East Central Reporter

Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) is making an issue of Illinois' rising crime rate in his campaign for governor.

“We must surge police support in Chicago and the surrounding areas,” Bailey said. “The Illinois Firearm Restraining Act is on the books and it should have been used. The Highland Park shooter was posting violent videos with the intent to attack.”

In Highland Park, police say Roberto Crimo III, 23, confessed to killing seven people during a Fourth of July parade.

In the aftermath of the July Fourth shooting, Bailey said in a video Highland Park should “move on” to celebrate freedoms, he later apologized for the remark.

“You guys know me,” Bailey said to reporters, The Telegraph wrote. "I’m a father, a grandfather, and Cindy (Bailey’s wife) and I are heartbroken for these families. The thought that my response could have caused more pain is certainly something that would keep me up at night — and I’m sorry.”

Illinois is experiencing a rise in crime.

“We got to strategize, we have to mobilize, and get in front of this thing,” Terry Burnside, executive director of the non-profit violence prevention organization House of Hope, said.

A report by Axios Chicago found that 19% of Illinois cities are underreporting crime data to the FBI.

ABC 7 reported Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering and Gov. J.B. Pritzker support President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It expands background checks, encourages red flag laws and mental health system reform.

“We in Highland Park banned assault weapons nine years ago, but we need the rest of the country, obviously, to catch up with us,” Rotering said, according to ABC 7. “The fact that guns in these shootings are legally obtained says that these laws need to be changed.”

Tim Baldermann, the mayor of Lenox, is frustrated with crime.

“I represent Republicans and Democrats alike,” he said on Fox News. "This is not a partisan issue. This violence is happening to everybody.”