Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker is getting hammered after posting a video promoting walking in Chicago, days after an 18-year-old woman was allegedly fatally shot by an illegal immigrant while out for a walk.
Sheridan Gorman, a Loyola University freshman, was killed March 19 while walking with friends, according to reports. Authorities say a 25-year-old Venezuelan national who was in the United States unlawfully approached her and shot her as she tried to run away.
The suspect, Jose Medina-Medina, crossed the southern border illegally in May 2023 and was later released into the United States. He then turned up in Chicago, where he was accused of shoplifting from a Macy’s weeks later, according to the Chicago Tribune. He never showed up for his court date, resulting in a warrant for his arrest, the outlet reported.
Days after Gorman’s killing, Pritzker posted a video promoting “National Walking Day,” describing the sanctuary state of Illinois as “the best place to walk.”
And the governor walked into an onslaught of criticism.
Happy National Walking Day, Illinois. pic.twitter.com/AsasLKDIT3
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) April 1, 2026
Fox News correspondent Matt Finn quipped, “Wasn’t an innocent young 18-yo college girl senselessly murdered while out for a walk in Chicago? Happy walking, Illinois.”
“CRAZY how most people who go out walking in a sanctuary city end up running,” Fox News Radio host Jimmy Failla wrote in the comments section.
Gorman’s family has criticized Pritzker’s response to the tragic slaying. Four days after the killing, Pritzker’s office released a statement on the “senseless murder.”
“Our thoughts are with the family, friends, and Loyola University community grieving the senseless murder of Sheridan Gorman,” Pritzker’s office told The Daily Wire. “Violent crime has no place in our streets, and we expect the alleged perpetrator to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Pritzker’s office placed blame on “the Trump administration,” saying it needs “to stop politicizing heinous tragedies and instead focus on real solutions, like reinstating federal funds to prevent violence that support our public safety efforts.”
In a social media post, Pritzker called Gorman’s killing “a tragedy,” adding that “the person responsible must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Gorman’s family pushed back on the governor’s response, saying her “death cannot be reduced to a general ‘tragedy,’ nor can it be explained away by broad references to failures somewhere else.”
“We are not interested in political arguments or in watching responsibility shift from one place to another,” the family continued. “If there were failures — as the Governor himself has acknowledged—then every one of them must be identified, examined, and addressed directly. The location of those failures matters less than the willingness to confront them honestly.”
“Our daughter is not a policy debate. She is a life that was taken, and that demands accountability,” they added.
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