A Colorado Sheriff Warned About Release of ‘Dangerous’ Criminal. Now He’s Back Behind Bars.

Earlier this month we detailed one of the many public safety concerns created by the Democrats in control of the Colorado legislature: a requirement that individuals deemed incompetent to stand trial be released to the streets if there isn’t space for them in a state-run psychiatric facility. 

The sheriff of Weld County felt compelled to warn the public when he was forced to release a 21-year-old charged with attempted murder thanks to a shortage of inpatient beds. Ephraim Debisa was found incompetent to stand trial, but because Democrats have refused to deal with the crisis in the state’s mental health system, there was no room for him at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo. 

Fifteen days after issuing that warning, Debisa is back in custody, at least for the moment. 

A man who University of Northern Colorado police say brought a gun on campus was arrested by Greeley police Wednesday, according to a post from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office.

Ephraim Debisa, 21, faces charges of trespassing and unlawful possession of a weapon on school grounds.

Debisa was released from the Weld County jail earlier this month after he was found incompetent to stand trial and likely could not be restored to competency in two separate felony cases.

At the time, Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams issued a news release saying a state law required him to release Debisa and warning the public of Debisa’s release, calling him a “potential danger to the community.”

“I knew this would happen. I am glad no one was hurt,” Reams said in the post about Debisa’s arrest Wednesday.

Debisa, by the way, has a “red flag” order against him, so he’s not allowed to possess firearms. Despite that, the 21-year-old has allegedly had little trouble getting his hands on a gun. In addition this most recent arrest, Debisa’s previously been accused of holding someone at gunpoint.

I understand that if someone’s been deemed incompetent to stand trial they shouldn’t just be held in a jail cell indefinitely. But the state has an obligation and duty to the public to ensure that someone like Debisa is held a secure psychiatric facility until their competency has been restored. The Democrats in control of state government have abandoned that duty, choosing instead to adopt a passel of laws aimed at making it harder for Coloradans to protect themselves against violent criminals.

Democrats have also touted the state’s “red flag” law as a valuable public safety tool, but Debisa is a case study in how those laws fail to protect the public. 

“Red flag” laws are just another way for lawmakers to claim they’re doing something about dangerous individuals like Debisa without actually treating their dangerousness. That costs money, but “red flag” laws don’t require hiring new mental health workers or expanding the number of beds at state-run psychiatric facilities. 

In fact, there’s no mental health component at all to Colorado’s Extreme Risk Protection Order statute, which is the case with the vast majority of “red flag” laws across the country. It’s a judge, not a doctor, who assesses someone’s dangerousness, and if an order is granted there’s no mental health care offered or mandated after an individual’s guns have been taken from them.

We can see how well that’s working out. Not only has Debisa been accused of possessing a firearms after the “red flag” order was issued, the attempted murder charge didn’t involve the use of a firearm, which only proves the point that these laws don’t do anything to address the underlying dangerousness that an individual poses. 

Thankfully, Debisa was apprehended without him committing a violent offense, but he was still allegedly able to get his hands on a firearm despite the ERPO in place. 

Students and staff at the University of Northern Colorado, on the other hand, have been disarmed by the state legislature, which repealed Colorado’s “campus carry” law last year and made higher education facilities “gun-free zones”; yet another example of how anti-gun lawmakers are making life more dangerous for the people of Colorado. 

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