* First up, Richard Irvin…

Another weekend of violent crime in J.B. Pritzker’s Illinois – with nine people killed and 26 wounded in violent attacks across Chicago and surrounding areas. This weekend’s news included a man who was fatally shot in a downtown hotel Sunday morning just one mile away from Pritzker’s own residence. The day before, a woman was murdered and another man injured at State Street and the Chicago River. On Sunday night a theater performance was canceled due to a shooting in the Loop.

Crime on the Chicago Transit Authority continues to pose a threat to citizens, with two separate attacks occurring less than an hour apart Saturday night. In one incident, a man was struck with a knife to the head and pushed onto the tracks at a Green Line station. In a second incident, a man riding a Blue Line train was attacked with a knife by an unknown man.

A Wall Street Journal report uncovered that some Chicago neighborhoods are fed up with Pritzker’s dereliction of duty in keeping communities safe and have hired their own private security companies to patrol their neighborhoods. P4 Security Solutions LLC has been hired by at least five neighborhoods on the north side of Chicago, most of these in affluent communities where residents can afford to pay for extra safety measures.

“With a governor in office who prioritizes criminals over communities, violent crime will continue to escalate,” said Irvin for Illinois campaign spokesperson Eleni Demertzis. “Communities across the state are desperate for leadership that will empower our law enforcement to combat skyrocketing crime.”

*** UPDATE 3 *** This Sun-Times story illustrates why it’s so tricky to try to politically capitalize on specific crime incidents before the full story is known…

Two men were wounded near the Theater District in the Loop when the victims of a robbery opened fire at the thieves and hit them instead — prompting the cancellation of a Sunday evening performance of a musical nearby.

The robbery had occurred at a Taco Bell near the 100 block of North Wabash Street late Sunday afternoon, according to Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan. The victims began chasing the robbers and firing at them, he said.

Two men, 27 and 55 — described by Deenihan as “unintended targets” — were shot in an alley on the block.

* ILGOP…

How’s that tourism push going, JB?

Tragedy once again struck the city of Chicago over the weekend as criminals had their way. Several individuals became victims in places once thought to be immune from such thoughtless violence, including a man on the second floor of a Streeterville hotel.

CWB Chicago…

“Officers responded to calls of shots fired on the second floor of Sonesta ES Suites, 201 East Walton, just before 5 a.m. They found the victim in the hallway with gunshot wounds throughout his body, according to CPD.

The man died a short time later at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.”

…

“The victim is the 13th person shot on the Near North Side so far this year and the fourth person shot since Friday morning. He is the second murder victim in the neighborhood this weekend.

By comparison, there were three shooting victims on the Near North Side at this point last year and four as of May 1, 2020.

On Saturday morning, a woman was killed and another injured when a man shot them during an argument on State Street near Marina City.

Friday morning, a man claimed that home invaders shot him inside his high-rise apartment on the first block of West Elm. The circumstances of that incident remain under investigation.”

Getting shot and killed in a hotel on the Near North Side might put a damper on Pritzker’s recent tourism push in which he declares Illinois in “The Middle of Everything.”

Perhaps not the parallel Pritzker was thinking when his team devised that slogan, but it sure seems like Illinois’ global city is at the heart of lawlessness, and pro-criminal policies that have prevailed in Democrat politics over the last few years. It’s time Governor Pritzker stopped catering to the radical anti-police fringe in his party and started protecting the public from violent criminals.

* From the state GOP chair’s weekly newsletter…

Prosecutors speak out against Pritzker’s plan to end cash bail

Under Governor JB Pritzker’s leadership, Illinois has become one of the most radically pro-criminal, anti-police states in the nation. So, it’s no surprise that state’s attorneys - the top prosecutors in each of their respective counties - are no fan of Pritzker’s new criminal “reform” of eliminating cash bail.

As reported by WGEM, even a Democrat state’s attorney, Will County’s James Glasgow, has serious concerns about the new law as he relayed a frightening scenario. “If someone murders a person, and that’s the only person that we’re aware of that they’re a danger to, that doesn’t fulfill the burden,” Glasgow said. “I mean any normal sane person would say that’s insane, that’s absurd, that’s ridiculous it can’t be in the law but it’s in the law.”

You’re right, James. Any “normal sane person” would say a law immediately releasing violent criminals onto our streets to commit more acts of violence is “absurd” and “ridiculous.” More importantly, it doesn’t keep our communities safe.

Governor Pritzker has the abnormal and insane governing philosophy that prioritizes the thoughts and feelings of violent criminals above law enforcement and public safety.

Four more years of JB Pritzker is dangerous for Illinois.

