To absolutely no one’s surprise, Democrats at the city and state levels in Illinois have not exactly covered themselves in glory in the aftermath of the murder of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University freshman who was gunned down a week ago in what has been described as an execution-style killing while she was out taking a walk with friends on Chicago’s lakefront.
The suspect in her murder is 25-year-old Jose Medina, a repeat offender who is, surprise surprise, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who came here under the Biden-Harris administration, being caught and released in 2023.
Apallingly, the state’s Democrat governor, JB Pritzker, did not address Gorman’s murder until shamed into it. And the initial (written) statement actually came from a spokesperson, not him, four days later, with half of it whining about the alleged politicization of Gorman’s death. Incredibly, two days after that, Pritzker himself tried to blame President Trump even though Pritzker has staunchly opposed Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the Windy City.
READ MORE: Shameless: Now Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Blames Lakefront Murder On… Trump
Chicago’s woke Democrat mayor, Brandon Johnson, also took several days to chime in on the Gorman case as it was getting more and more national attention. When asked about it on Tuesday, he called it “senseless violence” and offered condolences to Gorman’s family, but refused to acknowledge the illegal immigrant aspect of it:
“Will you take this opportunity to apologize to Sheridan’s parents for the policies that you have promoted, that have directly caused her death? That suspect would not be in the city, would not be in the country, but for your policies. Will you take this opportunity to apologize?” a reporter asked.
“Once again, I believe that we’re all grieving the loss of Sheridan and other folks who have lost their lives because of senseless violence,” Johnson responded.
Johnson’s purported grief, however, was not on display a day later, when Johnson proudly unveiled a snowplow with anti-ICE messaging, as RedState previously reported:
INSANE
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson continues to call to abolish ICE and says the murder of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman will not deter him from protecting illegals:
“This tragedy is not going to deter us from our work. In fact, it’s going to challenge us all to double down.” pic.twitter.com/a72p6la4Kv
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 25, 2026
As one might imagine, the family of Sheridan Gorman was not amused. They issued a statement that let Johnson and other “leaders” in the state know that they were not going to rest until those in positions of power and influence confronted and corrected the underlying issues that led to her murder in the first place, so that this never happens to another family again (bolded emphasis added by me):
We acknowledge Mayor Johnson’s statement five days after our daughter, Sheridan’s murder and his condolences to our family, as well as his recognition of the work of the Chicago Police Department.
But what happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to a “senseless tragedy,” nor can it be explained in general terms about public safety. Sheridan was our daughter. She was 18 years old. She was doing something entirely normal—walking near her campus with friends. She should be here.
This was not random. It was not inevitable. And it cannot be treated as though it were.
We appreciate the efforts of law enforcement in making an arrest. But safety is not defined by how quickly a case is solved after the fact. It is defined by whether a young woman like Sheridan is protected in the first place.
Our daughter was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. The system failed her.
Calling this “senseless” is not enough. There must be a clear and honest accounting of what went wrong.
We are not interested in rhetoric. We are asking for accountability.
We will not allow Sheridan’s life to be reduced to a talking point or a generalization. We expect leadership that is willing to confront hard truths and ensure that what happened to her does not happen again.
We stand ready to engage with the Mayor and any public official willing to approach this with seriousness, transparency, and a commitment to real change.
Powerful. And galvanizing. This has got to stop. It just has to.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
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