To Further Politicize Milwaukee Murder, Talker Must Tweak His Tale

I noted yesterday that right-wing AM 620 WTMJ talker Jeff Wagner chose to politicize a murder in a Milwaukee park by trying to link it to our Democratic Mayor and allegedly-racial overtones of earlier crimes in the area.

Wagner said the park was in the same area as what he described as a "wilding" and the scene of "mass assault" and "hate crimes" after the July 3rd, 2011 fireworks, and said Barrett should be paying more attention to neighborhoods he said have "a long, long, long" way to go."

I then wrote:

The murder in the park was solved within minutes with the help of witnesses, the police say, and could have been a random act unrelated to a specific area, or an incident of domestic violence that while serious and certainly of concern has nothing to do with the quality of the neighborhood, city or national politics.

Wagner could continue to politicize the story, though he'll have to tweak his narrative, given this surprising and additionally-sad development about the 32-year-old suspect in the murder investigation as reported in the Journal Sentinel:

The state Department of Justice has been asked to review possible charges in a weekend Milwaukee homicide because the suspect in the case is the son of... a Milwaukee judge...Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Thomas P. Donegan.

Donegan, a former Milwaukee alderman, was elected to the circuit court in 1992. He is currently assigned to Children's Court.

Wednesday afternoon update - - for Wagner and other readers:

Judge Donegan said his son has some significant mental health problems and has not been taking his medication.

A suggestions for Wagner:

1. Maybe the Donegans are Democrats, so just keep on going, or...

2. Apologize to the neighborhood, and Barrett, and the victim, and the suspect's family you used for partisan purposes.