Teachers Union Head Gleefully Declares That Her Union Owns American Children
'Every single one of them'
Thug carjacks a grandmother as her 6-year-old grandson looks on. But crook soon gets his comeuppance.
A 66-year-old grandmother traveled to an Aldi grocery store on the South Side of Chicago one afternoon earlier this month — and she had her 6-year-old grandson in tow, CWB Chicago reported.
After parking in the Aldi lot, the grandmother pulled her purse from the trunk of her black 2024 Buick SUV, and she and her grandson began walking toward the grocery store, the outlet said, citing a detention proffer from Cook County prosecutors.
Gilmore got away in the victim's SUV, prosecutors told the outlet, adding that surveillance video captured the June 8 incident in its entirety.
But what began as an everyday shopping trip soon took a terrifying turn.
Prosecutors told CWB Chicago that 18-year-old Keshawn Gilmore confronted the grandmother with a black handgun and demanded the grandmother's keys and even "grappled" with her as her young grandson stood nearby.
Gilmore got away in the victim's SUV, prosecutors told the outlet, adding that surveillance video captured the June 8 incident in its entirety.
The suspect soon ran out of luck, however.
License plate readers on the Dan Ryan Expressway picked up the stolen SUV around 4:30 p.m., CWB Chicago said, adding that Chicago police spotted the vehicle around 30 minutes later near 19th Street and Albany.
Gilmore was behind the wheel, prosecutors told the outlet, adding that two passengers also were in the vehicle.
More from CWB Chicago:
When officers tried to stop the vehicle, Gilmore allegedly sped off, running red lights and stop signs. But the chase ended two minutes later when Gilmore crashed at 3200 South Kedzie, ejecting a juvenile passenger from the SUV’s back seat. All three occupants, including the juvenile, fled. But cops caught Gilmore, still wearing the same clothing seen in the Aldi video, officials said.
Police allegedly found a Glock handgun on the driver’s floorboard, its “distinct shape” matching the weapon in the store video, and a second handgun on the passenger floorboard, prosecutors said in a detention petition.
Judge Shauna Boliker ordered Gilmore detained as a safety risk, the outlet said, adding that he faces charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated fleeing, aggravated possession of a weapon, unlawful transportation of a stolen vehicle, and resisting police.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office on Thursday told Blaze News that Gilmore was still in custody with no bond listed.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
'I'll blow your head off': Carjacking victim threatened crook after turning the tables on him. Now carjacker learns his fate.
Early one morning last year — around 6:28 a.m. Jan. 2, 2024, to be exact — a Chicago motorist told police he was sitting in his car in the 9400 block of South Laflin Street when Darrius Berry approached him, CWB Chicago reported.
The 39-year-old victim said Berry walked up to the driver's window of his 2021 Mazda CX-9 and pointed a gun at his head, the outlet reported.
'Who’s with you?'
“Please give me the keys,” Berry allegedly told the victim, according to the outlet. “I need your car. I’m sorry, sir. ... Go in the house.”
The victim did just that, handing Berry his keys and heading into his house, the outlet continued.
But what Berry likely didn't count on was the victim reappearing soon after.
It turns out that the victim grabbed his own gun, went back outside, and confronted Berry, who was sitting behind the steering wheel of the victim's car with a gun on the passenger seat, CWB Chicago said, citing a report.
“If you reach for it, I’ll blow your head off,” the victim recalled telling Berry, according to the outlet.
It gets even better.
The victim opened the car door, grabbed Berry by the collar, and pulled him to the ground, CWB Chicago said, citing officials.
“Who’s with you?” the victim asked Berry, according to the outlet, presumably out of concern that Berry may have accomplices to help him carry out the crime.
“He’s around the corner,” Berry reportedly answered, CWB Chicago said, adding that the victim said he never saw anyone.
Soon after, Chicago police responded to a call of a "citizen holding an offender" and found the victim holding Berry at gunpoint, the outlet said.
Police recovered the gun Berry allegedly left on the Mazda’s passenger seat, the outlet reported, adding that a police report indicated the firearm had been stolen from a vehicle in the 1400 block of West 90th Street about a month prior to the ill-fated January 2024 carjacking.
Judge Thomas Hennelly on Monday sentenced Berry — now 19 years old — to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular hijacking, CWB Chicago said, citing court records.
The outlet added that Berry will be eligible for release in just over three years due to Illinois' "standard 50% sentence reduction and credits earned while in jail."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Road rage suspect opens fire on fellow motorist in Chicago, cops say. But victim is a concealed carrier — and wins shootout.
Chicago police said a road rage suspect opened fire on another motorist earlier this week, but it turns out the victim is a concealed carrier — and came out on top in the shootout.
The incident occurred around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 7700 block of West Belmont Avenue in the city's Dunning neighborhood, WLS-TV reported.
The station said the abandoned, crashed car was full of bullet holes.
Police said a 23-year-old man was driving east on Belmont when he was involved in an apparent road rage incident with the male driver of a white Honda also heading east on Belmont, the station reported.
Police said the driver of the white sedan took out a gun and fired shots, and the 23-year-old victim — the concealed-carry license holder — returned fire at the suspect, WLS noted.
RELATED: 'Chunk of hair' allegedly found on smashed windshield; cops say it resembles fatal hit-and-run victim's hair — and case turns
With that, the suspect crashed his vehicle into a building, causing damage, and fled the scene, police told the station.
Police said no one was injured, and no one is in custody, WLS reported, adding that Area Five detectives are investigating.
The station said the abandoned, crashed car was full of bullet holes.
A family living in the building shared surveillance video from inside their home that captured audio of the gunfire and car crash. It's not clear, however, why the surveillance video's timestamp reads 9:06 p.m.
