Gianno Caldwell marks two years since brother's killing in Chicago
Fox News contributor Gianno Caldwell on the death of a father of four, shot in L.A., and his activism to restore public safety after losing his brother Christian in Chicago.
Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell is launching a new public safety nonprofit aimed at assisting the victims of violent crime and lobbying against a soft-on-crime push from progressives that he says has made the problem worse for years.
The Caldwell Institute for Public Safety has multiple missions aimed at combating the American crime crisis – support for victims, activism against progressive candidates who support soft-on-crime policies, and lobbying for public safety laws.
Caldwell said he enlisted a team of experts to help meet his goals. He brought in Dr. Drew Pinsky as well as a cousin who is a Ph.D. clinician to put together a mental health manual for victims' families, he said.
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Gianno Caldwell and his brother, Christian, in their last photo taken together. (Fox News Digital)
He also brought in Joel Fitzgerald, a longtime police chief whose son, also a police officer, was murdered in Philadelphia. Former Chicago prosecutor Dan Kirk worked with Fitzgerald to create a guidebook on how families can work with police and prosecutors.
And he put together instructions for families who want to pitch their stories to the press.
WATCH: Gianno Caldwell announces Caldwell Institute for Public Safety - Graphic content warning
"I can imagine what it feels like for the family that just lost their 7-year-old baby boy in Chicago this past week, or on June 24th, 2022, when my brother was murdered, little baby Cecilia, who was six months old, murdered. If you look at the numbers from 2021 to January 2022, over 276 children 16 and under had been shot and the city of Chicago. That's one year's time.
"The other side of it, though, is going after these radical, progressive, soft-on-crime prosecutors, mayors and city council members, in some cases," he told Fox News Digital. "I want to ensure that those who've radically reshaped our criminal justice system, funded by George Soros and others, that they are held to account."
Part of that is helping traditional prosecutors campaign against progressives with backing from deep-pocketed benefactors like the billionaire Soros, he said. Another part is pushing legislators to take action against crime.
Those prosecutors include Kim Foxx, of Caldwell's hometown in Cook County, Illinois, George Gascon in Los Angeles and Larry Krasner in Philadelphia, among others who have benefited from progressive donors.
"We'll be doing lobbying for legislation that makes the community safer and lobbying against the legislation that endangers the lives, systematically, of the residents of particular communities," he said.
Gianno Caldwell appears in a still image taken from the video announcing his new Caldwell Institute for Public Safety. His brother's unsolved murder in Chicago prompted him to launch the nonprofit, he said. (Caldwell Institute for Public Safety)
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"Donations are extraordinarily important," he said. "This is a 501(c)(4), and we're going to need the help and support of all of America to ensure that we can carry out this mission. I'm going up against a mega-billionaire who spent hundreds of millions of dollars in many races over the course of the years."
It took years of Soros-like activism to bring society to this point, he said, and it could take years to right the ship.
"I recognize that this is a long fight that I have to take on, and I have to take on because I've been personally impacted, and I know the tragedy and the pain that comes with losing a loved one," he added.
Fox News analyst Gianno Caldwell is still looking for answers after his 18-year-old brother, Christian, was fatally shot in Chicago. (Gianno Caldwell)
Two years ago Monday, Caldwell's 18-year-old brother Christian died in a Chicago shooting.
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To date, no suspects have been arrested. Caldwell said he's been in touch with investigators on a monthly basis and recently learned from the FBI's Chicago office that there is a "warm lead."
Chicago police said the case remains under investigation and that they had no other updates. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He hopes the institute will benefit other victims' families as they navigate the trauma of losing a loved one to violent crime.
"My brother Christian, he wasn't just my little brother, he was like my son," Caldwell said. "He never had a dad around. So I was the one that took care of him. I was the one who took him to places, bought him school clothes, and those kinds of things."
His brother was 18 and looking forward to starting college, he said. Then he became a victim of violent crime that crushes families from all backgrounds.
"This isn't something that just impacts Black folks – it impacts White people, Hispanic people, Asian people, all Americans, all stripes, all income levels and all jurisdictions," he said. "We need to know as Americans this issue impacts all of us, therefore, we all must fight this together."
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Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects involved in the shooting that left Christian dead and two other victims injured on the 11400 block of South Vincennes Avenue.
Christian did not know the other victims, a 31-year-old man and 25-year-old woman.
Fox News' Audrey Conklin and Peter Petroff contributed to this report.
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