TikTok’s rise as a discovery tool is part of a broader transformation in digital search. While Google remains the world’s dominant search engine, people are turning to Amazon to search for products, Instagram to stay updated on trends and Snapchat’s Snap Maps to find local businesses. As the digital world continues growing, the universe of ways to find information in it is expanding.
Google has noticed TikTok edging into its domain. While the Silicon Valley company disputed that young people were using TikTok as a replacement for its search engine, at least one Google executive has publicly remarked on the rival video app’s search capabilities.
“In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search. They go to TikTok or Instagram,” Prabhakar Raghavan, a Google senior vice president, said at a technology conference in July.
* The Question: Other than this blog, of course, what’s your social media of choice?
Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso on Wednesday demanded an apology from Gov. J.B. Pritzker over the migrant issue.
Last week, Pritzker’s office suggested village officials showed “xenophobia” in reaction to the arrival of migrants.
On Sept. 7, Burr Ridge officials received vague reports that an unknown number of refugees were headed to Burr Ridge from Chicago, Grasso said. They were part of the hundreds of migrants sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
I appreciate your commitment to be more welcoming to these asylum seekers than your initial comments suggest. I certainly would have preferred for my administration to be in contact with your office earlier, and I apologize for the inadvertent delay in contacting your office while my team was scrambling to find a place for these 64 people – mostly women and children – to sleep.
As we move forward constructively together, I also hope you reflect on the negative environment you created for these asylum seekers with your public comments and take this opportunity to apologize to them for creating such an unwelcoming reception.
I would like to share a few examples of statements that these migrants could have heard from you:
• You said that they were “supposedly” here legally. They are actually here legally, under a process established for decades.
• You threatened the business license of the hotel that is contracted by the state for emergency housing. This attempt at fear-mongering has a chilling effect on businesses and raises community concerns.
• You said that no additional asylum seekers would be welcome “without Village consent and planning – if at all.” The state has a contract with the hotel to provide emergency rooms. We used this contract for Afghan refugees in February and March of 2022.
My administration will continue to be in touch with you and your office to help address any questions that you have. In fact, my office called twice on Thursday, Sept. 8 and then put you in direct contact with an official at the Illinois of Emergency Management Agency who can quickly answer most of your questions. As one of the state’s lead agencies, they have the best ability to provide accurate and timely information, and track down any additional information you seek.
However, I note for the record that your initial questions focused on the asylum seekers’ legal status, not the obligations of your municipality or desire to help them.
As you are well aware, the State of Illinois has significantly more responsibilities to these asylum seekers than the Town of Burr Ridge, but I am pleased to see that you believe we all share the moral responsibility to be more welcoming.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune asked a group of asylum-seekers if they felt they’d been coerced to board the buses from Texas…
But in Elk Grove Village, the Navarro family and other migrants — all sitting outside the hotel where they have been placed for temporary housing by city and state efforts — said they didn’t feel coerced to board the buses that were made available to them. But they agreed that with the lack of comprehensive help or options to travel to different cities, they felt forced to take whatever route was presented to them after their monthlong journey to safety.
“They (immigration authorities) didn’t force us to get on the bus, but they didn’t give us other options to go elsewhere,” Navarro said. “We were told that at least once we arrived at New York, there would be people that could help us get to Chicago.”
One Venezuelan migrant who arrived at Martha’s Vineyard identified himself as Luis, 27, and said he and nine relatives were promised a flight to Massachusetts, along with shelter, support for 90 days, help with work permits and English lessons. He said they were surprised when their flight landed on an island.
He said the promises came from a woman who gave her name as “Perla” who approached his family on the street outside a San Antonio shelter after they crossed from Mexico and U.S. border authorities released them with an immigration court date.
He said the woman, who also put them up in a hotel, did not provide a last name or any affiliation, but asked them to sign a liability waiver.
“We are scared,” he said, adding he and others felt they were lied to. “I hope they give us help.” […]
Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said at a news conference her office would be “looking into that case” and speaking with the Justice Department.
* More…
* Countryside Mayor Sean McDermott: Texas Gov. Abbott sends asylum seekers here to sow chaos, but Illinois is better than that: The busloads of people sent from Texas are legal asylum seekers, with every right to temporarily reside in our country while they apply for more permanent refuge. The border agencies have done their work and provided these refugees with legal entry into this country with a future court date to present their asylum claims. Let me repeat: These people are correctly following a legal process that has been in place for decades. When my grandparents emigrated from Ireland, they followed a similar path of uncertainty and turmoil before finally making the United States their home. It’s one of the proudest American traditions — the idea that anyone can become part of this great country if they work hard, play by the rules and take the necessary steps to become part of our larger community.
