Peter Cunningham

Marked decline in homicides, robberies proves critics wrong about Pretrial Fairness Act Even as community investment is working to reduce crime in Chicago, some want to return to the failed “lock 'em up” policies that created mass incarceration but didn’t create safety.

Decline in crime in Chicago and Illinois is due to community investments--not pre-trial detention: Illinois State Rep. Lisa Davis. @suntimes.bsky.social @arneduncan.bsky.social @chicagocred.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/...

Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon and Chicago-based presidential candidate, dies at 84 Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the Chicago-based Baptist minister, political figure and two-time presidential candidate, has died.

RIP Reverend Jesse Jackson -- a vital presence in our national consciousness for so long. Met him many times. Heard him speak. He never quit. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/17/r...

ICE is bleeding Minneapolis business community says Mayor Frey.

"Silence is not neutrality; it is permission. The record that university chancellors, presidents and trustees create in this moment — who spoke, who acted and who stayed silent — will be studied long after today’s political actors are gone."

"Universities must begin to treat political extortion as something more than legal challenges to be sorted out in court. Instead of confronting extralegal attacks with lawyers, America’s universities would do well to muster a political response."

Former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan: "Much as lawyers are guardians of the rule of law, presidents and chancellors are stewards of intellectual freedom and democratic norms. When institutional self-preservation replaces moral leadership, universities abandon their core mission."

Former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman: "A kleptocratic and illiberal political movement began (in Hungary) not with tanks in the streets, but with pressure, “compacts” and quiet accommodation."

Opinion | Higher education needs a NATO-style self-defense pact How colleges can win the fight for their independence.

The Trump administration's threats to academic independence are a threat to democracy. @arneduncan.bsky.social and @davidpressman.bsky.social call on the higher education sector to unite and resist. @washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Last year, Amazon profits soared 44% to $89B while their tax bill dropped from $9B to $1.2 B. Meanwhile, the company just announced massive layoffs. This is the new criminal economy.

Mayor Brandon Johnson says it’s up to Cook County state’s attorney to prosecute federal agents Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday said it’s now up to the Cook County state’s attorney to decide whether to prosecute federal immigration agents for crimes they committed in Chicago.

How come Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke has not opened a murder investigation in the killing of Silverio Villegas González in Franklin Park by ICE in September? I am with @mayorofchicago.bsky.social on this one. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/03/m...

The BBC is the world's most respected broadcaster. @bbcrosatkins.bsky.social
is its most respected fact checker. Here he analyses, frame by frame, what happened in Minneapolis.

Border Patrol removed Alex Pretti's gun, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 shot him — TEN times in five seconds. The Trump regime is lying to us.

Opinion | Time for ICE to Pause in Minneapolis Alex Pretti made a mistake, but he wasn’t a ‘domestic terrorist.’

When 2A activists and the @wsj.com turn against you, maybe it's time for this crazy, lawless administration to reflect.
www.wsj.com/opinion/time...

Opinion | A Year In, Trump’s Economy Is Worse Than the Numbers The fiscal effects of the coming tax cut and the continuing threats to Fed independence augur ill.

Trump economy, per the @wsj.com Only 584,000 net new jobs were created over the 12 months of 2025 versus approximately two million during 2024.
www.wsj.com/opinion/a-ye...

Sharing with @arneduncan.bsky.social @chicagocred.bsky.social

YouTube video by Just A Few Questions We Can Do This

Just did a short podcast with @marcsimschicago.bsky.social about the stunning decline in gun violence in Chicago last year to its lowest level since 1965. Thank you Marc. Always good to chat with you.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW_A...

Cost of Operation Midway Blitz: $59M and counting A Tribune review of court filings, databases and other public records detailing the scope of the incursion and typical costs shows how much the federal government has spent since September.

Trump has bombed Nigeria, attacked Venezuala, and terrorized my hometown of Chicago. None of it legal. The tab in Chicago is about $60M to date. The tab overseas? Billions. What a disgrace. The gutless GOP Congress has done nothing to stop him.
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/04/o...

