Chicago prosecutor, James Murphy, has been placed on leave Saturday after he noted in court hearing this month that Adam Toledo, 13, had a gun in his possession. The statement was made at the bond hearing for Ruben Roman, 21, who was with Toledo on the night that he died. The action was taken despite the position of the Chicago police that Toledo was armed until a fraction of a second before the shooting — a view also echoed by local media after reviewing the videotape. However, various politicians like Andrew Yang have insisted that this was the shooting of “an unarmed child” by police. The error may prove be the use of the word “has” in a court statement. The question is whether this type of action was warranted for a prosecutor who was trying to keep a dangerous individual in jail.
The shooting occurred in a stronghold of the Latin Kings, a notoriously violent gang in Chicago. Many of us who grew up in Chicago are familiar with the Latin Kings, which is a huge criminal organization that often uses children to hold guns since they are subject to lower possible criminal penalties. Roman is facing felony charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon as well as child endangerment and violating probation,
This incident occurred around 3 a.m., when two Chicago police officers confronted the 13-year-old and Roman while investigating gunshots in Little Village. According to prosecutors, Roman had fired a gun at a passing car. Roman has been rumored to be a member of the Latin Kings. The Chicago Police Union president also alleged that Toledo was a known member of the Latin Kings.
It appears that Murphy was opposing the bond for Roman who was accused of shooting at a passing car and alleged to be a member of a violent gang. He noted that Toledo had a gun. As local media has noted, that is supported by the videotape which shows what appears to be a gun in his hand less than two seconds before the shots are fired. A gun was found near Toledo and police say that he tossed the gun just as he was turning toward police.
The line in dispute in the proffer may be this: “The officer tells [Toledo] to drop it as [Toledo] turns towards the officer. [Toledo] has a gun in his right hand.” One could reasonably object that the line seems to say that Toledo had the gun in his hand at the time of the shooting. Murphy would likely say that the preceding line makes clear that it is a reference to having a gun “as [Toledo] turns towards the officer.” According to police, he “has” a gun in his hand a fraction of a second before turning toward the officer. The question is whether such a difference warrants a public correction rather than a public suspension.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx’s office announced that Murphy was suspended with pay because he did not “fully inform himself” before testifying. Foxx had a long and controversial record in the city, particularly in her role in the Jussie Smollett scandal.
Toledo is clearly not armed at the time he is shot. He appears to have tossed the weapon within a couple seconds of the shooting by Chicago Police Officer Eric Stillman. That raises the question of whether the officer was still justified in using lethal force. However, that would not mean that Toledo was unarmed in the encounter.
Murphy noted that surveillance video showed Roman shooting at the passing car with Toledo next to him. He said that Roman and Toledo then ducked into an alley, where officers located them. Despite presuming Roman to be armed, Stillman tackled Roman to the ground. As another officer puts Roman into custody, Stillman then went after Toledo. Murphy reportedly noted that the gloves worn by Roman tested positive for gunshot residue and seven shell casings recovered by officers matched the handgun Roman is previously seen using. He then reportedly added that the gun appears to be the same that Toledo was carrying.
The office may also have objected to that last part if there has been no confirmation that it was the same gun or even fingerprint evidence tying Toledo to the gun found near him. The picture of the gun in the hand of Toledo does appear to be similar to the one found near him after the shooting. Notably, this should be an issue that is already largely resolved by the police. Here are the images:
I do not know why the District Attorney would not confirm whether the gun is the same as the one used in the shooting and whether there are any fingerprints on the weapon.
I can understand the need for Foxx to keep her prosecutors from making inaccurate or unsupported statements in a case that has caused rioting in the Chicago. However, I am uneasy about the actions taken against an attorney for a statement that could have been clarified in both court and in public. I am also concerned with the lack of specifically on the error and the failure to confirm the basic facts on the gun forensics.
