Concealed-carrying Walgreens worker blows away alleged shoplifter who pulled gun when confronted



A concealed-carrying Walgreens worker fatally shot an alleged shoplifter who pulled a gun on the worker amid a confrontation outside the Chicago-area store early Sunday morning.

The shooting was reported just after 2 a.m. outside the store in the 500 block of Torrence Avenue in Calumet City, Illinois, authorities told WMAQ-TV. Calumet City is about a half hour south of Chicago and just west of the Indiana border.

'He should be promoted to store manager.'

Authorities said employees approached a 42-year-old male and a 48-year-old female who took items without paying and exited the store, the station said.

Employees took back the merchandise from the female, who fled the scene on foot, WMAQ said. But the male pulled a handgun when he was approached, police told the station.

With that, a Walgreens employee in possession of a valid concealed-carry license opened fire and shot the suspect, authorities told WMAQ.

WBBM-TV reported that the employee who opened fire is a store security guard, and the suspected shoplifter was shot in the chest.

Police found the suspect driving a vehicle in the 1600 block of Sibley Boulevard near Yates Avenue, and the suspect was taken to a trauma center where he died, authorities told the WMAQ.

The male was identified as Mario Almendarez of Chicago, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office told WMAQ.

Calumet City detectives late Sunday launched an investigation, WMAQ said, adding that those with information are asked to call the Calumet City Police Department at 708-868-2500.

How are observers reacting?

WMAQ's Facebook post about the shooting has attracted nearly 200 comments since it went live Sunday, and it appears many of them are positive:

  • "He should be promoted to store manager," one commenter said.
  • "He should get a medal," another user declared.
  • "Another one for the good guys," another commenter observed.
  • "Good," another user noted. "Employee of the year!"
  • "Awesome!!!!!!" another commenter exclaimed. "We need more of this. Although kooky lame woke and perpetually incompetent Walgreens [management] will probably fire the guy."
  • "F around and found out," another user concluded. "Only way they'll learn."

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Blaze News original: How violent, bullying leftists behave after getting bruising justice — or when they don't get their way



Among the many stomach-turning traits of militant leftists like Antifa and their ilk is that they tend to be supremely entitled and pathologically incapable of empathy. There is no other "side," no other point of view, and nothing else to consider. Their radical leftism is the only game in town.

It's a dangerous point of view, mainly because it contributes to making their criminal behavior — which often involves physically harming those who stand up against them or who are just in their way in that moment — perfectly acceptable in their minds.

'You guys want to criminalize us with metal detectors? We'll see you at your house. We'll murder you.'

The fallout happens when such leftists receive bruising justice in return, whether the comeuppance goes down in the streets or in courtrooms — and yes, even during public meetings when they don't get their way.

Over and over again, we've seen these ingredients — entitlement, a gang mentality, a propensity for violence, and lack of empathy — get shaken together to create a volatile cocktail that, in the end, explodes in the face of the left.

The following are some of the more jaw-dropping lowlights.

Female Antifa ringleader found guilty of orchestrating riot; loyal comrade arrested outside courthouse after verdict — on assault charge


An Antifa ringleader based in Portland, Oregon, was found guilty Aug. 14 of felony riot, disorderly conduct in the second degree, and unlawful use of mace in the second degree in connection with 2021 riot in a park in neighboring Clackamas County.

Self-described independent journalist Alissa Eleanor Azar was front and center when Antifa disrupted a conservative voter registration drive in Clackamette Park in Oregon City. Video evidence showed Azar using bear mace against a woman, according to the Post Millennial. She pushed Antifa's action on social media, and Clackamas County Deputy District Attorney Josh Cutino said Antifa was looking for a fight.

An Oregon City cop testified that his team discovered homemade explosive devices and riot shields in the area where Antifa had gathered, prompting bomb squad involvement.

