Campus rifle arrest of repeat offender draws sharp rebuke of Dems from GOP lawmaker

After a repeat offender was discovered on a college campus with a rifle, Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., slammed Democratic leaders in Colorado for “devastating law enforcement morale” by what he described as siding with illegals and criminals above police and federal officials.

Ephraim Debisa, a 21-year-old reported refugee from Tanzania, was arrested again last week for unlawful possession of a weapon on school grounds and trespassing after being previously arrested for suspicion of attempting to commit second-degree murder, first-degree assault and engaging in a riot, according to the Weld County Sheriff’s Office.

The statement said that Debisa was also facing charges of felony menacing and first-degree burglary from earlier in the year.

Just a few weeks earlier, the sheriff’s office released a warning to the public that it was having to release Debisa, who the office called a “potential danger to the community,” because he did not meet the competency requirements to stand trial under a new Colorado law passed under Democratic leadership in 2024.

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In the statement, Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams criticized Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and the Democrat-controlled state legislature, saying they “created a crisis” and “have continued to weaken the criminal justice system by handcuffing law enforcement, prosecutors and judges for the sake of criminals.”

“I pray this individual doesn’t hurt another innocent victim but the public deserves to know of his past violent actions so they can protect themselves accordingly,” said Reams. 

“God help this State,” he added.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Evans, whose district includes portions of Weld County, said that as a former police officer, he knows that cases like these take an “emotional and mental health toll on the cops.”

“This is just devastating to public safety in Colorado, and it’s devastating to law enforcement morale, because you go, and you arrest a repeat violent offender who then gets released, and then you got to go catch him again two weeks later when he’s armed with a gun, and you know that you’re going to put your life on the line to go get an unstable individual armed with the firearm again,” Evans said, adding, “And he’s probably just going to get released — this is devastating to law enforcement morale as well.”

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He explained that “one of the largest indicators of PTSD in law enforcement is: do they feel like they’re being backed by their agencies and by the government?”

“When the government of Colorado, the governor, is signing laws that re-releases violent individuals back into the community, cops don’t feel like anyone’s got their back,” he said.

“For the last five years plus, we have seen the left double down on their anti-law enforcement rhetoric, going back to the riots of 2020,” he went on. “They are at an ideological point where they struggle to be able to actually back law enforcement and condemn political violence when it’s against conservative figures.”

In response, Polis told Fox News Digital, “I’ll work with anyone to reduce crime and don’t just pay it lip service.” 

“We are getting real results: double-digit reductions in crime in auto theft, property crime, and violent crime. We are doing this by getting tough on crime, increasing criminal penalties for crimes like auto theft, and investing in our police,” he said. 

Polis also said that the Trump administration “is withholding a major amount of Colorado’s federal public safety funding, including funds for emergency management and response, which I hope draws outrage from Rep. Evans.” 

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“Evans and Republicans are blocking public safety funding — and now he wants to distract people from issues he owns in Congress: kicking people off healthcare, increasing the federal deficit, the administration’s withholding of public safety money, and now, the … shutdown of the federal government,” he said.

In a letter that Polis’ office sent to Evans and other Colorado Republicans, Reps. Lauren Boebert and Jeff Crank, the governor noted that the new law passed with bipartisan, veto-proof majorities, but acknowledged it has had “unintended consequences.”

He wrote that he is “actively working with and supporting district attorneys, law enforcement, the Colorado Department of Human Services, and legislators” to find a solution, and that he is “always willing to look at making changes where necessary, such as fixing or repealing” the law.

“The reality is, Colorado has seen reductions in crime, including in auto theft, property crime, and violent crime,” Polis wrote, while adding, “But we need to do more.”

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Yet, according to Evans, law enforcement in Colorado is feeling the effects of Democrats “soft on crime” policies and the community is reeling from the impacts.

“Myself and some of the other members from Colorado weighed in on this, calling on the governor to fix a lot of these laws that he has personally signed over the last few years that have made Colorado the second most dangerous state in the country,” he explained. 

“Denver is a top ten most dangerous major city in the country, and it goes back to all of these laws,” said Evans. “There is, unfortunately, a lot of anti-law enforcement sentiment just nationally against law enforcement. In Colorado, the Democrats have doubled down on that.”