Gang War Erupts in Chicago Ward Represented by Cop-Hating Socialist Alderman

There is a reason Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez is the patron saint of Chicago's gangs

Last week, CBS Chicago reported on the gang war in the Irving Park neighborhood. 

Responding to the increase in gunfire heard in the neighborhood, one local resident said: "The gunshots keep ringing out day and night."

At a recent CAPS meeting, Chicago Police said that there is indeed a gang war in Irving Park, which is in the heart of the 33rd Ward. A ward that covers the Albany Park, Ravenswood Manor, Irving Park, and Avondale neighborhoods, the ward is represented in the City Council by Alderman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez. While Ms. Rodriguez-Sanchez has declared herself an Independent, she is, in fact, firmly aligned with the City Council's Democratic Socialist Caucus.

Rodriguez-Sanchez, along with the five other socialists in the City Council, is in favor of cutting spending for the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Last week, the alderman, joined four of her socialist colleagues — one of them was a no-show — to side with Mayor Brandon Johnson for a Council vote over whether to give Superintendent of Police Larry Snelling the authority to sign an agreement extending the use of the gunshot technology with SoundThinking. Though the measure passed convincingly, the proposal fell one vote short of a veto-proof majority. Mayor Johnson later vetoed the measure.

ShotSpotter, which was not deployed in the 33rd Ward, was shutoff Monday morning. If ShotSpotter returns — or if another technology firm sets up a similar network — it appears that it is needed in Rodriguez-Sanchez' ward.

Rodriguez-Sanchez would probably fight such a move. Besides her anti-police beliefs, Rodriguez-Sanchez has a troubling history with street gangs. Following the 2020 shooting death of documented gang member Adam Lique, Rodriguez-Sanchez portrayed Lique as a victim of street violence and donated to a GoFundMe campaign created for the slain Latin King. An incident recalled in these pages in 2021, Chicago Contrarian wrote:

“Particularly worrisome is the fact Rodriguez-Sanchez has made it a habit to defend and even personally donate to crowdfunding pages of the very gang members that perpetuate violence in the 33rd Ward and surrounding areas. In a number of instances, she has publicly sided with known gang members, often by offering excuses for gang behavior, advocating for the release of gun offenders, spewing anti-police or pro-gang hyperbole, and defending soft on crime policies that enable the violence. Rodriguez-Sanchez does this despite the fact residents in her ward are known to oppose gangs and support consequences for gang and gun crime.”

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In numerous interviews, Rodriguez-Sanchez has touted her proposed “Treatment not Trauma" ordinance. Translated from leftist dogma, that means 911 dispatchers will send mental health workers instead of the police to, for example, domestic disturbance calls.

Shortly before the final round of last year’s municipal elections, while a guest on WIND-AM's Morning Answer, former Superintendent of Police Garry McCarthy was asked about such an approach, which Johnson also favors.

"We're gonna end up with some dead social workers," was McCarthy's response.

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Leftists are not adept at common sense solutions.

In interviews in which she has fleshed out her “Treatment not Trauma” theories on fighting crime, Rodriguez-Sanchez has pointed to the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, which leans heavily on the use of mental health professionals as a success story that Chicago should duplicate.

"They fight crime this way in Eugene, Oregon — and we're going to do it that way here too," Rodriguez-Sanchez has said to demonstrate her conviction social workers are more adept to handle some 911 calls.

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Sending a squad of shrinks to Old Irving Park to end the gang war there is not a serious solution. Fortunately, so far at least, Rodriguez-Sanchez, has not suggested that. Rodriguez-Sanchez's professional background is in drama, and there was plenty of street theater last month among the many protests when the Democratic National Convention was in town.

At one those street rallies held near the United Center, a man captured on video banging a drum while chanting, along with many others, "CPD, KKK, IOF, they’re all the same," is almost certainly Eric Ramos, the ward superintendent of the 33rd Ward.

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CPD, of course, stands for the Chicago Police Department, KKK you know already, and IOF is how progressives refer to the Israeli Defense Forces. IOF meaning Israeli Occupation Forces.

Rodriguez-Sanchez views the ward superintendent position as crucial. In 2022, while being interviewed on the Why Change? podcast, she described the basics of that job to the host, explaining that it involves the superintendent driving through the ward in a pickup truck, ensuring that trash is collected, and the streets are clear after a snowfall. Nevertheless, Rodriguez-Sanchez’s vision of that job extends further than her oversimplified definition. Almost certainly referring to her ward superintendent, Rodriguez-Sanchez described the qualities that she looks for in employees on her staff:

"I wanted to make sure that whoever was out there in a pickup knew about housing issues and knew about immigration issues….And that has been missing, because the ward superintendent actually does that, and he does it because he is an organizer." 

"Organizing," in the lexicon of a socialist, almost always means left-wing rabble-rousing.

Ramos, who makes $94,000 annually, was first mentioned as Rodriguez-Sanchez's ward superintendent on her website in late 2022, which is after when the Why Change? podcast was recorded.

The video clip of Ramos chanting anti-police slogans during the DNC last month is quite disturbing, because Rodriguez-Sanchez says her ward superintendent's responsibilities go far beyond ensuring passable streets. As with her five other comrades in the City Council, Rodriguez-Sanchez is rarely identified as a socialist by Chicago's fawning mainstream media. A perfect example of media bias, those so-called journalists are committing the "sin of omission." 

During her appearance on the Next Left podcast in 2020 with The Nation's John Nichols, the host said of Rodriguez-Sanchez: "You've told interviewers that you've been a Democratic Socialist all your life." 

Rodriguez-Sanchez agreed with Nichols. So never forget, Rossana Rodriquez-Sanchez is a socialist.

There is a lot of predictable box-checking with the leftists, and the alderman of the 33rd Ward is no different. Anti-police, check. Undue sympathy for criminals, check. Massive funding for social programs, check. Anti-Semitism, very likely a check.

In May, Rodriguez-Sanchez uploaded a hateful post on Facebook. It read:  

"Looking for an anti-Zionist pediatrician for this baby. Give me your recs."

The City Council's only Jewish member, 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein, issued a strong statement condemning that social media post. In a searing rebuke of Rodriguez-Sanchez, Silverstein wrote:

"Bigots frequently use ‘Zionist’ as an anti-Semitic dog whistle for Jewish, so in effect, Alderwoman Rodriguez Sanchez is saying she doesn’t want a Jewish doctor. That is anti-Semitic, hateful, and completely unacceptable behavior for an elected official."

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The month before, hours after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, Rodriguez-Sanchez posted "Free Palestine" on X. When confronted about her social media comment, the alderman claimed she was unaware of that day’s missile barrage.

Perhaps she was telling the truth — but remember our earlier box-checking exercise.

Support for Rodriguez-Sanchez is hardly deep among her constituents. In 2019, Rodriguez-Sanchez defeated the incumbent 33rd Ward alderman, Deb Mell, by a mere 13 votes. The daughter of Dick Mell, an old-guard machine ward boss, Mr. Mell is the father-in-law of Illinois' most recent convicted ex-governor, Rod Blagojevich. 

Four years later, Rodriguez-Sanchez prevailed in her reelection attempt with 54 percent of the vote. The residents of the 33rd Ward have been ill-served by their representatives in the Chicago City Council for decades.

Thirty months from now, voters can make a change and elect someone who is not an ideologue.