Free Republic

A 52-year-old Waukegan man accused of hiding a woman’s body in a trash can full of bleach couldn’t be jailed under Illinois’ new no-cash bail law when he was arrested in April. But on Saturday, his luck ran out. Federal immigration agents arrested Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez at a Chicago market over the weekend, saying he is a Mexican national living in the United States illegally. And unlike local prosecutors and judges, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isn’t constrained by Illinois’ SAFE-T Act. Authorities say he concealed the body of 37-year-old Megan Bos of Antioch, who disappeared in February. After nearly...

The mother of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins, who was fatally stabbed while trying to protect her from a violent attack by her just-paroled ex-boyfriend, is calling out Illinois politicians for using her son’s name for political gain while fighting her civil lawsuit against the state behind closed doors. Laterria Smith, who was also seriously injured in the March 2024 attack, released an open letter to Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday. In it, she accuses his administration of publicly invoking Jayden’s name to promote changes to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, even as state lawyers move to dismiss her negligence suit tied...

In one of the first nationwide hypothetical polls for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, Illinois Governor and billionaire JB Pritzker ranks at the bottom, receiving the lowest level of support from minority voters as prominent Democrats begin preparing for potential campaigns. On Friday, the well-regarded Emerson College Polling released new results showing former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leading the Democratic field with 16 percent support. Former Vice President Kamala Harris follows at 13 percent, with California Governor Gavin Newsom close behind at 12 percent. JB Pritzker, billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who invested over $350 million of...

Across the country, American factories are reopening. Companies are returning home. Jobs are being created. Under Donald Trump’s leadership, U.S. manufacturing is seeing a revival. Tariffs on foreign goods, tax incentives for domestic production, and fewer federal regulations have caused a shift. Major corporations are pulling operations out of China and Mexico and bringing them back to American soil. Kentucky. Alabama. Indiana. Texas. South Carolina. These states are attracting billions of dollars in new manufacturing investments. Thousands of new jobs are being created. But Illinois is being left out—and Governor JB Pritzker’s tax-heavy policies are a major reason why.

The man accused of stalking Gov. JB Pritzker and throwing rocks at the billionaire’s Gold Coast mansion received a probation sentence on Wednesday, court records show. Adam Dabash pleaded guilty to felony criminal damage to property in a plea deal that led prosecutors to drop three other felony charges, including two counts of stalking. Three windows were damaged, with one rock found inside the governor’s mansion and two others found outside. The damage to the governor’s property was estimated at $7,900. Pritzker and several others were inside the residence at the time of the rock-throwing, but no injuries were reported....

Pritzker was scheduled to crisscross the state for a series of reelection rallies starting Thursday morning at the Grand Crossing Park Field House on the South Side.

Pritzker will make his reelection campaign official with kickoff events in Chicago and Springfield, but it’s still unknown whom he’ll tap as running mate.

Michael Madigan, connected to Obama, Bill Ayers and Andrew Weissmann, was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison this past week for corruption. Who would have predicted this? Michael Madigan ran the state of Illinois like a mobster for more than three decades. He used his power to crush anyone and any entity that dared oppose him on anything. He is the definition of a pure politician. He is now going to prison. Michael Madigan, the country’s longest-serving state House leader, served as speaker of the Illinois House from 1983 until 2021, with the exception of two years. Along the way,...

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker found himself in a very awkward situation when he was confronted over advocating that men should use women’s bathrooms. The stammering Democrat tried to deny that he had ever taken such a stance during a fiery House Oversight Committee hearing with sanctuary state governors, but Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) showcased a 2017 tweet from Pritzker that stated: “As a protest against Trump’s rescinding protections for trans kids, everyone should use the other gender’s bathroom today!”

JUST IN: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker goes mute after Rep. Brandon Gill stumps him on his previous tweet about men in women's bathrooms. Gill: Do you think men should be allowed in women's restrooms? Pritzker: I'm not sure why this has come to this issue. Gill: You tweeted: 'As a protest against President Trump, everyone should use the other gender's bathroom today.' Have you ever used the women's restroom? Pritzker: Not that I can recall. Gill: So you just wanted everybody else to do it, but you didn't? Pritzker: ...

