Free Republic

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing spree Wednesday afternoon in Rockford, Illinois, that left four people dead, including a U.S. postal worker and a teenage girl, and seven other victims injured, police said. The suspect, Christian Soto, was arrested in the frenzied attack, according to the Rockford Police Department. Soto faces four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, as well as two counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon, authorities said. A motive for the attack remains under investigation, police said. The names of the slain victims were not immediately released,...

An adult male allegedly stabbed multiple victims in the Rockford, Illinois area on Wednesday, leaving four people dead, one in critical condition and four others in stable condition, authorities said in a press conference Wednesday. A postal worker is among the four individuals who died, Rockford Police confirmed. Details about the other victims have not been released.

A registered sex offender allegedly kidnapped a young girl, left her lifeless body behind and strangled her younger sister in a random attack around noon Saturday. The two young girls - ages 10 and 6 - were playing outside their suburban Rockford, Illinois, home when a man, who was later identified as Antonio Monroe, 44, allegedly grabbed them, police said. Less than 40 minutes later, an unidentified man found the 10-year-old unresponsive and flagged down police officers, who tried to save the 10-year-old, but CPR efforts were unsuccessful.

Demontrion Deshan Phillips was on court-ordered supervised release for two 2017 bank robberies when he robbed two other banks ... An Illinois man was found guilty last week of robbing two banks last year, heists that were committed while he was on supervised release for committing two other bank robberies... Demontrion Deshan Phillips, 28, stole $5,930 during an April 27, 2021, from the Midland States Bank in Rockford, and another $4,408 in a robbery of Midland States Bank in Belvidere weeks later... He was convicted of four counts of bank robbery after a four-day trial. .... In the Belvidere robbery,...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Saturday searched the Illinois headquarters of a national COVID-19 testing company that is under federal and state investigation. "The FBI was conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity in Rolling Meadows yesterday," Siobhan Johnson, a spokesperson for the FBI's Chicago office, said to USA Today on Sunday. The test company, known as the Center for COVID Control, has received over $124 million from the federal government as reimbursement for COVID-19 testing. The company once operated over 300 locations in 26 states and gathered over 80,000 COVID-19 tests daily.

Round them up! https://t.co/xBRvQBrL3z— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 2, 2020 WATCH: Arrest turns into BRAWL when anti-cop ‘protesters’ attack at ‘Back the Blue’ rally, feds SWARM

Metro Police Officer Will Not be Charged in Deadly Alpine Bank Shooting WARNING: Story contains graphic video of shooting ROCKFORD - WARNING: This story contains graphic video of a shooting death. It was distributed to show that a security guard's actions in use of deadly force were justified. Viewer discretion is advised. The Metro Security Officer who shot and killed an armed bank robber after the robber pointed a gun and fired at him will not be charged in the shooting. The Winnebago County State's Attorney's office has determined the use of deadly force was justified given the life-threatening danger...

Six Bosnian immigrants have been charged in the U.S. for allegedly supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Department of Justice said Friday. The suspects, five of whom were arrested in the U.S., are all charged with providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, the DOJ said in a statement. They were identified as Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, who live in St. Louis County, Missouri; Nihad Rosic, 26, of Utica, New York; Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 34 of Schiller Park,...

Despite the objections of local police officers and the pro-life community, the City of Rockford has moved forward to buy the former Turner School, which was once a notorious abortion clinic. Rockford plans to turn the closed killing center building into the District 2 south side police station. A few months back, Rockford police officers voiced their objections to their offices locating in a the closed Northern Illinois Women’s Center abortion clinic because of what the building represents. “A number of people have an objection to the Turner School building because of what it represents and they have some serious...

ROCKFORD - Sunday, an emboldened Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) pointed his Facebook followers to a Rockford Star editorial that lauds Kinzinger for slamming Ted Cruz and Congressional colleagues that stood against the debt ceiling being raised in last week's vote. Earlier in the week, the Congressman also criticized colleagues for how they handled the government shutdown. The home district editorial Kinzinger referenced called the small cadre of budget hawks in Congress -including Congressman Randy Hultgren, who was the only Illinois "no" vote on the debt ceiling vote - "nihilists" and "bullies": One who did show his mettle, however, was Rep....

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is losing part of his arsenal of local leaders as more and more long-time members of his gun-control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns say they aren’t happy with the coalition’s trajectory and want out. While the group apparently is growing in membership overall amid an effort to assume a larger profile in the national gun debate, it's turning some members off. In the past five months, 50 members of the group have quit. Many say they did so because the organization abandoned its mission statement of going after illegal guns, and instead used its political...