WFLD-TV said what may have led to the road rage isn't yet known, and police haven’t released a description of the suspect. But WLS reported that one person captured video of a male exiting the crashed white Honda and running from the scene — and that clip is part of the WLS video report below.
'A gun fight in Chicago? Who would’ve ever thought that could happen?'
Mike Opelka is host of “Daybreak” on 92.5 Fox News Radio in Fort Myers/Naples, Florida — as well as "a Chicago native who wisely got the hell out" and "a concealed-carry permit holder in 35 states; Illinois is not one of them."
Opelka had a few things to share with Blaze News about this incident — and ye olde sarcasm dial was turned all the way up to 10:
A gun fight in Chicago? Who would’ve ever thought that could happen? This escapee of the Windy City is not exactly surprised. Except for the fact that one of the shooters was a legal gun owner. How does the 23-year-old get a concealed-carry permit in Chicago? I would not be surprised if city authorities had already confiscated the man’s firearm and canceled his permit. After all, we can’t have citizens just randomly protecting themselves against armed road ragers.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
'Chunk of hair' allegedly found on smashed windshield; cops say it resembles fatal hit-and-run victim's hair — and case turns
Chicago police allegedly found a "chunk of hair" embedded in the smashed windshield of a vehicle they pulled over last week — and it just so happens that officers were investigating a fatal hit-and-run in the area, CWB Chicago said.
One factor that helped turn the case toward getting solved was that police allegedly noticed that the hair in the windshield resembled the hair of the deceased 76-year-old hit-and-run victim, the outlet noted.
Tolefree was charged with failure to report a fatal accident — which is a felony.
Patrolling officers on the city's South Side found the victim lying lifeless in traffic lanes near 70th Street and Western Avenue just before 9:30 p.m. last Tuesday, CWB Chicago said.
Witnesses told officers they saw the driver of a speeding silver vehicle strike the man while traveling north on Western, the outlet said, citing a police report — and the driver kept going.
More from CWB Chicago:
About 30 minutes later, officers at the crash scene saw a silver Hyundai Santa Fe travel past them with a heavily damaged front end and a “large crack” in the windshield, the report said.
Cops tried to stop the car, but the driver took “an unusual amount of time to pull over,” according to their report. Once the driver stopped, the cops allegedly found a “chunk of hair” similar to the victim’s embedded in the windshield. They said they also noticed Svedka vodka bottles on the passenger seat and under the driver’s seat, the report said.
Arresting officers said the driver, 29-year-old Nyamca Tolefree, asked “multiple times” to lean on their squad car so she could stay upright. Their report said they could “smell a heavy odor of alcoholic beverage” on her breath and body and said she exhibited “slurred, thick tongued and stuttered speech.”
Tolefree urinated on herself while riding to the hospital in the back seat of a squad car, CPD’s arrest report said. She refused sobriety tests and made “multiple utterances” about being involved in a crash while driving, according to the report.
While police initially indicated that Tolefree faced a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol, the outlet said prosecutors didn't end up charging her with DUI.
CWB Chicago said, however, that Tolefree was charged with failure to report a fatal accident — which is a felony. She also was cited for transporting alcohol as a driver, failure to exercise due care, and failure to reduce speed, the outlet added.
Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ordered Tolefree detained pending trial, CWB Chicago reported.
Blaze News reached out to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for comment, particularly in regard to why Tolefree wasn't ultimately charged with DUI — and officials there responded to Blaze News on Wednesday, saying they "approved the felony charge of Leaving the Scene of a Fatality, and the misdemeanor charge filed by police was dismissed." The CCSAO added that Tolefree remains in custody at the Cook County Jail, and her next court appearance is scheduled for June 4.
"As this matter is pending litigation, we are unable to further comment," the CCSAO added to Blaze News.
- YouTube youtu.be
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson bragged about hiring 'our people' — now he's under federal investigation
The Department of Justice opened an investigation into the City of Chicago to determine if it has been hiring based on race or ethnicity.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the United States Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) following the politician's remarks about the benefits of having black employees.
'Our investigation is based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race.'
Dhillon's letter said the Department of Justice is looking to determine if Chicago has engaged in a pattern of discriminatory hiring in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Particularly, Dhillon referenced remarks Mayor Johnson made at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, Illinois, about the "number of Black officials in [his] administration."
"Our investigation is based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race," Dhillon wrote, before listing half a dozen instances where Johnson seemingly bragged about employing a black person while "emphasizing their race."
RELATED: Sanctuary mayors face DOJ criminal referral for allegedly harboring illegal aliens
The examples from the civil rights office (which capitalized "black"), all quotes from Mayor Johnson, were as follows:
- "Business and economic neighborhood development, the deputy mayor is a Black woman."
- "Department of planning and development is a Black woman."
- "Infrastructure, deputy mayor is a Black woman."
- "Chief operations officer is a Black man."
- "Budget director is a Black woman."
- "Senior adviser is a Black man."
Dhillon also pointed out that the mayor said he was "laying" those positions "out" to "ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business."
The Chicago politician's office responded by saying the federal government does not reflect the diversity the Illinois city does.
"Our administration reflects the diversity and values of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration does not reflect either," the mayor's press office said, per NBC News.
RELATED: Why Chicago loves da pope
— (@)
Johnson's remarks on the day in question also included him saying that his critics complain that he talks only about "the hiring of black people."
"No, what I'm saying is when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else," Johnson claimed. "Having people in my administration that will look out for the interest of everyone, and everyone means you have to look out for the interests of black folks, because that hasn't happened. That's how we ensure long-term sustainable growth."
Dhillon added that if top-level hiring decisions were being made in a discriminatory manner in Chicago, such decisions may also have been made for "lower-level positions."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Today's top stories
thefederalist.com
www.theblaze.com