Illinois Dem lawmaker pushes bill to legalize attacks on police for people having mental health episode
Democratic state Rep. Lisa Davis, an attorney in the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender's office, introduced House Bill 3458 in February.
Under the terms of the legislation, the bill would "[provide] that it is a defense to aggravated battery when the individual battered is a peace officer and the officer responded to an incident in which the officer interacted with a person whom a reasonable officer could believe was having a mental health episode and the person with whom the officer interacted has a documented mental illness and acted abruptly."
The bill has picked up two co-sponsors, Reps. Marcus Evans and Kelly Cassidy.
Currently, a person in Illinois can be charged with aggravated battery if they attack "an individual whom the person knows to be a peace officer, community policing volunteer, fireman, private security officer, correctional institution employee, or Department of Human Services employee supervising or controlling sexually dangerous persons or sexually violent persons."
Second Cop City, a blog that reports on Chicago policing matters, first reported on the bill.
"If this passes, mental illness will be an excuse to attack and beat police officers," the blog states. "In fact, who wants to bet there will be thousands of people who suddenly have doctor notes that permit them to attack cops?"
Davis' proposal would legalize attacks on peace officers. Other first responders would be spared, such as firefighters, like her husband, CWB Chicago reported.
The bill has been referred to the Illinois General Assembly Rules Committee, where unpopular legislation goes to die, the news report states.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Davis and the Chicago chapter of the Grand Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
28 minutes ago
- New York Post
Nassau County candidates clash over NUMC controversy as pressure mounts for state, federal action
Allegations of financial mismanagement from past leaders at Nassau University Medical Center are taking center stage in the race for Nassau County District Attorney, as legislative and district attorney candidates clash over accountability and oversight. Democratic challenger Nicole Aloise called Republican incumbent DA Anne Donnelly to take action and fully investigate former CEO Meg Ryan and other former leadership over what she called a 'blatant pattern of public corruption' on Wednesday outside the Nassau County Courthouse. Aloise called recent reports 'concerning,' referencing thousand-dollar dinners charged to the hospital, allegations of Ryan funneling $3.5 million in improper payouts to herself and 12 other employees, and an mysterious break-in at former NUMC chairman Matthew Bruderman's home. Advertisement 3 Aloise said that incumbent DA Anne Donnelly should take actions and investigate former CEO Meg Ryan. Nicole Aloise/Instagram 'Since this came out, Nassau County legislators have called on the Nassau County District Attorney to fully investigate what has been happening at NUMIC, and after almost four years in office, it is well past time for Anne Donnelly to put a stop to these blatant acts of public corruption in the county government,' Aloise told reporters. County Legislators echoed the calls for accountability, holding a press conference of their own in Mineola, calling for federal investigators to step in since the county won't. Advertisement 'NUMC exists to save lives – not bankroll lobster dinners and luxury perks for politically connected insiders,' Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton said. 'This pattern of abuse is a betrayal of public trust, and we are taking the next step to ensure full accountability.' Nassau County police have said they're still investigating the break-in at Bruderman's home, and have yet to announce any arrests or updates — but Bruderman previously said that some hospital-related documents that went missing were recovered by police from an unidentified couple before his firing. 3 Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton speaking at the podium and calling for a federal investigation into Matthew Bruderman's sudden firing in April. When asked for comment, Donnelly said she opened an investigation into NUMC's previous management in June, which her office said remains active. Advertisement But Aloise said she believes that investigation only exists on paper, and told The Post she doesn't believe any resources are actually being allocated into that case — pointing to thousands of dollars in political donations from Ryan to Donnelly. 'She either isn't being truthful about an active investigation or she's demonstrating just how unfit she is for the job by taking money from someone her office is supposed to be investigating,' Aloise said. 3 Nassau University Medical center located at 2201 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, NY. Edmund J Coppa Campaign finance records show that Ryan donated to Donnelly's campaign in 2023, two years before the DA's office opened its investigation into NUMC. Advertisement Ryan, who was officially terminated 'for cause' in May, has denied any wrongdoing and is suing the hospital over her dismissal, calling the accusations against her a 'political hit job' 'Any suggestion that she did anything improper or was reimbursed inappropriately is just another effort to distract from the State's Medicaid corruption, now under investigation by Congress, the millions in illegal no-bid contracts approved by Hochul's new appointees and NHCC's violation of Ms. Ryan's employment contract,' Ryan's spokesperson, Tom Basile said. NUMC, Nassau's only safety-net hospital, remains more than $1 billion in debt and is currently under audit by the global accounting firm Deloitte, which Ryan's team accused of being awarded an illegal no-bid contract by the hospital's new leadership, after state lawmakers restructured the hospital's board earlier this year.
