Pritzker's glowing review of lakefront resurfaces after college student killed by illegal alien nearby
Illinois' Democratic Governor JB Pritzker recently highlighted the calm of Chicago’s shore with Lake Michigan in a video he posted across his social media platforms — a nearby area where an illegal alien shot and killed a college student last week.
"Lots of runners coming by," Pritzker said in a video he posted to Facebook last September.
"Lakefront path, Lakefront Trail — absolutely gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Look at that overpass. A great lakefront."
The tone of the resurfaced clip clashes with the death of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Loyola University student who was shot to death near Tobey Prinz Beach Park, an area included in Chicago’s Police District 24.
Pritzker's walk went viral on social media when several viewers online criticized the governor for his characterization of the shoreside area.
"Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker & Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson haven't posted anything about the murder of Sheridan Gorman, allegedly at the hands of a Venezuelan illegal alien," Fox News Congressional Correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X. "Last year, Pritzker made a video from the lakefront she was killed at, mocking claims that it wasn't safe."
"Governor JB Pritzker posted this video of the Chicago lakeside to brag about how safe it is. Sheridan Gorman was just killed there by a Venezuelan immigrant his state law PROTECTED," End Wokeness, a popular conservative account, wrote in a X post.
"> crosses the border illegally > released into the country by Biden > arrested for shoplifting > released back onto the street > murders an innocent girl," former Trump White House staffer Greg Price wrote.
"Pritzker posted this video bragging about how safe Chicago's lakeside is — right where Sheridan Gorman was just killed by a Venezuelan illegal his state law protected. Unreal," another account wrote.
MY DAUGHTER WAS KILLED, AND I WARNED SANCTUARY CITY POLICIES WOULD COST LIVES AGAIN
The area has improved in the categories of thefts, burglary and motor vehicle theft in recent years, according to recent police reports. However, reporting for murder, sexual assaults and aggravated battery have gone up, according to crime stats from March.
District 24 has reported three murder cases, 19 sexual assaults and 32 aggravated battery incidents so far in 2026.
The district has the second-most murders of any district of the six districts included in Chicago’s Area 3, which covers a significant chunk of the city’s northern side.
In Gorman’s case, authorities charged Jose Medina, a Venezuelan national, with her murder.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Medina had already been apprehended for shoplifting in Chicago but had been released in June 2023.
Even before that, Medina had been apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol in May 2023. He was also allowed to walk free then.
"Sheridan Gorman had her whole life ahead of her before this cold-blooded killer decided to end her life. She was failed by open border policies and sanctuary politicians who RELEASED this illegal alien TWICE before he went on to commit this heinous murder," Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
"We are calling on Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this criminal illegal alien from jail back into American neighborhoods."
The office of Governor Pritzker did not respond to a request for comment on the Chicago shoreside area and its crime rates.