Charles “Chuck” Leto, 55, isn’t rich. He doesn’t own a car, a house, or anything flashy. He’s a quiet, law-abiding Marine Corps veteran who rides a bicycle and takes the CTA from his modest home on the North Side to his seasonal lifeguard job at Douglass Park on the West Side. That’s right. He earns an honest living keeping people safe, not hurting anyone. But in the twisted landscape of Chicago, even that can get you thrown in a cage.
Leto is white. And the several teens who tried to rob him were black. That racial dynamic matters because it’s the very element being used to twist the narrative into something it’s not, a hate crime in reverse, where the guy who defends himself is branded the racist simply for surviving.
Leto’s workplace is a decaying ghetto pool in the West Side war zone, and it’s not exactly welcoming to someone of his background or appearance. On June 26, 2025, his life was flipped upside down when he became the target of a robbery. His bicycle was damaged and stolen by a group of black teens. After somehow recovering the wrecked bike, he tried repairing it. That’s when it got worse.
He was surrounded and menaced by several local black teens: 15-year-old Marjay Dotson, 14-year-old Jeremy Herrera, and another unnamed 15-year-old. These weren’t curious kids asking for directions. They were demanding the bike. Leto was cornered, outnumbered, and at risk. The disparity of force was obvious. The threat was imminent.
So what did Leto do? He lawfully retrieved a firearm from his backpack, a weapon he was licensed to carry, and used it in what appears to be a textbook case of self-defense. Dotson was killed. Herrera was seriously wounded. A third thug fled unharmed. It was ugly, tragic, and completely preventable, had these teens simply left the man alone.
But this is Chicago, where the criminals are coddled and the innocent are persecuted. When police arrived, they predictably labeled the gang of teen aggressors as “victims” while branding Leto the “offender.” That’s just how it works in a city where logic, law, and truth are sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
Let’s be clear. Leto has no criminal record. None. But because of opaque juvenile privacy laws, we’ll probably never learn how many crimes the teens committed before this incident. And you can bet it wasn’t their first rodeo.
Instead of being commended for defending himself, Leto was arrested, shackled, and dragged before a judge the next morning. Despite possessing all required firearm permits, Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ignored the clear legal justification for self-defense. Instead, he focused on a Chicago Park District employee policy that prohibits carrying firearms, as if a bureaucratic HR rule somehow overrides Illinois law and the right to live. Judge Panici denied Leto bail, citing what exactly? That he dared defend himself against violent teens in a city that refuses to police its own youth?
A public defender was automatically assigned to Leto. And while some PDs are competent, this man needs and deserves top-shelf legal defense, not a revolving-door case handler buried under a hundred files a week.
Leto is due back in court Tuesday, July 1, in Branch 66, and there’s hope the issue of bail will be revisited. But let’s not pretend bail will be affordable. The man owns a bike, not a BMW. And while Illinois law doesn’t skim off the bail like bounty-hunting states do, it’s still cash up front.
Naturally, the families of the would-be robbers have already lawyered up. Not for justice, of course, but for money. They’re sniffing around for a big tort payday. Fortunately, their civil suit dreams will probably die on the vine. Leto has no assets, and the city isn’t liable for actions taken in self-defense by a privately armed citizen.
Still, get ready for the “community leaders” to emerge from their holes, bellowing into microphones with rehearsed outrage. They’ll cry racism, hate crimes, and oppression, all while ignoring the fact that these teens initiated the violence. The media will lap it up, airing endless soundbites to frame Leto as the villain in a tragic tale of racial injustice.
As for Mayor Brandon Johnson, no need to guess where he stands. In Chicago, police leadership doesn’t come from police headquarters. It comes from the fifth floor of City Hall, where every decision is filtered through the lens of identity politics, not public safety. Expect the mayor to throw Leto under the bus the moment it earns him another headline.
GoFundMe won’t allow crowdfunding for those charged with crimes, because they’ve apparently decided that the presumption of innocence no longer applies. But Funded Justice and other platforms still allow fundraising for those fighting to prove their innocence.
Make no mistake. Chuck Leto is the victim. He deserves competent legal representation and a real investigation. And I know just the person for the job. I’ve spent decades investigating violent crimes, especially self-defense cases, and I’d proudly take this one on however I can’t do it for free. I must pay my rent.
It’s time for sane Chicagoans, fellow Marines, and supporters of justice to step forward and help. Because if we let the city crucify Chuck Leto for defending himself, none of us are safe.
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