After the verdict was announced, the Post Millennial and the Federalist reported that another infamous Antifa militant, John Hacker, allegedly attacked a man outside the courthouse, causing the man to bleed from the face.

"I crossed the street, and John Hacker’s there, and I was like, 'I think I just saw you assault him,'" Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West told the Federalist. "John tries to evade, police end up arresting him."

West said the victim "was bleeding pretty profusely. He was dazed. I got him off the ground, sat him up, tried to provide some direct pressure. Then Antifa came out and were yelling threatening things to me and making threats to me and my person while I was giving my report to law enforcement."

Hacker was charged with assault, went to the Clackamas County Jail, and was denied bail.

Pro-Palestinian radical at city council meeting threatens to 'murder' city council members. As you might guess, it doesn't end well for the lass.


A pro-Palestinian activist during a Bakersfield, California, city council meeting threatened to "murder" city council members. As you might guess, the threat didn't end well for her.

Members of United Liberation Front, a group of pro-Palestinian radicals, had been attending the bi-weekly city council meetings. They demand the city adopt — or at least introduce — a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, and they often have become disruptive as the council thus far has refused to cooperate.

During the April 10 meeting, one ULF member — 28-year-old Riddhi Patel — impugned city leaders during two separate speeches. In her first speech, she said, "I hope one day somebody brings a guillotine and kills all of you motherf***ers," apparently spitting as she walked away from the podium. In her second speech, she said, "You guys want to criminalize us with metal detectors? We'll see you at your house. We'll murder you."

With that, Mayor Karen Goh announced that Patel made a "threat" and asked officers to "escort" her out.

You can view Patel in action during the city council meeting here. She speaks just after the 30-minute mark, and she speaks again just before the 47-minute mark; it was just after Patel's second set of remarks that she was arrested and charged with 16 felonies: eight counts of threatening with intent to terrorize and eight counts of threatening elected public officials. She ended up in custody on a bond of at least $1 million.

Days later in court, Patel was far from the firebrand she portrayed at the city council meeting; instead she was wearing a brown jail uniform and weeped uncontrollably. A judge ruled on Oct. 1 that her case would proceed.

Heavily armed leftists surround, threaten lone Portland motorist. But when fed-up driver points his own gun at them, all hell breaks loose.


Heavily armed leftists apparently acting as security for a march in Portland on May 5, 2021, pointed their guns at a lone motorist and threatened him before the fed-up driver exited his truck and pointed his own gun at them — and then all hell broke loose.

The large group of marching leftist militants reportedly gathered to remember Patrick Kimmons, a black man fatally shot by Portland police in 2018.

But a vehicle apparently leading the group came upon a pickup truck driver who was traveling toward the marchers, and the lead vehicle blocked the driver's path — and in seconds, numerous militants descended upon the pickup truck driver and began threatening him.

The thing is, though, the driver had a gun, too — and the heavily armed militants didn't like that one bit. "You better f***ing not!" one leftist was heard yelling at the driver. "Put your f***ing gun down!" The driver, standing behind his truck door, pointed at one particularly well-strapped leftist and twice yelled back, "You got about five seconds to lower that f***ing weapon!"

The lone driver — who faced about a half-dozen armed leftists in the standoff — jawed with the hostile group, calling them "c**ksuckers" and "f***in' idiots" and repeatedly ordering them to "shut up." One leftist told the driver that his "vehicle is a deadly weapon" — which didn't go over too well with the driver, who noted all the rifles pointed in his direction.

As the driver got back into this truck and began to move past the militants, one leftist called him a "f***ing Nazi" as others demanded he "get outta here!" Then just before he reached the intersection — apparently after one of the leftists hit or threw something at his truck — the driver stopped, got out, and confronted the group. The situation grew tense, with many people screaming, and the driver grabbed his gun and moved forward on one of the rifle-wielding leftists — who promptly shoved the driver backward.

With that, the driver regained his footing and drew his gun on the group, but he soon was tackled from behind, after which numerous militants piled on him. Then the driver was requesting an ambulance, asking for his gun back, and telling the leftists that he's a disabled Marine.

