•April 11, 2018•

By Roger Ruthhart
Rock Island Argus

John Looney was the original Quad-Cities vice lord and also one of the nation’s earliest organized crime leaders.

Looney was a thin, cold, gaunt, sort of dour-looking man with haunting eyes. He wore the same baggy, dirty suit every day and ate raw liver on toast. He ran for the Illinois State House as a Democrat and lost. His bitterness over the defeat launched his career as the undisputed godfather of the underworld.

He controlled a vast and unmatched empire of extortion, bribery, booze, gambling and prostitution. There were downtown shootings, political graft and bombings and behind it all a scandal sheet newspaper. His influence reached into Wisconsin, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and the East Coast.

His power in Rock Island grew almost absolute because he was able to control portions of two key elements of society – politicians and the press. Member of his organization controlled elements of his crime business.

Looney published the Rock Island News from about 1905 to 1923. The papers of that era said “no filthier, more libelous newspaper has ever been printed in the United States. All of the stories were written in the foulest of language.” The News and The Rock Island Argus waged a vicious newspaper war for years.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.