Highland Park Shooter Robert Crimo is finally in police custody and investigators are trying to ascertain the motive behind the 4th of July massacre carried out by the 22-year-old aspiring rapper, that left six people dead and at least 38 others wounded. Crimo, who pseudonym "Awake the Rapper" is the son of Bob Crimo, who owns a restaurant in the same area of Highland Park.
According to reports, Bob Crimo is the president of Bob's Pantry and Deli. He also ran for mayor in Highland Park in 2019 but was defeated by the town's current mayor. On the other hand, Robert 'Bobby" Crimo's mother Denise Pesina is an alternate healer and was once arrested on suspicion of domestic battery.
Politically Motivated
Following Robert Crimo's arrest after the 4th of July shooting at a parade in Highland Park, it has emerged that he is a raging Donald Trump supporter and attended several of his rallies in 2020. He is also a rap artist who has a history of disturbing social media posts, which are somewhat preocupating, since the imagery shown is of stick-figured man covered in tactical gear being shot at by law enforcement.
More interestingly, he comes from an affluent family that takes a strong interest in American politics. His father Bob Crimo, 58, runs two businesses in the same area where the shooting took place and ran for the post of mayor in 2019.
It doesn't seem like a political party supported his campaign. He ran with the slogan: "A Person for the People." However, the Republican Bob Crimo was defeated by the town's present mayor, Nancy Rotering, a liberal who ran her campaign partly on a platform supporting gun control.
Bob Crimo stated that he owned two eateries in the neighborhood, White Hen in Ravinia and Bob's Pantry & Deli in Braeside, Illinois, in a pre-election profile. "I'm running as mayor as a person for the people in our community," he wrote.
"It's my way of giving back to the community who have been so supportive of me over the years. I live local and I will stay local."
Strange Family
In 2018, Bob Crimo was pictured with Denise Pesina in an article in the Chicago Tribune. He calls his business "family-run and family-oriented."
Pesina, is a healer with a business named Trilogy Energy Systems. She frequently poses with her sphinx cat Sanjay in her candid self-revealing images that she shares on Facebook and Instagram.
She studied Traditional Chinese Medicine at Shanghai University and at The Ayurvedic Institute, a school in New Mexico that teaches the concepts and methods of Ayurveda, an alternative medical system, according to the website of her business.
Pesina was detained in Highland Park in February 2015 on suspicion of domestic battery while operating a motor vehicle, according to Patch.com at the time. However, not much is known about the case.
Following his defeat, Bob Crimo wrote on Facebook: "This has been a great experience. I cannot thank my supporters enough. Although the polls weren't in my favor, I will continue to do my best to further the improvement of Highland Park for my fellow neighbors. Thank you all so much again."
Robert Crimo's social media posts suggest that he too is an ardent Trump supporter like his father.
In fact, on May 27, the same day when 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Bob Crimo liked a tweet that read: "Protect the Second Amendment like your life depends on it."
Robert Crimo too has time and again posted about Trump on social media. According to NBC News, the shooter posted at least two posts about Trump. According to the publication, he was depicted with a Trump flag wrapped over him in a June 27, 2021, tweet. The only word in the post's caption was "spam."
Another video that Robert Crimo may have uploaded to his YouTube website appears to show him and other individuals applauding Trump's motorcade at an airport on January 2, 2021. Later, he turned the phone around so that his face could be seen towards the conclusion of the video.