…Adding… Grasso’s response…
September 16, 2022
Governor Pritzker
Your September 15th response, although addressed to me, was forwarded to me from a local Patch reporter who had received it directly from your press secretary last evening. I only received the letter late this morning from your staff. Upon reading the letter, had it ended where it began - with appreciation of my commitment to be welcoming to the refugees and your apology for your office’s “inadvertent delay” in contacting the Village I would have accepted them as sincere, and moved on. But the rest of your letter contained a different tone. So, here are a few replies:
• The IDHS employee who has continually been present and engaging on site this morning (during my third visit to the hotel since Saturday to check on the refugees) volunteered, without prompting, that the Village really “came through” in welcoming the refugees; so it’s apparent that your comments about us not having welcomed the refugees is wrong - I can produce a volume of emails (not to mention a list of callers) who have offered food, clothing and jobs to the refugees without hesitation;
• Of course, as we discovered the hotel had a contract with the State that was the apparent reason it had agreed to house the refugees for the State for at least 30 days, I emphatically told the hotel that long-term housing of refugees should be cleared with the Village and Board and I want to know the basic information your office wanted to know about them in order to inform the residents and make decisions based on that information - long term housing of refugees for the State is not customary hotel business, as you no doubt know;
• You state this action was done “… while my team was scrambling to find a place for these 64 people - mostly women and children - to sleep.. .” through a contract with the hotel”.. . to provide emergency rooms”. The State should not be scrambling and should have had a plan to handle a few hundred intermittently received refugees - it’s an emergency because there was no plan;
• Of course, my initial questions - after learning they were already checked into the hotel - included their legal status - I learned of their asylum status only then - being here legally is a fundamental, initial piece of important information to anyone in my position;
• The two calls you mention came only after I discovered from a friend in the DuPage Board of Health that there was a conference call of state, county, and city officials - but again, not including my staff at which I made my displeasure with the process abundantly clear.
Finally, i too note for the record that your press secretary has not apologized for the disparaging characterization of our community. Given your heritage (not too dissimilar to mine) - such a comment should never be lodged against a community, and here quickly retracted.
Governor, I wish you the best in a difficult time, but must state in closing that the significant responsibilities you men^ep that th^tate has to the refugees cannot eclipse the rights of the municipal communities and citi^fer^fe of lllin^s/A/ho are your first priority.
The NRA says it casts a blind eye to party affiliation, but of course all the Democrats were given F’s (and one D).
Top of the gun class: Two Republicans, Congressman Darin LaHood and Congresswoman Mary Miller, received A’s. And Congressman Mike Bost earned an A-, of all things. Republican challengers who filled out the questionnaires received AQ’s (A on questionnaire).
Worth noting: In a year that’s been plagued by mass shootings, including in Highland Park, there are some Republican candidates who didn’t fill out the questionnaire at all.
One Republican candidate who did answer is Chris Dargis, who’s running in the 8th Congressional District against Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (He got an F from the NRA.). Krishnamoorthi’s campaign has written a letter urging Dargis to publicly release the questionnaire so voters know why he got the A. Dargis’ campaign dismissed the letter as a “political ploy.”
Today, pro-gun extremist Darren Bailey received an A rating from the National Rifle Association––an organization that is bankrupt both morally and literally. Whether he is raffling off AR-15s at campaign events, or telling mass shooting victims to “move on and celebrate,” it is clear Bailey’s radical positions are out of touch with a vast majority of Illinoisians.
Bailey is so pro-gun that teachers at his private school, Full Armor Christian Academy, were armed with guns with signs at the school’s entrance reading: “Staff heavily armed and trained. Any attempt to harm children will be met with deadly force.”
Bailey has consistently used violent and callous rhetoric when discussing firearms, even in the face of devastating tragedy. While speaking at the Illinois Gun Lobby Day in 2019, Bailey riled the crowd by saying, “I promise you, when that line is drawn on the sand, we are going to be one of the first ones there…because I will never, ever, give up my AR-15, or any other gun.” In 2021, Bailey proclaimed, “I will die on my porch before I give up my guns.”
Rather than express sympathy and mourning after a shooter killed seven and wounded dozens at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Bailey was unsympathetic, calling for everyone to “move on and celebrate” a mere 90 minutes after the shooting.
