Posts Tagged ‘george soros’

Chicagoan speaking about July 4th weekend: “It’s assassination day…” UPDATED, mayor blames Republicans for the violence

Posted: July 7, 2024 by John Ruberry in crime, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

“Christmas means carnage.” Ferdinand the duck, in the movie Babe.

“It’s assassination day…” is what a Chicago woman, Edith Pinkerton, according to ABC Chicago said of July 4, although Pinkerton may have been speaking of the next day, July 5, when her 74-year-old friend was wounded. 

As of this writing, late Sunday afternoon on July 7, this Independence Day weekend has been quite bloody in Chicago. So far, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, over the long July 4th weekend, 17 people have been killed and at least 82 others have been wounded. Four mass shootings have so far occurred.

Back to July 5. According to Hey Jackass.com, last Friday, when 45 people were shot, that day was “the 3rd highest, single day total found in our dataset since 2013.”

Last year, a majority of Chicago’s severely misguided voters had a choice between Paul Vallas, a moderate law-and-order Democrat, and Brandon Johnson, a onetime supporter of the Defund the Police movement, who was pushed over the top by the far-left Chicago Teachers Union.

Johnson, closely followed by Chicago’s two major daily newspapers, the Sun-Times and the Tribune, as well as Crain’s Chicago Business, has been the chief minimizer of street mayhem in Chicago. 

While he was still mayor-elect, when asked about a downtown flash mob riot, Johnson said it was important not to “demonize” the thugs. A couple of days later when asked about what Chicago’s listless media calls “unrest,” Johnson offered more sanitization of widespread lawlessness, “They’re young. Sometimes they make silly decisions.”

A central part of the mayor’s approach to crimefighting for this summer was to hire “violence interrupters.” During the mayoral campaign, Johnson suggested sending social workers to domestic incidents, instead of Chicago police officers.

To be fair, had Vallas prevailed, Chicago would still be a mess. She’ll be out of office in five months, but the policies of Kim Foxx, Cook County’s Soros-funded prosecutor, continue to wreak havoc. And as I’ve noted in prior DTG posts, this summer is the first one since Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, which abolishes cash bail, became law.

Two months ago, the mayor’s choice as Chicago police superintendant, Larry Snelling, said the city is short 2,000 cops.

Johnson, to placate his leftist base, wants to cancel the city’s contract with ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system, but not until after next month’s Democratic National Convention.

Chicago has almost three years to suffer under Brandon Johnson.

Rather than address the Chicago’s crime crisis, Johnson’s prefers to deflect. At the Juneteenth flag raising ceremony, Johnson called for reparations for Black people.

Speaking from the realm of common sense, Corey Brooks, Chicago’s legendary “Rooftop Pastor,” threw a bucket of cold water at that demand.

Where are the reparations for the city’s failure to produce adequate protection for its residents? Where are the reparations for the city’s failure to provide adequate schooling to inspire kids toward the American Dream instead of nihilistic violence? And where are the reparations for the city’s woke legal system that puts the interest of violent criminals above the interests of the city’s hardworking citizens?

For now, look for more Chicagoans to say, “It’s assassination day.”

UPDATE July 8, 7:15pm EDT:

The official July 4 weekend Chicago Police Department figures are in, and they’re brutal. There were 109 people wounded by gunfire during the long Independence Day weekend, 19 of them fatally.

At a press conference this morning not only did Mayor Johnson not take responsibility for the widespread bloodshed, but he blamed Republicans, including President Richard Nixon, who left office 50 years ago this summer. Chicago hasn’t had a GOP mayor since Big Bill Thompson–a crook by the away–who was voted out in 1931. While we’re at it, Democrats hold supermajorities–thanks to gerrymandering–in the state General Assembly, and Illinois hasn’t had a Republican governor since 2003, when another crook, George H. Ryan, retired. Of Chicago’s 50 alderpersons, none are Republican, although four or five have some conservative leanings.

On the other hand, there are six socialists in the Chicago City Council, but make that seven, in my opinion at least, when Mayor Johnson casts a tie-breaking vote.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Say his name: Jai’mani Amir Rivera. The 7-year-old was allegedly murdered in Chicago by a teen who officials say cut off his ankle monitor

Posted: June 23, 2024 by John Ruberry in crime, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

The biggest news story in Chicago at the end of last week was the vandalism of Chicago’s iconic Buckingham Fountain by pro-Hamas protesters. 

That’s tragic, because the more important news was the arrest of 16-year-old Raysean Comer, who according to court records allegedly shot to death a 7-year-old, Jai’mani Amir Rivera, on Chicago’s West Side. Rivera had just completed first grade. The murder occurred about a mile from the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention will be held later this summer.

Say his name: Jai’mani Amir Rivera.

Illinois’ governor, J.B. Pritzker, a likely 2028 presidential candidate–and possibly even this year–was the main catalyst for bringing the DNC to Chicago.

Again, according to court records as well as the essential CWB Chicago site, Comer was on pre-trial release, but under electronic monitoring, for alleged aggravated battery and being in possession of a stolen automobile. Two weeks ago, according to local officials, Comer cut off his ankle monitor. 

