Hinz: Pritzker feels heat from his own party and GOP over release of cop killers
The Illinois GOP used Gov. J.B. Pritzker's appearance at an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Illinois State Police to issue statements jabbing the Democratic incumbent about what he's doing about crime.
At the Springfield event today, Pritzker hailed the state police and repeatedly said they deserve to have their back covered by Illinoisans.
"We need to support police," Pritzker said. "I know our police. I believe the police are protecting our communities as best they can, sometimes in extremely difficult circumstances."
Pritzker clearly was on defense. His comments came a day after just 15 of the 41 Democratic members of the Senate voted to confirm Pritzker's nomination of Eleanor Kaye Wilson to the state's Prisoner Review Board amid controversy over the board's decision to release from prison for medical reasons a man convicted of killing a state trooper in 1976.