West
Republican DA bucks blue state's 'broken sentencing' with tough-on-crime approach
A tough-on-crime Republican district attorney is using his years of prosecuting some of the most infamous cases in Colorado to crack down on crime across the blue state.
In January, George Brauchler became the first-ever district attorney for Colorado’s 23rd Judicial District, making it the first time in more than 60 years that Colorado added a new judicial district.
He previously served as DA for the 18th Judicial District, where he prosecuted some of the state’s biggest mass shooting cases, including at an Aurora movie theater and Columbine High School.
“I was a very young prosecutor when Columbine happened, and Columbine was the high school immediately to the south of where I graduated from high school,” Brauchler told Fox News Digital during an interview. “And so, when it occurred to be assigned to prosecute the felonies out of that, I thought at the time that would be the biggest, worst case I would ever handle, and I was wrong and that’s an amazing revelation to come to in this job.”
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George Brauchler, lead prosecutor in the case against convicted Colorado theater shooter James Holmes, responds to questions during an interview, Aug. 14, 2015, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Soon after Brauchler was elected to a “broader version” of his current jurisdiction, the Aurora theater shooting case happened.
“A guy walked into a movie theater at about 2:25 in Alameda and tried to murder a theater full of people, and I ended up prosecuting that. We also ended up having a mass shooting here at a school at the end of my time in office. I was also asked to do the mock cross-examination of the victim in the Kobe Bryant rape case out of Vail back, I don’t know, almost 20 years ago now. It’s not anything you could really ever plan for. It’s just, you’re there. You always say yes,” Brauchler explained while reflecting on his earlier career.
“You end up developing a skill set and an expertise. And then you find yourself in a position to run for the first new district attorney’s office in over 60 years in Colorado. And you think, for whatever it’s worth, as humbly as I can put this, there just isn’t anybody that brings to this job right now the kind of experience that I have. And I hope to use it for the benefit of my community.”
Last month, Brauchler secured a rare first-degree murder conviction in a high-profile DUI case, which marked the first murder trial in Colorado’s newly formed 23rd Judicial District.
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The case involved Paul Stephenson, 57, who Brauchler said drank a bottle of Fireball and two beers before crashing into a minivan that was parked in Castle Rock last August.
“That case was so disturbing to me on a lot of levels,” Brauchler said.
Lt. Col. Matthew Anderson, a 39-year-old Air Force test pilot and father of four, was killed while pumping gas. His wife was inside the gas station store at the time of the crash. One of their children suffered a fractured skull and two others were also injured.
“On a Sunday afternoon, filling his car with gas while his wife goes to get the kids Popsicles, some two-time convicted drunk pours himself into a lifted Chevy Silverado, crosses five lanes of traffic, hops a curb, hits the accelerator to 98% and crushes that car at 45 miles an hour, injuring three of the kids and killing Lt. Col. Matt Anderson,” Brauchler said, describing the horrific scene that unfolded.
“In Colorado, the gut reaction charge would be, oh, that’s vehicular homicide. And that sounds horrible, but in Colorado, we have some of the weakest traffic laws in the country. So vehicular [homicide] would have only been punishable at most by 12 years in the Department of Corrections. Given our broken sentencing scheme, that guy would have been paroled in probably less than four years, and that seemed wholly unacceptable to me and everybody that looked at this case,” Brauchler continued.
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District Attorney George Brauchler talks to the media, May 18, 2016, after a plea hearing for retired Army Col. Eric Henderson, who was accused of hit-and-run, vehicular homicide and drunken driving resulting in the death of Colorado State Trooper Jaimie Jursevics in November 2015. (Andy Cross/Denver Post via Getty Images)
To ensure that justice was served, Brauchler said his office got a “little aggressive” and charged the driver with first-degree murder based on “extreme indifference.”
“We pursued it. And I’m not going to tell you it didn’t have risks. I’m not going to tell you that I didn’t have a pit in my stomach. But in about three and a half hours of deliberation after about a weeklong trial, the jury came back and said, ‘Yeah, guilty of first-degree murder,’ and we’re all pretty satisfied with that outcome,” Brauchler said.
Brauchler added what this case also highlighted was that he feels “we have lost sight of the purpose of the criminal justice system and taken our eye off the ball on day-to-day crimes,” like DUI.
