Highland Park shooter Robert Crimo III to be sentenced Wednesday
Nam Y. Huh-Pool/Getty Images
(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — Robert Crimo III, the gunman who killed seven people and injured dozens in a mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 4, 2022, will be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty in March.
Survivors and relatives of those killed in the shooting at the Independence Day parade are expected to address Crimo at the sentencing hearing, according to The Associated Press.
In March, Crimo pleaded guilty to 21 counts of first-degree murder, three counts for each person killed, and dozens of attempted murder charges, according to Chicago ABC station WLS.
Survivor Ashbey Beasley, who fled the parade with her son when the gunfire broke out, said in March the plea brought an “immense amount of relief.”
“Every single time I see [Crimo], it’s stressful,” she told reporters back in March. “I think it’s upsetting for everyone…Just knowing that his plea has been entered and we will not have to see him again is what we all need.”
Crimo appeared ready to accept a guilty plea last June during a hearing, only to reject the deal in front of devastated members of the victims’ families. He was expected to plead guilty to seven counts of murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm at the hearing at the time, according to the AP.
“We have Fourth of July coming up and it will be two years,” Leah Sundheim, whose mother, Jacquelyn Sundheim, was killed in the shooting, said at a news conference at the time. “All I wanted was to be able to fully grieve my mom without the looming trial, knowing that he was going to spend the rest of his life in jail. And instead, we were yet again shown [Crimo’s] complete and blatant disregard for humans.”
Crimo told police he wore women’s clothing during the shooting and used makeup to hide his facial tattoos and blend in with the crowd during the chaos, prosecutors said. Crimo was apprehended hours later and prosecutors said he confessed to the shooting.
Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty last year to reckless conduct, admitting to signing the Firearm Owner’s Identification card for his son to apply for gun ownership.
The younger Crimo was 19 at the time and too young to get a FOID card on his own. Illinois at the time required people ages 18, 19 or 20 to have parent or guardian authorization.
Wisconsin State Capitol; Jordan McAlister/Getty Images
(MILWAUKEE) — Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford sparred over how the court might impact abortion law in the state, as well as the involvement of Elon Musk in the high-profile race, during a Wisconsin Supreme Court election debate on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin hosted by ABC affiliate WISN.
Wisconsin is holding a Supreme Court election on April 1, as part of its spring elections, with what is technically a nonpartisan race to replace retiring justice Ann Walsh Bradley.
Whoever wins the seat will help determine the ideological bent of the court — which currently leans liberal — and will join the bench as the court grapples with hot-button issues such as abortion access and redistricting.
Outside groups have poured millions into ads and get-out-the-vote efforts. Conservative groups affiliated with Musk have spent millions in the race supporting Schimel, while liberal billionaire George Soros donated to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and the state party has donated $2 million to Crawford.
Crawford, the Democratic-backed candidate and a Dane County Circuit judge, is a former private attorney.
“I think a lot is at stake. The future of our state, for our kids and our grandkids, and the fundamental rights and freedoms of everyone in Wisconsin,” Crawford said.
Schimel, the candidate backed by Republicans, is a former state attorney general who is currently a circuit court judge in Waukesha County.
“I’ve never been involved in anything where the stakes were bigger than this,” he said. “And if you told me five years ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court would be going through a political agenda, I would have said, ‘you’re crazy’ … Justice is no longer blind on the Wisconsin Supreme Court; that’s what’s at stake. We have to restore objectivity.”
It took little time for one of the race’s key issues — abortion access — to come up, given ongoing and pending court cases surrounding whether an 1849 Wisconsin law that bans almost all abortions is valid or constitutional. The law is currently not enforced.
Crawford seized upon Schimel’s remark about objectivity to claim that Schimel was paying “good lip service” to objectivity, but that while campaigning he had opined about pending cases such as those dealing with the 1849 law.
“He has openly said, when he’s in front of audiences of his political allies, that there is nothing wrong with that law and it should be enforced. That is not the kind of open-mindedness that we expect from judges. It is prejudicial to the parties in that case,” Crawford said, referencing audio that had leaked from an event Schimel spoke at where he asked if there were any flaws with the law.
“And Brad Schimel is making those pronouncements not based on the law in that case or the facts or the arguments of the attorneys, but based on political consideration.”
Schimel — interjecting “I can’t let that go” — countered that his remarks had been taken out of context and that he was referring to the validity of the way the law was passed.
“I was asked if the 1849 [law] was a valid law … And the answer is, my answer was, it was passed by two houses of the legislature and signed by the governor. That means it’s a valid law. But what I said next was that there’s a real question as to whether that law reflects the will of the people of Wisconsin now and today,” Schimel said.
Pressed on if he thinks the law is valid today, Schimel added, “I don’t believe that it reflects the will of the people of Wisconsin today.”
Crawford later accused Schimel of trying to “backpedal” his position on the law, while Schimel later said he thinks the current Wisconsin Supreme Court is “playing politics” by not ruling on one of the cases surrounding the 1849 law yet.
