Burke Threatened

Wow. Who would have thunk it? And right after the election, too. What a coincidence!!!

• Sneed hears a 62-year-old South Side man has been arrested for threatening to kill Ald. Ed Burke (14th).
  Timothy J. Hercog was charged with felony intimidation of a public official and is scheduled to appear in bond court today.

  According to a police report, Hercog left three messages at Burke’s South Side office between Feb. 20 and Feb. 23. In one message, Hercog reportedly said he wanted to kill Burke; in another one he allegedly told the alderman he “better keep his bodyguards” and that he hopes Rahm Emanuel takes them away. (Before he was elected, Emanuel said as mayor he would strip Burke of his controversial police bodyguards.) Authorities traced Hercog’s phone number to his home and he was taken into custody at the 2nd District police station.

So, did this person have access to a gun? A knife? Did he know where Burke's office was? Had he been stalking Burke? Was there any sort of act of furtherance on the part of this individual? Is there a history of mental illness or violent acts in his past?

All questions that need to be asked before authorizing any continuation of Burke's coat hangers, coffee fetchers and door holders. So how come we're getting the impression that there will just be a continuation of the detail for the foreseeable future? Doesn't every citizen deserve the exact same type of protection when threatened? What makes Burke so special? And isn't he authorized to carry a gun?

Wait a minute - this sounds like a perfect example of something that could be alleviated by Concealed Carry. Or by Burke tapping into his campaign millions to pay for his own security.