Despite our bitterly divided political environment, a case out of Cook County, Illinois may provide the opportunity for activists on the left and the right to find common ground. 

Criminal justice reform advocates were protesting outside of a Cook County courthouse this week in support of a man named Ramon Banks, who's currently facing charges of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The activists claim that Banks is being railroaded by the Chicago police, accusing law enforcement of planting the gun that landed Banks behind bars. 

In October 2022, police pulled over the SUV that Banks was riding in because of an expired license plate sticker. According to a police report, when officers approached the vehicle, they saw Banks sitting in the front passenger seat and reaching for a gun on the floor directly behind the passenger seat.

Police said Banks ran off, but was arrested a short time later. Police said Banks claimed he kept the gun on him for protection.

But activists accused police of planting the gun, and claimed that body camera footage from Banks' arrest shows officers couldn't have seen a gun in plain view because of the tinted rear windows. 

You can see some of the bodycam footage in the X post below. 

In October 2022, Ramon Banks was the passenger in a parked vehicle when he was approached by four officers in an unmarked CPD vehicle, leading to his wrongful arrest for an aggravated unlawful use of weapon / gun possession charge.

WATCH:https://t.co/gJzO3ajdzd

— The Chicago Alliance (@CAARPRNow) December 17, 2024

While I can't say that the footage proves Banks is innocent of the charges, there do appear to be some discrepancies between the written reports and what was captured on the officers body cameras. 

Even for those of us who remain unconvinced of Banks' guilt (or innocence), what's happened to him should be cause for alarm. Banks is being charged with what amounts to a possessory offense, yet he's been stuck behind bars in Cook County for more than two years awaiting trial. The state of Illinois has moved far to the left in recent years when it comes to bond requirements, to the point that many prosecutors are complaining that it's nearly impossible to keep defendants in jail while they're awaiting trial, even if they have a lengthy criminal history in their past. So why hasn't Banks been let loose until his trial commences? 

In just the past week the website CWB Chicago has reported on the pre-trial release of drivers charged with felonies for shooting at other vehicles, a multi-time felon who was released twice in one week after being charged in two separate cases, and a migrant arrested 13 times in a single year who recently received probation for attempted robbery. CWB Chicago also notes that at least 33 people were "accused of killing or shooting—or trying to kill or shoot—someone in Chicago last year while having a felony case pending".  

All of which begs the question: why has Ramon Banks spent more than two years behind bars awaiting trial when so many Cook County judges seem to be looking for any reason whatsoever to cut defendants some slack and set them free until they're due in court? 

I have no idea if Banks is innocent or guilty of the crimes he's been charged with, but there's a very strong argument that his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial has been denied to him, and given the hostility towards our Second Amendment rights that's so prevalent in the Chicagoland area, that should worry gun owners and Second Amendment advocates as much as it bothers criminal justice reformers. Today it might be a convicted felon kept behind bars for years while awaiting trial for a possessory offense, but tomorrow it could be a gun owner who's alleged to have an unregistered "high capacity" magazine or so-called assault weapon that gets locked up indefinitely while their case grinds its way through the court system. If nothing else, Ramon Banks deserves his day in court, and after more than two years behind bars awaiting trial, I'd say he deserves to be set free until that day finally arrives.