A Texas Democratic delegate, who is in Chicago for his party’s convention, was robbed at gunpoint early Wednesday morning, CWBChicago reported.
At about 2:00 a.m., a gunman emerged from a Range Rover near the Allegro Royal Sonesta Hotel in downtown Chicago and robbed a 25-year-old man. After stealing the man’s belongings, the robber crossed the street and robbed the unidentified Texas delegate and his friend, the local outlet reported.
The delegate was returning from the Democratic National Convention, where party elites spent much time bashing former president Donald Trump and little addressing the rampant crime in their cities.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose soft-on-crime policies have been criticized for allowing suspects accused of violent felonies to be out on the streets, boasted his generational wealth in a Tuesday evening address at the convention, stating he was an "actual billionaire" in a jab at Trump while other party elites cheered from suites priced at $5 million.
Like many Democrat-run cities, Chicago has seen an uptick in crime while experiencing record-low arrests. Robberies in the Windy City hit a high in 2023, reporting one victim for every 250 residents, a jump of 29 percent in a year—more than any year in the past decade. While robbery surged, larceny arrests hit a record low, falling to a 23-year low of just over 5 percent.
Pritzker’s SAFE-T Act has allowed suspects accused of violent felonies, some with extensive criminal records, to be released as they await trial, a Washington Free Beacon review found.
Soft-on-crime Democratic policies, such as the elimination of cash bail and the decriminalization of various offenses, earned Chicago the title of America’s murder capital for the 12th year in a row in 2023. The city racked up an average homicide rate of 718 per year from 2021 to 2023 and has averaged 11 homicides a week over the last 12 months. This past Fourth of July alone, more than 100 people were shot—19 fatally—over the holiday weekend in Democrat-led Chicago.
The man who robbed the Texas delegate and his friend is the main suspect in a total of six robberies in the Democrat-led city, according to local law enforcement. On day two of the convection, 12 people were shot—one fatally—in the city.