“Foxx ran for the State’s Attorney’s office on a platform of criminal justice reform, and has often been termed a “reformist”, “reform-minded”, or “progressive” prosecutor alongside others such as Larry Krasner, Rachael Rollins, Chesa Boudin, Aramis Ayala, Kimberly Gardner, Diana Becton, and Satana Deberry.”
thats all one needs to know about kim foxx
that is to say shes just another leftist da in a big democrat city or stronghold somewhere in america proving that we have arrived at what will be referred to one day by historians scholars and political scientists as:
“the end stage of the blue city/blue state governance model”
for the people who for decades were victimized by it…the day that we as a nation are past all this and back to sanity in big city government cannot come soon enough
So why hasn’t the mother of 13 year old Toledo not been arrested? Her 13 yr old out at 2:40am with a 21yr old (must have been from the Big Brother’s Association) with an illegal hand gun? Oh, he (Toledo) must have had his homework done for the next day. Total shot and killed in Chicago April to date: 30
Shot and killed for the year: 165 Police involved shootings: 3 killed 5 wounded
normally i would say “if she was a trump supporter…shed be in jail with no bail”
but then i realized that if she was a trump supporter…this whole thing wouldnt have happened in the first place…
Black people have always been and still are the problem.
in chicago they kinda are
like 70-75 percent of murderers there are black
theyre only like 30 percent of the population…
so yeah…theyre kinda problematic…
“Some men see things as they are, and say why?
[Lincoln dreamed] of things that never were, and [said] why not?”
– Robert Kennedy
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Lincoln asked if it was not imperative to compassionately repatriate freed slaves for their own benefit and to provide a sense of nationhood and entirely absent self-esteem?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lincoln’s Support for Resettlement
Lincoln’s ideological mentor was Henry Clay, the eminent American scholar, diplomat, and statesman. Because of his skill in the US Senate and House of Representatives, Clay won national acclaim as the “Great Compromiser” and the “Great Pacificator.” A slave owner who had humane regard for Blacks, he was prominent in the campaign to resettle free Blacks outside of the United States, and served as president of the American Colonization Society. Lincoln joined Clay’s embryonic Whig party during the 1830s. In an address given in 1858, Lincoln described Clay as “my beau ideal of a statesman, the man for whom I fought all of my humble life.”14
The depth of Lincoln’s devotion to Clay and his ideals was expressed in a moving eulogy delivered in July 1852 in Springfield, Illinois. After praising Clay’s lifelong devotion to the cause of Black resettlement, Lincoln quoted approvingly from a speech given by Clay in 1827: “There is a moral fitness in the idea of returning to Africa her children,” adding that if Africa offered no refuge, Blacks could be sent to another tropical land. Lincoln concluded:15
If as the friends of colonization hope, the present and coming generations of our countrymen shall by any means succeed in freeing our land from the dangerous presence of slavery, and, at the same time, in restoring a captive people to their long-lost fatherland, with bright prospects for the future, and this too, so gradually, that neither races nor individuals shall have suffered by the change, it will indeed be a glorious consummation.
In January 1855, Lincoln addressed a meeting of the Illinois branch of the Colonization Society. The surviving outline of his speech suggests that it consisted largely of a well-informed and sympathetic account of the history of the resettlement campaign.16
In supporting “colonization” of the Blacks, a plan that might be regarded as a “final solution” to the nation’s race question, Lincoln was upholding the views of some of America’s most respected figures.
– Robert Morgan
Foxx’s involvement is explanation enough.
Liberals politicians, activists and media are all domestic TERRORISTS and should be treated as such…
Mr. Turley, when will you come out and state the obvious that democrats are lying thugs.
“It’s the [resolve], stupid!”
– James Carville
_____________
“He who hesitates is lost.”
– Cato
_____
Perpetuation is right.
Right must prevail.
Survival of the fittest is natural and right.
Armed suspected criminals can never be right.
In apparent contradiction with their Bible, the Israelites killed every living thing in Jericho in order that they would not be attacked from the rear, as they entered Canaan for the purposes of conquest and occupation, just as Americans expanded to the Pacific Ocean without concern for obstruction or obstacle.
__________________________________________________________________________________
The Bible – New International Version
Exodus 20:13
“You shall not murder.”
_________________
The Bible – New International Version
Joshua 6
20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.
Don’t run from cops.
Don’t resist arrest.
Pretty simple.
You stress out a cop, make them run or have a gun – they’re gonna make mistakes, like the woman in Minnesota and the guy who shot this kid.
No one wants to get shot.
They both screwed up, but none of it would have happened if both victims hadn’t resisted arrest.
Same with George Floyd in a way, and the other dude who jumped into his car with children inside and tried to drive away.
