Families who lost loved ones in the 2022 Highland Park Fourth of July Parade massacre have filed lawsuits against the Illinois State Police, saying the state owes them millions of dollars because ISP could have stopped the man accused in the slayings from obtaining the weapon prosecutors say he used that day.
This summer, attorneys for the Highland Park families filed complaints against the state police in the Illinois Court of Claims, a special court established under the state constitution through the Illinois Secretary of State's office to exercise jurisdiction for lawsuits filed against state government agencies.
The Center Square was the first to report on the lawsuits pending in the Court of Claims.
Attorney Michael F. Bonamarte, of the firm of Levin & Perconti, has filed at least three complaints vs the Illinois State Police on behalf of Highland Park families.
| Levin & Perconti
The complaints provided by the Illinois Secretary of State's office are heavily redacted, blacking out many details about who is suing and many of the details surrounding plaintiffs' experiences on July 4, 2022 during the shootings that killed seven people.
However, the complaints all appear to accuse the ISP of being negligent in not acting to prevent the accused murderer, Robert Crimo III, of obtaining the guns he allegedly used.
Crimo has been charged with 117 counts in connection with the shootings, including three counts for each victim. He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery against the victims. He remains in Lake County Jail awaiting trial.
While the Secretary of State's office provided copies of five lawsuits filed in the Court of Claims since June, the Center Square reported the filings represent at least 29 separate claims, valued at $2 million each. Thus, the Center Square reported claimants are seeking at least $58 million from the state stemming from the massacre.
"The atrocity carried out by Robert Crimo III was predictable and preventable, if only the Illinois State Police and its Firearm Services Bureau had followed their internal regulations, rules, laws, and code provisions that applied to dangerous individuals like Robert Crimo III," one complaint said.
According to the complaints, Crimo III allegedly was well known to police and had been flagged as a threat to both his family and the public years before the massacre.
One of the lawsuits asserted Crimo III had a "turbulent youth," that involved 20 police visits to his home from 2009-2014. The complaint asserts police were again summoned to his home in April 2019 when Crimo III attempted suicide with a machete and again later in 2019 when Crimo III allegedly made threats against family members.
At that time, the complaint says police seized a collection of knives, a dagger and sword owned by Crimo III after a family member reportedly told police Crimo III "intended to 'kill everyone.'"
That encounter allegedly resulted in Highland Park entering a "clear and present danger" report on Crimo III with the Illinois State Police.
According to the complaints, this should have prevented Crimo III from obtaining a state Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card when he turned 18.
However, according to the complaints, Crimo III obtained a FOID, allegedly with the assistance of his father, Robert Crimo II, and then used that FOID to purchase a Smith & Wesson rifle and ammunition that he allegedly used to commit the 2022 massacre.
Further, the complaint asserts Crimo III's pre-massacre actions were in keeping with his social media, internet usage history and reputation as an allegedly troubled youth fascinated with violence, firearms and paramilitary tactical gear and clothing.
Crimo III, for instance, reportedly posted a video online in October 2021 which the complaint said he rapped: "I just need to do it. It is my destiny. Everything has led up to this. Nothing can stop me, not even myself. Is there such a thing as freewill."
And almost a year before the massacre, Crimo III reportedly posted videos to his social media believed to be a portion of Highland Park's Fourth of July Parade.
However, despite all of the alleged warnings, the complaint said the ISP did not act to prevent Crimo III from obtaining the weapon he allegedly used in the massacre.
The complaints pending in the Court of Claims were filed on behalf of the Highland Park claimants by attorneys with the firms of Romanucci & Blandin, of Chicago; Rapoport Weisberg & Sims, of Chicago; and Levin & Perconti, of Chicago. The Levin firm filed three of the five complaints obtained by The Record.
Some of those firms are also involved in separate lawsuits pending in Lake County Circuit Court on behalf of Highland Park families and massacre victims against firearms maker Smith & Wesson.
Those lawsuits assert Smith & Wesson should also be made to pay for allegedly marketing its products in such a way that it fueled Crimo III's alleged "thirst" for violence and enticed him to commit the atrocity.
Those lawsuits are also supported by prominent national anti-gun policy groups, including Everytown USA and the Brady Campaign.
When the lawsuits were announced in 2022, representatives of those organizations made no secret about their intent to use the lawsuits to extract big money from Smith & Wesson, following a pattern used to secure a $73 million settlement from firearms maker Remington, in lawsuits filed over the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Smith & Wesson has called the lawsuits an "artful" attempt to secure court orders that would conflict with federal law and infringe on the Second Amendment by punishing gunmakers for the actions of criminals in a bid to drive firearms makers out of business.