Democratic Candidate For Illinois Attorney General Mugged At Gunpoint During Chicago Photo Shoot

A Democrat running for Illinois attorney general was robbed at gunpoint Thursday afternoon during a promotional photo shoot for his campaign.

Aaron Goldstein

Aaron Goldstein, 42, and four men associated with the photo shoot were approached by three suspects between 20 and 24 years old in broad daylight, when one of them produced a gun. The men robbed Goldstein and the others of camera equipment and their cellular phones before running off, said law enforcement. 

Police did not release a detailed description of the suspects for some undisclosed reason. 

Campaign manager Robert Murphy, who was not with the team during the incident, said Goldstein, Democratic ward committeeman for the 33rd Ward and a resident of Albany Park, was taking promotional images for the campaign with an “in-the-neighborhood kind of” message.

Goldstein and the others weren’t harmed in the robbery, and they were later assured by police that the robbery wasn’t a targeted act, Murphy said.

“So, as far as the campaign, we are moving forward,” Murphy said. “Basically, this was a totally a random act of violence in the community. But when it happens to you, of course, you’re shooken up.

“He says he’s fine, and he was concerned about everyone else instead of how he is – but that’s just how he is.”

Goldstein, a 33rd Ward Democratic committeeman and supervising attorney at the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, is one of eight candidates running in the Democratic primary for Illinois attorney general.

Goldstein thanked people for their concern, and said his team and he are “all good.” 

Goldstein is lucky he wasn’t yet another victim of Chicago’s horrendous murder rate.