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is in charge of the county electronic monitoring program.

Hey Dart! Did you try to find Comer after he removed his ankle monitor?

Back to Pritzker.

With great fanfare in response to the George Floyd murder–the Chicago Democrat signed the SAFE-T Act into law–it eliminates cash bail throughout Illinois. It took effect last autumn. 

Comer is now locked up in Cook County Jail. But he’s the 14th person in Chicago this year, according to CWB Chicago, who is accused of shooting, attempting to shoot, or killing someone while on pretrial release. 

Hey Jackass, another great Chicago site, notes that last week was a very bloody one. “Final tally for the week of 6/16 – 6/22: 125 people shot, 24 fatally,” Hey Jackass posted Sunday morning on X. “The last time #Chicago tallied at least 125 shot in a single week was 9/26/21 – 10/2/21 with 23 killed, 102 wounded.”

Violent crime is increasing in Chicago, despite false assurances otherwise. Murders, for now, being an exception. As I’ve noted earlier here at DTG, Pritzker, and Chicago’s leftist mayor, Brandon Johnson, scored a lucky break when a court challenge delayed implementation of the SAFE-T Act. Summer is the most violent season in Chicago, and the summer of 2024, as we know, has started off badly in terms of public safety. 

So far this year, according to Larry Snelling, Chicago’s police superintendant, 127 youths have been shot. And seventeen of them have died.

Chicago’s violent crime epidemic pre-dates the SAFE-T Act. Eight years ago, a George Soros-funded catch-and-release prosecutor, Kim Foxx, was elected as Cook County’s state’s attorney. She chose not to run for a third term, her successor will be an improvement.

Friday night, the Chicago Police Department held a press conference announcing the arrest of Comer. It was one of those “all-hands-on-deck” events. Perhaps they were out of town or otherwise busy, but three people were noticeably absent at the presser: Foxx, Dart, and Mayor Brandon Johnson. Chicago’s mayor spoke favorably of the Defund the Police movement in 2020, and he’s the most egregious minimizer of crime in his city.

The SAFE-T Act is a monumental failure, and it needs to be repealed.

If Pritzker runs for president, law-and-order Americans–still a majority in this country–needs to tell everyone else that he signed the SAFE-T Act into law. Or better yet, chant “SAFE-T Act!”

Johnson needs to be reminded that his most important duty is to protect the lives of 2.7 million Chicagoans. His dismissal of youth violence as kids doing “silly things” makes things worse.

Good riddance to Foxx.

Say his name: Jai’mani Amir Rivera.

There is a GoFundMe page dedicated to covering Rivera’s funeral expenses. Click here to donate.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

What about the current laws? The next time someone says we need more gun control laws, tell them about Cook County, Illinois

Posted: May 19, 2024 by John Ruberry in crime, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

Cook County, Illinois, America’s second-most populous county, has suffered under seven-and-a-half years of a pro-criminal so-called prosecutor, state’s attorney Kim Foxx. 

Jussie Smollet’s pal–who is a George Soros-funded Democrat–apparently doesn’t want to leave office quietly. Foxx, who thankfully decided not to run for a third term.

Foxx is considering adopting a policy of not prosecuting motorists who are pulled over for moving violations, thinks like speeding and driving with expired license plates, if they are found with narcotics or illegally possessing guns.

I’ve repeatedly criticized Foxx on this blog. Among her most egregious examples of prosecutorial malfeasance is her policy of ignoring the Illinois threshold for felony theft of $300. She raised it to $1,000. A second standout of idiocy was her decision, since reversed, not to charge participants in a wild west style Chicago gunfight because they were engaged in “mutual combat.”

For decades, liberals and leftists in Illinois have said that most deadly violence in the Prairie State is caused by guns. After every mass shooting–the latest one happened last night on Chicago’s West Side–libs will decry the latest instance of “gun violence.” Of course, these guns don’t fire themselves. It’s people violence. And playing along with the progressives’ word games, the next logical step of course is more gun laws, or better yet, they believe, a ban on public ownership of firearms. 

The reaction to Foxx’s no-charges suggestion regarding guns and drugs found during traffic stops has been mostly, but not exclusively, negative. 

The media-shy Foxx–I prefer to call her a coward–directed her office issue a statement defending her foolish idea.

“Decades of data demonstrate that these stops do not enhance public safety,” it reads. “Instead, they perpetuate a cycle of mistrust and fear, especially in under-resourced communities. This draft policy is a crucial step towards rebuilding that trust.” 

What data? Where? When?

And “rebuilding that trust” means not enforcing gun laws? 

A Chicago alderperson, Sylvana Tabares, issued a commonsense retort against Foxx’s proposal. “It strips officers of an essential tool to get illegal guns off our streets,” Tabares said. “Residents are demanding we do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and make their neighborhoods safe. This does the opposite.”

