A $7,000 bond now—a huge reduction from $1.2 million – outcry all over the city of Austin from a Travis County judge. The bond was given to Solomun Weldekeal-Araya, a truck driver theatered with murdering five people-two kids-in an extremely ghastly crash.
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This incident involved 17 vehicles, and 11 others were hospitalized, yet the injury and deaths caused are explained by the simple reduction of $1.2 million bail to $7,000.
Investigators confirmed that Weldekeal-Araya, by deliberate road jams, plowed his truck through not-quite-stopped traffic and into several cars before trying to disregard the scene; witnesses have said that he initially struck two vehicles, then continued in motion, resulting in the deadly pile up. A child and infant were among the victims, giving more tragic resonance to the event.
The judge’s determination to bring the bond down to such a low figure stirred anger across social media, with many slamming the court for giving importance to the defendant rather than to the justice for the victims. One user-captain-dashed, “The rot in Austin is real,” while another-Matt-from-MA went more graphic: “These ‘judges’ should be charged with endangering the public.”
Queries resurfaced regarding Weldekeal-Araya’s past-tense and often very ridiculous ones. Mcbfl19 went so far as to wonder if he even had the ability to read or speak English, a crucial aspect considering the federal requirements regarding truck drivers. Others wondered whether he was indeed only working under the commercial license of someone else-that was the extent of some people’s speculations.
That backlash didn’t stop there either. Marco De Boca labeled the judge as globalist who hates American culture while The Lost Art of Common Sense Podcast said it was the Californians moving into Texas causing the shift in legal lay of the land. Tire of This Sh had a few past case names of lenient judges who freed violent criminals, to name a few, though.
Those who were really serious for C-categoy consequences had more unsettling comments to share concerning the judge. “The judge that reduced bond needs to be charged if this is true,” wrote Miles. Another, Rick Sanborn, predicted, “He will post bail and then judges will buy him a plane ticket back to his country of origin.”
With that in confusion, he would reveal that the toxicology report on Weldekeal-Araya would show that he was neither alcoholic nor under influence of illicit drugs but would be considered impaired by CNS depressants. Weldekeal-Araya’s employer, ZBN Transport, has also been inundated with negligence lawsuits. Therefore, today, Amazon would own ZBN; nevertheless, the situation was clarified as not working directly under them with the driver.
Again, the public is voicing this as a huge set of frustration over the court; and once again, the sentiment creating such low numbers ends up pointing to an inability of the court to protect the public. One user of the site summarized it as, “We’re screwed.”
Such intense tension means this decision’s fallout will not go away quickly. Well, whether or not the judge gets hit with some repercussions or the case takes a different turn with Weldekeal-Araya, one thing is clear; victims’ families-and the public-are looking for accountability.
And honestly? They’re rightfully angry. $7,000 bond for five lives? Something’s very wrong here. Maybe it’s the system. Maybe it’s the judges. Or maybe, as one user bluntly put it, “It’s time for the victim’s families to revolt.”
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It is not just a legal thing, but at the moment, it is moral as well. And at this time, it appears that morality gets trumped every time.