Cop drives motorcycle into left-wing protester blocking his path, pushing her up road and knocking her down — and her comrades lose their minds


A crowd of left-wing protesters tried having their way with a lone police officer on the night of Oct. 2, 2020, in Portland, Oregon — but he was having none of it.

The officer had pulled over two vehicles blocking traffic, police told the Oregonian. Video — which you can view here — shows protesters converging upon the scene. The lone, completely outnumbered officer then found himself facing down numerous protesters who inched their way toward him. "Back up!" he hollered repeatedly at them.

The driver of one of the vehicles he pulled over took off. But when the cop got on his motorcycle and prepared to pursue the driver, a couple of protesters stood in his way. One positioned herself directly in front of his motorcycle — her legs literally straddling the path of his front wheel. The officer was undeterred, however, and pushed the protester with his motorcycle up the road until she tumbled to the street, after which he sped away.

Right on cue, comrades of the knocked-down protester predictably flipped out and chased after the officer on foot while unleashing enraged howls.

More from the Oregonian:

Live videos from the scene showed officers approach the crowd to check if the person needed medical attention. An argument ensued, and at least one person was detained during the encounter.

Police said Saturday afternoon that the protester struck by the motorcycle was eventually taken to the hospital and later booked on charges of rioting, interfering with a peace officer and second-degree disorderly conduct. Police did not provide an update on the person's medical status. Police said they were booked into jail later than initially planned because someone had slashed the police vehicles' tires in the hospital parking lot.

Leftists who apparently see themselves as part of an army actually cry out, 'Medic! Medic!' as cops push them back following failed mission to topple Andrew Jackson statue


While National Park Police in Washington, D.C., lined up and pushed leftist protesters out of Lafayette Square Park on the evening of June 22, 2020 — following their failed attempt to pull down a statue of Andrew Jackson — one video caught a rather astonishing reaction from the vanquished demonstrators.

As if they see themselves as actual soldiers on the field of battle, a number of utterly defeated comrades were heard crying out, "Medic! Medic!" in the face of their bruised bodies and egos. Bless their hearts. Check out the video here.

Another clip showed the depressing aftermath as the limping army of history-erasers hacked up their lungs, tried to catch their collective breath, and licked their wounds. One person was heard loudly inquiring, "Anybody here need medical attention?"

Plug your ears! Leftist repeatedly screams in high-pitched fashion at San Francisco leaders during public meeting in protest of black trans fatal shooting


A left-wing activist screamed out her lungs for an extended period of time during public comment at a San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting on May 2, 2023, in the wake of a controversial fatal shooting.

The black trans individual who was shot — 24-year-old Banko Brown — allegedly tried to steal from a local Walgreens around 6:30 p.m. April 27, 2023, and was shot by a security guard, Fox News reported, adding that Brown died at a hospital.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins days before the supervisors' meeting said her office wouldn't prosecute the guard, Michael-Earl Wayne Anthony, the cable network reported in a separate story.

During the pubic comment portion of the supervisors' meeting, a female speaker sporting a buzz cut and a black leather jacket said, "I don't have any words prepared today. I just want you to feel our pain. I don't know if you can at this point, based off your policy choices, but I have to pretend you have some form of empathy left. So I am going to spend the next minute screaming, 'cause that is what is going on in here. That is what the trans genocide in this country, in this city, has brought me to."

With that, she let out a lengthy, ear-piercing scream. Then she delivered another — and another. For variety, she added one more.

"Imagine that!" she yelled, before continuing her screaming. All told, she treated the room to 15 seconds' worth of high-volume bellowing. But she was far from done. Next came the high-pitched screaming sentences.

"I hate this! I hate what you've done to us! I hate what you're doing to us! I hate you, Board of Supervisors! I hate you, [Mayor] London Breed! I hate you, Jenkins!" she hollered in high-pitched fashion before letting out one final howling scream.