The sheer amount of money in the race also became a major flashpoint during the debate.
Asked if he embraced the support of Musk, Schimel framed investments from Musk-related groups as beyond his control.
“I got in this race over 15 months ago. I have campaigned in all 72 counties; I’ve gone to every corner of this state. I’m looking for the endorsement of the Wisconsin voters on April 1. Outside help that comes is not something I control,” Schimel said.
He also criticized Crawford for allegedly getting support from Soros. When asked if she embraces that endorsement, Crawford responded, “I have had generous contributions that have gone to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has endorsed me and supported my candidacy. But let’s talk about Elon Musk. Talk about somebody who’s been dangerous,” she said, mentioning some examples of cuts Musk has overseen in the federal government.
Crawford suggested that Musk is interested in the race because of a lawsuit brought by his company, Tesla, in the state.
Tesla has a lawsuit against the state over not being allowed to open dealerships in the state. Wisconsin law largely prohibits manufacturers from opening dealerships. Some have speculated that Musk’s interest in the race stems from this suit; Musk and Tesla have not confirmed this.
Later, during another back-and-forth about donors in the race, Crawford referenced “Elon Schimel.”
“I have support from all over the country, and it is because Elon Schimel is trying to buy this race. And people are very upset about that, and they are disturbed about that,” Crawford said.
Schimel, asked if the mailers from outside groups that say he would enforce President Donald Trump’s agenda in the state are true, countered again that he cannot control what outside groups say.
“I will enforce the law,” he added. “I will apply the law the way the legislature has written it. If President Trump or anyone defies Wisconsin law, and I end up with a case in front of me, I’ll hold them accountable as I would anybody in my courtroom.”
Later, when asked about the 2020 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision where the court blocked an attempt by the Trump campaign to invalidate around 220,000 absentee ballots, Schimel was similarly blunt over how he would act if Trump brought a case.
“If President Trump violates the law or President Trump brings a lawsuit that he’s wrong on the law — of course I would. I don’t have any personal loyalty to him that supersedes the oath I take as a judge.”
He declined to weigh in on whether a justice who recused himself from that case made the right decision, saying he’d have to review the case.
Crawford sidestepped when asked if she would recuse herself from cases involving the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, while Schimel sidestepped similarly over if he would recuse himself from the Tesla case.
(MIAMI) — Two people are dead after Florida authorities alleged a Miami-Dade Transit bus driver pulled out a weapon and opened fire on a bus during a disturbance.
The shooting erupted just before 3 a.m., when a Miami-Dade Transit bus driver was involved in a disturbance with two male passengers aboard the bus, Officer Diana Delgado of the Miami Gardens Police Department said at a news conference Sunday.
During the disturbance, the bus driver pulled out a weapon and opened fire, shooting the men, according to Delgado.
The two passengers were taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital in critical condition and later died from their injuries, according to police.
ABC affiliate TV station WPLG reports both of the shooting victims were male.
It was unclear, according to authorities, whether the bus was moving at the time of the shooting or how many passengers were aboard the bus.
The driver is being detained by police, Delgado said Sunday.
Allen Ferguson in a family photo. (Courtesy of family)
(OKLAHOMA CITY)– An Oklahoma father is being remembered as a hero after officials say he died while trying to save his son in wildfires that ravaged the state last week.
Allen Ferguson, a “beloved” youth wrestling coach from Chandler, died from injuries sustained in the wildfires, Oklahoma House Rep. Jim Shaw said.
Ferguson “tragically lost his life while trying to save his son, Will, who remains in critical condition,” Shaw said in a statement on Monday.
“Allen was a hero, and his dedication to his family and our community will never be forgotten,” the statement continued.
Family friend Shane Earp also remembered Ferguson as a “good man and a hero” to ABC News.
Ferguson carried his 15-year-old son, Will Conley, through the fire in Chandler to a road where they were found by rescuers, according to Earp. He spoke to his son throughout their ambulance ride to keep him calm, Earp said. Ferguson, who suffered severe burns, died at a hospital on Saturday, the family friend said.
The father of four boys was a “great man all around,” Earp said.
“Whether it be fishing, metal detecting, sports, making art out of anything, Civil War reenactment and many other things, if his family was interested in it, he would find a way to learn it and make it happen,” Earp said. “Always had jokes and funny comments so you must be ready to laugh when around him.”
Ferguson was one of four people killed in Oklahoma due to fires or high winds after scores of wildfires broke out throughout the state last week amid extreme fire weather conditions, officials said. Over 140 people were injured, officials said.
More than 400 homes and structures have been damaged in the high wind-fueled fires, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said.
Following the devastating blazes, Oklahoma continues to be on alert for fire danger.
Parts of Oklahoma, as well as Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas, face a critical threat of fire danger on Monday.
The fire threat continues in Oklahoma on Tuesday and increases for parts of the Texas Panhandle and southeastern New Mexico.
