Category: Chicago

‘A Routine Traffic Stop’

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Keyonis Cisqo Langston

Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is more than 300 miles from Chicago, and it’s almost a five-hour drive — if you’re doing the speed limit, that is. On the other hand, if you’re doing 110 mph in a late-model Dodge Charger, the trip won’t take nearly as long. Except, of course, if you get pulled over by the cops, which is what happened last year to Keyonis Langston:

A state trooper saw a vehicle traveling east on I-94 July 10 at mile marker 58 in Eau Claire County hitting a speed of 104 mph.
The trooper activated his emergency lights but the vehicle failed to stop. The driver of the vehicle then turned off the headlights in an attempt to elude officers.
The vehicle then increased its speed to near 135 mph, passing vehicles and semi trucks on both the right and left shoulders. The vehicle swerved between both lanes of traffic, almost crashing with other vehicles on multiple occasions.
The pursuit was then terminated.
A pursuit with this same vehicle was again initiated in Monroe County, where it was involved in a crash.
The vehicle eventually left I-94, turned down a dead end road and the driver left the vehicle.
After a brief foot chase, officers took the driver into custody and identified him as Langston.
If convicted, Langston could be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison.

The pursuit and subsequent capture of Langston was recorded on police dashcam and bodycam video, which was recently released:

Langston had neither a valid driver’s license nor insurance, but these were trivial matters in comparison to fleeing/eluding an officer, which is a Class I felony in Wisconsin. After his arrest, Langston became hysterical, shouting, “I’m not a criminal,” babbling about a girlfriend in Minneapolis that just broke up with him, while asserting that he actually did have a license and insurance, but “when it pops up, it says invalid,” and could he please call his mom? After seeing this, I became curious, because I suspected that this wasn’t Langston’s first time at the rodeo, if you get my drift. Like, a previously law-abiding citizen doesn’t just suddenly decide to lead police on a 100-mph chase.

You see that mug shot? Not from his Wisconsin arrest. It’s from Chicago, where in February 2022 — just five months before his arrest in Wisconsin — Keyonis was busted after he ran a stop sign and, in addition to that infraction, was also charged with (a) driving on a suspended license, (b) driving an uninsured vehicle, and (c) multiple counts of resisting arrest/obstructing an officer. Nor was that his first encounter with law enforcement. In 2018, when he was 21, Keyonis Langston was arrested in Joliet for “speeding 26 to 34 mph above the speed limit.”

All of these arrests were mere traffic violations, you may say, and we have no reason to believe that Keyonis was really a criminal. Maybe he was just an urban version of the Dukes of Hazzard:

Just good old boys,
Never meanin’ no harm.
Beats all you never saw,
Been in trouble with the law since the day they was born.

If it hadn’t been for that high-speed pursuit through Wisconsin, and the video being posted to one of my favorite “real police action” YouTube channels, I never would have heard of Keyonis, who was facing up to 18 months in prison for fleeing and eluding. But there won’t be a trial and he’ll never go to prison, because Keyonis was from Chicago, where he became a statistic this past Thanksgiving weekend:

Eight people have been killed and 25 others wounded in shootings so far over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. . . .
Thursday night, two men were killed in separate shootings just over an hour apart and about five miles from each other on the South Side.
Keyonis Langston, 25, was in the 8000 block of South Vernon Avenue when someone shot him in the head just before 8 p.m., authorities said. About 9:20 p.m., Randle Roby, 28, was found fatally shot on a sidewalk in the 100 block of West 112th Street. He suffered a gunshot wound to the face and abdomen and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Beats all you ever saw . . .

Y’all drive safely. It’s dangerous out there on the road.



 

 

GOOD NEWS from Chicago!

