Latest news with #RobertCrimoIII
USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
In Iraq, being a Jew made me a target. Now I feel unsafe at home.
In Iraq, being a Jew made me a target. Now I feel unsafe at home. | Opinion The threats I confronted and precautions I took as a soldier in Iraq are now a new reality in America. It is no secret that hatred for Jews is on the rise. Show Caption Hide Caption Nathan Fielder slams Paramount+ for cutting antisemitism episode Nathan Fielder didn't hold back on 'The Rehearsal,' using his HBO platform to call out Paramount+ for removing a controversial episode of 'Nathan for You'. unbranded - Entertainment The horrific attack June 1 in Boulder, Colorado, against predominantly Jews marching to raise awareness for the hostages held in Gaza is yet another sad example that there is no safe place to be a Jew. The irony is that as an American Jew deployed as an Army officer to Iraq, I understood the risks of my service. I knew that if I were captured by al-Qaida and my religion became known, I would assuredly be publicly and brutally tortured and killed. For this reason, I was careful who I shared this information with while in combat. Even the military dog tags that I wore for casualty identification omitted my religious preference. All of these precautions made sense given I was in a war zone fighting a vicious terrorist organization that would kill me simply for being Jewish. When I left the Army, I strongly believed that America was a haven from this type of intolerance and extremism. I grew up in a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago, openly wore my Judaism and went to synagogue without any fear of harm. Sadly, the surprise attacks by Hamas against Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, and the war that has ensued provided a false narrative justifying the targeting and killing of Jews wherever they live and without any regard to their connection to Israel. Shockingly, the threats I confronted and precautions I took as a soldier in Iraq are now a new reality in America. It is no secret that hatred for Jews is on the rise. The Anti-Defamation League reported that in the three months following the Israel-Hamas war, antisemitic incidents in the United States skyrocketed by 361%. Due to this increase, 56% of American Jews say they have altered their behavior and the way they live their lives out of fear, according to the American Jewish Committee. Opinion: Imagine surviving the Holocaust only to be attacked in America. It happened in Colorado. My family had close calls with Jew-hating gunmen. The global intifada is in America. There are countless stories behind these troubling figures. Even my own family has had several close encounters with Jew-hating gunmen. On July 4, 2022, my family was moments away from the Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, when the far-right Nazi sympathizer Robert Crimo III opened fire on the large Jewish gathering, where five of the seven people killed were Jewish or members of Jewish families. And just on May 22, my wife attended the event at the Capital Jewish Museum where police say far-left gunman Elias Rodriguez fatally shot two attendees presumably because he believed they were Jewish. According to court document filed by the FBI, he said he killed 'for Palestine ... for Gaza.' Jews understand the message. We are targets – in our homes and at schools, synagogues and even parades. Opinion: 2 Israeli Embassy staff were killed. It's not about 'free Palestine.' The Palestinian intifada is patently a terrorists' playbook. There have been two previous intifadas, in 1987 and 2000 – both were grotesque in that they targeted passenger buses, children, cafes and clubs in Israel to strike fear among the population. The latest Palestinian intifada is now globalized, but the concept is identical to its predecessors. All Jews are fair game – killing under the guise of Palestinian liberation and justice. These domestic extremists are cut from the same cloth as Hamas terrorists – whom they openly praise. In fact, they have embraced the same ideology that killed my wife's first cousin, Dani Levi, during the surprise attack on Kibbutz Be'eri on Oct. 7, 2023. Dani served as an emergency room doctor providing lifesaving care to injured Israelis until Hamas attacked his clinic. Jews cannot fight this battle alone. We all must take a stand against antisemitism. What can be done to address the harmful rhetoric and violence directed against Jews? First, American Jews must continue to live as Jews. For example: Openly wear the Magen David necklace, attend Jewish events, vocally advocate for truth and, most important, do not fear their identity. Jews must make it a point that we are here to stay and even adopt the U.S. Army's motto: 'This We'll Defend.' Second, the world runs on alliances. American Jews can't fight this battle alone. Just as the Jews marched shoulder-to-shoulder with marginalized people during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement for equal rights, so too will the Jews need the help of non-Jews to advocate and call out antisemitism, however it manifests. Last, Jews must continue to speak truth to power whether to our own government or regarding the Israeli government's policies. Like any group, Jews are not a monolith. It's important that we express diversity of thought on Israel, Gaza and the future of peace in the region. All people deserve empathy, and we should do so with a dose of humility – understanding that the issues at play are complex and that people are suffering, including Palestinians. However, where there is no nuance and room for compromise is in calls for global violence against Jews, or to free Palestine from all Jews. This is rank terrorism and a call for genocide against the Jewish people living in Israel. America is free, but we should never tolerate the intolerable. Steven Katz was an active-duty Army officer from 2003-09. He served two combat tours in Iraq in ground combat leadership positions, receiving the Bronze Star medal. He also served as defense and intelligence adviser to Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado. He is co-director of the Celiz Antisemitism Taskforce for the Jewish War Veterans of America (JWV).
