FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 23, 2025
As an organization committed to justice and liberation for all people, 33rd Ward Working Families mourns the senseless murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington, D.C. We believe in creating safety for everyone in our community: our immigrant and undocumented siblings, our houseless siblings, and our Jewish and Palestinian siblings. We affirm that Jewish and Palestinian liberation are deeply intertwined and that it is our collective duty to fight for both.
Yesterday, as our community learned the unsettling news that the man charged with these murders was a resident of Albany Park, several politicians began circulating dangerous misinformation. They attempted to link the alleged shooter to elected officials who have advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza—including Alderperson Rossana Rodríguez Sánchez, State Senator Graciela Guzmán, and Congresswoman Delia Ramirez.
In social media posts, former 33rd Ward Committeeperson Iris Martinez and 15th Ward Alderperson Ray Lopez even posted a picture misidentifying one of our members as the alleged shooter. Even though reporters with Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Tribune have clearly identified this as misinformation, these politicians left their defamatory posts up for hours, and some have not taken down their defamatory comments attempting to conflate a private citizen with an alleged murderer.
We condemn this cheap attempt by current and former elected officials to exploit Wednesday’s tragedy to serve their own political agenda—and to distract from the catastrophic situation in Gaza, where as many as 930,000 children are currently at risk of famine following an 11-week blockade. The remarks of Martinez, Lopez and others attempt to sow fear, escalate tensions and drive political wedges into our community. In reality, their words will decrease the safety of our community and invite further threats to our neighbors at a time when Albany Park and the entire city of Chicago are already experiencing incredible stress due to immigration enforcement raids.
We are living through an era in which some of the world’s most powerful people, including the U.S. president, weaponize social media to harass and silence political opponents. This is shameful and unacceptable behavior from public servants here in our city.
In light of these reckless remarks, we want to correct the record: The alleged shooter, Elias Rodriguez, is not and has never been a member or volunteer of our organization. Nor did he have campaign window signs supporting our progressive elected officials, as some bad-faith operators claimed—those window signs belonged to John Wayne Fry, 71, a neighbor who had no connection to Elias Rodriguez aside from happening to live in the same building.
John Wayne Fry is a trusted and beloved movement elder, respected community member, and active member of our organization. Yesterday, after returning home to helicopters overhead and heavily armed law enforcement on his street, John Wayne stepped outside to address the media and correct the willful misinformation circulating. He issued a powerful call for peace that reached viewers nationwide: “Ceasefire now. No more deaths in D.C.; no more deaths in Gaza.”
We are proud of the clarity and humanity John Wayne Fry evinced in this terrible time. We are proud to be among the millions worldwide calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza. And we are proud to have elected champions carrying forward the work of peace and justice in the halls of power.
