BY BILL JUNEAU
Chicago under Mayor Lori Lightfoot is setting records for crime in the streets, homicides and shootings. On weekends, it is really humming in the Windy City as innocent persons, young and old, get shot by thugs and gang members asserting their dominance on south and west side streets.
Police are ridiculed and departments have been defunded and policemen are walking away from their jobs. Criminals have become more important than their victims and in Lightfoot's Chicago, racism and misogyny are the root causes of troubles. The fact that it is predominantly her black brothers and sisters being gunned down in south and west side neighborhoods by blacks does not excite her enough for her to focus more upon safety on streets, avenues and alleys then on her imagined hangup that the city is "systemically racist."
A few months ago, as guns were blazing and men women and children were going down on dimly lit streets, Lightfoot marked her second year in office with an announcement that she would restrict her one-on-one interviews to only those reporters "of color." Her justification, she explained at a news conference, was that there are just too many white faces in the city hall press corps, and that that has to change.
Her remarks pretty well boxed her in as a confirmed racist. On the tube, one reporter described her as a "lunatic and a dangerous bigot," and other prominent persons called for her resignation. However, the criticism and name-calling didn't seem to bother her and her animus for whites is continuing, unabated.
Adding to her concerns over a lack of diversity in the city hall press room, the diminutive mayor (61 inches tall and sometimes seen wearing a floppy, cowboy hat), went on a rant charging that racism has become a public health crisis and is robbing windy city residents of the opportunity to live and lead full, healthy and happy lives. Blacks in the city, she said, live an average of 71.4 years, while non-Blacks live 80.6 years. She called upon the Chicago Department of Public Health and its partnered community organizations to address these inequities, and give equal attention to persons "of color."
Concerning the lawlessness on city streets, statistics are in for 2021. Chicago, third largest city in population in the country, logged 797 homicides and in that category was number one in the nation. New York and Los Angeles, the nation's two largest urban centers, each had some 300 less homicides than Chicago. The number of Chicago deaths was 300 more than it had been in 2020. The youngest gunshot victim was a one month-old-infant boy, and the oldest was an 84-year-old man.
Incidents in which guns were fired last year totaled 3,561, equating to nearly 10 per day. Eighty two per cent of the gun crimes involved black victims and the police said the heavy majority of shootings were gang related.
"Keeping you safe is my priority," Lightfoot has declared. "I wake up every morning with this as my concern and I push myself and all involved to step up and do more...we cannot continue to endure the level of violence we are now experiencing."
In the face of her call for safety, Democratic Alderman Raymond Lopez countered that Lightfoot is "incompetent," and that she charges "racism" whenever her spacy proposals are challenged. Susan Lee, a former advisor to Lightfoot and former deputy mayor for safety, has said that Chicago is a "city in crisis." Ald. Brendan Reilly, a Democrat Committeeman of the powerful 42d ward on the near northside, said that in his many years in office he has never seen Chicago lawlessness reach this level.
Last month, Lightfoot announced at a news conference that she has requested Atty Gen. Merrick Garland to provide a battery of ATF agents (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm) to come to Chicago for a six-month period and assist the administration and the police in taking guns off of the streets and in arresting criminals and gang members. Garland's decision and response has not yet been announced though it is expected that the U.S. Attorney General will provide assistance in some fashion.
In the final months of 2020, President Trump had offered to provide federal troops and assistance to Mayor Lightfoot in confronting the violent crime on city streets. Lightfoot rejected assistance from Trump noting that he was a racist President she did not respect. She accused him of also being a misogynist who targeted women in high places. In response, the Chicago Tribune editorially urged Lightfoot to be more collaborative with the nation's President.
Mayor Lightfoot, 59, was elected in a runoff election in May, 2018, promising safety on the streets, elimination of the deficit and police reform. She was heralded by the media as Chicago's first gay, African American woman mayor, but in the following two years, her accomplishments are difficult to put a finger on. She has delivered on nothing, asserted Ald. Lopez.
In April of 2020, Lightfoot appointed David Brown as the new police superintendent, replacing Eddie Johnson whom she dismissed for lying to her. She promised that Brown, former police chief in Dallas, Texas, and a seasoned professional, would bring reform and safety to the war torn streets. Democratic Ald. Reilly has said that Supt. Brown is a "moron" who will not listen to anyone.
With Lightwood castigating the press corps for having too many whites, and as shootings and violence make headlines, the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents thousands of rank and file officers, voted a unanimous "no confidence" resolution on Mayor Lightfoot and on Supt. Brown, and on Brown's first deputy, Eric Carter. The union cited what they called a lack of consideration for officers' working conditions.
In March of last year, the mayor upbraided police for the foot pursuit and fatal shooting of a 13-year-old Latino youth in an alley in the black of night after shots were fired and the young man was seen with a pistol in his hand. It was reckless, asserted the mayor, and she excoriated the officer for his ill-advised pursuit and the shooting of the boy which she said should never have happened.
Shortly thereafter, Lightfoot proposed and backed new rules for foot-pursuit by police. The new "police pursuit rules" allow such chases in the face of felonies, says Lightfoot, but they forbid foot chases of suspects who commit misdemeanors and traffic offenses. Many policemen believe that the Lightfoot chase rules, which have now been implemented, are unworkable since decisions by an officer often need to be made in split seconds and the policeman knows he faces discipline if he makes a mistake.
Last month, Lightfoot fired the city's lead counsel when he refused to endorse her demand that an African American woman be given $2.9 million for her embarrassment and loss of dignity suffered when raiding police mistakenly crashed into her home, looking for a wanted fugitive. Entry to her home was a gross error, but was not illegal, as the raiders were acting pursuant to a warrant obtained from a county judge. The cashiered city's head lawyer Mark Flessner, had recommended that the woman be awarded $50,000 for the embarrassment caused her.
When police barged into her home, the 51-year-old woman was naked and preparing for bed. In seconds, police gave her a blanket, and subsequently apologized for the blunder. The woman's embarrassment was exacerbated in Lightfoot's judgment because some of the raiding officers were white skinned. and the female occupant, a social worker, was an African American. After firing the corporation counsel , the city council approved the massive award. on the mayor's recommendation. In an OpEd, Flessner called Lightfoot, "mercurial, petulant, rude and unprofessional"
Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Presidential candidate in 2020, described Lightfoot's conduct as "abhorrent," and has called for her resignation---and has urged President Biden and Vice President Harris to join her in the demand.
But it seems that it will be "politics as usual," as the state's Democratic Governor, Jay Robert "J.B." Pritzker, remains strangely silent about the crisis in his state's largest city. Biden and Harris are unlikely to go against any of the liberal big city mayors even though their racial policies and denigration of policemen are bringing anarchy to the streets of our nation's biggest cities.
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