As a legislator, Bailey has repeatedly pushed reckless legislation that would have made it easier to acquire firearms in Illinois while eliminating key safeguards. Bailey has led efforts to repeal the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act, which requires Illinois residents to have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card in order to possess or purchase guns or ammunition. He again sponsored a bill to accomplish this goal in 2021, claiming that the cards “serve absolutely no purpose.” Bailey has even supported efforts to lower the age required to purchase a gun.
“Darren Bailey would rather shoot down the budget than pass a balanced one,” said Pritzker Campaign Spokeswoman Natalie Edelstein. “Bailey should be ashamed of his A rating from the NRA, an organization that has consistently blocked common sense gun legislation that is supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans.”
* Allow an unnamed “political insider” to accuse a state legislator of committing an illegal act on the slimmest of reeds. Just another day in the Proft paper world…
State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) is being accused of offering jobs for political support as she faces GOP challenger in the 92 House District.
Gordon-Booth is the Deputy Majority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives.
“This is an example of how Illinois Democrats have learned to operate after decades without accountability,” a political insider said of the tape.
Tape of the robocall by Gordon-Booth is being used an example of how the political playing ground in the state is controlled by Democrat interests given applicants were asked to obtain more information at Gordon-Booth’s campaign headquarters.
“One day, one day only I am partnering with IDOT to host a hiring pop-up open house at my community headquarters in Campus Town, suite 7 this Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. – this Sunday 1 to 3 pm. IDOT is hiring for the highway maintainer position,” Gordon-Booth said in a message to voters.
“Of individuals in this region, to be eligible for this job, you have to have a valid driver’s license and a CDL. It is an amazing opportunity for someone who’s always wanted to get one of those big jobs working for IDOT. It’s a great way to get you foot in the door.”
Gordon-Booth invited WMBD-TZV into her headquarters to promote the event.
IDOT personnel were on command to process applicants.
Brandon Higgins told WMBD he felt the event was geared towards minority hiring.
We first showed video of a woman being attacked on a North Center community sidewalk because the robbers were wanted for a dozen other attacks.
But then, the video went to another level when the woman became the center of a political ad. And we have now learned the woman was never contacted to be a part of the advertisement. […]
Kozlov: “I’m here to talk to you about if you feel that it was the right thing to do ethically to use that video in an ad without getting the victim’s permission, considering victims’ advocates…”
Proft: “I don’t need their permission.”
Kozlov: “I know you don’t need it legally, but ethically – considering victims’ advocates also say that its use – the use of that video – was abhorrent in this purpose.”
Proft: “Like I said, when everybody’s sensibilities are such that they’re not going to broadcast acts of violence, then you can come back and talk to me. But until then, nope.”
* ABATE…
ABATE of Illinois Political Action Committee (ABATE PAC) announced their endorsements of candidates in the November 2022 General Elections today. ABATE PAC grades candidates and makes endorsements based on candidate responses to surveys, existing relationships with ABATE of Illinois members, voting record, and advocacy on behalf of motorcyclists and off-road riders in Illinois. The full ABATE PAC voters guide including grades for all candidates will be posted on the ABATE of Illinois website at www.abate-il.org in the next few days.
Kwame Raoul has been endorsed for another term as Attorney General alongside Susana Mendoza for Comptroller and Michael Frerichs for Treasurer. All three candidates have a long legislative history of working with ABATE and being responsive to issues affecting motorcyclists in their current roles. Attorney General Raoul has shown interest in protecting the civil liberties of motorcyclists, while Comptroller Mendoza and Treasurer Frerichs have been responsive to ABATE concerns surrounding the Cycle Rider Safety Training, and Off Highway Vehicles Trail funds.
In the race for Secretary of State, ABATE PAC has endorsed Dan Brady. Representative Brady met with ABATE several times demonstrating a nonpartisan, service-oriented approach to running the office of Secretary of State. His knowledge of the office, combined with previous experience in advocacy for modernizing similar offices, along with a campaign focused solely on issues related to the Secretary of State’s office leads ABATE PAC to believe that he would be a great Secretary of State.
ABATE PAC did not make an endorsement recommendation in the race for Governor. Senator Darren Bailey is a rider who has been an advocate for motorcyclists ever since joining the General Assembly as a Representative with a spotless voting record on ABATE supported bills. Governor JB Pritzker has signed every ABATE supported bill presented to him into law, along with working to get motorcycle safety classes restarted during the pandemic, and having ABATE represented on autonomous vehicle issues. ABATE PAC had concerns with statements attributed to the Pritzker administration regarding motorcycles not being a primary mode of transportation, but recent moves to include electric motorcycles in infrastructure and incentives programs along with improved communication are seen as a positive step. Both Candidates are rated A by ABATE PAC.
