Illinois Republican leaders weaponize the mentally ill to dangerous results
Several police reports were filed after Richard Porter, Tom Devore, and Aaron Del Mar's friend Val Ojeda made several death threats online.
Illinois Republican operative Sixto “Val” Ojeda lied about being an Aurora police detective nicknamed "thirsty”. He allegedly received this nickname because he was thirsty to arrest felons daily.
In reality, Ojeda never served as an Aurora police detective but dressed up like one as he booted cars for a living.
Ojeda claimed to be a Marine and veteran of foreign wars, which was also false. Ojeda has been arrested for electronic harassment, and he allegedly tried to marry an underage teenager.
Any of these facts could be detrimental to a career in normal politics, but the Illinois Republican Party is not normal.
Ojeda is promoted by many prominent Illinois Republican figures and utilized to help campaigns and attack opponents. Many Illinois republican figures dismiss Ojeda's background and behavior as just harmless mental illness or alcoholism.
Facebook / Richard Porter (Left) , Val Ojeda (center), GOP state central committreeman Larry Smith (right)
As evidenced by the 2024 election cycle, Ojeda was the campaign manager for two congressional candidates and one state representative candidate. Ojeda was also a frequent attendee and even host of Illinois Republican events.
Ojeda viciously attacked political opponents on social media and operated a blog called "The Illinois Republican" to help friends.
Although Ojeda's lies and behaviors contradict conservative values, many cherish Val's loyalty and no-holds-barred attacks on their opponents. They justify this using ancient Chinese Military strategist Sun Tzu's logic: "An enemy of an enemy is a friend."
When the Illinois Record wrote an article critical of Ojeda's friend Richard Porter, Porter released an article on the Illinois Republican calling the author of this article a "Rino Hunter."
Screen shot / The illinois Republican
Recently, Ojeda publicly claimed he would"defend to the death" Illinois GOP Co-Chair Aaron Del Mar and RNC Committeeman Dean White. Although Del Mar came up short in his quest to be Illinois GOP Chair, Ojeda attempted to bully anyone who voted for any of Del Mar's competitors.
Facebook / Val Ojeda
Screen Shot the Illinois Republican . com article promoting Aaron Del Mar for ILGOP chair
This soft acceptance of Ojeda by the Illinois GOP came to a tailwind last week when Ojeda posted on Facebook that he would cut off a female political critic's head and shoot her boyfriend. Ojeda would also make a death threat against the author of this post, as well as more violent threats. Multiple police reports were filed, and the situation is ongoing.
As a result, some of Ojeda's allies have been walking back or qualifying their support.
Tom Devore, who is fighting to keep his law license due to sexual impropriety, has condemned Val's statements. Devore, who has a reputation for drinking, being crass, and crossing boundaries with women, does not distance himself as a friend but does ask Ojeda to take a break from politics.
Facebook / Lake County Republican Page. Tom Devore (left), Lake County GOP Chair Keith Brin (right)
The Illinois Republican Val Ojeda (left) Richard Porter (right)
Richard Porter took a softer stance, releasing a statement calling for the end to "online anger and intra-party nastiness" without mentioning Ojeda by name. Unverified political rumors allege that Porter offered Ojeda Bears tickets after the incident to calm Ojeda down, a charge Porter vehemently denies.
Facebook Ojeda Thanks Richard Porter for “VIP Cubs seats”
Illinois GOP Co-Chair Aaron Del Mar took the softest stance on Ojeda. He did not mention the incident and instead congratulated himself on making a deal with local Democrats to keep his $25 thousand a year position with Palatine. Del Mar claimed that "extreme factions" prioritizing "personal interests" opposed his backdoor deal.
Aaron Del Mar’s statement was also published on Politico’s Illinois Playbook
On Facebook, Ojeda claimed that his violent threats were a result of the holiday season and did not apologize. The post received over 149 likes.
Facebook / Val Ojeda
Further demonstrating that the Illinois Republican Party has a backward value set where criticism of bad behavior is far worse than bad behavior itself.