2 Hours After Parade Killings, Candidate Says, 'Let's Move On'

Darren Bailey issues apologetic statement after negative reaction to his response
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 4, 2022 4:55 PM CDT
'Let's Move On,' Candidate Says 2 Hours After Parade Killings
State Sen. Darren Bailey addresses supporters after winning the Illinois Republican primary for governor on June 28 in Effingham.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

The Republican nominee for governor of Illinois posted a Facebook video on Monday addressing the shooting at a Fourth of July parade about two hours earlier in his state. Darren Bailey suggested praying for the victims' families and law enforcement officers, and then returning to the day's festivities, the Washington Post reports. "The shooter is still at large, so let’s pray for justice to prevail and then let's move on," Bailey says in the video. "Let's celebrate the independence of this nation."

In the video, Bailey stands with supporters at another parade holding "Fire Pritzker" signs. Bailey is facing Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in November. "We have got to get corruption and evil out of our government, and we have got to elect men and women of honor and of courage to get this country and this state back on track," Bailey says. After his "move on" post was criticized on social media, per the Daily Beast, Bailey released a statement saying, "I apologize if in any way we diminished the pain being felt across our state today." (More Highland Park mass shooting stories.)

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