Kane County Reporter

Don Walter, state representative candidate for the 50th District, has sounded the alarm on the SAFE-T Act.

Walter noted on his website that policies to keep Illinoisans safe should be in place. He believes that restoring cash bail, which the SAFE-T Act ended, will keep dangerous criminals from being out on the streets.

"I thought Dan Proft’s appearance brought needed national attention to what is happening in Illinois," Walter said. "A warning to other states [about] what a lopsided imbalance of power can do. Crime will be the new COVID starting Jan. 1. People staying home, the state and media identifying pockets of criminal activity and the Democrats saying they were not responsible, offering patchwork solutions to problems they created. We have to have a Republican voice in Springfield, either as in a new governor and/or eliminate the Super Majority Legislature that allows legislation that speeds through recklessly such as the SAFE-T (Act) without meaningful discussion.”

Chicago radio personality Dan Proft recently appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight to speak about his release of an ad showing a woman being attacked by several men, and she is heard shrieking in the video. The ad blamed Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for the out-of-control crime in Chicago; they subsequently called Proft a "racist" for making this observation. 

Carlson asked how this is racist, and Proft responded by saying that we do not know the races of the perpetrators because they were wearing masks. All the mayor and governor do is name-call, according to Proft, to distract from their failure of leadership. Proft also said that the duo colluded with network affiliates in Chicago to stop the ad from airing. Finally, Proft warned of the disastrous effects of the SAFE-T Act and warned that crime will start pouring over into the suburbs. 

"Pritzker and Lightfoot moved the most permissive no-cash bail law in the country," Proft told Carlson. "We have the law going into effect, Jan. 1, in Illinois if J.B. Pritzker is not removed from office on Nov. 8. A law going into effect that makes it non-detainable. These are non-detainable offenses: Arson, aggravated assault, second-degree murder [and] kidnapping. You walk. In Chicago alone, we've had 45 people on electronic monitoring who have attempted to kill or killed somebody while on electronic monitoring and that crime is coming to the suburbs."  

Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy and Democratic Will County State's Attorney James W. Glasgow shared a moment of bipartisan unity this past summer in opposition over the SAFE-T Act. Tracy said in a memo, "Any ‘normal sane person’ would say a law immediately releasing violent criminals onto our streets to commit more acts of violence is 'absurd' and 'ridiculous.' Four more years of J.B. Pritzker is dangerous for Illinois," Will County Gazette reported. The law was passed to help keep the poor out of jail, but in reality, it will let many violent offenders walk free. 

Will County Gazette reported that Lombard Police Chief Roy Newton is concerned about overall safety in the state saying, "Those offenders go out and continue to commit more crimes." This bill will lead to a catch-and-release system in which criminals get arrested, released hours later, and then they go on to commit more crimes despite the fact they should be in jail. Democratic State Sen. Kimberly Langford, leader of the Black Caucus and a main force behind the SAFE-T Act in the Senate, was carjacked in December 2021. Should the SAFE-T Act take effect, Illinois will become the only state in the Union where offenders are not held on cash bail, which gives offenders no incentive to appear in court. This means many violent offenders will walk free on the very first day of 2023.

GOP Illinois Senate candidate Kathy Salvi has criticized state lawmakers for passing the SAFE-T Act: "Setting criminals charged with crimes like second-degree murder, aggravated battery and drug-induced homicide free without bond is just horrible for the people of Illinois. The SAFE-T Act will have the exact opposite effect. It should be called the un-SAFE-T Act." Salvi also noted that this law proves that Democrats are soft on crime, and she vows to "restore law and order and safety to our streets." 

Law enforcement officials across the state, according to Prairie State Wire, are warning about the dire impacts of this law. Johnson County Sheriff Peter Sopczak said, "Anyone sitting in jail right now with all these pending charges, they’re going to be let out." 

The only two state's attorneys in Illinois who do not oppose the SAFE-T Act are Kim Foxx in Cook County and Eric Rinehart in Lake County. 

Apart from keeping the community safe, Walter prioritizes issues on lowering taxes, protecting the rights of the parents and unborn and ending corruption.