Michele Bertaud

mother of vivacious twins, Latin teacher passionate about her students' learning, eternal lover of all things Roman, Armenian, American West.

[RedWave Press @RedWavePress]

HEARTBREAKING: Penn State Senior Billy Schmidt’s family DEMANDS Philadelphia Democrats CLEAN up the crime RIDDEN streets and DELIVER Justice for Billy after he was shot and killed by two young thugs after they stole his phone. Sister: “They DESERVE to spend the REST OF THEIR lives in jail for TAKING away my brother! And I don’t think anyone will ever understand this pain that they have caused.”

“They are animals for doing that to him! He was unarmed and all this for a phone! It just doesn’t even make sense!”

Dad: “You got to clean this city up, to stop the violence, I mean this CAN’T HAPPEN everyday.”

[Giggling Ganon @GigglingGanon]

Three illegals arrested for shoplifting 13k in merchandise. Illinois soft on crime policies set them free so one could take the life of a person in Ohio.

​We are jn Naperville, Illinois where police officers completely dismantled an organized retail theft ring operating out of the area after hitting an Ulta Beauty store.What they uncovered wasn’t a casual case of shoplifting—it was a massive, professional operation.

​During the pat-downs, officers watched in disbelief as dozens of high-end skincare and beauty products literally cascaded out of the suspects’ pant legs and clothing onto the asphalt. Between what was hidden on their bodies and the packed trash bags stuffed inside their getaway SUV, officers recovered over $13,000 in stolen product.

​The three suspects arrested at the scene were identified as:

​Yudisleydi Cardoso-Ortega (42, Pittsburgh, PA)

​Camilo Sotolongo-Barreto (38, Youngstown, OH)

​Liesnell Fleitas-Garcia (43, Houston, TX)

​None of these individuals were U.S. citizens, and they were using temporary paper identification cards from new Mexico as cover. Under normal circumstances, a $13,000 multi-jurisdictional retail theft haul by transient suspects with zero ties to the community would make them automatic flight risks. They would be held behind bars.

​But this is Illinois.

​Thanks to the state’s controversial SAFE-T Act—which completely abolished cash bail—and the strict limitations of the Illinois TRUST Act, local law enforcement's hands were completely tied.

Despite the massive scale of the theft, the baseline charges of burglary and retail theft were deemed "non-detainable" offenses at their initial hearing. Because prosecutors could only legally tie certain dollar amounts to what was physically stuffed in each individual's pants at the exact moment of detention, the system worked exactly how its architects intended:

​The criminals walked right out of the station on pretrial release.

​The soft-on-crime experiment didn't stay contained within Illinois borders, and the real-world consequences of letting transient felony crews walk free turned deadly almost immediately.

​Just two months later, Camilo Sotolongo-Barreto—the exact same man you see being casually processed in this bodycam footage—was back in Youngstown, Ohio. Free to roam because of Illinois' revolving-door justice system, Sotolongo-Barreto got into a property dispute with his former roommate, 37-year-old Nestor Diaz.

​Sotolongo-Barreto escalated the argument, drew a kn!fe, and took the life of Diaz.

​The illegal fled the state immediately, sparking a multi-state manhunt before U.S. Marshals and local police finally tracked him down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He has since been extradited back to Ohio, where he sits in the Mahoning County Jail on a $1 million bond, officially arraigned on a charge of murder.

​When politicians push "progressive" cashless bail policies, they claim it’s about equity and fairness. This case proves the terrifying reality. Illinois didn't just let an illegal, out-of-state retail theft crew escape accountability—their soft-on-crime pipeline actively enabled a violent criminal to stay on the streets just long enough to take an innocent man's life in a neighboring state.

Is cases like this that truly make you sick to your stomach when you see the damage these policies cause.

[End Wokeness @EndWokeness]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

James Talarico's team is now forcing him to eat meat in front of reporters "proving he's Texas tough"

He looks like he wants to puke

[End Wokeness @EndWokeness]

SAY HIS NAME: Billy Schmidt (22)

Killed for his phone by "youths in hoods" on Friday in Philly, PA

[Yogi @Houseofyogi]

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921.

They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year.

Think about how badly you have to run a place for that to be the smart move.

They lost them for two reasons.

The people running Illinois would rather villainize a builder than keep one. And they're bad at their jobs.

In 2021 the Bears spent $197M on the old Arlington Park racetrack.

Before they could break ground, Cook County valued the empty lot at $192M (Bears said $60M). They were salivating at the chance to extort a building that didn't even exist yet.

That fight dragged on for years.

The Bears were ready to put $2B into the stadium. All they wanted was a promise the county wouldn't reassess them into oblivion, plus $855M for infrastructure everyone uses. Roads, transit, utilities. A $3B project, two thirds of it private money pouring into Illinois.

Springfield had since 2021 to get this done. They dragged it to the final night of session, passed it through the Senate at 3:39AM, and the House went home without voting.

So now it's all gone.

The funniest part? This started because Cook County tried to grab the tax early. They knew a built stadium would pay $53M a year. Now they get under $4M on a vacant lot. No jobs, no buildout, no new anything.

Congrats on fighting for scraps and losing the whole prize.

Pritzker: they're "an $8.5B valued business" that doesn't need propping up.

But be smart for a second. Almost every NFL city throws in public money for a stadium. Not charity. The return is real. Tourism, hotels, restaurants, jobs, game days, property tax on a huge development. The math works.

Indiana did the math. While Illinois sat on it for years, Indiana passed a bill in months, put up $1B, and took the team.

