Chambana Sun

State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Champaign) is hitting the road as part of his effort to connect to voters.

Halbrook recently announced plans for traveling office hours, where Champaign County residents will be able to voice their concerns and share ideas with Halbrook or staffers in Homer beginning Jan. 17. The 90-minute event at Homer Village Hall kicks off at 4 p.m.

“Last year, the Democrats in the General Assembly forced some really bad ideas on our entire state,” Halbrook said in a press release. “Our new legislative session is now underway, and I want to hear your ideas and priorities for the new year. My staff and I also want to hear about any specific problems you may be having with a state program or agency so we can help.”

Halbrook said he plans to announce more traveling office hour dates and locations in the coming weeks.

Now in his fifth year of serving the 102nd District, Halbrook also recently announced he plans to support legislation seeking to increase the penalties for faking a crime.

“We don’t need to expend taxpayer money investigating crimes that never happened,” Halbrook told the Macon Reporter.

Halbrook’s criticism comes after a Chicago jury recently found the former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett guilty on five counts of lying to police about a staged hate crime. Smollett, who is Black and gay, told police his attackers placed a noose around his neck and yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him.

Halbrook said he believes Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are among those who also bear blame for the way they publicly came out in support of Smollett’s claims before all the facts of the case had been brought to light.

“I think they should do the honorable thing and walk their comments back and admit they fell for a hoax, but I also understand we are not dealing with honorable people here,” he said. “The truth does not matter to them. All that matters to them is perpetuating the narrative that their political opponents are racists. I think what they are doing is wrong but unfortunately, there is not really anything that can be done about it except to ensure these people do not have access to real power ever again.”

2021 ended as one of the most violent years in Chicago history, raising questions about if lawmakers like Lightfoot are doing enough to help keep communities as safe as they can be.

By early December, more than 1,000 homicides were documented by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. Of those homicides, 927 were committed during gun-related crimes.

And much of the violence hasn’t been restricted to the city’s inner-city neighborhoods. A 12-year-old girl was recently shot near North Michigan Avenue as large groups of teens gathered in the area. At last count, 21 minors were arrested in the incident in which two Chicago police officers were injured and two replica firearms recovered.

“Whatever they are doing is not working,” Halbrook said. “Car jackings, looting at retail stores and murders are on the rise in Chicago. Instead of helping to solve the problems, our leaders are only making it worse by ending cash bail, defunding the police and limiting the ability of police officers to do their job. The only way we are going to change this is by voting out the career politicians whose policies are destroying our state.”

Halbrook also recently compared the city’s ongoing vaccine mandate to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

According to NewsNationNow, Illinois is one of eight states in the country with a statewide mask mandate in place regardless of vaccination status. A similar mandate has been established in New York, CBS New York reported earlier this week.