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Given the unrelenting grimness of the city’s crime wave — 735 people were murdered in Chicago last year, and another 2,937 were wounded by gunfire — it’s not often we hear anything positive, hopeful and uplifting from Cook County, but here’s a reason to smile:

A carjacker was killed in the Loop on Thursday evening when the victim fought back, accelerated her car, and slammed into a beam that supports the L tracks, Chicago police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the deceased man as 18-year-old Elijah Treadwell of Uptown.
Treadwell and a 16-year-old female accomplice entered an Infiniti FX35 in the 100 block of East Lake and tried to carjack a woman around 5:42 p.m., officials said. A struggle ensued, and the victim’s car accelerated into the L support column near Wabash Avenue, trapping the victim and both offenders inside, police said.
Chicago Fire Department workers extracted everyone and took them to hospitals. Treadwell was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The female and the victim have both been stabilized, according to the fire department.



 

Crime Is Not Just a Statistic

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A friend sent me the video of a robbery in Chicago this week in which the victim was his mother-in-law. The robbers stole her $50,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and police tell CWB Chicago that this gang of robbers is believed to be responsible for many other such recent crimes.

Finding data about crime in the United States has gotten more difficult since Joe Biden became president and Merrick Garland became attorney general. It used to be, I could link to the exact page of FBI stats that showed the data I wanted to highlight, but now they’ve installed some kind of cheesy app called the “Crime Data Explorer,” and you’ll have to navigate that yourself to find the numbers I’m citing here. In 2021, there were 22,900 murders in the U.S., according to the FBI. Of those crimes, the race of the victim was reported in 14,677 cases and the race of the perpetrator was reported in 14,963 cases. So in about 35% of homicides, the FBI provides no data on the race of either the victim or the perpetrator. With that stipulation in mind, of the homicides in 2021 for which the race of victims and perpetrators were known, 8,534 of the victims (58%) and 7,868 of the perps (53%) were black. Comparing those numbers, you may be tempted to tbink nearly 700 black people were murdered by non-black perps, which may be true, but probably not. The more likely explanation is that this discrepancy reflects unsolved homicides in which no information about the perpetrator is available. The far more important insight from this data is that black people (13.6% of the U.S. population) are vastly overrepresented in homicide statistics.

But what about robbery? According to the FBI, of the 159,985 robberies for which the race of the perpetrator was known, 93,252 were black (58%), while among the victims, 43,164 were black (32%) and 79,566 were white (59%). Again, we must stipulate that these numbers are incomplete, as not all police agencies report their crime data to the FBI, and many of those that do report such data don’t list the race of victims or perpetrators. Still, the key statistic is the vast overrepresentation of blacks among the perpetrators of robberies, and the fact that (in comparison to homicide), whites are more likely to be the victims of robberies. Also, robbery is a much more common crime than homicide.

What about Chicago, where this robbery took place? According to the Chicago Police Department, there were 7,935 robberies in the city last year — that’s an average of 22 robberies daily, or about 150 robberies per week. Also, in 2021 Chicago had 10,651 motor vehicle thefts — an average of 29 stolen cars daily, more than 200 auto thefts a week. And then there’s the murders. According to the excellent Chicago crime aggregator site HeyJackass, so far this year, 711 people have been murdered in Chicago, of whom 646 were shot to death (meaning that about 9% of Chicago homicide victims died from stabbing, strangulation, etc.). In addition to those shot to death, Chicago has also had 2,856 people wounded by gunfire who survived being shot. Which means that, on an average day this year, 10 people were shot in Chicago, of whom 1.8% died and 8.1% survived. Thank you, Mayor Frogface!

When your city is averaging 70 shootings a week, in addition to all those robberies and car thefts and whatever other crimes are happening, it can truly be said that nobody in Chicago is safe from this uncontrolled mayhem, not even my friend’s mother-in-law, visiting from Wisconsin:

