There are two reasons the national media is staying far away from the stabbing deaths of 4 in Southern California.

1. The weapon used was a knife, not an assault rifle

2. The brutal violence was the fault of the Democrats

That's not just an opinion. It's the statement of the Garden Grove police chief.

At the time of the murder spree, Castaneda was out on bail on three separate O.C. cases, including a July 19 arrest which resulted in felony charges of carrying a dirk or dagger, misdemeanor drug possession and driving on a suspended license, the DA’s office said. “This person should have been in prison, and not allowed to be in our community committing these violent acts,” Garden Grove Police chief Tom DaRé said. “As a police chief, I implore our policy makers to reevaluate their policies on criminal justice.”

So why was he out?

The California Department of Corrections says Castaneda was not released early from prison and had served his full term of four years. Garden Grove police say AB 109 kept Castaneda from going back to prison because prior to its passage, he would have been sent back to state prison for at least a year for violating parole. Instead, AB 109 allowed Castaneda to be on probation as part of Post-Release Community Supervision, serving short stints in county jail each of the 14 times he violated parole. AB 109 was passed in 2011 to reduce California’s prison population by allowing nonviolent and non-sex offender to be released early from state prisons and be supervised by local county probation officers. Castaneda had already spent two years in prison for drug possession and weapons charges from 2014 to 2016 and had been jailed 14 times previously for multiple probation violations.

Like all pro-crime "criminal justice reform" scams, 109 was supposed to involve non-violent offenders. Here's what that non-violence looks like.

He was armed with "some sort of machete knives" when he confronted the woman, Whitney said. The woman "was very brave," Whitney said. "She fought as best she could." An alarm company saw the robbery on a live television feed and called police. "They could see that the female victim was on the ground with blood and multiple injuries," Whitney said. Shortly after 6 p.m., the attacker drove up to a Chevron station, where he attacked a man pumping gas "for no reason," Whitney said. "There was no robbery." The man was stabbed in the back and "his nose was nearly severed off his face," the lieutenant said. Bystanders rushed to help the man, he said.

That's certainly non-violent.

This isn't the first time A.B. 109 has killed.

A Whittier police officer is dead and a second officer is recovering from a gunshot wound inflicted by a known gang member and two-time convicted felon. Why was this violent gang member on the street, with a gun? Why did the criminal “justice” system so miserably fail our officers? Why did it also fail law enforcement officers in Palm Springs and Lancaster? Chief Jeff Piper didn’t claim Officer Keith Boyer’s alleged killer, Michael Mejia, was released early, as the Los Angeles Times incorrectly wrote in an editorial, but rather that Assembly Bill 109 had a direct impact on the process and treatment related to Mejia’s release. AB109 realignment amended approximately 500 criminal statutes to essentially eliminate the possibility of state prison time for some offenders. It was enacted in the face of federal direction to reduce severely overcrowded California state prisons. But the statute states it was enacted to combat recidivism, not because of overcrowding. While Mejia did serve his two years for grand theft auto in state prison at Pelican Bay, he was released under AB109 on community supervision probation at the county level because his auto theft charge was considered a “non-violent” property crime. Officials were not allowed to consider Mejia’s past violent criminal history, only his most recent conviction. Yet his previous conviction and prison incarceration was for robbery. Mejia was jailed an unbelievable five times since his June 2016 prison release for drug violations and another violation classified as a felony. Pursuant to AB109, Mejia received the maximum “flash incarceration” of 10 days each time in county jail, the equivalent of a “time out” for a child. County probation could not return Mejia to state prison, another direct result of AB109.

Assembly Bill 109 has been a nightmare. And it was a nightmare that the Democrats made.

Assembly Bill 1182 by Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles), would reduce parole supervision from one year to 180 days for serious felons, including sex offenders. “Democrats really have already gutted state parole mightily,” said Michael Rushford, President of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. When asked the motive behind the bill, Rushford said “to help prior offenders get back to a normal life. Only the focus is on what an ex-con feels,” Rushford said. “What’s best for the inmate, rather than public safety.”

Trump's actions didn't kill anyone in El Paso. The actions of Democrats undeniably killed 4 people in Garden Grove.