Metro East Sun

State Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Morrisonville) is blaming Gov. J.B. Pritzker for the 36 COVID-related deaths at the LaSalle Veterans Home.

According to ABC 7 News, more than two dozen families whose loved ones died in the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at LaSalle have filed 27 wrongful death lawsuits. The lawsuits name the State of Illinois, The Illinois Department of Veterans and the facility itself as defendants. 

The lawsuits cite negligence, poor conditions, and lack of proper COVID-19 safeguards for leading to the deaths of the victims.

"36 families lost a loved one and are having to relive the pain because Pritzker mismanaged the COVID-19 crisis at the facility," Bourne wrote in a May 11 Facebook post. "Our veterans and their families have sacrificed so much and deserved better treatment."

At the time of the November 2020 outbreak, Pritzker said “our communities, our mayors, our councils, our county boards and county chairs” weren’t following or enforcing mitigations, according to Shaw Local. He reiterated that notion on Thursday.

Bourne is running for lieutenant governor on the same ticket as gubernatorial candidate Richard Irvin. As a candidate she's been receiving some criticism herself.

"Irvin and Bourne are nothing more than Democrats who are disguising themselves as Republicans to further destroy Illinois," Republican activist Christopher Hicks claims, according to Metro East Sun. Hicks further claimed, "Bourne helped Madigan retain his power over the years and Bourne is part of indicted House Speaker Madigan's ‘Chinatown’ scheme in which Bourne sponsored a bill to sell surplus state property. Bourne also received a donation to her campaign from Madigan's longtime chief counsel Michael Kasper through his law firm. Do not be fooled by Irvin and Bourne."