“One thing about this is that there is no time of day, no road you can drive on that you can say, ‘Well, I’m safe from drunk drivers at this time on this road.’ My God, this was Sunday. On a road in the middle of Castle Rock, not a highway, on a road but across the street from the Douglas County Fair. If we don’t, I think, vigilantly attack this problem as much as any other, maybe more so, we’re going to see more of this, and this is the most preventable crime there is. This guy chose to risk people’s lives, and now he’s going to lose his freedom,” Brauchler said.
Brauchler said Anderson’s wife and children have recovered, but the ripple effects of witnessing the horrific scene are “still unknown as to how far they stretch through their lives.”
“How does seeing the violent death of their father in front of them, the way they saw him lying in the parking lot with a massive head injury, missing his leg above the ankle, how does that haunt them throughout the rest of their lives? I don’t think anybody knows,” Brauchler said.
Members of a police SWAT team march to Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. (AP/File)
“I have spoken with the widow many times. She is resilient and tough, but you can also see there’s something missing in her eyes. I don’t know how better to describe it, but I’ve seen it a lot with loss like this and that blue flame that flickers back there that tells you somebody’s fully engaged is just a little more diminished. It’s a little harder to see. And my hope for that family is that they can figure out a way to find happiness even without Col. Anderson.”
Tom Mustin, director of media relations for Brauchler’s office, told Fox News Digital that “typically, DUI cases lead to vehicular homicide charges, but this case set a new precedent and reflects DA Brauchler’s tough-on-crime approach that helped win him the office.”
“I don’t shy away from the description ‘tough on crime,’ but when did simply enforcing the law and having an expectation that there would be accountability for breaking it become ‘tough on [crime]?’” Brauchler said. “That just tells you how far we’ve shifted away from the idea of personal responsibility for criminal conduct. But I’m proud of the position we’ve taken. It’s been well-received everywhere. And I mean not just in our jurisdiction, but when I go to other jurisdictions.”
Brauchler, a Republican DA in the heavily blue Denver metro area, said Colorado has “taken such a sharp turn towards the progressive left that every other office is now dominated by Democrats,” which makes his position unique.
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A woman embraces her daughter after the Columbine High School shooting. (AP/File)
“I’ll tell you one thing that sticks out to me that’s odd is that I’ve made a real point of telling the public, even before I took office, we’re going to be an office that stands for the rule of law, and that if people come down here to steal from us or victimize us, they ought to expect to be incarcerated,” Brauchler said. “That message has been so overwhelmingly received and in a positive way, like people clap when I say that.”
Brauchler added that when he started working in his field 30 years ago and had this same messaging, it would have been a “yawn fest.”
“People would have been like, ‘Duh, that’s what prosecutors and police do.’ But that’s how far we’ve shifted in the other direction,” Brauchler said.
When asked about other high-profile cases like the Menendez brothers’ case in California, Brauchler said “there’s no good message that comes out of these two ever walking out of prison.”
“I remember when these cases happened, and I followed them like everybody else,” Brauchler said. “But this was a brutal, planned murder for the most selfish reasons possible. Anything they come up with at this point, by way of excuse, has already been air-dried in front of the jury and rejected when they were convicted. There’s no good message for America that comes out of these guys ever taking a free breath again.”
Brauchler said what is troubling about the Menendez brothers’ case being brought back up is that “every time something like this happens and someone sees any amount of success, it encourages others to do this.”
“You have to believe that there are any number of defense attorneys out there who are willing to shoot for the notoriety or the paycheck. In order to try to capture something like this, I’m not denigrating them. I know that’s business, but the answer should be that we should forget about the Menendez brothers.”
Brauchler said what the Menendez brothers’ case highlights is something that has been happening since the Aurora theater shooting that is amplifying killers.
“There has been a real concerted effort by decent people and many in the media to no longer amplify the killers; like, we should be focused on the victims. I would say since the Aurora theater shooter, I’ve said that guy’s name maybe four times through the whole trial, which lasted from Jan. 20th until April 7th, 2015. I said his name exactly twice. And that was by design,” Brauchler explained.
“And so here we are again, focused on the Menendez brothers and the Netflix things about the Menendez brothers. And I understand that, but we should really de-glorify the criminals and focus more on the victims and the crime that was committed. And I think that if you let these guys out, you do the opposite.”
Brauchler added that there are even studies now about the correlation between the amount of notoriety that a criminal gets and then copycat-type crimes.
