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G-PAC Responds to President Trump Sending Federal Agents to Chicago

For Press Inquiries Contact:

Kathleen Sances

847-920-GPAC (4722)

[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Gun Violence Prevention PAC Comments on President Trump Sending Federal Agents to Chicago 

As President Trump announces plans to deploy federal agents to Chicago, Gun Violence Prevention PAC (G-PAC) President and CEO as well as leading Gun Violence Prevention activists are pushing back. President Trump’s latest move has little to do with actually reducing gun violence and instead plays politics with a very serious epidemic of gun violence in Illinois without proposing effective solutions. 

Statement from Pam Bosley survivor, Founder of Purpose Over Pain and Gun Violence Prevention PAC Board Member: As a mother whose son, Terrell Bosley’s life was ended by senseless gun violence at the age of 18 on the grounds of a church in Chicago. I find what President Trump is doing to be offensive and ineffective. If the President really wanted to stop gun violence, he would take meaningful action to stop the everyday gun violence in my community and communities across Chicago. Gun Violence is the leading cause of death for children in Illinois, and we know that illegal guns constantly flow in from Indiana and states with weaker gun laws. I ask that President Trump save lives by expanding background checks to all gun sales in America and actually invest in the communities that are continuously devastated by gun violence through providing Federal money for community prevention and healing programs.

Statement from Kathleen Sances President and CEO of Gun Violence Prevention PAC: Illinois is in the middle of two pandemics; COVID-19 and gun violence. President Trump has yet to use science to combat either, and over the past four years has done everything to make gun violence worse. Instead of sending in 150 agents to intimidate communities that are already over policed, President Trump must focus on proven, evidence based solutions like expanding background checks and repealing PLCAA (Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act) to stop the corporate gun lobby from continuing to make money from the violence that occurs every day across this state.

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About G-PAC: The Gun Violence Prevention Political Action Committee (G-PAC) was founded to counter the political influence of the gun industry and their lobby in Springfield. G-PAC raises the resources necessary to protect and elect public officials with the courage to stand up to the gun lobby.

 

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Rick Ryan

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As the Lake County State’s Attorney, I am honored and humbled every day to lead the fight against crime, and to strive to ensure equal and just treatment under the law. I have been an attorney for twenty-two years – and each of those years has made me a stronger and smarter advocate for people, for ideas, and for the principles that unite us all.

I am so proud to lead an office of 140 dedicated colleagues who serve the public by prosecuting crime, advocating for victims, and planning crime prevention programs. I am also proud to work with hundreds of Lake County police officers on a daily basis to connect with every community and to develop comprehensive, holistic plans to respond to the mental health and economic crisis that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On one particular day, July 4, 2022, I was saddened, inspired, and motivated by the bravery of so many people. We will always stand with the victims and honor the police and other first responders who ran toward the danger. Just as so many heroes that day thought only of themselves, I also witnessed the prosecutors in my office answer the call to serve survivors and their community – even on one of its darkest days.

Every moment that I have been your legal representative, I have worked tirelessly to oversee prosecutions and to implement policies that make my family and my neighbors safer in the short term and in the long term. That is the job of the State’s Attorney: to prosecute, to innovate, and to strategically plan.

I was raised in a small town. My parents are teachers, and from them, I learned that everyone must be treated equally and that America’s sacred mission is to provide a political, economic, and legal system that allows anyone to prosper regardless of the circumstances of their birth. After graduating from Knox College and the University of Chicago Law School, I spent two years at a first-rate civil law firm in Chicago where I learned that hard work and attention to detail on every case mean the difference between success and failure.

With my wonderful wife Stephanie, I am raising my two sons, Sam and Teddy, in Lake County. Nothing is more important to me than my family’s safety and I bring that passion and determination to protect all families with me to work every day.

I joined the Lake County Public Defender’s Office in 2003 and started my own law firm in 2009. From 2003 until 2020, I watched the Lake County legal system fail to prioritize violent crime, prevent wrongful prosecutions, or address racial disparities.

So, in 2019, I decided to run for State’s Attorney so that I could serve our community by improving a local legal system that cared more about covering up its mistakes and biases than uncovering new and innovative ways to help people.

I won the 2020 election, and became the first Democrat to hold this position in 40 years. Bringing in a new party wasn’t as important as ending 40 years of one mindset that had forgotten the people and that had failed to act urgently to develop new strategic plans to prevent crime while also ensuring that each prosecution is smart, moral, and just.

We have followed through on our promises. We have built the first-ever violent crimes unit, increased prosecutors in our domestic violence division, and vastly upgraded our cyber lab. Now, we have top-notch software and personnel to finally keep up with those who would exploit others.

We have been awarded a large federal grant to bring the first ever Human Trafficking Task Force to Lake County. We have deepened our investment in people by bringing in more victim specialists and raising the salaries of many of our prosecutors.

But the work goes on. We must expand our prevention efforts that are starting with the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative launched in 2022. And we know that the opioid crisis touches thousands of lives throughout this country.

I am proud to serve on the Executive Board of the Lake County Opioid Initiative which has been working tirelessly since its founding in 2012 to reverse a devastating trend of increased overdoses. In 2022, our office was part of a national settlement against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

As an attorney of 22 years, I have committed my life to helping people, and I have conducted over 70 jury trials in Lake County, and handled appeals that have culminated in over 20 oral arguments before the appellate court and Supreme Court of Illinois.

I see my time in this office as the next phase of helping a community that I love and where I have chosen to raise my family. In my first term, we have made Lake County safer and fairer through just prosecutions, constitutional policing, and innovative crime prevention policies.