A 70-year-old woman was walking her dog in one of Chicago’s most affluent neighborhoods Wednesday when she was confronted by a masked stranger who pointed a pistol in her face and shouted, “Give me your f***ing purse or I’ll kill you and your f***ing dog, too.” She instantly complied, whereupon the robber grabbed her purse, reached in and took her car keys, flung the purse aside, and got into a blue Honda with three other accomplices. They rolled up the block to where the woman’s Jeep Grand Cherokee was parked, then two of the thieves exited the Honda and climbed into the woman’s Jeep, and both vehicles sped away.
It was all over in a matter of seconds, and this brazen daylight robbery in the Lincoln Park neighborhood took place at the exact same time that the chief of Chicago’s police department was downtown giving a media briefing about the arrest of four other criminals who were apprehended and charged in a recent spree of dozens of robberies. A few hours later, the son-in-law of the Lincoln Park victim called to tell me the story of the robbery, which was captured on surveillance video that was soon broadcast on local news programs on several Chicago stations. . . .

Read the rest of my latest American Spectator column.



 

Suspect Charged for Hit-and-Run That Killed Three Outside Chicago Gay Bar

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Tavis Dunbar, 34

We previously reported on this Aug. 14 incident in which three men — Donald Huey, 25, Devonta Vivetter, 27, and Jaylen Ausley, 23 — were fighting in the street outside the Jeffery Bar (“one of the oldest and longest continuously running Black gay bars in the nation”) at 5 a.m. when they were killed by a driver who disappeared after ditching his car three blocks away from the fatal scene. He is now behind bars:

Hours after Tavis Dunbar plowed a borrowed car into four men outside a Chicago gay bar, he asked a friend to help him with an alibi, prosecutors say.
But she refused to help, telling him he had killed two people.
“Actually,” Dunbar allegedly replied, “it’s three.”
Dunbar turned himself in to the police on Monday. He is now charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder for the horrifying crime, which unfolded outside Jeffery Pub, 7041 South Jeffery, early on August 14.
Prosecutor Danny Hanichak said Dunbar and the four victims were inside Jeffery Pub around 5 a.m., which was closing time. Moving outside, the four victims got into an argument, which spilled into the street, and a witness heard a man with braids say, “I got something for you, you motherf*ckers.”
That man then walked north on Jeffery toward the car Dunbar had borrowed, Hanichak said.
Video shows the headlights of his car turn on about a half-block north of the bar and then pull into the street. The car accelerated quickly, reaching 59 mph a half-second before the crash, Hanichak continued.
Three victims died at the scene: Devonta K. Vivetter, 27, Donald Huey, 25, and Jaylen Ausley, 23. The fourth man suffered leg injuries but survived.
Dunbar parked the car about three blocks away and started calling out for a friend who lived nearby.
With glass in his braids and blood on his hands, Dunbar went into the friend’s home and talked about an incident outside Jeffery Pub but did not tell the whole story, according to Hanichak. Dunbar asked the friend to drive him to a female friend’s home, and the man agreed.
There, Dunbar told the woman that he had been kicked out of the bar and totaled his cousin’s car after people started “coming at him,” but there is no evidence that anyone threatened Dunbar, Hanichak said.
The woman saw a video of the crash online later that day and immediately realized that Dunbar was responsible for the murders, according to Hanichak.
When Dunbar asked her to be an alibi witness, she refused because he had killed two people. Dunbar corrected her, Hanichak said. It was three people.
Analysis of the car Dunbar allegedly drove showed that its accelerator was depressed at 99%, and the brakes were never touched before impact.
When Dunbar turned himself in on Monday, he had cut his hair and “significantly” changed his appearance, Hanichak alleged.
Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Dunbar held without bail.

Did I mention Dunbar has twice served time for violent crimes?

According to Hanichak, Dunbar received a five-year prison sentence for beating a victim in the head with a baseball bat during a dispute over money in 2007. Five years later, Dunbar hit his 11-year-old brother in the head and body with a curtain rod and grabbed the boy by his neck, Hanichak said. Dunbar received two years for that crime.

Even in Chicago, I don’t think he’ll get off so lightly now.