“I’ll give you an example with Columbine. The STEM school mass shooting that I covered, both of those shooters had passing fascination with those Columbine shooters. We had a near-mass shooting at another high school right down the road from my kid’s high school. They both had a fascination with the Columbine shooters and the Aurora theater shooter. Guess which case he researched before he left his apartment back on July the 19th to go murder these people? Columbine. So, the more notorious an event or some people become, it does have an effect on other folks,” Brauchler said.
“I get it, we have to report the bad guy or bad girl at least once,” Brauchler continued. “Then after that, let’s not talk about them anymore. Let’s talk about the crime. Let’s talk about the victims, and let’s go to court.”
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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Mostly sunny in much of Wyoming on Sunday with a chance of rain in some areas. Partly cloudy overnight. Highs in the 60s and low 70s. Lows in the 30s and low 40s.
Central:
Casper: Slight chance of rain, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 72 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 11 p.m., a low near 42 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Riverton: Sunny and breezy today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 41 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.
Jeffrey City: Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 69 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 38 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.
Southwest:
Evanston: Mostly sunny today with a high near 66 and mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 38.
Green River: Mostly sunny today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 41 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Kemmerer: Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 66 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 37 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.
Western Wyoming:
Pinedale: Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 64 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 32 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Alpine: Mostly sunny today with a high near 69 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 38.
Big Piney: Mostly sunny today with a high near 66 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Partly cloudy and blustery overnight with a low near 29 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.
Northwest:
Dubois: Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 61 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 37 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Jackson: Sunny today with a high near 68 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 11 p.m. and a low near 37.
Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park: Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 59 and partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a low near 31.
Bighorn Basin:
Thermopolis: Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 41.
Cody: Chance of rain mainly after 4 p.m., otherwise partly sunny and breezy today with a high near 69 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 42.
Lovell: Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 41.
North Central:
Buffalo: Chance of rain mainly after 1 p.m., otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 65 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 43.
Sheridan: Slight chance of rain, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 70 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 40.
Dayton: Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 69 and partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain and a low near 41.
Northeast:
Gillette: Slight chance of rain, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 68 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 41 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Newcastle: Chance of rain mainly after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 68 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 42 and wind gusts as high as 18 mph.
Hulett: Chance of rain mainly before noon, gradually clearing today with a high near 70 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 41 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph.
Eastern Plains:
Torrington: Slight chance of rain after 4 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 74 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 39.
Douglas: Slight chance of rain, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 72 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 38.
Midwest: Slight chance of rain, otherwise mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 71 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 39 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.
Southeast:
Cheyenne: Slight chance of rain after noon, increasing clouds today with a high near 69 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 41.
Laramie: Chance of slight rain after noon, increasing clouds today with a high near 64 and mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 38.
Chugwater: Slight chance of rain after 2 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 69 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 43.
South Central:
Rawlins: Mostly sunny today with a high near 66 and mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 43.
Saratoga: Mostly sunny today with a high near 67 and mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 39.
Wamsutter: Mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 66 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 39 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco’s Union Square, a downtown area that generates about 40% of the city’s general fund tax base, is showing signs of recovery.
However, key challenges remain as city leaders and real estate officials push for revitalization.
“Downtown, like all of San Francisco, is on the rise,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said.
City officials and commercial real estate agents point to improvements in retail occupancy as evidence of progress. The retail vacancy rate in Union Square on Thursday stood at about 15%, down from a peak of 22% in 2025. In 2019, before the pandemic, the vacancy rate was 6.4%.
Commercial real estate agent Julie Taylor of Colliers International described the shift as significant.
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“The nightmare is over. The nightmare is totally over,” Taylor said.
She said activity is underway even in buildings that remain vacant.
“Every building that is vacant has something going on — at a minimum, people touring. But a lot of them have multiple offers trading,” Taylor said.
Taylor said she expects the area to fully rebound within about two years, including the Powell Street corridor, which last year experienced a retail vacancy rate of 71%. She said interest from corporations has increased this year as companies reassess the city.
“They want to tour space. They want to understand what’s changed in the market. They want to know about the Powell Street improvement project. They want to know everything that our DA and our mayor are doing for Union Square and how things have changed,” Taylor said.
