Here & Now

AG Josh Kaul on Milwaukee Shooting, Opioid Settlement

Frederica Freyberg:

Governor Tony Evers ordered flags to be flown at half-staff Thursday in honor of the shootings victims at the Molson Coors plant in Milwaukee a day earlier. Six people, including the gunman, 51-year-old Anthony Ferrill, died in the rampage that marked the 11th mass shooting in Wisconsin since 2004. The CEO of Molson Coors described the five victims as operators, machinists and electricians. The shooter was a current employee of the company. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is assisting Milwaukee authorities. From the State Capitol, we are joined now by Attorney General Josh Kaul and thanks very much for being here.

Josh Kaul:

Thanks for having me Frederica.

Frederica Freyberg:

First, what is your response and reaction to the shooting in Milwaukee?

Josh Kaul:

Well, these mass shootings that we keep seeing over and over again, they’re all awful and tragic. But it’s particularly gut wrenching when another of these mass shootings has happened here in Wisconsin. Our Department of Justice has been involved in the response to this shooting. Our Division of Criminal Investigation responded shortly after the shooting took place and our Office of Crime Victim Services is going to be available to assist those who’ve been impacted. My heart goes out to employees at Molson Coors and everybody who’s been impacted by this.

Frederica Freyberg:

What can you tell us about the ongoing investigation into such things as motive or where the gun came from or whether there were any red flags about the gunman?

Josh Kaul:

As you said, the investigation is ongoing, but there are a lot of law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene and who are involved in the response to this, including investigating some of the issues that you just talked about. As we learn more, we’re going to make that information available to the public so that people know as much as they can about what led to this tragic incident.

Frederica Freyberg:

On other matters, your justice department has just signed on to an agreement with the largest generic opioid manufacturer in U.S. What will that mean for Wisconsin?

Josh Kaul:

A big part of our strategy for responding to the opioid epidemic is to make sure that we are holding those who are responsible for the epidemic accountable. That includes any drug companies that engaged in false and deceptive marketing practices. This agreement is going to be part of that effort. It’s going to mean that more resources are coming to the state of Wisconsin and I’m going to do what I can to make sure that those resources go where they should, which is to help fight the opioid epidemic through support for treatment, support for prevention and support for enforcement efforts.

Frederica Freyberg:

Any understanding yet as to how much of the settlement under the agreement would come to Wisconsin?

Josh Kaul:

We don’t have specifics yet. The total value of the agreement is estimated to be about $1.6 billion nationwide. So there will be millions of dollars coming to Wisconsin as a result of that agreement. It’s also important to note that that’s one of the companies that was involved in opioid manufacture, but there are certainly other companies that were involved and distributors that were involved and in my view in contributing to this epidemic. So this is one part of that broader effort to hold those pharmaceutical companies accountable.

Frederica Freyberg:

One of those might be Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin. Where does that case stand?

Josh Kaul:

Last year we filed suit against two Purdue Pharma entities as well as Richard Sackler who was the former president and co-chair of the board. Purdue Pharma has declared bankruptcy and there are bankruptcy proceedings ongoing right now. Some states entered into a proposed settlement. Wisconsin did not join that proposed settlement. I don’t think it goes far enough to hold members of the Sackler family accountable. But again, we are trying to maximize the recovery for the state of Wisconsin so that we can get resources to communities to help them fight this epidemic.

Frederica Freyberg:

You’ve also joined a multistate investigation of Juul labs, which makes e-cigarettes for vaping. What exactly is being investigated?

Josh Kaul:

We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the last few years in e-cigarette use among young people. I think if you talk to most parents of kids who are in high school and even some middle school students, certainly teachers at high schools and middle schools, you’ll hear about just how widespread this has become. That’s a real danger for the health of kids here in Wisconsin and across the country. What we’re going to be doing is looking in to see whether there were any false or deceptive marketing or sales practices that contributed to this epidemic. Also to see whether there was targeting of young people through the advertising that Juul was doing. If we do find that that sort of improper marketing and sales process was going on, we’re going to take steps to hold them accountable.

Frederica Freyberg:

Lastly and briefly, with about a minute left, what is your response to the state legislature not passing the sexual assault backlog bill?

Josh Kaul:

It was incredibly disappointing to see how the legislature responded to that. Years ago, Wisconsin identified thousands of untested sexual assault kits. What that backlog has meant is justice was delayed in some cases for survivors and people who committed a dangerous offense remained on the streets longer than they should have. We announced a conviction just within the last few months of somebody who had a kit — there’s a kit collected in his case about 20 years ago and he went on to commit two more assaults in part because that kit wasn’t tested and he wasn’t prosecuted. We need to make sure there’s never another backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Wisconsin again. We had bipartisan support for that in the Senate. But unfortunately politics got in the way of it getting passed in the Assembly. I’m going to keep fighting to get that legislation passed.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We need to leave it there. Josh Kaul, thanks very much for joining us.

Josh Kaul:

Thanks for having me, Frederica.