After dropping a couple of F-bombs, she also called the board members "cowards" and walked away. You can view the screaming speech here; it begins just after the 1-hour, 8-minute mark.

As readers of Blaze News likely know, Bay Area stores like Walgreens have been gutted by brazen shoplifters over the last several years and suffered as a result — it's a phenomenon rather common in large America cities nowadays.

Leftist students freak out, get arrested by campus cops after yet another MAGA hat reportedly is stolen


Remember when red "Make America Great Again" hats more or less became kryptonite to leftists and constantly seemed to lead to jaw-dropping episodes of Trump derangement syndrome?

Well, on May 2, 2019, a Texas State University student shot video of what he told Campus Reform occurred after another student stole his MAGA hat amid a heated political discussion on campus. The clip shows one student dropping and kicking the student's MAGA hat as campus police confront the female culprit.

While she's handcuffed, cops drop another student face down on the quad pavement as other students holler in protest and gather around the growing number of police. A third student begins screaming and crying hysterically, trying to get past officers: "Don't f***ing touch her!"

An apparent officer is heard speaking to the student whose MAGA hat was allegedly stolen, asking if he wants to press charges, and the student responds that he does and then is directed to follow the person.

As the pair of handcuffed students are led away, someone is heard off camera stating, "If that's not white privilege I don't know what the f*** is."

As police lead the arrested individuals through a building, the student who earlier was screaming and crying hysterically upped things quite a bit, getting in the MAGA-hat student's face and bellowing, "Get out! Why are you here?! Why are you here?! Leave!" Someone is then heard telling the MAGA-hat student, "You're escalating the situation. Get the f*** out."

Then inside the campus police station, yet another leftist student wearing a bandana over her face tried to get past police to one of the arrested students and actually appeared to bump chests with a cop. She was immediately turned against a wall and handcuffed as she yelled, "Don't f***ing touch me! What crime are you suspecting me of committing?! Articulate it! Articulate it!"

You can view video of the whole sorry scene right here.

Blaze News previously noted numerous instances during which anti-Trump folks have flipped out at MAGA-hat wearers, taken off or knocked the cap off their heads, or actually stolen them as video recorded the whole thing.

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Easter Sunday looters take whatever they want from San Fran Walgreens with no resistance; cops arrive 4 hours later



A group of looters did not take the day off Easter Sunday and were caught on video taking whatever they pleased from a Walgreens store in San Francisco. As usual, no resistance was offered.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Adding a little twist to what's become a commonplace crime in the city is that a producer from local TV news station KPIX recorded the mass shoplifting on his cellphone while he was out with his girlfriend, KPIX-TV reported.

"It was just like an ambush, basically," the producer, who didn't want to be named, told the station in regard to the afternoon ransacking inside the store on 9th and Market Streets. "It took me about three seconds to pull my phone out, ... and they just had no care at all."

Video caught at least seven individuals wearing hoodies and masks grabbing items off shelves and carrying away bags of merchandise, KPIX said.

The producer added to the station that the looters were "taking what they pleased with no regard for the law or those around them — [a] real-life smash and grab."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

He signaled how such crimes are no longer a surprise, saying in a kind of shoulder-shrugging tone that "it's San Francisco" before adding to KPIX that he's "kind of immune to it at this point."

The producer also told the station that store employees "did nothing" in the face of the looting — but that they're likely trained to exercise that response: "They're also probably immune to it. They're used to smash-and-grabs."

Oh, and while the crime happened around 4:30 p.m., KPIX said police didn't arrive until after 8:30 p.m. Police said the store was closed when they got there, and no one was present to report the incident, the station added.

KPIX said it wasn't clear why police responded some four hours later, and the station said it requested clarification from police and Walgreens about the response to the incident.