* Press release…
Besides featuring the Party’s first-ever Spanish-language ads, a new Democratic Party of Illinois ad campaign launched this week targets Black and downstate voters in over 230 zip codes across the state ahead of the November election.
“As Chair, one of my top priorities is to ensure that we’re connecting with diverse, often-underrepresented communities across Illinois,” said Chair Lisa Hernandez. “Our new ad campaign, which is reaching Black and downstate voters in over 230 zip codes, is just one of the many ways that we’ll continue to engage with voters in every corner of our state ahead of November and beyond.”
The campaign, focused on minimum wage and support for working families, consists of six 16-second digital videos running on YouTube. The campaign includes variations on each piece of creative to separately highlight the following candidates: Susana Mendoza, Kwame Raoul, Mike Frerichs, and Alexi Giannoulias.
“I’m proud to see the Democratic Party of Illinois’ bold investment in reaching Black communities across Illinois,” said State Representative and State Central Committeeperson Maurice West. “Every day, Democrats are working to uplift and support working families. It’s critically important that we share our message, our progress, and our vision with voters in every corner of our state — especially those who are too often left out of the conversation. That’s what we’re doing with initiatives like this targeted ad campaign, and it’s what we’ll continue to do with more programs to come.”
“With this new ad campaign, the Democratic Party of Illinois is speaking directly to our downstate communities on the issues that matter,” said State Central Committeeperson Vivian Robinson. “I’m glad to see this investment in downstate Illinoisans, and I look forward to our continued work to engage and mobilize voters in every part of the state ahead of November.”
With two months to go until the election, the Democratic Party of Illinois is making bold investments in traditionally underrepresented communities across the state. The Party will continue to invest in creative, innovative initiatives like these to reach and mobilize diverse voters ahead of November.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie L. Mosser: The first thing that I do want to say is that I am absolutely in favor of eliminating cash bail, because it has caused problems within our criminal justice system. So I’m a proponent of the criminal justice reform. The problem that we’re having with this is it limits who we can ask to be detained as state’s attorneys and who judges can detain. In the example you just gave, they talk about forcible felonies, but there’s also provision that specifically says that it has to be forcible felonies that are non-probationable… So the ones that we can hold are people who are going to go to DOC if they’re found guilty of the crime. But there are many forcible felonies that are probationable. That includes robbery, second degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated battery, arson, burglary, intimidation, threatening a public official. And when you go outside of the realm of forcible felonies, there’s so many other offenses that because of the way the SAFE-T Act is drafted, we can’t ask to be held. Any drug offense, including our Super X amounts where people are dealing fentanyl that is killing people, they can’t be detained. People who have done a drug induced homicide who have dealt a drug to somebody else, and that person has lost their life cannot be detained because of the way it’s drafted. […]
Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell: There are multiple paths that a prosecutor can pursue when it comes to detention or petitioning for detention. So what we’ve talked about is safety, but prosecutors can also ask for detention on the grounds of flight. And prosecutors can also ask for attention on the grounds of violation of release. So we will see people after January 1, that are charged with those offenses, where prosecutors can make the petition who are on detention. […]
Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis): Ms. Mosser and Mr. Mitchell were both correct in what they said. But I would say one thing to distributional is point rather, willful flight is supposed to be applied in a very limited fashion. In fact, the prosecutor has to learn more than just simply a past failure to appear in court. Prosecutors have to demonstrate that this person from out of state and they have a plane ticket to leave with a passport. It’s going to be very limited and very rare. Of course, the prosecutor can also ask for someone to have their pretrial release revoked when they commit another crime, but we shouldn’t have to wait for a second crime to be committed when somebody’s committed a burglary or robbery or an arson. That should be enough for them to be held pretrial and the disposition of the case. […]
Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell was asked about flight risk: Well, we know that there are a whole states that only have flight as a reason for detention. So for instance, New York, they don’t have a public safety exception for detention. Flight is the only reason why a person shouldn’t be detained. So I don’t think the prosecutors will have that difficult of a job. And with that said, I think it’s also important to note that we are talking about individuals that are accused of innocence. And we know that here in Cook County, only about, I think it was 2019, only about 60% of people who are accused of a felony were actually found guilty. There were people who were dismissed. There were people who were found not guilty. And that’s a flawed system. That’s the way the system is supposed to work. These are allegations. And we are before trial. That’s supposed to be the exception to the rule. We know that from a conservative Supreme Court. It’s actually Justice William Rehnquist, who said that detention is supposed to be the exception to the rule and not the rule.