Opinion | Trump Is the Jan. 6 President

It's a shame that @nytimes.com expects the American people to do what our elected representatives qre afraid or unwilling to do--which is to hold Trump accountable. How? We don't control Congress, Courts, or media. We vote. That's our power. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...

Chicago marks a 60-year low in homicides in 2025. chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/0...

Going forward, Chicago must keep investing in CVI, focus more on high-risk youth, provide jobs and investments in crime-plagued communities, and continue to reform the police department to build greater trust and improve effectiveness. The return on investment with these strategies is nearly 20-1.

The coverage in the @chicagotribune.com was especially disappointing. It never mentioned community violence intervention and implied that it was all due to tougher law enforcement. But arrests are also way down since the pandemic. Clearly we are not arresting our way out of the problem. #CVIWorks

Since 2021, homicides and shootings have both dropped in Chicago by about 50%. To be the among the safest cities in America, we need to cut in half again the number of homicides and shootings. The only way to get there is to make CVI a permanent feature of Chicago's public safety strategy.

Chicago records fewest killings since 1965, despite Trump's attacks against the city Overall crime continued to drop as the number of murders in Chicago decreased from 587 in 2024 to 416 last year, when scores of federal immigration agents flooded the city and President Trump repeated...

Thank you @suntimes.bsky.social for reporting historic decline in homicides in Chicago in 2025--the lowest # in 60 years. @govpritzker.illinois.gov @mayorofchicago.bsky.social @tonipreckwinkle.bsky.social
@arneduncan.bsky.social
chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/0...

ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires An internal ICE document shared among immigration officials details plans to use influencers and geo-targeted ads to rapidly hire thousands of deportation officers.

Astonishing. Huge article in the @washingtonpost.com on ICE recruiting campaign targeting right-wing hotheads, offers zero perspective from the civil/immigrant rights community on the immoral actions of this rogue agency.
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

‘I Was Just So Naïve’: Inside Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Break With Trump

If Marjorie Taylor Greene really wants to stop MAGA, she could switch parties -- bring along one or two others -- and give the Democrats control of the House.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/m...

Kennedy Center board votes to rename to ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ Trustees voted to rename the center after President Donald Trump, who is also the board chair. Kennedy family members and Democrats blasted the move as illegal.

Like everything Trump does, renaming the Kennedy center after himself, won't last. It will die in court or in the next administration, where all of his executive orders will be summarily dumped into the trash. #MAGADeathSpiral
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

Opinion | Chicago has lost its mind The city’s fiscal situation is dire, and Mayor Brandon Johnson is determined to make things worse.

If @mayorofchicago.bsky.social was anything like Trump, he would shut down an Amazon warehouse just to punish @washingtonpost.com owner Jeff Bezos for this editorial. Alas, we still value free speech in Chicago.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Per the City of Chicago website, every single category of crime is down. A lot of people have worked hard to make this happen, from violence interruptors and police to philanthropic, faith, business, and community leaders.

Arne Duncan: Community violence intervention is working in Chicago Chicago neighborhoods where community violence intervention is most active have some of the largest declines in gun violence in the city.

We have a long way to go, but I am so happy we have a chance to have our safest year in 60 years here in Chicago!
The work of reducing violence is never easy- I am so incredibly grateful to all who have stayed with it for so long.
@chicagocred.bsky.social

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/10/o...

Here in Chicago, we have a chance to have our safest year in 60 years
Far from a mission accomplished moment- we still have so far to go- but remarkable progress nonetheless
We have to keep reducing violence & accelerating progress- the only way accomplish that is together.
@chicagocred.bsky.social

Opinion | Shooting the Wounded on Drug Boats? Congress is right to seek the truth about the alleged Hegseth missile order.

Few things frustrate me more than the @wsj.com editorial page--which does more to enable Trump's excesses than any other mainstream media platform in America. So it's good to see them demanding accountability for Hegseth's actions in the Caribbean.
www.wsj.com/opinion/drug...