 

Three Killed in ‘Intentional’ Attack Outside Black Gay Bar in Chicago

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Chicago police officials said Monday that a high speed hit-and-run that killed three men outside a well-known South Shore gay bar appears to be an intentional attack.
Now some groups are calling for the triple fatal to be investigated as a hate crime.
The horrific crash, captured on video, shows a driver of a sedan racing down 7700 South Jeffery, slamming into several men in front of The Jeffrey Pub, a long-time and very popular gay bar. . . .
[T]he men were in the middle of the street fighting at 5 a.m. . . .
The three victims were identified as 25-year old Donald Huey, 27-year-old Devonta Vivetter and 23-year-old Jaylen Ausley, who was a recent University of Michigan graduate. . . .
A person inside the bar is suspected of leaving and mowing down the men on the street. That suspect is not in custody, but authorities have the vehicle they believe was used in the hit-and-run.
“It is not being investigated as a hate crime at this time. We don’t have any evidence to support that somebody was trying to harm these individuals because of their race, religion, etc. at this time, because we don’t have a suspect in custody and we don’t have any information that somebody stated that. So active ongoing investigation, and that can change once we get more witnesses and a suspect in. Everything can change based upon those statements,” said Brendan Deenihan, Chicago Police Chief of Detectives.
The I-Team spoke with Victoria Kirby York, the deputy executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition in Washington, which is calling for the incident to be investigated as an LGBTQ+ hate crime outside one of the oldest and longest continuously running Black gay bars in the nation.

Based on the limited information we now have, it seems highly likely that the person who ran over these black gay men was also a black gay man, perhaps angry over whatever incident caused the fight outside the bar, so by what definition is this a “hate crime”? Here’s the video:

Jussie Smollett could not be reached for comment.




 

Chicago Massacre Suspect Had Felony Record, Told Cops He ‘Had to Do It’

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Say hello to Jaylun Sanders, 21, and his alleged accomplice, Kameron Abram, 20. Sanders is charged in the murder of two people in last week’s shooting near a McDonald’s on Chicago’s northside that also left seven other people injured. WFLD-TV reports:

Cook County prosecutors released new information Sunday about charges against Jaylun Sanders, accused of a mass shooting on Chicago’s Near North Side that left two dead and seven wounded, including the claim that Sanders admitted the crime and said he “had to do it.”
Prosecutors said that about a half hour before the shooting on State near Chicago on Thursday, a fight occurred between a group of people including Sanders and another group. This fight was caught on surveillance video and witnessed by a Chicago police sergeant who arrived on scene and heard a gunshot.
The police sergeant said the groups took off, though a witness told the officer that someone had hidden a gun under a mailbox on Peterson Avenue, about a block away. That gun was recovered.
Prosecutors said that surveillance video from about 10:17 p.m. shows someone in a pink hat giving a gun to Sanders, who allegedly puts it in his waistband.
Later surveillance video allegedly shows Sanders and his group walking towards the CTA Red Line, while the group of victims are walking behind. When Sanders got to the CTA stairs, he allegedly turned around and fired 21 shots. Anthony Allen, 31, and Antonio Wade, 30, were killed.
Prosecutors said that Sanders and his friends took off down the escalator into the Red Line station, where Sanders allegedly handed the gun to codefendant Kameron Abram. Abram also gave Sanders his sweatshirt, prosecutors said.
They jumped onto the train tracks to get to the other side, and that’s when Sanders girlfriend was injured as she fell on to the electrified third rail.
Police chased them and captured Sanders and Abram. The gun was found in the CTA tunnel.
Prosecutors said that Sanders gave a statement (recorded on video) in which he first denied being the shooter, but later admitted that he got the Glock from a cousin via Indiana, and that the auto switch can be bought for about $20 on the street.
Sanders allegedly told police that the other group shot first, but then said that he thought they were going to shoot and that he “had to do it.”