'You can grab and go as you please'

Sal, a vendor who regularly delivers to the Walgreens and other places, told KPIX he sees looting like this all the time: "They think it's a free-[for]-all. You can grab and go as you please."

Dina Miller has been living in the neighborhood for over a decade and shops at the Walgreens location almost daily on her way home, the station said — and she's just sad: "We don't really have any places to go shop anymore. Everything is closing down. … Walgreens are closing down all over the place, too."

Local security guard Eric Beverly who works nearby acknowledged to KPIX that rampant theft in the area had led to store closures: "It is a very difficult situation. A lot of bankruptcies, a lot of stores are foreclosing and taking precautions as far as marketing because of the theft here. It's very serious."

Matt Dorsey, a city supervisor, lives a few blocks from the Walgreens and shops there, the station said. After viewing cellphone video of the looting, he told KPIX police shortages are part of the problem, too.

"If we had a fully staffed police department, we could have a robbery unit that was doing more enforcement around places where retail theft plays out, holding more people accountable, and doing more to go after the fencing operations ... that make this lucrative," Dorsey noted to the station.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

More from KPIX:

Walgreens has closed at least 17 stores in San Francisco since 2019 and is among other large retailers to have closed up stores in the city or announced plans to close since the start of the pandemic. The last one to close was in February 2023 in the city's Financial District. Walgreens said the closure was "due to a significant decrease in foot traffic in the Financial District since the onset of the pandemic."

In April 2023, a person shoplifting from a Walgreens on Market and 4th Streets in San Francisco was confronted by an armed security guard and shot dead triggering weeks of protests. In July 2023, a Walgreens store in the city's Richmond District began padlocking its freezer section to thwart shoplifters.

Brazen shoplifters ransack San Francisco Walgreens store youtu.be

Anything else?

San Francisco indeed has seen an increase in crime for a number of years — and it just seems to get more and more brazen.

Even the city's far-left mayor, London Breed — who jumped on the "defund the police" bandwagon in 2020 after the death of George Floyd — made headlines for a speech she gave a year later in which she called out "bulls**t" crime "that has destroyed our city."

In February, outspoken NBA legend Charles Barkley shined a spotlight on San Francisco's "homeless crooks" during a live broadcast of the league's All-Star Game. As you might guess, his woke co-hosts pushed back with a vengeance.

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Selling Abortion Pills Bloodies The Hands Of Walgreens And CVS

After more than two decades on the medical market, the go-to abortion pill has caused countless infant and several mother fatalities.

Is Walgreens Racist Or Is Ayanna Pressley Just Ignorant?

Roxbury is the second most unsafe neighborhood in the Boston area, but Pressley says Walgreens is closing its doors because of racism.

Ayanna Pressley blames racism for pharmacy closure in crime-ridden neighborhood



Businesses continue to flee various Democrat-controlled cities in the face of unrelenting crime and ruinous leftist policies.

Israel critic and gun-control activist Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) recently figured out who to blame for this unfortunate trend: not the criminal elements directly responsible or the leftist in the mirror who championed "unrest in the streets," but rather the very businesses forced to pull up stakes on account of persistent risks to their workers and the guarantee of financial ruin.

According to Pressley — a member of "the Squad" who in recent years supported defunding the police while blowing taxpayer money on her own private defense — at least one business is fleeing on account of racism contra desires to survive and thrive.

Walgreens recently announced that it is permanently shutting down its location on Warren Street in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, one of the most dangerous areas in the city. The Roxbury closure is the fourth Walgreens branch to shutter in Boston since November 2022, reported WBUR-FM.

"With Walgreens' goal to be the independent partner of choice, not just in pharmacy but also in health care services where we can improve health care, lower costs, and help patients, we need the right network of stores," a spokesman for the company said in a statement obtained by WHDH-TV.

Walgreens is reportedly planning to shut down 200 stores nationwide.

"When faced with the difficult decision to close a location, several factors are taken into account, including our existing footprint of stores, dynamics of the local market, and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers, among other reasons," added the spokesman.