Chicago Tribune
28 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
US Rep. Danny Davis set to announce he won't run for reelection to Congress
Danny Davis, the 83-year-old dean of Illinois' U.S. House delegation and a voice for progressive politics for decades, is expected to announce Thursday that he will not seek election to a 16th term representing his downtown and West Side district — the latest move in a generational change sweeping the state's and nation's political scene. Davis is also expected to announce his endorsement of veteran state Rep. La Shawn Ford in a budding primary contest to succeed him for the Democratic nomination in March, a well-placed source close to the congressman's decision-making said Wednesday. Ford announced his congressional bid in May but said he would not run if Davis had sought another term. Davis' decision to retire at the end of his current term in January 2027 would create the fourth open-seat congressional contest for Illinois Democrats next year. U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg and Robin Kelly of Matteson have opted to seek the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, along with Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. And U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston announced in May she would not seek a 15th term in Congress. All four districts are regarded as safely Democratic, meaning the winners of next year's March 17 Democratic primaries will be the heavy favorites in the general election. Davis' expected endorsement of Ford, who has been in the state legislature for 18 years, comes as a lengthy list of potential successors have lined up with an eye on running for the 7th Congressional District seat. In addition to Ford, at least eight people have filed to run, including attorney Richard Boykin, a former Cook County commissioner and Davis' former chief of staff. Chicago businessman Jason Friedman has also filed to run for the seat. 'I'm no spring chicken,' Davis told the Austin Weekly News on June 13 as he pondered his decision. 'Most people my age retired years ago.' Davis said he had been consulting supporters, his physicians and constituents. But he also acknowledged his tenure in the House and the role seniority plays on Capitol HIll, adding, 'I'm a senior member of Congress, not just a member.' Despite facing pressure in previous campaigns from younger challengers pushing a message of change in recent years, Davis survived primary reelection battles with the backing of the current Democratic establishment, a contrast to the old Democratic guard that he once fought against to win public office. Known for a deep, authoritarian bass voice that could have been used to voice movie trailers — and for his constant companion, his walking stick — Davis' tenure encompassed an evolution of Chicago politics over nearly a half century in public life. An Arkansas native, Davis after college moved to Chicago, where he was a community organizer with the Greater Lawndale Conservation Commission and also served as a teacher in the city's public schools. He and other civil rights advocates were part of the 1960s Chicago Freedom Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King to challenge racial discrimination in city housing, education and employment. In 1979, he was elected 29th Ward alderman as a political independent, directly challenging the remnants of the Chicago machine three years after Mayor Richard J. Daley's death. He worked for the election of Harold Washington as the city's first Black mayor in 1983. In 1984 and 1986, he unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Cardiss Collins and, four years later, lost in taking on incumbent County Treasurer Ed Rosewell, but he won an at-large seat on the Cook County Board. In 1991, he entered the race for Chicago mayor in challenging incumbent Richard M. Daley in the Democratic primary and finished second, 33 percentage points behind. Two decades later, he dropped a mayoral campaign in favor of former ambassador and U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun as a Black 'unity' candidate who unsuccessfully challenged frontrunner Rahm Emanuel's bid to succeed Daley. It was in 1996, when Collins retired, that Davis launched his congressional career. He won a 10-way Democratic primary race for the 7th Congressional District seat, defeating a field that included then-County Board member Bobbie Steele and then-Alds. Dorothy Tillman (3rd), Ed Smith (28th) and Percy Giles (37th). The general election in the heavily Democratic district was a political formality. Davis, a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is widely considered to be one of Congress' most progressive members as he often leans to the far-left of Democratic Party politics. He has long supported Medicare for All, pushed for the Green New Deal energy initiatives, advocated for a higher federal minimum wage and voted against the Iraq War in 2002. In 2013, he co-signed a letter with other Democratic members of the state's U.S. House delegation urging the General Assembly to approve marriage equity. His 15-year-old grandson's murder by two teens who fought over a pair of Air Jordans prompted Davis to call for 'every unit of government to call a state of emergency' to boost social and economic development in the city's neglected neighborhoods. 