law abiding and not possess firearms.” While awaiting trial, Williams violated terms of his conditional release, and in September 2025 the court issued a warrant for his arrest. Too little too late.
On October 7th before Williams could be located, he executed a man in a busy bar, injuring three others in the process. Williams was subsequently charged with four counts of Murder in the Second Degree and one court of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. He was arrested and sits in the Hennepin County Jail – this time with a $2 million dollar bail. It should never have got to this point.
The cases of Dementrice Arnold Jr
In August 2024, at 3 am, Dementrice Arnold Jr., 19, was in downtown Minneapolis armed with a firearm and a high-capacity magazine. He and a group of others began assaulting a man near 2nd and Washington Ave. During the assault/robbery, Arnold took the man’s shoes before fleeing. They were later filmed on surveillance cameras holding the man’s shoes and taking selfies in some perverse celebration.
A short time later Arnold’s group saw the initial victim walking with another group of people. Arnold and his group ran toward them, and Arnold was captured on surveillance camera pulling out his firearm and shooting at the other group. The opposing group fired back, and in the melee two innocent people on a motorcycle and a person in Arnold’s party were struck by gunfire.
Arnold fled the area in a car but was stopped by police and arrested. His firearm was located wedged in the seat near him. The firearm’s slide was locked to the rear, and the magazine was empty, indicating Arnold had fired the gun until it was empty.
Arnold was not charged while in custody, presumably due to DNA testing and other ballistic testing that was needed to tie him to the crime. He was eventually charged in December 2024, but despite the seriousness of the robbery and shooting incident, Arnold was charged with just one count of Riot in the Second Degree, and one gross misdemeanor count of Intentional Discharge of a Firearm. His bail was set at $20,000, with a ridiculously low $500 cash option with conditions. Arnold posted bail in late January 2025 and returned to the street.
In late March the court had to issue a warrant for Arnold’s arrest due to violations of the conditions of his release. Despite the violation, there were no repercussions other than to be taken back into custody.
In August, the Hennepin County Attorney offered Arnold a plea bargain of no more than 180 days in the Workhouse, minus the time he had already served in jail. The judge accepted the guilty plea and one upped the County Attorney. The judge stayed a 12-month prison sentence, giving Arnold 3 years’ probation. Arnold walked out of jail that day, having learned that there are no consequences to violent crime. Have no fear, Arnold was “prohibited from possessing firearms” following the conviction.
Less than three months later, Arnold and an accomplice were once again armed and in the area of 19th and Nicollet (sound familiar?). They came upon two men filming a music video. Arnold pulled his gun and robbed the two men of jewelry and cash. Arnold threatened to kill the two men if they didn’t hurry, and at one point racked a fresh round into the chamber of his gun to emphasize his point.
The entire robbery was captured in the music video, and Arnold was identified in part by very distinctive clothing he wore during the robbery. When officers located him later that day, he attempted to flee on foot and threw a backpack he was carrying. Once Arnold was apprehended, a search of the backpack revealed a handgun with a high-capacity magazine, matching the gun used in the armed robbery. The victims’ stolen items were also recovered in the backpack.
The Hennepin County Attorney charged Arnold with one count of Robbery in the First Degree, and one count of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Arnold is being held in the Hennepin County jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.
In theory Arnold should face a mandatory 36-month sentence for the felon in possession of a firearm charge. He also faces a 58-month presumptive sentence for armed robbery with a prior felony conviction. We shall see.
Takeaways
The criminal justice system – from inadequate levels of bail, limited public safety threat tools, questionable levels of charging, inappropriately weak plea bargains, concurrent sentencing, and sentencing guidelines that appear to be wildly out of touch with the expectations of law-abiding Minnesotan’s – is failing us all, time after time.
Unfortunately, there are countless Williams’s and Arnolds cycling through Minnesota’s criminal justice system at any given time. Instead of providing a level of deterrence, the system teaches many violent offenders that there are no consequences to their actions. Instead of incapacitating violent offenders to allow corrections an appropriate amount of time to rehabilitate them, the system repeatedly errors by releasing the offenders with zero assurance they have the tools to avoid re-offending.
I served in the system, and I know the pressures it is under to reduce “over-incarceration.” I also know that while working in the system it is easy to miss the forest for the trees that get in the way. System leaders need to get themselves above the trees more frequently and recognize that when an offender carjacks someone, or when an offender empties a high capacity magazine of bullets at others in downtown Minneapolis, or dozens of other violent scenarios I could come up with, law abiding citizens expect those offenders to be removed from society, incarcerated, and rehabilitated before their return. No exceptions. Unfortunately, rather than being a rarity, the exceptions have become the rule in our criminal justice system.
System leaders have become locked into believing exceptions are not only acceptable but preferred. The situation illustrates what a mess we are in. Our only options are to continue informing and advocating for a more consequential criminal justice system.