Don’t resist arrest. Simple.
Two Sheriff’s Deputies in Malibu have committed suicide recently because that job sucks the life out of you.
Putting yourself in danger every day and dealing with nitwits.
Stop the specious prevarication for the purposes of imposing unfounded bias.
_____________________________________________________________
“There are two types of bayonet fighters, the quick and the dead!”
– Drill Sargent, U.S. Army
___________________
The policeman must first “quickly” defend himself, survive and then defend the public.
The law enforcement employee is a police officer, not a target and certainly not the property of armed suspected criminals, available for the exercise of their dominion.
The armed criminal suspect has no justification, no rationale and no defense.
The armed suspected criminals are responsible, 100%. Period.
Next case.
.8 of a second between sight of the gun and the shooting. That’s how long the officer had. Try this. Pretend you’re raising a gun from waist level to shooting position. Do it fast. It takes much less than a second. That’s how much time the officer had to determine what he needed to do to protect his life. If that punk had turned with that gun IN his hand, we could easily be talking about another dead officer rather than some young thug gang member.
That was a clean shoot. Had this been the older guy rather than the kid, we’d not even be having this conversation.
They told him to drop the gun, and he dropped it and put his hands up, and the cop shot him anyway.
“If that punk had turned with that gun IN his hand, …”
But he didn’t. He dropped the gun, and put his empty hands up in the air.
Whether it was a clean shoot is for the legal system to determine.
That cop made a mistake just like the woman in Minnesota made a mistake.
But they were adrenalized and felt endangered and even with training, cops screw up.
Again: If George Floyd and Daunte Wright and Jacob Blake and the kid in Toledo hadn’t resisted arrest, none of this would have happened.
I agree that people shouldn’t resist or evade arrest (Toledo was evading, not resisting), but some people do, and police are still bound to act legally, adrenaline and all. In and of themselves, resisting or evading arrest don’t make it legal for a cop to kill someone. The reasonableness of the police in shooting someone depends on more details that vary with each case.
I agree. Same rationale should be applicable in the Capitol killing of an unarmed white woman.
The cop did not make a mistake. He was perfectly justified in shooting.
“But he didn’t. He dropped the gun, and put his empty hands up in the air.”
This is insanity from Anonymous the Stupid. One show reported it was .8 second from the dropped gun to the gunshot. The kid had a gun and while he dropped the gun he turned around. There was no way of knowing that the kid wasn’t in the process of trying to kill the cop. This was made more likely by the fact that gun shots were heard not long before.
Anonymous the Stupid doesn’t use his brain. He decides life and death based on PC, politics and color. His additions, when he talks about the legal system or not wanting anyone to die is just more Stupid patter from a person who is virtue signaling.
100% Sad that the kid was on the wrong path, but that was a good shot by the cop. I watched the full video of the shooting. That cop was amazing. Well done, I say.
The meaning of the word ‘truth’ has been lost in Chicago.
Amen and Awomen.
Whatever the other issues of this case or cases – there is nothing wrong with the conduct of the prosecutor.
who had an ethical duty of candor to the court to report the gun.
A prosecutors duty is to the truth – not the mob, and not politics.
But that is lost today.
I’m not sure why it matters whether the gun Toledo had was the same one that the adult used to shoot at a passing car. Bottom line, the cop saw that Toledo had a gun in his hand. Whether the adult passed his gun off to him, or he had his own gun, the issue is whether the cop was justified in shooting someone with a gun who dropped it (in a dark alley) less than a second before turning to face the cop.
The context was a bail hearing for the adult, so it mattered whether the gun was the same because that makes it evidence that the adult was a danger and should have higher bail. And if the adult handed it off to the boy, then he corrupted a minor which also makes him more dangerous.
The issue of whether the cop was justified in shooting is for another time. The issue Turley raised is what did the prosecutor do that was wrong enough to be relieved.
Thank you
What the prosecutor did was not only not wrong, but an obligation – both to the public and the court.
This hearing was about granting bond to Adam Roman who was with ?Toledo and arrested at the time.
This is all much ado about nothing. The presence of the gun is relevant to decisions regarding bond for Roman.
This has nothing to do with whether the shooting was justified.
According to Hand Guns Child is defined as under 21 which means 20 years 364 days
According to the Victim it child means armed.
