Sobering find during visit . . . U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush has seen a lot in a long life ministering to his South Side flock. But finding a dead man on his church steps was sobering.
“It’s so sad,” Rush told Sneed. “I’ve seen a lot in my life, but this was so very unexpected.”
On Monday, Rush visited his church — Beloved Community Church of God in Christ, 6430 S. Harvard Ave. — which has been closed because of a windstorm that blew out four stained-glass windows in December 2014.
“I hadn’t been back in a long time. We’ve been holding services in another church at 352 E. 47th St. since then, and for some reason I just decided to drive by the old church to check things out,” said Rush, an ordained minister.
“I saw a man sitting on the front steps of the church. So I exited the car and came through the back gate and twice called out, ‘Hey, hey.’
“There was no response, even though it looked like he was sleeping.
“It didn’t take long to realize his life had ended. He was a young man. No shoes and no heavy coat. No blood. No holes. No wound. Twenty five years old. Hispanic. … He had been dead for a few days. So sad.
“I guess no one had noticed. Amazing. Must have thought he was asleep. Or else didn’t care.
“Police Commander [Larry] Watson, who heads the 7th district, ran the identification and found his family — so we both plan to visit them Sunday and find out just what we can do, if they can pay for the funeral. If not, we will take care of it.
“What’s ironic is that we had just been talking about the parable of the Good Samaritan in church, and then this happens.
“It’s like a signal. Taking care of each other. It’s just a reminder that that’s what life is all about.”
OPINION
The police blotter . . .
Yipes! Sneed hears rumbles one of the reasons former top cop candidate Cedric Alexander, who is the African-American public safety director of DeKalb County, Ga., didn’t get the job was because he wanted his own press secretary and planned to continue his CNN commentary role.
The police blotter II . . .
Impressive! Sneed hears one of the reasons Eddie Johnson, the city’s African-American chief of patrol, got the top cop spot was that he hadn’t applied for the top cop job.
• Answer: Johnson told Mayor Rahm Emanuel he had huge respect for interim top cop John Escalante, who had been instrumental in bringing him up through the ranks, and thought he was doing a great job.
Cash clash . . .
$$$ It’s a loot hoot: While Dem presidential contender Bernie Sanders was pitching woo woo to Pope Francis at a Vatican conference on the evil of world economics late last week — opponent Hillary Clinton was also veering off the New York campaign trail to raise tons of cash for her Victory Fund via a dinner starring actor George Clooney and his wife, Amal.
• Hill’s ticket price to dine with the Clooneys: $33,400 per person.
There ya go.
I spy . . .
Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Emmy award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson, dining at Rosebud Steakhouse April 7. . . . Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, spotted at Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse. . . . “Ghostbusters” actor Ernie Hudson, dining at Luxbar on Tuesday . . . . Legendary Bear Gale Sayers, the youngest player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, showed up at Paddy O’Fegan’s Irish Pub on Halsted Street on April 9 with wife Ardie. “The Kansas Comet is a class act,” chirped an onlooker. . . . Chicago Blackhawks team president John McDonough, lunching at Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse in Rosemont. . . . U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard ,talking mass transit money for Detroit and Chicago at the Union League Club last Friday night.
Sneedlings . . .
Saturday’s birthdays: Martin Lawrence, 51; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 69; and Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, 89. Sunday’s birthdays: Victoria Beckham, 42; Jennifer Garner, 44; and David Bradley, 74.