More information from CWB Chicago:

A 21-year-old South Shore man who allegedly shot 9 people outside the Chicago Red Line station on Thursday night had a felony gun case pending at the time of the mass shooting, according to court records.
Jaylun Sanders, 21, is the 20th person charged with killing or shooting — or trying to shoot or kill — someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony. The alleged crimes involve at least 49 victims, 11 of whom died. . . .
[C]ourt records show Sanders has a pending felony unlawful use of a weapon case that began when police arrested him during a traffic stop on the 1000 block of West 95th Street on November 15, 2020.
Police said they found a loaded 9-millimeter in Sanders’ hoodie pocket during the stop. He told officers he found the gun three days earlier and it was the first day he had carried it in public, prosecutors said at the time.
Judge John Lyke allowed Sanders to go home upon posting of a $200 deposit toward his $2,000 bail, records show.
Sanders stopped showing up for his court dates last October and Judge Adrienne Davis issued a warrant for his arrest on November 29. That warrant was still active at the time of the mass shooting, according to court records.
Prosecutors said during Sanders’ November 2020 bail hearing that he had no “publishable” history. CPD and court records show he was charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault of a teacher or school employee on May 22, 2019. Four days earlier, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of 30 to 100 grams of cannabis.
Officials dropped both cases the next month.

What’s the point of even arresting criminals, if everything is just a misdemeanor, or charges are dropped, and where a suspect with an arrest warrant has no problem staying out on the streets for six months?




 

Hundreds Dead in Chicago; Guess Why Mayor Frogface Issued a ‘Call to Arms’?

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The year-to-date homicide total in Chicago has already topped 200, but the city’s Amphibian-American mayor isn’t worried about that. In an average week, 11 people are murdered in Chicago. You might think reducing this deadly violence would be a top priority for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a task that would absorb all of her attention. Nevertheless, she manages to find time to spend on Twitter, warning her “community” about the real danger — the United States Supreme Court.

In the aftermath of the city’s deadliest year since 1996, how does a “call to arms” against the Supreme Court fit on Lightfoot’s agenda? Chicago just celebrated Mother’s Day weekend with 24 shootings, including six fatalities. The previous weekend was the most deadly of the year, with 32 shootings including seven fatalities. That’s just shootings, to say nothing of other crime in Chicago, such as the carjacking rampage in which more than 500 people have been carjacked so far this year. The violence in Chicago is so out of control that the police department just issued a memo canceling “all days off . ;. . for one full week between May 24 and 31” because of fears of mayhem in the city around Memorial Day.

Who is perpetrating all this violence in Chicago? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have alibis.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!




 

Humans Dying in Mayor Frogface’s Town

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As Chicago’s first Amphibian-American mayor, Lori Lightfoot has difficulty relating to the problems of mammals. While it may be unfair to accuse Mayor Frogface of anti-human prejudice, she just doesn’t seem to have a lot of sympathy for us warm-blooded creatures:

At least 35 people were shot, five of them fatally, Friday into Sunday morning in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago.
ABC 7 / Chicago Sun-Times reports the weekend’s first fatal shooting occurred around 1 p.m. Saturday “in the 4700-block of South Cottage Grove Avenue.” The gunfire followed an argument.
Two men were killed in a drive-by shooting “in the 1900-block of West Garfield Boulevard” just after 7:30 p.m. One of the men was 42-years-old and the second was 48.
The weekend’s fourth fatal shooting occurred Saturday night around 11:30 p.m. Officers arrived on scene in the 6200-block of South Francisco Avenue to find 26-year-old Alexis Daniel Velazquez Guadarrama had been shot in the chest. He died at the scene.
The fifth fatal shooting of the weekend occurred at 4:45 a.m. Sunday, when a 57-year-old man was shot multiple times following an argument. The shooting occurred “in the 400-block of South Pulaski Road” and the gunmen fled the scene and remains on the loose.
Breitbart News noted 14 were shot, one fatally, in Chicago during the same time-frame — Friday into Sunday morning — last weekend.

Science has not yet solved the mystery of how frog DNA got mixed up in Lightfoot’s chromosome sequence. Meanwhile, human life has no value in Chicago. The homicide rate is slightly down so far this year, compared to 2021, which was the worst year for homicides in Chicago since 1996.