Thursday, January 10, 2019

Taxwinkle savaged for new TV ad that overstates her role in exposing the Laquan McDonald shooting

Of the dozen or so candidates for mayor of Chicago, Toni Taxwinkle, the hardened leftist who is the Crook County Board president, has received the most collateral damage from the Ald. Ed Burke extortion scandal.

There is hope for morally and financially bankrupt Chicago yet.

From CBS Chicago:
In her first mayoral campaign ad, Toni Preckwinkle highlights her role in exposing the police cover-up of the Laquan McDonald shooting. But organizers who were on the front lines of the McDonald protests insist Preckwinkle's ad is in poor taste and exaggerates her role.

"It kind of disrespects the moment to profit off of the pain of Laquan McDonald’s tragic transition, " said protest organizer Jedidiah Brown.

"I'm saying she’s trying to capitalize off this. I’m saying she’s wrong,” added protest organizer William Calloway. "I'm saying she’s only doing this because she's in hot water with that (Ald. Ed) Burke situation. That’s the only reason that she’s doing that."
They say Preckwinkle’s ad seeks to change the subject after federal prosecutors alleged that Ald. Ed Burke illegally squeezed a businessman for a $10,000 campaign contribution for Preckwinkle.

"I stand by the role that I played," Preckwinkle said. "It was the release of the autopsy report for the family and to the activists and to the folks who were suing to get the video released that made it possible for us to know the truth about Laquan McDonald’s murder."
Wrong. The video release alone ignited that story. Does anyone seriously believe that the family didn't already have access to that autopsy report?

McDonald was the troubled youth who has shot 16 times by Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke He was convicted last year of second degree murder for the shooting. Ironically, the Burger King restaurant at the center of the Burke extortion charge is located just steps away from there McDonald was killed.
Taxwinkle's opponents in the race pounced on the ad. "Toni Preckwinkle’s ad politicizing the death of LaQuan McDonald and fabricating her role is appalling, even for her," one of those candidates, Bob Fioretti, Tweeted this afternoon. "She will do or say anything to distract from her corrupt ties to Ed Burke. She needs to pull the ad and get out of the race now."

Related post from Da Tech Guy:

The arrest of a powerful Chicago alderman who has been in office for 50 years and the corruption tax

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