Editorial: May we hear no more from Highland Park gunman Robert Crimo III

Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune on Apr 26, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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“The court finds that the defendant is irretrievably depraved, permanently incorrigible, irreparably corrupt and beyond any rehabilitation.”

Anything unclear about that?

The statement made Thursday by Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti about Robert Crimo III, the man convicted of killing seven people and wounding 48 others when he opened fire at the 2022 July Fourth parade in Highland Park, was as shocking as it was definitive. If ever there was a succinct and compelling justification for sending someone away for life in prison, Rossetti helpfully provided one.

And then send this scourge away for the rest of his life, she did. Without any possibility of parole.

We know neither the judge’s statement nor this sentencing will in any way compensate the people of Highland Park for what happened that day, nor bring back their lost loved ones. We mourned with them in 2022 and we do so again today with full memory of how this nihilistic person turned a joyous day of traditional family celebration into one of horror and loss.

We suspect that many of those who were at that 2022 parade have stared, as have we, at courtroom photos of Crimo and wondered how on earth he could have turned out this way, how this terrifying young man could have embraced such acts and then shown no remorse, how he could have retraumatized Highland Park by his confounding actions even as his case received his due process. He pleaded guilty, which was something, but otherwise made no effort to mitigate the unspeakable pain he caused. On the contrary, he seemed to relish its application.

Crimo is, we suppose, an enigma who must remain so. Ideally, far from sight.

We sincerely hope never to have to type his name again.

But we look forward to writing plenty more about Highland Park, a prideful community that responded to this waking nightmare with resolve, compassion, strength and patience.

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