Trying to connect dots that don’t connect
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ted Dabrowski press release…
Last Friday night Michael and Gail Clayton, driving in rural Clark County Illinois, were killed when the truck they were driving in was struck by a van that crossed the center line and hit them head-on. The driver of the van was drunk and is in the country illegally. His passenger in the van is also in the country illegally.
“We’ve heard this story before. Denny McCann, Jeannie Brady, Katie Abraham, Chloe Polzin – now Michael and Gail Clayton. All of these people were killed on Illinois roads by illegal immigrants. All these deaths were preventable,” said Ted Dabrowski, conservative candidate running for Illinois Governor.
The charges against the driver include: no valid driver’s license, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, illegal transportation of open alcohol, unlawful possession of cannabis, and driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs.
In response to yet another tragic and senseless death, Ted Dabrowski added, “I again call on Gov. Pritzker to end sanctuary policies. People are getting killed by illegals who have no respect for our laws. Gov. Pritzker needs to explain in detail how these illegals came to Illinois, who has been supporting them and who else knew they were driving around without a license or insurance. The people of Illinois shouldn’t be forced to put up with criminal illegals roaming the streets, killing, assaulting, and robbing others, and abusing the generosity of Americans.”
Dabrowski went on to reiterate, “Last week, I called on Pritzker to review all CDL license holders to ensure no one is driving on a commercial drivers license that shouldn’t be. I now call on local law enforcement and state police to review all licenses issued to non-citizens and to conduct roadside inspections to ensure only licensed and insured drivers are on our roads. Pritzker and his Democrat majorities have created an unsafe environment and that must stop.
Mr. Clayton was a Coles County Board member.
* Edwin Pacheco-Meza is the alleged drunk driver. As noted above, he is alleged to have been operating the vehicle without a valid driver’s license. So reviewing licenses wouldn’t have prevented this, as Dabrowski claims. Also, Illinois can’t review Indiana’s license records.
Why do I mention Indiana? Well, according to the state police, Pacheco-Meza resides in Indianapolis. His passenger also lives in Indiana.
According to WCIA TV, Pacheco-Meza has been detained since Friday.
* There is plenty of material to use against Pritzker. But trying to hold him accountable for a Hoosier’s horrific behavior ain’t one of them.
- Annonin' - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:02 pm:
Perhaps Indiana could start asking motorist for some info on residency and insurance before selling a car. Hopefully this is not DumBrowski’s best stuff.
- Big Dipper - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:02 pm:
Dabrowski is not a serious person.
- Morty - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:16 pm:
As Dr Kelso said, Ted is not an impressive man.
- I-55 Fanatic - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:17 pm:
This habit of using drunk driving incidents as examples of why illegal immigration is bad has always struck me as really strange. Tons and tons of drunk driving incidents (I would dare to speculate that *most* of them) are caused by natural-born citizens all the time.
- Irreverent - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:23 pm:
The only dots that connect here are that Indiana is a garbage dump of a state that frequently overflows into Illinois.
- Juice - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:26 pm:
“to conduct roadside inspections to ensure only licensed and insured drivers are on our roads”
As ridiculous and shameful as Ted’s accusations are (using a tragic death to attempt to score political points when the facts of the case don’t actually make that point), this suggestion might actually be the most ridiculous line of the entire press release.
You want to just pull everyone over at random now, Ted? How small government-conservative of you.
- Dance Band on the Titanic - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:30 pm:
You’d think with that IPI and Wirepoints resume he would have someone on staff who could do a proper fact check. Or not.
- James - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:40 pm:
This post….while true, does not take into account the audience that press release is targeted towards. That audience is republican primary voters. In that light, it makes perfect sense.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:44 pm:
- The only dots that connect here are that Indiana is a garbage dump of a state that frequently overflows into Illinois. -
I am frequently in Indiana for work and I would say there is a decent chance these guys crossed the border to buy beer. You can only buy cold beer at liquor stores there, while in Illinois most gas stations offer it.
- JoanP - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:48 pm:
= Pritzker needs to explain in detail how these illegals came to Illinois =
Ask Greg Abbott.
- Ryan - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:57 pm:
Maybe we should close our border and arrest all of the Hoosiers currently here.
- here we go again - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 1:58 pm:
Ted Dabrowski seems like a decent guy with potential and good intentions. But he’s being directed by Jeanne Ives who is directed by Dan Proft. So he’ll lose. Because that’s what they do.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 2:17 pm:
–
I would say there is a decent chance these guys crossed the border to buy beer
–
Decent chance? The crash happened in the far NW corner of the county, in the small town of Westfield. At least a dozen miles away from the interstate.
There are also multiple other towns between there and the Indiana border if cold beer is what they were looking for. Then, the state border is also a few hours away from Indianapolis, the reported residence of the driver. I’m sure there is a liquor store in Terre Haute they could have bought cold beer, and cutting their travel time more than in half. Not to mention there are liquor stores in Indianapolis to buy cold beer on a Friday at 7pm requiring no out of state travel.
It’s quite a stretch to say they drove hours away to get cold beer.
- Jocko - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 2:22 pm:
==I called on Pritzker to review all CDL license holders (and) call on local and state police to review all licenses issued to non-citizens and to conduct roadside inspections.==
Why stop there? Let’s install interlock devices on all vehicles and make sure drivers have vision exams every 12 months
- Chicagonk - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 2:26 pm:
The CDL issue is a real one and one that Pritzker should get in front of. The crashes in Florida and California could easily happen in Illinois - Talk to any trucker and there is definitely a problem right now with unsafe operations.
- just because - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 2:32 pm:
This was a tragedy caused by drunk driving. To blame it on immigration is ridiculous. What if the drunk driver was a plumber then would we blame this tragedy on all plumbers??
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 28, 25 @ 2:39 pm:
===does not take into account the audience that press release is targeted towards===
Whatever.