Thread by @writesaacson

I read Paul Vallas's personal Facebook page so you don't have to! (A thread.)
His posts, dating back to 2019 (to be found at facebook.com/paul.vallas.750), are consistent with his well-documented appearances on right-wing talk radio. They are more proof that #BrandonIsBetter. (1/14)

The majority of Vallas's FB posts valorize the "thin blue line" of the brave police. He states that police violence does NOT disproportionately target Black men. Instead he trots out right-wing talking points about "Black-on-Black crime" and the "handcuffed" police force. (2/14)

Vallas skews the murder of George Floyd to insist that the police are equal victims. Then he rants about the "protestors/rioters" of May 2020 in Chicago, saying "In real time, we observed the cannibalistic side of society in a zero sum game." 3/14

Vallas advocates that the police crack down harder on public protest. He supports laws that would "add strict financial penalties" to offenses including "mob action," saying, "It will certainly give activists organizations the incentive to keep their demonstrations in check. 4/14

In the same post, Vallas adds, "There must also be another ordinance that will allow Chicago Police Officers, when an offender is arrested and has money on them, to be able to seize that money to pay down outstanding fines." 5/14

Vallas has alarming views on the new Chicago Police Department foot-pursuit policy. Background: The federal consent decree for CPD required that they create new foot-pursuit guidelines. 6/14

Cops running down blind alleys, guns drawn, are incredibly dangerous for the people they are chasing, for by-standers, and for the police themselves. As on many aspects of the federal consent decree, the CPD was dawdling meeting this requirement. 7/14

But after two Chicagoans—13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez—were killed by police during on-foot pursuit, the CPD finally put together a policy to limit (but not eliminate) this dangerous practice. Even this watered-down policy was too much for Vallas. 8/14

Vallas repeatedly railed against the new CPD foot-pursuit police policy repeatedly on his FB page, saying it was preventing "pro-active" (his word for "aggressive") policing. 9/14

Why is Vallas so obsessed with the new CPD policy? Perhaps because his son Gus, a San Antonio policeman, was one of three officers who shot and killed a Black man—Kevin Donel Johnson Jr.—during a foot chase in 2022. thetriibe.com/2023/02/get-do… via @jimdaleywrites @TheTRiiBE. 10/14

Also evident from both his Facebook posts and interviews is Paul Vallas's extremely high opinion of... himself. He has a Trumpian I-alone-can-fix-it attitude. His preening self-regard is in distinct contrast to Brandon Johnson's thoughtful, humble "Not Me. Us" approach. 11/14

The public safety programs of Vallas and Brandon could not be more disparate. Vallas's "tough-on-crime" plan is based on his fantasy that, once he is elected, droves of retired cops (currently enjoying their ample pensions) will come back to the force as beat cops. 12/14

The public safety plan of @Brandon4Chicago is much more reality-based. He will, among other things:
✅ train & promote 200 new detectives from existing rank and file
✅ Launch CTA Violence Intervention Program
✅ Use non-CPD professionals to address non-violent calls
(13/14)

Most importantly, @Brandon4Chicago will enact policies that address the root causes of crime, not just the policing of it. His public safety platform is here, and very much worth a read: brandonforchicago.com/issues/public-… 14/14