Free Republic

⚡️Campaign Finance🧵: Adam Kinzinger Have you ever wondered what becomes of socially awkward politicians with no marketable skills, aside from crying on cue, when they are gerrymandered out of public office? Better yet, do you ever wonder what happens to all the leftover campaign $$ they bilked out of pussy-hat wearing cat ladies in the name of saving our Democracy™? If the answer is yes, this one’s for you! Prior to finding fame in the J6 fallout, the most remarkable thing about Mr. Kinzinger was just how unremarkable his congressional career had been. Despite representing the reddest district in IL...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A would-be robbery victim with a concealed carry license got into a shootout with a suspect on the Far North Side early Tuesday morning. The 23-year-old man was walking in the 5400-block of North Winthrop Avenue in the city's Edgewater neighborhood just after 4:20 a.m., when a white sedan and dark-colored SUV approached, CPD said. A male suspect got out of one of the cars, pulled out a gun and demanded the man give him his belongings, police said. The victim, who has a Firearm Owners Identification card and CCL, also pulled out a gun, and there...

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A deadly shooting Monday in South Peoria appears to have been the result of a botched robbery, Peoria police said. According to Semone Roth of the Peoria Police Department, the shooting occurred amid a potential Facebook Marketplace transaction where two people came to Peoria to meet someone about buying a vehicle. The shooting occurred at about 5 p.m. in a nearby alley in the 2100 block of West Lincoln Avenue where the would-be buyers were led by the purported sellers. “The investigation has determined that this was an attempted robbery setup and there was no intention...

A maintenance man was shot during an attempted robbery and fought back against the gunman, resulting in the suspect being shot with his own gun, in Waukegan Tuesday. The Waukegan Police Department and Waukegan Fire Department responded around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday to Beechwood at the Preserve Apartments in the 3000 block of 8th Street for a report of a shooting. Officers arrived and learned two people had sustained gunshot wounds. A 17-year-old boy was found in an apartment with a gunshot wound to his thigh, according to a police report. An officer applied a tourniquet to the boy’s leg before...

A group that promotes “normalizing abortion” has lined up six billboards on Interstate 55 through pro-life states leading to Illinois, one of which falsely reads, “God’s plan includes abortion.” Shout Your Abortion, a far-left advocacy group, placed the billboards in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee — all states which have outlawed or limited abortions. The black and white billboards, which face travelers heading into pro-abortion Illinois, also include messages such as, “Abortion is OK. You know what’s right for you,” and “Abortion is OK. You are loved.” “Interstate 55 carries 10s of thousands of abortion seekers out of southern...

In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, on November 25, 2022, Larry Morse and Theodore Ray Buck, Jr. filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, claiming the state ban on the sale and possession of silencers violates the Second Amendment. A similar lawsuit was filed by Carlin Anderson and David Clark on February 27, 2023, backed by the American Suppressor Association. The two lawsuits, Morse v Raoul and Anderson v Raoul, have been consolidated as of June 15, 2023. The parties involved have agreed the principle area of contention is whether silencers are arms...

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution condemning antisemitism and stating that Israel is not a racist state, NBC News reported. The vote was 412-9, with 195 Democrats joining all Republicans in voting yes. Nine Democrats voted against the non-binding resolution, several of whom have previously denounced Israel as an “apartheid state”. One Democrat voted present. The resolution was a Republican response to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), who over the weekend called Israel a “racist state”, before walking back the comments and stating that she had directed them at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s...

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy caught some of his fellow state central committee (SSC) members off guard this week when several of them received an email naming them to the new Endorsement Policy Committee, which Tracy will chair – paving the way for the chairman and the state party to officially endorse their preferred candidates in primary elections, in an apparent dig at the grassroots-base of the party. In January, Tracy floated this idea during an interview with Bishop on Air, and blamed the top of the ticket for the midterm election losses this past November – saying that...

This month, a 10th Circuit Court judge sentenced a Farmington woman who pleaded guilty to killing two pedestrians while driving drunk last April to 14 years in prison, reports Yahoo. After killing them, she laughed, sang, played dumb, and never asked about the victims. “Our system is based on punishment and rehabilitation,” said Judge Tim Cusack on Thursday as he sentenced Stephanie Melgoza, 24, on two counts of aggravated DUI and two counts of aggravated reckless driving. “I have to balance those two. What is the appropriate punishment in order to deter other people, and what is the rehabilitative quality...

U.S.A. — In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Judge Stephen P. McGlynn has issued a well-reasoned and argued opinion covering several challenges to the “Protect Illinois Communities Act” (PICA). The opinion puts in place a temporary injunction against the enforcement of PICA.PICA bans the ownership of over 190 models of firearms and criminalizes the possession of magazines that hold over 10 rounds, among other things. Judge McGlynn filed the opinion on April 28, 2023. The opinion is straightforward. In the fifth paragraph, after describing the events...

