I read with amazement the op-ed co-written by Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez declaring that Illinois leadership should demand an end to “violence and cruelty” on vulnerable people ( “Our leaders must protect our communities from Donald Trump’s policies,” April 22). He cites the recent assault on a server in Pilsen as an example.
Sigcho-Lopez is the same guy who proclaimed not long ago that he wants less police presence in his ward that could prevent such incidents. He also attended a rally where a flag was burned and then proclaimed he had no idea what had happened. This is the same guy who insinuated that Ald. Bill Conway was a white supremacist.
Sigcho-Lopez loves creating controversy. Unfortunately, he has little interest in presenting anything substantive when he does.
— Tony LaMantia, Chicago
A specious claim
The op-ed by Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez and Caise D. Hassan recounts the disgusting and criminal attack on a Pilsen restaurant server by two “patrons” over a $50 bill — and blames it on President Donald Trump. Even if you believe that Trump is an evil fascist dictator hell-bent on deporting every immigrant in the country illegally, it seems a stretch to blame him for this attack.
Were the patrons wearing MAGA hats? And the photo included with the op-ed shows a “bus containing immigrants who are in the country without legal permission” heading to the Gary/Chicago airport for deportation Jan 3.
Two questions: Who was the president on Jan 3, and have the two patrons been arrested yet?
— Bill Adamson, Naperville
Not making us safer
When has a democratic government ever sent out men in masks and hoodies to arrest and detain people? Proper arrests are made by law enforcement in uniform who wear name tags and show proper identification, so people know they are dealing with officials and not kidnappers or goon squads.
And why are so many members of Congress acting as if they don’t even know this is happening? The way we are treating immigrants (and some international students) is likely creating the next generation of anti-American terrorists.
It is not making us safer.
— Wilda Morris, Bolingbrook
Attack on our rights
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was sent to a Salvadoran prison camp with zero evidence and despite a direct court order forbidding it. He’s still there despite a ruling from the Supreme Court that orders his return, and I’m outraged that President Donald Trump’s administration is openly defying the Constitution to keep him there.
This is a direct attack on our constitutional rights and the rule of law — not to mention an insult to good-faith governance as well an appalling rape of basic civilized decency. It’s nothing less than a Soviet-style expression of wanton state power, and all of America’s civil society, including this paper, must relentlessly push the story and rage with one righteous voice against extrajudicial kidnappings.
The national emergency is upon us. If Trump gets away with this, everyone’s rights are at risk. He’s already suggested deporting U.S. citizens next. There is absolutely no doubt that this is something he will do — unless we mobilize our collective fear, our collective disgust and our fury into a spectacular public response. We need an organized, disruptive refusal that will show this man there are limits to what he can do.
If we don’t enforce that limit, then he will never observe one.
— Nick Christensen, Chicago
Preserving republic
President Donald Trump’s tariffs are the beginning of our noble effort to rediscover true American independence. Since the days of Chairman Mao Zedong, and certainly with the passage of the U.S.-China Relations Act in 2000 granting our communist enemies favored status in the World Trade Organization, America has been under attack. We are the victim of an economic war intended to weaken us before China’s military plans are implemented.
However, rather than enter this war with a defeatist mentality, Trump has made the decision to decouple. The tariffs are a central pillar in our toolbox to preserve the sacred principles of our democratic republic. We must stay the course and hit the Chinese with more tariffs. We must break the backs of our enemies, or we shall surely have our own backs broken. Proper foresight wins all wars, and all worthwhile endeavors require collective sacrifice.
This trade war will secure our freedom and that of generations after us.
— Henry Wilson, Barrington
Graffiti downplayed
The article “Fed cuts, threats fuel protests at colleges” (April 18) contains a glaring omission that minimizes the nature of a recent hate-filled incident. About midway through the article are the sentences, “Early Monday, a group of students vandalized several buildings at Northwestern. … The graffiti was immediately removed.” These sentences refer to the shocking vandalism that occurred at Northwestern University overnight the previous Sunday, during the Jewish holiday of Passover. This vandalism was not mere “graffiti”; it contained hateful, antisemitic language and threats linked to violence, including “Death to Israel,” as well as images of red triangles and red hands, symbols linked to terrorism.
Tribune readers deserve to know the full truth about the incident and the threats posed by individuals in our communities supporting terrorists and violence.
— Amie S. Barrish, Deerfield
Just crummy theater
Kudos to the Tribune Editorial Board for showing some appropriate fangs in defending Lori Lightfoot as neither evil nor a dope (“No, President Trump, Lori Lightfoot is neither ‘evil’ nor a ‘dope,’” April 21). She disappointed some, sure, but slamming her with cheap and meaningless slurs is pointless and just wrong.
Just wrong, unfortunately, does fit many of our president’s comments. The more we view or read about him makes his comments increasingly laughable. He can barely sling together sentences, and those he does are incoherent, tangential and so filled with lies as to make dredging up ex-Mayor Lightfoot in the context of today’s abominable shows by the leader of the free world as crummy theater at best.
He focuses so much on trying to one-up that his credibility is scant and his style simply odious. Not powerful, just odious. Shame.
— Jacqueline Roig, Chicago
Defending Lightfoot
The editorial staff at the Tribune must either have a very short memory or is trying to dispense a fairy tale regarding Lori Lightfoot’s reign as mayor. I don’t agree with our president on much, but in this case, his statement about Lightfoot being a “dope” is absolutely correct and rather kind.
I am a resident of Chicago and watched in horror as Lightfoot ordered the Police Department to stand down against rioters and looters during the George Floyd protests. This one act alone emboldened criminal activity to escalate and has resulted in the types of criminal activity we still have to live with today.
I suggest the Tribune Editorial Board review some history during her reign including video documentation of her disastrous ability to properly manage any aspect of city government. Why does the board think she lost reelection?
Sadly, Mayor Brandon Johnson is no better.
Learn the facts. Admit the truth. And stop trying to cover up for one of Chicago’s worst mayors!
— Joseph Talbott, Chicago
Targeting nonprofits
We should all pay attention to H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which passed in the U.S. House in November and is now in the Senate.
If passed, alleged “terrorist-supporting organizations” could lose their nonprofit status and restrict activists’ ability to protest. Authoritarians like to label organizations as terrorists because, over time, the label sticks, and the group loses credibility and funding.
Northwestern and Harvard universities are battling these vengeful threats, and the overreach of the act could extend to our local nonprofits.
This is just another attempt to silence freedom of speech and diminish the value of higher education.
— Colleen Oenning, Park Ridge
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