A bill that would compel Illinois public universities to provide, prescribe, and even promote abortion drugs is now one signature away from becoming law. House Bill 3709 passed the state senate May 31 and is now awaiting action from Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker. If signed, the bill would require schools to refer students to abortion providers and, where pharmacies are available on campus, directly distribute abortion drugs like mifepristone, according to a May 20 press release from Illinois Right to Life. The bill would also mandate that universities include information about chemical abortion on their websites, elevating the practice to...

It has saddened to me watch Harvard, a university that I love from which I have greatly benefited, self-immolate through gross mismanagement, poor governance, and ideological capture that have occurred over the last 15 or so years, and that have been brought into clear focus beginning on October 8, 2023. When a day after the launch of the Hamas attack on Israel, 33 Harvard student organizations held the victims “solely responsible” for the acts of the terrorists while their extraordinarily barbaric acts were still underway, I realized that something had gone profoundly wrong at my alma mater. Further investigations on...

ATLANTA (AP) — The billionaire heir and the former bartender.Many Democrats have been in and out of the spotlight as the party looks for effective counters to President Donald Trump and his second administration. But two disparate figures, Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have seen their national profiles rise by delivering messages that excite a demoralized and fractured party. The governor, a 60-year-old heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the congresswoman, the 35-year-old with working-class roots, both won their first elections in 2018. Both have urged mass resistance and accused their party...

DHS Sec. Noem - right at the Gov's mansion.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told an audience of Democrats in New Hampshire "it's time to fight everywhere and all at once. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace." The group of Democratic activists, officials and donors jumped to their feet with hoots and applause. They shouted out questions and ideas on how they might turn voters against Trump and other Republicans. "Should we block rush hour traffic? Should we help MS-13 gangsters elude ICE arrest? Should we firebomb Tesla dealerships?...

Democrats would root for tooth decay over oral hygiene and Snidely Whiplash over Dudley Do-Right. Something about them is clearly not right. To wit: California Democrats have yet again blocked efforts to strengthen protections against underage sex trafficking, this time in the form of a bill to make it a felony to purchase 16- or 17-year-olds for sex. But, hey, who are we to judge if a California Democrat — or someone from a “marginalized” group -- wants to purchase a 16 or 17-year-old for sex? Meanwhile, Minnesota Democrats killed an amendment to a crime and public safety bill that...

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, the latest crush of the left-wing resistance to President Donald Trump and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night and found himself on the receiving end of a barrage of jokes about his weight. Kimmel played video of President Trump mocking Pritzker’s weight, saying: “He’s too busy eating, he wants to eat all the time. ‘Would like a hamburger? How many do you want? Five,’” Trump said, imitating the billionaire Hyatt hotel heir ordering food. “He loves to make fun of people any way he can,” Pritzker nervously replied, adding...

A business in Illinois, owned by a vocal critic of controversial Democratic mayor Tiffany Henyard, was destroyed in a fire deemed “suspicious” by authorities earlier this week. “The fire is suspicious in nature,” Dolton Deputy Fire Chief John Calhoun told WGN. “We do have the fire marshal out here currently with our [mutual aid] arson team.” The blaze erupted around 6 a.m. Tuesday, escalating to a three-alarm fire. No injuries were reported, but the building was a total loss, according to FOX 32 Chicago. A smaller fire occurred at the same site the previous week, WGN noted. The property, owned...

Donald Trump Jr. called out Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker for a speech he gave over the weekend, suggesting that the potential 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful was encouraging another assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. In a keynote speech he gave in New Hampshire on Sunday, Pritzker said he was calling for "disruption," adding that Republicans — whom he labeled "tyrants and traitors" — "cannot know a moment of peace." "Are you trying to inspire a 3rd assassination attempt on my dad? Two wasn't enough for you?" Trump Jr. said in a post to X on Monday. President Trump was injured...

Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker urged Americans to “mobilize” against President Trump on Monday, a day after he delivered a fiery speech in New Hampshire calling for “disruption” and “mass protests.” “Let me be clear, we’re in a perilous moment in this country,” Pritzker said during an interview with MSNBC host Jen Psaki, when asked about what he was trying to convey in his speech at a New Hampshire Democratic Party dinner Sunday night. In his speech, which conservatives quickly blasted as “reckless,” the governor declared that Republicans “cannot know a moment of peace.” “They have to understand that we...