Nik Clark on WCI-FB
It goes without saying we have been gathering information with heightened interest as it becomes available. We/I haven't been contacted by Krysta, so to this point, the only information made available to us is what we have seen/read in the... media/posted on here. Previous experience has led us to not jump to conclusions based on those data sources.
In addition, Krysta has legal counsel, so we trust that her attorney is providing her with the proper advise in planning their legal strategy. WCI shouldn't impose itself upon that, but of course, we will review any request for involvement from us.
Just speaking in general to our practice/philosophy on matters like this:
As an organization, we wouldn't have the resources to be involved every time a person who happens to be carrying gets in trouble with the law. We are looking for right to carry issues. Example, if you were jaywalking while OC'ing and you get arrested for jaywalking, you may well think it was because you were OC'ing and you may well be right, but in the eyes of the law, if you were jaywalking, you were jaywalking. Because of the range of possibilities of disposing of the state/municipal charges/forfeitures/etc, accused individuals often prefer, and should be given the maximum opportunity to do what is in their personal best interest when they face charges. Once charges are disposed of, pursuing civil suits does not pose a risk to a person in terms of citations/forfeitures/criminal charges.
What is in Krysta's best interest may not be in the best interest of Wisconsin Carry and our membership. As an example, it may be in WCI's best interest if Krysta IS charged with CCW because that may potentially be (depending on all the details of the encounter) the kind of precedent setting case that we would like to see some common sense CURRENT case-law established post Article 1 Sec. 25, post Act 35. Obviously, for Krysta, she will be hoping to not be charged at all.
If she is charged and WCI were to fund a defense, we would want a precedent setting opportunity for all our members. That means "fight to the finish" in most cases. Fight to the finish in criminal matters involves risk for the accused. If somewhere along the line, the DA were to agree to drop the CCW charges for some alternative that was palatable to her, then there would again be a divergence in what was best for her, vs. what WCI would want to pursue. We may want to fight to the finish (but risk losing) she may want to take an offer. For that reason combined with the reasons above, we usually don't get involved at this level, but everything is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
This should not discourage nor endorse anyone else from personally choosing to help Krysta if they feel compelled to do so. As individuals, your decision to provide support financial or otherwise is up to you. For WCI as an organization we have a different set of criteria and considerations in how we utilize our resources.