Chicago Tribune
30-04-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Crimo the latest murderer sent to Stateville
Authorities quickly hustled convicted mass murderer Robert Crimo III out of the Lake County jail last week and to his new home at Stateville Correctional Center. Surely, Lake County corrections officers weren't sad to see him pack up and go. While the county jail has never been known for posh surroundings, it will seem like a country club compared to the aging state prison in Crest Hill in Will County, which is what the 24-year-old deserves since Illinois unfortunately doesn't have the death penalty. 'Due to the hard work of the Circuit Clerk's Office quickly processing all of the post-conviction paperwork, our Corrections Team was able to transfer the defendant to an Illinois prison,' Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg told one news outlet. 'Our correctional officers did a terrific job getting the defendant transferred quickly, to the place he will spend the rest of his life.' After unexpectedly pleading guilty last month to the first-degree murders of seven spectators at the July 4, 2022, parade in Highland Park and the attempted murder of 48 people wounded in the attack, he will spend the rest of his life in an Illinois Department of Corrections facility given that Stateville is scheduled to be closed. He has no chance of parole. Lake County Circuit Court Judge Victoria Rossetti sentenced the gunman to seven consecutive natural life sentences for each victim he killed, plus 50 years for the other parade-goers he was convicted of shooting. 'The court finds that the defendant is irretrievably depraved, permanently incorrigible, irreparably corrupt and beyond any rehabilitation,' the judge said at sentencing. Nineteen victims of the shootings and their loved ones testified with emotional victim-impact statements of grief, trauma and loss from the attack, which killed or injured people ranging in age from 8 to 88. The killings devastated the Highland Park community. Murdered along the parade route were Katherine Goldstein, 64; Irina McCarthy, 35, and her husband, Kevin McCarthy, 37; Stephen Straus, 88; Jacki Sundheim, 63; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69. They were there on a sunny summer day to celebrate the nation's birthday. Crimo remained absent during the two-day sentencing hearing last week as he continued to play with authorities, and the families and friends of his victims killed when he unleashed 83 high-powered bullets from a rooftop along the Independence Day parade route. Changing his pleas since the horrific parade shootings and even one time blaming the FBI for the murders, Crimo has failed to acknowledge the evil he accomplished at the parade by using an assault-style rifle his father enabled him to purchase, despite numerous indications that the young man should not have gotten anywhere near any firearm. Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son's state Firearm Owner's Identification card, which allowed him to buy the AR-style weapon he used in the massacre. The father pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless conduct and was sentenced to 60 days in county jail in 2023. A lawsuit against Smith & Wesson, the manufacturer of the weapon used, gun shops, and Crimo III and his father is winding its way through the judicial system. This, while survivors of those murdered will be reminded of their losses daily. Crimo may be placed in solitary confinement for his initial stop at Stateville, a maximum-security state prison which holds some 3,500 inmates. Illinois taxpayers will pay for his stay at an estimated $32,000 a year. The worst mass-murderer gunman in Illinois, Crimo will follow other monsters who have called Stateville home over the decades. Like John Wayne Gacy, the Norwood Park Township serial killer who murdered at least 33 young men and boys during the 1970s. Gacy, convicted of his crimes in 1980, was executed by lethal injection at Stateville on May 10, 1994, when Illinois still had a Death Row. Richard Speck, who stabbed and strangled eight student nurses in Chicago in 1966, died of a heart attack in Stateville in 1991, just before his 50th birthday. Other members of the Stateville rogues' gallery include William Heirens, convicted of three murders in 1946; and Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, the infamous 'thrill killers' of 1924 who were spared the death penalty. Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart, whose prosecution team had insurmountable evidence that Crimo was the only suspect in the parade shootings, said the murderer laughed and made jokes during his initial police interrogation, and has never shown remorse for his actions. Maybe that contrition will come as Crimo ages in the cage in which he will reside for the coming decades. That is, if he lives that long. Notorious killers have a way of losing their lives at the hands of fellow inmates, like Loeb, who was killed by another Stateville prisoner; the 'Boston Strangler' Albert DeSalvo, who was found stabbed to death while in a Massachusetts prison infirmary; and Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who was beaten to death while in a Wisconsin prison.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Highland Park city council reviews permanent memorial plans for parade shooting victims