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker shrugged last year after several high-profile corporations left his state. “Countless companies are choosing Illinois as their home,” Mr. Pritzker said. Then why does a new Internal Revenue Service report show an accelerating taxpayer exodus from Illinois and other high-tax states?

VIDEO AT LINK................ Holy cow! This is insane! Things turned ugly very quickly after an Illinois youth wrestling match that saw a wrestler completely suckerpunch and knock out his opponent after getting destroyed in a match. The punch was so vicious that police have even responded with an investigation. Located in Oak Park, Illinois, Oak Park River Forest High School hosted the “Beat The Streets” tournament April 8, and at one point during the event, Maine West High School’s Hafid Alicea was beaten by SPAR Wrestling Academy’s Cooper Corder. And not only did Alicea take a loss, he was absolutely...

On the way to the NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, there was time to consider the changes since this correspondent had last been here in 2014; much pavement has passed under my vehicle’s tires. Nine years ago: Illinois had shall issue. Carry by out-of-state permit holders or people from Constitutional Carry states is permitted as you pass through Illinois. Fortunately, all the states passed through from Dallas, Texas, to Indianapolis, Indiana, have become Constitutional Carry states. Except for Illinois.The rules in Illinois become complicated if you step outside of your vehicle. My solution was not to stop while in Illinois....

Illinois Cook County prosecutors have dropped state sex-crime charges against singer Robert Sylvester Kelly, known as R. Kelly. The charges that have been dropped are aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse counts involving four accusers, three of them minors. On Monday, County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said that they are being dropped in part because of the prison sentences he is already facing for his federal convictions. Kelly had been charged in federal courts in New York and Chicago after Foxx’s office filed charges in 2019.

HB5855 is a bill that heavily infringes on the right to arms protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Ironically, it is titled the “Protect Illinois Communities Act”. The bill has been introduced into the Illinois House of Representatives by Representative Bob Morgan, (D) of the 58th District in Springfield, Illinois. Representative Morgan is a prolific introducer of bills. In 2022, he introduced 38 bills, none of which has moved beyond the introduction phase and passed to the House of Representatives. He introduced 36 bills in 2021, but again none of them passed...

A Fox River Grove woman allegedly battered five different police officers while they were trying to arrest her during a traffic stop in Crystal Lake, court documents show. Ellie G. Masukevich, 18, of Fox River Grove, was charged with five counts of aggravated battery to a police officer, two counts of driving under the influence, resisting a peace officer and possession of liquor by a minor. Court records show officers stopped a 2006 Honda Pilot on westbound Route 14 at Pingree Road in Crystal Lake. The officers stopped the vehicle around 7 p.m. Tuesday after noticing the Honda commit traffic...

Samuel Stebbins writes for 24/7 Wall St and several other left-leaning organizations such as the NYTs, HuffPost, and MSN. Mr. Stebbins has written a number of articles involving guns, crime, and statistics. The numbers he cites are usually correct. They are from sources such as the FBI Uniform Crime Reports.Unfortunately, it is easy to make errors if you do not understand how the numbers are generated. It appears to be the reason for the laughable numbers in Samuel’s most recent article claiming “Gun Sales are Collapsing in Illinois.” In Illinois, gun sales are falling even faster than they are nationwide....

The Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, known as the SAFE-T Act, passed with the backing of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus in the early hours of Jan. 13, 2021. The broad-ranging measure abolishes cash bail beginning in January 2023, reforms police training, certification and use-of-force standards, expands detainee rights, and requires body cameras at all departments by 2025

Today, the “Big 3” Blue States, New York, California, and Illinois, all announced a State of Emergency to address the “Monkeypox Crisis”. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/news/gov-pritzker-monkeypox-virus-outbreak-illinois-public-health-emergency/ You’ll notice Newsome and CA are already mobilizing for mass vaccination, and trying to encourage the rest of the States to do the same. The vaccine and fear campaign is now in motion. Soon, the remaining states with Dem governors, will likely declare a State of Emergency as well. The Red States probably won’t play along, but this won’t stop the DNC from trying to justify a National State of Emergency and lockdowns. Is this based on...

In a split 4 to 3 decision, the Illinois Supreme Court has refused to rule on the constitutionality of the Firearms Owner’s IDentification card (FOID) requirements in Illinois. This is the second time the Court has refused to rule on the same case. From the decision: “Mandates of this court are not to be treated lightly but are to be obeyed.” Id. Where the cause is remanded by this court “with specific directions, the court below has no discretion, but must pursue the mandate” of this court. Chickering v. Failes, 29 Ill. 294, 302-03 (1862). Accordingly, the circuit court’s orders...