All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for the following offenses where the proof is evident or the presumption great: capital offenses; offenses for which a sentence of life imprisonment may be imposed as a consequence of conviction; and felony offenses for which a sentence of imprisonment, without conditional and revocable release, shall be imposed by law as a consequence of conviction, when the court, after a hearing, determines that release of the offender would pose a real and present threat to the physical safety of any person.
Bail: The process of releasing a defendant from custody with conditions set to reasonably assure public safety and court appearance. […]
“Bail” is often used to refer to the amount of cash that a defendant must post as a condition of release. “Bond” is sometimes treated as a synonym of “bail.” Understood properly, “bail” – which literally means, “release” – is a process of releasing a defendant from custody on conditions designed to assure both public safety and the person’s appearance in court. A “bond” occurs whenever a defendant enters an agreement with the court. The agreement may, but need not necessarily, include a financial condition, but can also or instead include a variety of other conditions such as electronic monitoring, curfews, supervised visits or appointments, etc.
* Related…
* More political pressure mounts to amend Safe-T Act which will end cash bail in Illinois: Republican nominee for Illinois attorney general Tom DeVore, along with other political leaders, are calling on changes to be made to the Safe-T Act. DeVore joins a list of other nominees and politicians pushing for the law to be amended before it takes effect come January 1, 2023.
* Cash bond reforms will make Illinois more fair: I saw this firsthand when I attended bond court hearings a few weeks ago along with community advocates and other elected officials. The judges heard from the prosecutor about the charges but didn’t ask for additional details or background information.It really did just come down to whether they could pay bail.What I saw was disappointing and only reaffirmed my support to eliminate money bond in Illinois.
* Funding anti-violence efforts across Illinois: Ten months ago, in the midst of a pandemic-era crime surge, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker declared gun violence a public health crisis and pledged $250 million over three years to reduce shootings. The legislature was followed by the creation of the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. State Senator Roberts Peters sponsored the bill. “We’re going to target areas where violence is at its worst, where people have to deal with violence on a regular basis and we’re not going to get bogged down in talking in conjecture about what’s happening,” Peters said.
* The conservative backlash to the SAFE-T Act is nothing new: Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. witnesses the impact of cash bail on Black communities daily. He routinely sits down with families, most often a mother, grandmother, aunt, or woman partner, he said, and negotiates what he calls a “ransom.” Essentially, that’s the amount of money families need to come up with to bond their loved ones out of jail. “Having a conversation of, ‘do you have $1,000? Do you have $5,000 or $10,000? Can you save a few checks up? Can you not pay a bill?’” he said.
* Illinois’ SAFE-T Act explained: Changes to bail policy have been implemented in smaller doses around the country, including the county in Texas that covers Houston. A University of Pennsylvania study found earlier this year that the jail time and repeat offenses both decreased, since that policy was put into place. Researchers at Loyola University Chicago will be tasked with studying the ongoing impact of the SAFE-T act here in Illinois.
* Bamani Obadele: Darren Bailey Needs to Stop Using the City for Political Rhetoric
* 2 Police Officers Charged After Shooting Unarmed Man In Pilsen, Prosecutors Say: ‘Unprovoked Violence’: The officers have been charged with three felonies. They shot an unarmed man and then lied to prosecutors by saying they’d been fired upon first, Kim Foxx said. … The officers told authorities they’d been shot at first — but videotape of the incident directly contradicts that, and neither of the wounded people fired shots at the officers, Foxx said. The two officers were relieved of their duties by the Police Department, as well.
* There’s no ‘Purge Law’: Debunking right-wing propaganda about the SAFE-T Act: The SAFE-T Act doesn’t explicitly address what will happen to people currently incarcerated on money bonds on Jan. 1. But prosecutors have the ability under the law to petition for people charged with murder and other violent crimes to be jailed pretrial. Currently, those people would already be released if they came up with the money for bail. Also, under the current law, prosecutors such as Glasgow could have filed motions for people charged with serious violent crimes to be detained without bail, said Sharlyn Grace, a senior policy adviser for the Cook County public defender’s office. In Cook County, prosecutors, public defenders, and judges are working together to plan for the transition to an “in-or-out” system starting Jan. 1, Grace said.
It’s a scenario that Republicans hope will sway voters in November’s midterm elections.