The Republican nominee for Cook County’s state’s attorney, Robert Fioretti, says if Foxx’s no-charges- on-guns-and-drugs-found-in-traffic-stops policy is enacted, he’ll reverse it. The Democratic candidate, Eileen O’Neill Burke, hasn’t commented on Foxx’s proposal. However, O’Neill Burke–who I voted for in the Democratic Primary over a Foxx-wannabe–campaigned on reversing returning Cook County to the $300 threshold for prosecuting felony theft. I suspect EOB is against Foxx’s proposal.

Meanwhile, last week Cook County’s sheriff, the weaselly Tom Dart, also a Democrat, in statement suggested that there could be over 80,000 Illinoisans who have had their Firearm Owners Identification Cards revoked who still possess guns. Dart, at least in regard to Cook County, says he needs more money to track down these criminals. Cook County Jail, which Dart is in charge of, has seen a dramatic drop in inmates because of Illinois’ pro-criminal no-cash bail SAFE-T Act, but has not laid off any guards. I know, that’s because of union contracts.

When are the next round of negotiations for those jail guards’ contracts?

Now back to guns. I’m going to state the obvious. Before suggesting new firearm laws, let’s first enforce the existing ones.

John Ruberry regularly blogs from Cook County at Marathon Pundit.

Soros-funded Chicago prosecutor will finally get tough on lawbreaking protesters–but only for the Democratic National Convention

Posted: April 28, 2024 by John Ruberry in crime, election 2024, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

Kim Foxx, the state’s attorney of Cook County, is the chief prosecutor in Chicago and its inner suburbs. 

The George Soros-funded catch-and-release Democrat has been a disaster for Cook County residents, except for the many criminals living here.

Nationally, the leftist ideologue is best known for botching the Jussie Smollett case. Yeah, I keep bringing that up, largely because Foxx supposedly throws a fit whenever her name is attached to the hate-crime hoaxer. 

Feel her rage.

By throwing his considerable weight around, both literally and symbolically, Illinois’ governor, JB Pritzker, who hopes to run for president in 2028, brought the 2024 Democratic National Convention to Chicago. This may prove to be Pritzker’s undoing. Chicago was hit hard by riots after the George Floyd murder, and the crime rate in Chicago and its core suburbs has soared since Foxx took office in 2016.

Fortunately, Foxx chose not to run for a third term. 

The campaign to succeed her was essentially a referendum on her time as state’s attorney. The winner by a hair was Eileen O’Neill Burke, who said at the end of a debate, “If you like the way things are going right now, you have a candidate in this election. It isn’t me.”

Last week, the Chicago Tribune reported that Foxx will get a little tougher in prosecuting crime. “You may not be aware, but for the last four years the public policy of the Cook County state’s attorney’s office has been not to prosecute criminal violations tied to protests and demonstrations,” the Trib’s left-of-center editorial board wrote, “if the office deems those actions ‘peaceful.'” 

“That means the office as a matter of policy won’t prosecute protesters arrested for disorderly conduct,” the op-ed continued, “unlawful gathering or criminal trespass to state-supported land, among other laws.”

As people with common sense–that is, non-leftists–know, small-time violators of the law sometimes become felons. Peaceful protests, or what liberal journalists laughingly call “mostly peaceful protests” sometimes become quite violent ones. 

Foxx’s end-of-term conversion does not mean she’s been suddenly blessed with wisdom. Crime is a very serious problem in Chicago. Nationally, liberal apologists for criminality regularly tell us that the crime rate in major cities is going down, but not only do they use the COVID year of 2020 as a comparison point, they ignore Chicago. While murder the murder rate is down slightly in Chicago, other crimes are becoming more numerous. Foxx is largely to blame, but Chicago’s mayor during the pandemic, Lori Lightfoot, as well as her neo-Marxist successor, Brandon Johnson, should hold their heads in shame too.

Instead, Foxx has cynically, in regard to DNC protesters, decided to do her job. 

Leftists are obsessed with history repeating itself. Looking past the calm 1996 Democratic Convention, they fear a repeat of the riot at Grant Park during the 1968 DNC, when Mayor Richard J. Daley’s angry cops beat up hippie protesters as millions of voters watched on television. Liberals blame that chaos for Richard Nixon’s victory that fall. 

At a protest earlier this month Joe Iosbaker, a left-wing gadfly, offered an ominous warning with a couple of questions. “Have you heard that the Democratic National Convention is coming to Chicago? Are we going to let ’em come here without a protest? This is Chicago, goddamn it — we’ve got to give them a 1968 kind of welcome.”

Foxx doesn’t want to be blamed for Donald Trump defeating Joe Biden in November. She cares more about her political party than fulfilling the duties of her job.

Pro-Hamas and anti-Israel protests are regular disturbances in downtown Chicago. Protesting, both peaceful and “mostly peaceful,” has become a habit in the city. Throw into the mix Chicago’s violent crime epidemic, and the result will be a vile stew that is set to turn toxic in late August, when the DNC convenes at the United Center.

Foxx’s “conversion,” in my opinion, will prove to be too little–too late.

Let the bad times roll. History will repeat itself in Chicago.

After the DNC leaves, Foxx can return to not prosecuting protesters who break laws until Eileen O’Neill Burke is sworn in.

John Ruberry regularly blogs in Cook County at Marathon Pundit.

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