Areavibes indicated on the basis of FBI data released in September 2023 that Roxbury's rate of violent crime is 214% higher than the national average. Its property crime rate is 48% higher than the national average. The region has a overall crime rating of F (the lowest possible rating).

The local Walgreens appears to have been a popular target for robberies and shoplifting.

The Boston Globe indicated that by late 2022, Walgreens and similar stores had resorted to locking up everything from toothpaste to bigger-ticket items on account of massive spikes in theft. This appears to be a problem affecting businesses in Democratic cities across the country.

The National Retail Federation's latest security survey indicated that "retail crime, violence and theft continue to impact the retail industry at unprecedented levels," adding that shrink represented $112.1 billion in losses in fiscal year 2022.

Pressley took to the House floor Tuesday to condemn the DEI-captive company's decision.

"Walgreens is planning to close yet another pharmacy in the Massachusetts 7th. This time on Warren Street in Roxbury — a community that is 85% black and Latino," said Pressley. "This closure is part of a larger trend of abandoning low-income communities like the previous closures in Mattapan and Hyde Park."

"These closures are not arbitrary and they are not innocent," continued the radical leftist. "They are life-threatening acts of racial and economic discrimination. ... Shame on you, Walgreens."

— (@)

Democratic Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren joined Pressley earlier this month in injecting race into the matter, claiming that Walgreens was partaking in a trend of pharmacies "moving away from black and Latino neighborhoods to mostly white, higher income areas."

"These closures reflect a larger legacy of historic racial and economic discrimination, which has created pharmacy and food deserts and a lack of access to reliable transportation," added the race-obsessive Democrats.

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Dems Pressure Walgreens To Sell Abortion Pills

A group of Democratic senators pressured Walgreens to provide as much access as possible to abortion pills, including in states where abortion procedures are illegal, according to a letter sent to the company obtained by NBC News. In response to Walgreens’ decision to not sell abortion drugs in certain Republican-led states, 17 Democratic senators pushed […]

Gavin Newsom says California will not do business with Walgreens after company refuses to sell abortion pills



Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom forcefully criticized Walgreens over its new plan to stop shipping and selling abortion pills in some states after 20 state attorneys general sent a letter warning about the policy.

Walgreens made the announcement on Friday that its stores in 20 states would not sell abortion pills.

“We intend to be a certified pharmacy and will distribute Mifepristone only in those jurisdictions where it is legal and operationally feasible,” read a statement from the company.

Pro-abortion advocates said they would boycott the company over the decision, while pro-life advocates praised the decision.

Newsom issued a fiery tweet on Monday excoriating the company for caving to the demands from 20 state attorneys.

"California won't be doing business with @walgreens -- or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women's lives at risk. We're done," he tweeted.

A spokesperson for Rite Aid told CNN that it was "monitoring" the developments related to abortion pill providers.

“Rite Aid is monitoring the latest federal, state, legal and regulatory developments regarding mifepristone dispensing and we will continue to evaluate the Company’s ability to dispense mifepristone in accordance with those developments,” said Catherine Carter.

Loyola Law School professor Jessica Levinson told KRON-TV that Walgreens was avoiding taking a political stand in favor of limiting its legal exposure.

"I think it's taking a very kind of litigation-averse stance here," she explained, "and saying, 'We're not gonna take a political stand, we're not gonna take a stand in favor of women being able to have access to these pills. Instead what we're gonna try to do is make sure that we're not sued and that we don't face any legal challenge.'"

The issue may eventually have to be decided by the Supreme Court, but pro-abortion activists fear the opinion of the court that struck down the Roe vs. Wade decision that originally created the federal right to abortion.

"What Walgreens is basically telling us is that they don't want to get involved and I think they want to see how this plays out legally speaking," she added.

Here's more about Newsom's command:

Newsom cuts ties with Walgreens over abortion pills www.youtube.com

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