A new ad by the GOP Senate nominee in Illinois is capitalizing on the GOP’s messaging this summer to warn voters that new Internal Revenue Service funding approved by Democrats will lead to overzealous IRS agents targeting middle class Americans over their taxes.
“We love the new house, but we have a little problem with the agent. All of them,” say actors portraying a couple sitting on the couch, as their home is invaded by IRS agents, in the first general election TV commercial by Kathy Salvi. […]
The commercial shows the actors portraying the IRS agents combing through the couple’s, searching for unreported income, including finding 64 cents under a couch cushion and two dollars in winning lottery tickets.
“At least we have the election to fire Tammy Duckworth,” the actors say.
Salvi, an attorney and former Lake County assistant public defender, faces a steep climb in her long shot bid in the blue state of Illinois to upset Duckworth, a first term senator and former congresswoman who lost both of her legs while serving in combat as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in the Iraq War. Salvi’s campaign says that the spot, which it shared first with Fox News on Friday, will run statewide in Illinois, and is backed by a high six-figures ad buy.
Following the introduction of a national abortion ban this week by GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, Kathy Salvi — the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Tammy Duckworth — has refused to reveal where she stands on the proposal that could rip bodily autonomy from millions of women in Illinois.
In the past, Salvi has come out in favor of a total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. She’s even gone so far as to call these instances “hypotheticals.” But now, she refuses to let Illinoisans know where she stands on a very real proposal to establish the ban she previously supported.
Senator Duckworth, a champion for women’s rights both in Washington and here in Illinois, is working to enshrine reproductive rights into federal law and came out in forceful opposition to the ban immediately after it was introduced.
Illinoisans have made clear their strong support for protecting abortion access, so Salvi’s trying desperately to dodge her own extremist anti-choice views. But voters deserve an answer as to whether she would support this new proposal, which would strip women of their access to critical reproductive care — and which could become law if Republicans take back the Senate.
As a U.S. Senator, would Kathy Salvi vote in favor of Republicans’ national abortion ban? Illinoisans deserve to know.
* The Champaign County Clerk’s office has had more than its share of problems since Aaron Ammons was elected. But instead of nominating someone who could fix the problems, the Republicans went with this guy…
GOP county clerk candidate Terrence Stuber told The News-Gazette in August, “I don’t know,” when asked if Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.
After that remark, Aaron Ammons, a Democrat and the incumbent clerk, accused Stuber of being “unqualified, ill-informed, and unprepared to serve.” […]
However, [Stuber] remains skeptical about the 2020 election process.
“We know they stopped counting in Georgia, we know they stopped counting in Arizona,” Stuber said. “These are all different places and they may not even be…all of them. Who knows? I wasn’t in the Brookens building (the administrative building for Champaign County government) or in the election center. Champaign County may have stopped counting. I don’t know.”
David Becker, election security expert for CBS News, called Stuber’s claim “completely false.”
“It’s documented that they kept counting votes diligently until all were counted, in those states and every other one,” Becker, who founded the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a non-partisan group that works with and supports election officials, said. “And that’s how they’ve always done it, including in 2016.”
Anybody know of any other deniers running for county clerk in this state?
Social media posts are sounding the alarm about a change in Illinois law that they suggest will radically undermine public safety.
“Things are gonna get crazy on January, 1, 2023,” read a Facebook post on Sept. 9. “The state of Illinois passed a bill that will go into effect on January 1, 2023, these following crimes would be considered non-detainable. Burglary, robbery, arson, kidnapping, DUI offenses, even DUI involving a fatality, most drug offenses, and even 2nd degree murder.”
But before Illinoisans start packing their bags, we advise taking a closer look at the law these posts are talking about.
In February 2021, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a sweeping 764-page criminal justice bill called the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity Act, or Safe-T Act. The law makes changes to police and court practices and detainee rights, among other things.
Part of that law, known as the Pretrial Fairness Act, will change bond court practices across the state. It would eliminate cash bail, or money paid by a defendant to get out of jail while awaiting trial. That change goes into effect Jan. 1 and will make Illinois the first state to completely do away with cash bail.
But these posts mislead by suggesting that people charged with the crimes listed cannot be detained under any circumstance.
So, please, spare me the pat on the back, Politifact. You busted a smallish fake news site, but left intact basically the same post on a site with millions of followers.
* Rep. Gonzalez asked if this photo of himself and Speaker Welch at a Legislative Latino Caucus event last night could be a caption contest. So, blame him…