Governors own. Get used to it, even though this is all just way over the top and it’s a national issue…

With violent crime increasing in many parts of the U.S., Republicans see a winning strategy in portraying Democrats as soft on crime ahead of this year’s elections. In ads, campaign appearances and interviews, the GOP has ripped liberal policies and blamed Democratic lawmakers from the White House to city councils for the violence.

But in Oklahoma, where Gov. Kevin Stitt is being targeted for mass commutations and a crime that involved cannibalism, the attacks are different: Stitt is a Republican.

In one ad, a woman’s voice says Stitt commuted the prison sentence of a man who later “brutally murdered his neighbor, then tried to feed her organs to his family.” The ad, paid for by a group called Conservative Voice of America, concludes, “Oklahomans deserve a governor who cracks down on violent criminals, not one who lets them go.”

I guess it could always be worse.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Press release…

Governor JB Pritzker announced the launch of $113 million in funding opportunities for community organizations working on violence prevention and interruption across the state. This funding builds on $73 million already distributed by the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to organizations in FY22 as well as an additional $71.8 million in the pipeline, with grant agreements expected to be finalized prior to the summer.

These grant applications are part of a series of funding opportunities to reduce firearm violence by implementing evidence-based solutions.

“This is an unprecedented effort to stop the cycle of violence in our communities and invest resources in the communities where they are needed the most,” said Governor Pritzker. “From expanding summer jobs, to investing in behavioral health programs and youth development, we are bringing historic levels of funding to proven programs that prevent violence and keep people safe.”

The Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) is a three-year, multi-pronged approach to violence prevention that calls for research-backed services like summer and afterschool programming, job training and placement, high-risk youth intervention services, violence interruption, case management, trauma-informed mental health care supported by Medicaid, and more.

The funds are available in neighborhoods that have experienced concentrated firearm violence, including 42 areas across the state — 26 in Chicago and 16 in the suburbs and downstate. The effort is designed to support both short-term needs and address long-term causes of firearm violence to safeguard impacted communities through research-based violence prevention methods.

Community-based organizations that provide services in any of the 42 eligible communities (and follow GATA guidelines) can apply. Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis to expedite funding.

Organizations interested in this second round of violence prevention funding are encouraged to use free IDHS resources, including navigator and technical assistance programs, webinars, and a GATA app. These resources are available at www.DHS.illinois.gov/Grants.

“These investments are designed to build on past work and create enduring change. Illinois is carrying out an historic commitment - in resources and programs to combat violence. In addition to the anti-violence work of Reimagine Public Safety, IDHS is also strengthening and deepening existing youth development programs,” said Grace B. Hou, Secretary, Illinois Department of Human Services.

“The experts in our communities that do this work understand that when you invest in people—especially youth, teens and families—you are invested in violence prevention,” said Chris Patterson, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. “We invite all qualified community-based organizations to join us and apply for funding.”

“Today, communities are a step closer to addressing the problem of firearm violence with this round of funding being made available. We are encouraging all communities to apply, get GATA certified so we can work hand-in-hand with affected communities, intervening with at risk youth, supporting survivors and working from a grass roots level. We want every single community to get the public safety everyone deserves,” State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago).

“Many Illinois communities have been impacted by an increase in gun violence,” said State Representative Justin Slaughter (D-Chicago). Real public safety demands that we address the root causes of violence at the grassroots level. This next round of funding will allow for communities to get the financial resources needed to make impact and change.”

IDHS is focused on bringing resources into communities to address the epidemic of firearm violence that has impacted too many Illinois communities.

“The state’s investment is welcome recognition of the comprehensive, urgent, and often-unsung work community organizations have been doing to strengthen and expand community-led violence prevention infrastructure in Illinois,” Soledad McGrath, Executive Director, Northwestern Neighborhood & Network Initiative, Research Professor, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University.

Additionally, the administration is launching a statewide a series of community roundtables. Community conversations will take place in Rockford, Champaign, Peoria, and East St. Louis with local community advisors, faith-based leaders, and elected officials. The Reimagine Public Safety Act requires the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention to convene Local Advisory Councils (LAC) in the 16 RPSA eligible service areas outside of Chicago.

To apply for funding, visit www.dhs.illinois.gov/rpsa.

*** UPDATE 2 *** Natalie Edelstein at the Pritzker campaign…

Make no mistake, Republicans are exploiting tragedy for political gain while providing no solutions other than shouting “lock them up.” It is not only cynical and counter-productive, it is wrong.

The governor has taken steps to address crime at every level: solving crimes that have occurred and addressing the root causes.

The Republicans yelling the loudest about public safety concerns—including Avery Bourne and Darren Bailey—are also those voting against the budget and for defunding violence prevention programs.