Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE.
With chaos reigning in the streets of Chicago, city leaders have engaged in a game of finger-pointing as voters learn the hard way that elections have consequences.
Widespread looting and violence rocked the Windy City early Monday after a police-involved shooting that left a man wounded — the suspect had reportedly fired a gun at police — and speaking of consequences, Mayor Lori Lightfoot put the onus on the city’s top prosecutor.
The Democratic mayor denounced the sacking of the city at a press conference and called on the Cook County State Attorney’s Office and the courts “to make sure these individuals are arrested and held accountable.”
(Democrat-run cities across America have a history of releasing rioters as quickly as they are arrested, with many of the individuals seldom facing charges.)
Lightfoot went off on ABC-7’s Craig Wall at the press conference, after the reporter asked Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown a question about this.
“It almost sounds as though you’re saying this is — the reason this is happening is because the courts and the prosecutors were not doing their job, that they’re going too easy on the looters from the last time around,” Wall asked the superintendent.
“Don’t take it from me, just go by what they’ve done … just go by what they’ve done, there were no consequences for the people arrested,” Brown replied.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reporter: "Do not bait us. Do not bait us." pic.twitter.com/72me4MXfVc
— The Hill (@thehill) August 10, 2020
It was at this point that Lightfoot interjected.
“Don’t bait us. No, don’t — do not bait us,” she snapped. “Do not bait us. This is a serious situation. People are concerned about their safety. Officers are concerned about their safety. So don’t bait us.”
“What we’re saying is after a result of what happened last night there has to be consequences,” Lightfoot said, adding that police are aggressively trying to identify those responsible.
“When we do and we do make those arrests, our expectation is that this is going to be treated with the level of seriousness that it should be. Period,” the mayor continued. “Don’t try to bait us, mischaracterize, pit one against the other — we’re not playing that. We are in a serious situation here, and we need a serious response. That’s what we’re saying, period.”
As for pitting one against the other, Lightfoot was doing a good enough job of that on her own.
In what proved to be a dueling press conference, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx addressed the media on her own to push back, according to ABC7.
“The notion that people believe that they are somehow empowered because people weren’t prosecuted for looting back in the wake of the unrest beginning is simply not true,” she said. “Those cases are coming to court now, as we are now in the month of August.”
Foxx essentially threw the Chicago Police Department under the bus.
“What we have said to CPD and our other partners is, ‘bring us cases where people are committing those acts and we will pursue them,’” she said.
According to an analysis by the Chicago Tribune, Foxx has dismissed over 25,000 felony cases since Nov. 2019, to including murder cases — during her first three years in office, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is dropping felony cases involving charges of murder and other serious offenses at a higher rate than her predecessor, according to a Tribune analysis https://t.co/IuLlwc9f6d
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 10, 2020
At the same time, as of Aug. 2, the number of people killed in Chicago stood at 450, up 55% from 291 the previous year, according to Fox News. Shootings in the city were up 48%, jumping from 1,220 to 1,804.
The blame for the chaos rests with the mayor and the police, according to 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins.
“They waited for this to get out of control before they started bringing in police officers from all the neighboring districts, and by then it was too late,” he told ABC7.
Mayor Lightfoot replied: “Alderman Hopkins has a pension for letting his mouth run before he actually gets the facts. I don’t think there’s any reason for me to say anything further.”
Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter activists held a rally on Monday in support of looting and the 100 or so people arrested the night before.
8/10/20 – Chicago, IL. Black Lives Matter banner at the rally at Chicago PD District 1 happening now. pic.twitter.com/onHeRgDlu7
— Liz Jones (@LizJone26271417) August 11, 2020
According to Fox News, widespread looting and rioting in the city caused at least $60 million in property damage and resulted in at least 13 police officers being injured.
“I don’t care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person eats,” BLM organizer Ariel Atkins said, according to NBC Chicago. “That makes sure that person has clothes.”
“Riots Are Reparations” isn’t a conservative troll of the modern left.
It’s actually their policy position. https://t.co/jUP8CZ5wtS
— BDW (@BryanDeanWright) August 11, 2020
“That is reparations,” Atkins continued. “Anything they wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have insurance.”
This being the organization that the media supports, as well as corporate America and the entire sports world.
Hell, BLM protesters even hung pro-looting banners Sunday night while pillaging!
Protesters hang pro-looting banner. Police move in to inspect fearing it was hiding something behind it. #ChicagoLooting #ChicagoRiots #ChicagoProtests #ChicagoProtest pic.twitter.com/CQGcins2Wz
— 𝐵𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑜́𝑟 (@BikeSlutty) August 11, 2020
In a statement obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, Black Lives Matter Chicago let its true intentions be known.
“The mayor clearly has not learned anything since May, and she would be wise to understand that the people will keep rising up until the [Chicago Police Department] is abolished and our Black communities are fully invested in,” the group declared.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Tom@bizpacreview.com
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