And the Bears took a worse deal to get there. In Illinois they were going to own their stadium. In Indiana they rent it from the state. A team that wanted to build its own home gave up ownership just to escape Chicago.

Nobody won but Indiana. The Bears lost their stadium. Illinois lost the team, the $2B, and $53M a year in taxes.

Pritzker after they left: "I wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team."

There it is. "Billionaire-owned."

That's how Democrats talk about any business right before they run it out of town. Call them a billionaire, act like you're saving working families, take a victory lap while the tax base drives across the state line.

Meanwhile they're running the whole state into the ground. And you already know how this ends. You're living in it.

Pensions are $143B in the hole, worst in the country and not close. You pay $6,285 a year in property taxes, double the $2,969 national average, for a city that's $1.15B in the red. The mayor called its finances "the point of no return."

When you run things this badly, you sell what's left.

They leased the parking meters for 75 years to Morgan Stanley and a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Took $1.15B and burned through it in two years. The investors already made it all back, with 58 years left to collect.

Sold the Skyway. Sold the downtown garages. Every asset that made money, gone for one check.

But a fixed property tax rate for a team that's been here 106 years? That's "propping up billionaires."

Companies are leaving. Boeing for Virginia. Caterpillar for Texas. Citadel for Miami. In 2023 alone Illinois lost 56,000 people and $6B in income to other states. The ones who left earned a third more than the ones who moved in.

Indiana didn't outbid anyone. AAA credit, 16 years straight. A $676M surplus. Fourth-lowest debt per person in the country. They just weren't a disaster.

Illinois could have collected $53M a year. It chose zero. Ignore all the bad management but make sure to stick it to those evil, pesky billionaires.

[kira 👾 @kirawontmiss]

Before AI we had Zach King

[Joe Abraham @angeldadjoe]

Unlike Katie, who's in a grave.

@GovPritzker say her name. Katie.

[Glenn Beck @glennbeck]

Did you hear what The View's Sunny Hostin just said? She called Maine's Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner "a cheater, an antisemite, a liar, a racist, and a homophobe."

Then she paused and said something very telling: “BUT...” the Democrats need "to win that seat in Maine" to stop Trump.

This once again proves that the Left has no moral code and will do anything to seize back power.

Here's something we all need to remember: Everything before you say “but” is what you actually believe. Everything after is what you’re willing to trade it for.

The Left is willing to trade exactly what they’ve been claiming to fight just to regain a little bit of power. All the harping about racism, sexism, and homophobia means nothing if they’ll compromise their beliefs for 'the collective good.'

[Libs Of Chicago @Libs_OfChicago]

Dick Durbin has been running for office since 1976 & has held one office or another in this state since 1982, longer than I’ve been alive. NO KINGS!! (Did I do it right?)

We can all agree that life hasn’t gotten better in this state, we all saw it get worse yet he was elected again & again & again & again. Now at 81 he figures he’s ruined the state enough, so he’ll retire, move to some place warm, collect his taxpayer funded pension & let Democrats prance him around a stage when/if necessary.

[Danielle Carter-Walters @Dannic44]

Hello Chicagoans. It’s truly going to take all of us to save Chicago. It’s going to take citizens who are tired of career politicians dictating our lives, going along with their agenda, and ignoring the regular people who keep this city running, and pay for everything, the operational costs of this city.

They don’t care about us.

They see us as slaves to their lifestyle, and their agenda.

It’s going to take us rising up and realizing that we deserve better. We can take our city back, and it can work for all of us. Our money can go toward improving our lives, not theirs. We can do this, Chicagoans.

God has given us this opportunity to rise up and reclaim our city. With the people by my side, we can do this. Love you all.

Danielle Carter-Walters for Mayor-2027
https://t.co/FRBcC9YivY

#daniellecarterwaltersformayor2027
#commonsensecarter
#justicecarter

[Dan Proft @DanProft]

"Imagine your child-40 feet running for their life--and never coming home and then tell me why you're voting for these (sanctuary) policies."

Sheridan Gorman's mom's challenge should be put to every sanctuary pol--and their voters--in Illinois.

[Joe Abraham @angeldadjoe]

The audacity of Alexi Giannoulias talking about safety is infuriating!

My daughter Katie was killed by someone who never should have been on Illinois roads in the first place but was given a valid Illinois drivers license.

Is that your idea of safety Secretary Giannoulias?

Katie was sacrificed to reckless policies and political ideology defended by J. B. Pritzker and Alexi Giannoulias.

[ThePersistence @ScottPresler]

I FOUND IT!

Here’s the video of democrat James Talarico calling God non-binary.

“God is both masculine & feminine & everything in between.”

In the same breath, Talarico said, “[Trans children] are perfect, beautiful, & they are sacred.”

No, Talarico. God isn’t non-binary.

[Darren Bailey @DarrenBaileyIL]

JB Pritzker’s BUILD Plan is a full-scale assault on Illinois suburbs.

He has no business forcing dense housing and apartments into quiet suburban neighborhoods.

Kill the BUILD Plan.

[Right Side And Free @rightsidefreee]

@RealJamesWoods @EverettRockford Nothing new, just Hollywood elites voting to keep the general population down as they rule from their castles.

[Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman]

Americans will never forget what she said!

It was a disgraceful remark, an embarrassment to our nation, and a slap in the face to every American who honors our flag.

[꧁♛𝓑𝓵✯𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓼♛꧂ @heyitsmeCarolyn]

Remember when Michelle said,
“All this for a damn flag”