Nashua Mayor Donalee Lozeau quit New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group Mayors Against Illegal Guns after it exposed its true mission: to pursue strict new gun-control laws. She has had plenty of company. A review of the group’s membership by news and entertainment website Buzzfeed.com found that it has lost more than 50 members who have quit, lost re-election or had their terms expire. Lozeau quit after she saw the group’s first ad attacking U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte for voting against a gun-control bill. “I said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t want to be part of something like...

Forbes put Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on its cover in 2011 for a story with the optimistic headline: “City of Hope.” The premise was that the city had hit rock bottom and was poised for a turnaround. “Right now, it’s all about survival,” Bing told Forbes. Two years later, Detroit’s problems continue to multiply, sadly. It is still dealing with high levels of violent crime and unemployment. Home prices, already at historic lows, plummeted a further 35% during the past three years to a median of $40,000 as net migration out of the city continued. The latest blow was Tuesday’s...

ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, June 18, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com)—A school bus covered in pro-life images that used to drive children to a local abortion clinic to pray was firebombed Friday night, report local advocates, who say the media have been negligent in covering the incident. The bus, owned by Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy, suffered extensive damage after vandals threw more than one device through the vehicle’s windows. Photos show some of the seats reduced to little more than metal frame and ash. The driver’s area was also bombed, and appears to be unusable. The bus is well known in the...

SPRINGFIELD, January 23, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Documents uncovered by the Associated Press reveal that the recent closure of the notorious abortion clinic in Rockford was the result of a long overdue investigation of Illinois abortion facilities, prompted by revelations of the conditions found at abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” clinic in Philadelphia. According to the AP, in recent years abortion clinics in Illinois have had little more oversight than in Pennsylvania, where Democratic Gov. Tom Ridge’s administration had stopped abortion clinics inspections in 1995. The news service reported that several clinics in Illinois had gone without oversight for as...

Since we can't post stuff from the Rockford Register-Star (and none of the local TV stations have a story on it) I figure I'd pass the info on. Richard Ragsdale worked at the Northern Illinois Women's Center in Rockford for 31 years, hanging his shingle out in April, 1973, not long after the Roe vs. Wade decision. He was the region's only abortion provider. He was 69 years old and died after a short illness, which I've been told was pancreatic cancer. Recently the clinic had gone to being open two days a week. Since Ragsdale's hospitalization, that has been...

“You mean,” said Marina, “you mean that we’re sitting here over Hell?” “Over a hell, conceivably. There are many hells, and the same place may be Hell or Purgatory, depending upon the situation. Most of them are private.” Those words echo in my thoughts as we approach the building. Turner School, built in 1898, is no Balgrummo Lodging, the Scottish manor house that is the setting of Russell Kirk’s Lord of the Hollow Dark, and not simply because the massive brick-and-stone structure sits right in the heart of Rockford, Illinois, about as far geographically and culturally as you can get...

January 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After years of protests and prayer vigils, pro-life activists in Rockford, Illinois can finally breathe a sigh of relief – the notoriously bizarre Northern Illinois Women’s Center (NIWC) has announced that it will close permanently. “The staff is very saddened by the closing,” said the owners of the facility in a statement released this morning to the Rockford Register Star. “We are not done grieving this loss and still are struggling with surrendering to the idea that we will not be able to do this work tomorrow or the day after.” Just one example of...

Local Ad Pokes Fun at Wisconsin SenatorsReported by: Alex Shabad It's gone from a state-wide search to a city-wide joke. The 14 runaway Wisconsin senators probably never knew they'd be part of a marketing campaign called "Hideaway in Rockford." "In the video you never find anyone who's a senator but you do find people getting away from the work place world" says John Groh, President of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. It's meant to highlight "getaway spots" and deals at restaurants, sporting events. And of course, the clock tower where the senators first arrived. "It’s very very cute,...

Yesterday, when the Wisconsin legislature had a scheduled vote on a controversial budget item--union benefits--some of the democrat senators decided to head for the hills...of Illinois, that is. The Rockford Register Star reports. Here's the deal: If the democrats aren't on the floor for the vote, the vote can't take place. Hence the travel plans. The Wisconsin senators took to the highway, southbound to the Illinois-Wisconsin state line, crossed into Illinois and found a hideaway in the cozy "resort" city of Rockford. Once there, they were safe and sound. Or so they thought. Enter one David Hale. A local Tea...