 Chicago City Official Found with Handgun
Written by Mike Kinsey
Thursday, 18 January 2007
Unfortunately for average citizens of Chicago, the possession of handguns has basically been banned since the early 1980’s. However, if you live in the Windy City and would like to own one for personal protection or target shooting, there is an avenue available to you: Become a City Alderman!
Apparently, these Chicago officials are part of an elite ruling class that can exercise their innate and (supposedly) protected right to keep and bear arms while forbidding you to do so. I was not aware of this discriminatory and despicable policy until I read an article from The Chicago Tribune reporting on a criminal raid of Chicago Alderman Arenda Troutman that resulted in the discovery of her legal .357 revolver.
Believe it or not, but this blatant hypocrisy is not what upset me most about this story. Sam Adam Jr., Troutman’s lawyer, defended his client’s need for owning and carrying a concealed handgun:
Adam said Troutman needed protection in the economically depressed area where she lives and serves. Her home has been broken into in the past…
"She didn't go up to the North Shore to run, or to the southwest suburbs among the affluent to make things better," he said. "She's right there in the 'hood."
No kidding? She felt the need to carry a handgun for personal protection? I bet she is not the only one out of millions of Chicago residents that live in one of our nation’s most crime-ridden cities.
So… will the criminal raid affect her political future?
Troutman said Thursday the charges do not deter her from running for another term in the Feb. 27 election, but opponent Willie B. Cochran called on her to resign Friday.
I understand her hesitation about becoming a lowly commoner now that she is used to a lifestyle befitting a privileged ruler. She would be forced to relinquish her special permission to defend herself and have to try and survive like everyone else on the dangerous streets of Chicago.
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FBI log: Troutman raids turned up 'suspect' drugs, gun
By Jeff Coen
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 12, 2007, 8:18 PM CST
Federal documents made public Friday show the scope of the investigation into Chicago Ald. Arenda Troutman and indicate the FBI may not be done looking into her connections to street gangs.
Evidence logs from searches of Troutman's home and office on Monday also show that agents allegedly found suspected drugs, drug paraphernalia and a handgun.
Earlier this week, authorities charged Troutman with accepting a bribe to smooth the way for a mixed-use development on the South Side. Troutman has denied the accusations.
The documents show some of the suspected drugs were recovered in Troutman's home in the 6500 block of South Kimbark Avenue, where the revolver also was found. A "white powdery substance in Ziploc plastic bag" was found in her office at 5958 S. State St., the documents state, noting it was found in a desk drawer.
FBI spokesman Ross Rice said laboratory testing of the substances was not complete.
Troutman's lawyer, Sam Adam Jr., said he believes that testing will show the powder was a vitamin supplement.
"Anybody who knows anything about Arenda Troutman can tell you she is a health freak," Adam said. "She hasn't eaten meat in years; she's a vegetarian.
"Arenda Troutman does not do drugs," he said. "We need to wait until these lab tests come back and see what we're talking about here."
Troutman, the 20th Ward alderman, has been under law enforcement scrutiny in the past for her association with Donnell "Scandalous" Jehan, an alleged Black Disciples gang leader who has fled to avoid drug conspiracy charges.
Agents were to seize "records and documents of press releases issued by Arenda Troutman, her aldermanic office, her committeeman office, her campaign committees or her employees regarding law-enforcement issues and street-gang activity."
Aldermen are an exception to Chicago's ban on handguns, and Adam said he believes Troutman's gun was lawfully owned and kept.
Adam said Troutman needed protection in the economically depressed area where she lives and serves. Her home has been broken into in the past, and the gun was registered to a private detective who left it for her, Adam said.
"She didn't go up to the North Shore to run, or to the southwest suburbs among the affluent to make things better," he said. "She's right there in the 'hood."
Troutman said Thursday the charges do not deter her from running for another term in the Feb. 27 election, but opponent Willie B. Cochran called on her to resign Friday.
