patrick.net

Chicago police arrested and charged seven men in connection with a smash-and-grab burglary that turned deadly last week.





A group crashed a pickup truck into the Louis Vuitton store on Michigan Avenue before 5 a.m. Thursday, Sept 11, according to the Chicago Police Department. The group fled in multiple vehicles with merchandise from the store, but they left the truck at the store.

One of the fleeing vehicles, a Kia Stinger, hit a Honda CR-V, killing the driver inside the other car, according to police. The county medical examiner identified the victim as a 40-year-old man from Skokie.

Father Running for Sheriff After Killing Predator Caught Raping His Daughter

An Arkansas father accused of killing the man charged with raping his 14-year-old daughter is now running for sheriff.

Aaron Spencer, who faces a second-degree murder charge, said the legal system “failed” his family by prosecuting him instead of protecting his child.

Spencer announced his campaign for sheriff in Lonoke County on Saturday in a video posted to Facebook.

“I’m the father who acted to protect his daughter when the system failed,” Spencer said.

“Through my own fight for justice, I have seen firsthand the failures in law enforcement and in our circuit court.

“And I refuse to stand by while others face these same failures.”

Spencer said his campaign is about restoring public trust and ensuring law enforcement defends families in moments of crisis. ...

Court documents reveal that Spencer confronted 67-year-old Michael Fosler last October after discovering his daughter was missing and spotting her inside Fosler’s truck.

Fosler had already been charged with grooming and sexually abusing the teen.

Spencer allegedly forced Fosler’s vehicle off the road before shooting him.

Prosecutors charged Spencer with second-degree murder, despite the fact that Fosler was out on bond at the time for multiple felony charges related to the case.

Spencer’s wife, Heather, launched an online fundraiser, calling the charges against her husband “outrageous.”

“Our underage daughter had been targeted, groomed, and ultimately raped by the boyfriend of a family friend,” she wrote.

“We let the justice system do its job.

“The monster who hurt our child was charged quickly, but released even faster on a $50k bond.

“He was awaiting court in December for several felonies in relation to what he did to our child.”

She added, “My child would not have come home if my husband hadn’t found her.”

Spencer’s campaign announcement drew widespread support online.

“Proud to call this man my father!” his son, Malachi Spencer, wrote.

“If I could vote for you a million times, I would,” another supporter added.

“I will stand with you as a Veteran and a father!

“Bring Veterans and Fathers together, we need to protect our babies!” wrote a third.

Spencer is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on December 16, with his trial set to begin January 26, 2026.

Now, I realize many of you accept official blue-state crime statistics at face value, because you assume that government-produced data must be reliable, by definition. This will be a shock. Prepare yourselves. Yesterday, CNN ran a story headlined, “House Oversight Committee report alleges DC police chief manipulated crime data.”

When President Trump first announced his D.C. law-enforcement surge in August, he correctly described the Capital as a “cesspool of crime.” This provoked a minor riot from Democrats...

This summer, Democrat critics and far-left commentators repeatedly referenced official Metro DC data allegedly showing violent crime being at a 30‑year low. They argued hotly that Trump’s move was pure political theater...

After interviewing all the DC police commanders, the House concluded that Chief Smith is a very unprogressive bully. She “propagated an ecosystem of fear, retaliation, and toxicity,” and placed “intense pressure on district commanders to produce low crime statistics by any means necessary.” The report did not mince its words, or even grate or finely chop them:

The Committee's investigation, which began as an inquiry into allegations of
manipulation of crime statistics in the District, also uncovered concerning accounts about the
deterioration of MPD leadership through the toxic management culture created by Chief Smith.
The Committee's investigation heard consistent testimony about frustration and exhaustion
among MPD commanders and the manifestation of a culture of fear, intimidation, threats, and
retaliation by Chief Smith. Often, these manifestations were triggered whenever the Chief was
presented with what she considers "bad news," particularly when that news pertained to any rise
in public crime statistics.8 Chief Smith, according to testimonies, regularly took action against
her subordinates who failed to aid in the preservation of her public image.'

Presumably having received a heads-up about what the report would reveal, last week Chief Smith preemptively announced she was stepping down, to spend more time with her family and teach a community college class on creative report writing.

The House report is an eye-opener. To summarize, let’s say a DC resident got carjacked and pistol-whipped, requiring six days in the hospital and nine months of physical therapy. An overworked Chief Smith would snap at commanders, “just mark it down as reckless endangerment-jaywalking,” and then race off to a DNC event to receive another award for reducing crime in the Nation’s Capital...

There are fourteen DC precincts. The House report revealed that one of the highest-crime precinct commanders told House investigators that, in nearly three years since she was appointed, Chief Smith stopped by his precinct one time. It was unannounced, and she couldn’t even stay till he got back from a call.

Despite the damning report, which describes a totally dysfunctional department where senior commanders can be transferred to managing the evidence locker after a single crime report Chief Smith didn’t like, and despite Chief Smith’s anticipatory getting out of Dodge, CNN still hard-headedly clutched onto the “crime is down” narrative:

Despite Trump's claims this year that crime is "out of control," data
shows violent crime in Washington, DC, has been declining since its
2023 spike, with two years of sustained improvement.

The “data” in that paragraph was the same “data” that the House Oversight report stated in its title was inaccurate. Oh well. The House investigation continues … but Chief Smith doesn’t. Bye, Felicia!

Earlier this week, Axios reported a morbid bit of good news in a story headlined, “U.S. murders on pace for largest one-year drop on record.” Well, thank goodness. But —of course— Axios buried the lede. The real story was: violent crime is down across the board, with murders reduced by a whopping -20% — which is “on pace” for the largest one-year drop in history.




Axios was stingy with its praise. “President Trump,” it admitted, “has prioritized cracking down on violent crime in his second term, though there is no clear evidence linking his policies to the decline.” After all, the post-pandemic violent crime surge might have fixed itself.

Next, note Axios’ elevated goalposts. Axios didn’t claim there was “no evidence” that the historic crime drops were related to Trump’s policies. It used weasel words and said there was “no clear evidence.” ‘Clear’ is a subjective modifier.

Whether you will credit President Trump’s all-of-government crime crackdown —including massive immigration enforcement— the trend remains great news. And rates continue improving. Not that Axios will do more than notice the happy accident. It did, however, admit that murders in Washington, DC, where Trump has focused on crime, are down a historic -28%. So.

In other words, the plan is working. “Unexpectedly.” All this momentum will carry us into next year with a racing start. It will be glorious.