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — On Monday, the Highland Park city council will hear recommendations for a permanent memorial for the victims who were killed during a 2022 Fourth of July parade. According to the City of Highland Park, a formal vote will not be taken just yet. However, they'll likely come to an agreement on where the memorial should be. Related: These are the victims of the Highland Park parade shooting 'I think, for a lot of people, it will give closure, and it will keep the memory alive. People can come and look at it because I think it's something you should never forget,' Marlene Kraft said. A temporary memorial was placed next to city hall after the mass shooting killed seven people and wounded a dozen paradegoers. Up for consideration is placing the memorial at the same site as the temporary one. The committee is also recommending placing a historical marker on Central Avenue where the shooting occurred. 'I walk my dog by the memorial all the time and there are always people walking around it and looking at it. I think it's a good thing,' Ila Coretti said. The city council meeting comes days after Robert Crimo III was sentenced to life in prison for the mass shooting. MORE: Highland Park shooter Robert Crimo III gets life sentence, no parole If the committee's recommendations move forward, the city will begin to accept applications for someone to design the memorial. They will make the decision by the fall. From there, decisions on what the memorial will look like and when it will be complete will be made. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Highland Park convicted killer now in Stateville Prison
Robert Crimo III, the man who admitted to fatally shooting seven people and wounding dozens of others during a 2022 Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, has reported to prison. The Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a statement that said the 24-year-old was transferred to an Illinois prison Friday morning. 'Due to the hard work of the Circuit Clerk's Office quickly processing all of the post-conviction paperwork, our Corrections Team was able to transfer the defendant to an Illinois Prison this morning,' Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said in the statement. WGN News is told Crimo is in Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill. More: 'Complete disregard for human life': Robert Crimo III gets life sentences for deadly Highland Park parade shooting Earlier this week, Crimo was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti handed down seven consecutive sentences of life in prison to Crimo. She also sentenced him to 50 years on each of the 48 counts of attempted murder to be served consecutively to the seven life sentences. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Robert Crimo III sentenced to life in prison. What to know about Highland Park shooter
Robert Crimo III was sentenced to life in prison on April 24 in connection with the 2022 Highland Park shooting that killed seven and wounded nearly 50 more. Crimo, who did not attend the hearing, received seven life sentences without parole for each victim killed in the shooting. Judge Victoria A. Rossetti told the court that Crimo showed a "complete disregard for human life' and is 'beyond rehabilitation," according to USA TODAY. Here's what to know. The shooter, Robert Crimo III, now 24, killed seven and injured dozens more at a July 4, 2022, parade in Highland Park, Illinois, before fleeing and reportedly disguising himself as a woman to escape. After a large-scale manhunt, authorities arrested Crimo while he was driving his mother's car. Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Christopher Covelli said Crimo legally purchased the high-powered AR-15-style rifle allegedly used in the attack, as well as a second rifle found in Crimo's vehicle. While combing through social media accounts believed to be associated with Crimo, investigators uncovered posts allegedly indicating a presence of mental health issues, violence and far-right and neo-fascist ideologies, according to ABC News. These posts included videos depicting mass shootings and Crimo's own death and symbols resembling those associated with neo-Nazis. Crimo, who is heavily tattooed on his face and body, published amateur music videos on YouTube under the rap stage name Awake the Rapper. One such video showed Crimo standing in a classroom in a bulletproof vest and helmet, in what appeared to be a depiction of the aftermath of a school shooting. He was described by former classmates as odd and "very quiet," with little interest in school, and he reportedly dropped out of Highland Park High School after his freshman year at 16, according to CNN. Story continues after photo gallery. Crimo quickly ended his trial on March 3 by pleading guilty to all 69 murder and attempted murder counts shortly before opening statements commenced. The move surprised many, as Crimo had rejected a plea deal in June 2024. Others are reading: Highland Park shooting suspect pleads guilty. What to know about Robert Crimo III Illinois abolished the death penalty on July 1, 2011, making it the 16th state to do so, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Crimo received the maximum sentence offered in Illinois. The shooter's father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty in November 2023 to seven counts of reckless conduct after he sponsored an application for his son to obtain a firearm owner ID card in 2019. This allowed his son, who was younger than 21 at the time, to apply for a gun license. Crimo Jr. was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 100 hours of community service. Police reports show that officers were called at least a dozen times in six years to Crimo's home to settle domestic disputes and respond to intoxication allegations between the shooter's parents, CNN reported. Police also confiscated a collection of knives in 2019 from then-18-year-old Crimo, who had threatened to "kill everyone." The same year, an individual called the police a week after learning that Crimo had attempted suicide, according to Covelli. Crimo's father also owned a deli, which struggled financially throughout many of Crimo's high school years before eventually closing in 2019. Court documents show that the store was buried in a mountain of debt. Jeanine Santucci and Christopher Cann contributed to this article This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Who is Robert Crimo III? Highland Park shooter sentenced to life in prison
