Last month, Officer John Bartholomew, a Chicago Police officer, was murdered in a shooting incident at Swedish Hospital on Chicago's North Side. The alleged gunman, Alphanso Talley, a 26-year-old career criminal, also allegedly gravely wounded Bartholomew’s police partner. The brute had pistol whipped a female store clerk to begin his crime spree earlier in the day.

In the 2022 Illinois gubernatorial race, the main issue, as it is this year, was the no-cash bail SAFE-T Act, which took effect a year later.

The 2026 contest for governor is a rematch from that year. Incumbent Democrat J.B. Pritzker is facing Republican challenger Darren Bailey.

During the 2022 campaign, Bailey made the exaggerated but memorable claim Chicago was “living The Purge when criminals ravage at will and the cops are told to stand down.”

Bailey was alluding to The Purge movie franchise, where one day a year, people can commit crimes without facing punishment.

The Loch Ness Monster

Not true, Pritzker answered back. The SAFE-T Act was written to protect a mother. A mythical mother, the Loch Ness Monster of petty criminals.

The governor, many times during the campaign, repeated this lie.

“Making sure that we’re also addressing the problem of a single mother who shoplifted diapers for her baby, who is put in jail and kept there for six months because she doesn’t have a couple of hundred dollars to pay for bail.”‍

Yes, I said Loch Ness Monster, because such a woman — sorry “Nessie” believers — never existed, except in Pritzker's imagination.

Eventually, Pritzker added baby formula to the mother’s “the heist.”

Read the remainder of this article at the CHICAGO CONTRARIAN