A Chicago restaurant owner is calling out city and state leadership over what he describes as an ongoing crime crisis as President Donald Trump considers federal intervention in the city, as reported by Fox News.
Sam Sanchez, owner of Moe’s Cantina and Third Coast Hospitality Group, and a member of the Illinois Restaurant Association, told Fox News Digital that Chicago’s leadership has failed to keep residents and businesses safe.
“I’ve been a Democrat for so many years, and this is not what Chicago used to be,” Sanchez said.
“The city is not safe,” he added.
“For the mayor and the governor to go on TV and use us as statistics, as numbers, I mean, we’re human beings, we’re talking about real time.”
Sanchez placed blame on Illinois’ Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, signed into law in 2021 by Governor JB Pritzker. He argued the measure has contributed to criminals being released back onto the streets.
“The request for detention to keep [criminals incarcerated], they keep ignoring it, they’re released, so, we’re headed in the wrong direction, and we’ve been heading in the wrong direction for years,” Sanchez said.
“It does have to be curved. If they cannot amend the SAFE-T Act, then it should be removed from the books.”
The SAFE-T Act allows judges to decide pretrial release based on risk assessment rather than requiring cash bail.
It also restricts certain police practices, including the use of chokeholds, and allows inmates to reduce sentences through participation in programs, drug treatment, or good behavior. Critics, including Sanchez, argue the law has kept violent offenders out of jail.
Governor Pritzker defended the legislation and criticized President Trump at a press event outside Trump Tower in Chicago on Tuesday. “What President Trump is doing is unprecedented and unwarranted. It is illegal. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American,” Pritzker said.
The White House released a detailed fact sheet on Monday outlining crimes in Chicago and testimony from residents as President Trump considers whether to deploy federal resources to address the city’s crime problem.
“We’re tired of the crime,” Sanchez said. “We want law and order. If President Trump could help us prosecute these violent repeat offenders, any gun crime should be prosecuted by the federal government.”
The debate over how to address crime in Chicago continues as city officials push back against potential federal involvement, while residents and business owners call for stronger enforcement.
Chicago re-elects every single Democrat in 3……2……1.
You can’t fix stupid.
Democrats are the root cause of all of America’s problems. They’ve been telling their own voters it’s not our fault, while creating messes everywhere.