The sheriff in St. Lucie County, Florida, excoriated President Joe Biden for his commutation of two federal death row inmates who were convicted of murdering a family of four in his county in 2006, blaming it on the Democrat’s "woke ideology."
Sheriff Keith Pearson blasted Biden for sparing the lives of Ricardo Sanchez Jr. and Daniel Troya, who shot and killed a father, mother and two children on the Florida turnpike and leaving them on the side of the highway, according to CBS12.
They were two of 37 commutations that Biden issued Monday, decisions he made to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from carrying out federal executions when he takes office next month.
"Waking up to news that Joe Biden commuted the death sentence for Ricardo Sanchez (Jr.) and Daniel Troya, minimizing it to a life sentence, is disheartening," Pearson said in a statement. "These two earned their right to die for the heinous crimes they committed."
Sanchez and Troya pulled over the car carrying Jose Luis Escobedo, Luis Damian Escobedo, Luis Julian Escobedo and Yessica Guerro Escobedo and executed them.
Biden put federal executions on hold when he took office in January 2021. He said Monday that his commutations were to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from carrying out executions.
"In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted," Biden said.
"These are among the worst killers in the world and this abhorrent decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones.
"President Trump stands for the rule of law, which will return when he is back in the White House after he was elected with a massive mandate from the American people," Trump Communications Director Steven Cheung said in an emailed statement.