'I know what it feels like to have a loved one whose life was wiped out unnecessarily for no apparent reason,' Davis testified in 2019 before the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. 'I have attended the funeral of so many children in my communities whose wonderful lives were interrupted by gun violence. I feel the devastation.' His tenure has not been without controversy. In 2004, he attended a religious ceremony at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., where he crowned Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who declared himself the Messiah, and Moon's wife, 'the King and Queen of Peace.' Davis in 2018 called Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, who has made antisemitic and homophobic remarks, an 'outstanding human being.' He later backtracked on his praise, saying, 'Let me be clear: I reject, condemn and oppose Minister Farrakhan's views and remarks regarding the Jewish people and the Jewish religion.' In 2024, Davis easily won a five-way Democratic primary with 52% of the vote, which included overcoming challenges from Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the city treasurer, and Kina Collins, a progressive organizer. Two years earlier, in a largely two-person primary race, Collins put a scare into Davis when he won by a relatively close margin, 52% to 46%. Collins also challenged Davis in 2020, losing the Democratic primary 60% to 14%. 'I'm calling this a victory … for senior citizens,' Davis told supporters after his 2024 primary win. But during the first half of this year, Davis had raised only $54,000. He had nearly $115,000 in his federal campaign bank account as of July 1, however, he also listed more than $66,000 in campaign debts. In a 2010 oral history that is part of the Chicago anti-apartheid collection at Columbia College, Davis reflected on what was then an already lengthy political career. 'Although I've won offices, I've lost them. I've campaigned. I've spent a lot of money, I've spent a lot of time, energy, and effort,' Davis said. 'I've neglected a lot of people that I love, I've neglected a lot of people that I like and would love to have spent more time with them. But the necessities of politics and the desire to do it kind of forced me to do what I do,' he said.
NBC News
29 minutes ago
- NBC News
Ohio man charged with threatening to kill a member of Congress over Medicaid cuts
Federal authorities this week arrested and charged an Ohio man in connection with threats to kill a member of Congress if they voted for cutting Medicaid. The alleged caller, identified by the FBI as 60-year-old Jeffrey Dorsey of Dayton, left a nearly 90-second expletive-laden voicemail on at the main line of the lawmaker's Washington, D.C., office last month, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Tuesday. The lawmaker was not named in court documents. 'If you vote to take my f------ Medicaid away, I'm gonna cut your f------ head off," the caller allegedly said, according to a transcript of a message from the FBI. "You're an embarrassment, and a bag of s--- as a man, and I can't stand you," the caller allegedly added. "So, f--- the hell off. But I tell you this, clearly to your brain, if you f--- with my Medicaid you're a dead f---.' President Donald Trump on July 4 signed into law a sweeping GOP domestic policy bill that includes deep cuts to Medicaid. The Senate passed the measure July 1, followed by the House on July 3. The FBI said the threatening call was made on June 29. A staffer for the unnamed lawmaker provided an audio copy of the call to the U.S. Capitol Police, according to the FBI, and authorities traced the phone to Dorsey after obtaining subscriber information from the phone's service provider. The FBI said it called the phone associated with the threatening message this week and that the voice of the person who answered resembled that of the voicemail message left with the lawmaker's office. Dorsey is in custody as he awaits a detention hearing Friday. He is charged with interstate communications with a threat to injure. Court documents did not list any attorney information for Dorsey. Information provided by the Ohio Attorney General's Office revealed that Dorsey was receiving Medicaid services through various providers, according to the FBI. Vice President JD Vance was in his home state of Ohio on Monday for an event in Canton promoting Trump's domestic policy bill. Many Democratic lawmakers have said they are worried about how the Medicaid cuts will affect their constituents, and they plan on highlighting them when they talk to voters. U.S. Capitol Police said in February that the number of threat assessment cases grew for a second consecutive year in 2024, with investigations into 9,474 concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress, their families and staff members, up from 8,008 the previous year.