The search warrants in the Troutman case included lists of items to be seized. Included were bank records, lists and receipts; income and expense summaries; cash disbursement journals, and other financial information. Also listed were computer equipment and documents.
jcoen@tribune.com
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Felon candidates give logic a run for its money
January 19, 2007
'Welcome to Chicago," says the cop played by Sean Connery to FBI agent Elliot Ness in the 1987 gangster-era film "The Untouchables." "This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide." It was a crude remark but funny, too, and it begs a smile of acknowledgement, particularly after the news the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners will allow two aldermen convicted for federal crimes -- while in office -- to run again for the City Council.
Former aldermen Ambrosio Medrano (25th) and Virgil Jones (15th) will be allowed to have their names on the ballot for the Feb. 27 citywide elections. The news gives added tarnish to the city's indelible scofflaw image. After all, what is Chicago best known for abroad? Being the home of Al Capone.
Medrano was found guilty of extortion; Jones was found guilty of taking bribes in the federal sting known as Operation Silver Shovel. "In Chicago a mistake on a form or a misplaced staple can throw you off the ballot," notes Jay Stewart, executive director of the Better Government Association. "But their crimes were directly related to their public office and now they are being allowed on the ballot."
Election commissioners determined a state law banning felons from running for municipal office was unconstitutional because it did not apply equally to those running for other levels of government. The commissioners' decision went against the recommendations of election board examiners, objections to Medrano's and Jones' candidacies, and a decision by a Downstate appellate court that upheld the state law last year.
Ex-felons, the commissioners declared, get all their other rights back, including voting privileges, and should be given a second chance. Crying, Jones told reporters: "It means to me that since I am a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that there is still a God that does not allow injustice to prevail." See what keeping your faith can do?
Medrano and Jones will join the ranks of former Ald. Percy Giles (37th), who was convicted for taking bribes and tax evasion in 1999, and Wallace Davis Jr. (27th), who was convicted of bribery and extortion in 1987. Giles and Davis Jr. hope to run for election, too. Last week, Ald. Arenda Troutman was arrested by the feds and charged with taking bribes.
Lawmakers in Springfield need to rewrite the law guiding who can run for municipal office and make it applicable to everyone who wants to hold an elected seat -- state and municipality. And election commissioners should hang their heads in shame over their decision. Their explanation that this gives Medrano and Jones a chance at rehabilitation will only add to voters' cynicism.
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'She just wanted to feel safe'
Cable host defends decision to give gun to Troutman
January 18, 2007
BY FRANK MAIN AND NATASHA KORECKI Staff Reporters
Cable TV host W.L. Lillard defended Ald. Arenda Troutman on his talk show in 2005 after the Sun-Times exposed her family's ties to the scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program.
Now Lillard is defending his own decision to provide Troutman (20th) with a handgun the FBI seized from her home when she was arrested last week on bribery charges.
Lillard, a state-licensed private detective, said he was authorized to give the gun to Troutman because she is considered a peace officer under state law. She needed protection because her home was burglarized in 2004, he said.
"She was not going to carry it on the street. She just wanted to feel safe," said Lillard, a former police captain in south suburban Phoenix and host of "Straight Talk" on Channel 25.
But authorities question whether Lillard followed the legal procedures to transfer the gun to Troutman. And they say she failed to register the gun with the city.
"There is no exception in the city ordinance that would be applicable in this situation," said city Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle.
"Since this is an ongoing federal investigation, it would be premature at this point to enforce an ordinance violation," added Monique Bond, a police spokeswoman.
'Not an illegal handgun'
Troutman attorney Sam Adam Jr. acknowledged Troutman probably was in violation of the ordinance but said she would fight any attempt to cite her.
"It was certainly not an illegal handgun," Adam said. "It was only there to protect herself and her children."
Lillard, a self-described yoga master whose show features African-American politicians and entertainers, said he and Troutman are close -- in part because of their affiliation with the African Hebrew Israelite movement.
Lillard said he watched her home and gave her his .357-caliber Colt Python revolver for protection after she reported two burglaries to police in 2004.
Lillard registered the gun with the city in 1983 but did not renew the registration annually, police said. The city can't require private eyes like Lillard to register their guns anymore, according to a state appeals court decision.
On Jan. 8, the FBI said it seized the gun from Troutman's home in the 6500 block of South Kimbark, along with suspected drugs.
fmain@suntimes.com |