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Interest from potential tenants has also coincided with lower lease prices, with some spaces seeing declines of up to 30%. Several major retailers are shifting locations within the area, including Zara, Uniqlo and Chanel. There are also unconfirmed reports that Nordstrom, which left the Westfield Mall, may take over the space previously occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue. As part of the effort to attract businesses, the mayor recently announced the Downtown Business Fund, which aims to provide grants and low-interest loans to businesses that lack the capital to lease space downtown.
“Helping a business open its doors downtown creates jobs, activates streets and restores confidence in the heart of the city,” Lurie said.
Another major component of the revitalization effort is the Powell Street improvement project, estimated to cost between $20 million and $40 million. The project is intended to help restore Union Square as a commercial and pedestrian hub at an estimated cost of $2 to $4 million.
“It is a significant amount of money,” said San Francisco Supervisor Danny Sauter. “Part of this is coming from a 2024 bond that the voters approved, we’re not raising taxes with this. It’s some of that bond money and some of the downtown partnership money from across business leadership realizing this is a really important corridor.”
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Despite optimism around retail, downtown office vacancy remains a concern. Office space vacancy stands at about 28%, compared with between 4% and 6% in 2019. Adding to the mixed outlook, one of England’s largest real estate companies, which owns property around Union Square and elsewhere in San Francisco, said last week that it is selling off part of its Bay Area portfolio.
“Those that want to depart our city, they’re missing out,” Lurie said.
The mayor acknowledged that progress remains fragile.
“Now, I will say this: our economy is coming back, but it’s fragile, and we gotta nurture it, and we have to build partnerships like you’re seeing today to keep it growing, because the rug could be pulled out from under us quiet easily,” he said.
Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Ryan Nitzen | May 2, 2026
Denver, Colorado serves as round 16 of the Monster Energy SuperMotocross World Championship at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium. Today is the penultimate round of the Supercross Championship and things are coming down to the wire as Ken Roczen leads the championship by four points over Hunter Lawrence. In 250SX, the Western Divisional Championship is back on track with Haiden Deegan looking to close out his season on top. Let’s get into the action from qualifying!
450 QUALIFYING
Ken Roczen is turning up the heat late as he leads the 450SX points for the first time ever in the second-half of the season. The Progressive Suzuki rider set the fastest lap in the 450’s and posted the fastest time of anyone on track with a 50.103. He was only two-tenths quicker than Hunter Lawrence who took second overall with a 50.314. Chase Sexton looked fast all morning and clocked the time to beat in Q1 before taking third overall.
450SX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Ken Roczen | (Suz) | 50.103 |
| 2. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 50.314 |
| 3. | Chase Sexton | (Kaw) | 50.392 |
| 4. | Justin Hill | (KTM) | 50.532 |
| 5. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 50.771 |
| 6. | Eli Tomac | (KTM) | 51.010 |
| 7. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 51.039 |
| 8. | Justin Cooper | (Yam) | 51.054 |
| 9. | Garrett Marchbanks | (Kaw) | 51.350 |
| 10. | Christian Craig | (Hon) | 51.524 |
250 QUALIFYING
With 250SX West back on track today, it’s no surprise to see Haiden Deegan as the fastest qualifier. He’s already clinched the 250 title so there’s no real pressure other than closing out his 250 career with a win. Deegan heads to the line first going into the night show and was the only 250 rider in the 50-second range. Levi Kitchen was a close second and looks up to speed after a mid-season back injury. Ryder DiFrancesco rounded out the top three after setting the time to beat in the first qualifying session.
250SX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 50.981 |
| 2. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 51.348 |
| 3. | Ryder DiFrancesco | (Hus) | 51.562 |
| 4. | Max Anstie | (Yam) | 51.750 |
| 5. | Lux Turner | (Yam) | 52.196 |
| 6. | Max Vohland | (Yam) | 52.692 |
| 7. | Joshua Varize | (Kaw) | 52.696 |
| 8. | Cameron McAdoo | (Kaw) | 52.759 |
| 9. | Carson Mumford | (KTM) | 52.829 |
| 10. | Hunter Yoder | (Yam) | 52.939 |
Denver Notes
- Eli Tomac returns to action today after crashing in Cleveland and missing the last two rounds
- Joey Savatgy crashed in 450 Q1 and injured his wrist. He’s out for tonight’s racing
- Cameron McAdoo is back on track after recovering from a fractured humerus in Seattle
- Kayden Minear makes his pro debut today with the Star Racing Yamaha team
- Gage Linville starts his time with the Triumph Factory Racing Team today
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