According to cities like Chicago it means future BLM or Antifa
Stop Your Caterwauling
Stop Your Crime
_____________
“Beer For My Horses”
Toby Keith
Grandpappy told my pappy back in my day,
“Son A man had to answer for the wicked that he done.”
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree,
Round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street
For all the people to see
That justice is the one thing you should always find
You gotta saddle up your boys
You gotta draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we’ll sing a victory tune
And we’ll all meet back at the local saloon
We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing, “Whiskey for my men, beer for my horses.”
The prosecutor should sue the person who suspended her.
A prosecutor says what is believed to be true, and is put on leave because it is not the narrative favored by the street mobs. There was a saying in the wild west, when the crowds on the street chanted “give ’em a fair trial…and then HANG ’em.” There is a war on truth, there is a war on law and order, and at this moment in time, the war is being lost to the radical left.
It takes a criminal
To pull the trigger.
Funny how the left hates guns for citizens that do not commit crimes as they defend guys that shot at cars in a crime riddled city moments before being confronted? How many murders need to occur in Chicago before the gun haters actually do something against criminals with guns?
Another issue that needs to be discussed is the appearance of Maxine Waters at the scene of a criminal trial demanding that there be riots unless someone is convicted of murder. Is it possible, even in todays common usage of fake language, to not impeach a member of congress that is inciting a riot?
“Funny how the left hates guns for citizens that do not commit crimes as they defend guys that shot at cars”
I’m on the left. I don’t hate guns. I simply want them to be appropriately regulated (licensing, registration, and insurance).
I don’t defend anyone who shoots at cars.
How about you choose not to make these false and unproductive claims?
“I simply want them to be appropriately regulated “
There is a lot behind the word ‘appropriately’ that you use to make a point without making a point.
When you are prepared to enforce the existing laws – which when enforced actually work well. that bar felons from posessing weapons and criminally sanction them for doing so – then if there is still any consequential problem we can consider if other measures are justifiable and whether the constitution permits them.
Felon’s barred from possessing weapons have had the highest level of due process that we have.
They have had a trial, an oportunity to defend themselves and a conviction required proof of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
AFTER all of this has occured – we are justified in depriving someone who has demonstrated that they are dangerous and not entitled to the same rights as the rest of us.
You claim you want registration, licensing, and insurance. For what purpose – what has any of that got to do with reducing crime ?
There are about 350M guns in the country and about half the country owns guns.
A tiny fraction of a percent of those are ever used in a crime.
Crimes committed with guns are nearly entirely committed not just be criminals – but by previously convicted criminals.
What you propose is the most draconian and ineffective means of accomplishing the purpose that you claim.
You further want red flag laws – yet you refuse to enforce the easiest and most effective red flag law there is – barring already convicted criminals from having guns.
It almost appears that your real purpose has nothing to do with crime, but your fear that you will not be able to impose your will by force on an armed citizenry.
Most appropriate to the moment
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”
-Benjamin Franklin
Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops.”
– Noah Webster
“The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that . . . it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”
Thomas Jefferson.
“What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms.”
Thomas Jefferson
“The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
Thomas Jefferson
Aren’t guns highly regulated in Chicago? It’s all in place already, and law-abiding people follow the laws. Criminals never will – they will continue to shoot at cars with illegally obtained guns.
But you did state one fact. You’re on the left.
Don’t confuse the issue with facts
Shows the capriciousness of the law, or better said, the application of justice.
Justice now often depends on the color of your skin.
See Turley’s previous post.
Small data points, but cumulatively erode our faith in the system.
“Justice now often depends on the color of your skin.”
Funny, people of color have long said the same.
Anonymous, you misunderstand the meaning of justice. In the past there was injustice even though the color of one’s skin shouldn’t have mattered. Your rhetoric represents your thinking process which has made goo out of history.
To those of us who didn’t abandon our civil and human rights commitments when it wasn’t popular, wasn’t trendy, actually had a personal cost to standing the line, these fakers sadly suck away the energy from the hard fought job of being on the ground trying to get change to people who really have been left behind, largely in the Jim Crow Democrat plantation cities. The most hopeful video I have seen on this subject is of some Black community members driving out some Democrat Antifa tools that were throwing water bottles at cops.