Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot back on Monday after a reporter questioned whether robbers and looters who caused more than $ 60 million in business damage overnight were emboldened by the “lack of consequences” in the city’s summer riot after the death of the police of George Floyd.
The reporter addressed his question to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown during a press conference this afternoon.
“It almost sounds like you said – the reason we have this is the courts and the prosecutors did not do their job, that they went too easily about the looting of recent times,” the reporter asks.
‘Do not take it from me. Just go through what has been done. There were no consequences for the arrested people, “Brown replied.
Lightfoot then stepped up to the pop stage and accused the reporter of trying to pit city officials against the police department.
‘Let us not be lured. This is a serious situation, “said Lightfoot. ‘People are worried about their safety. Officers are worried about their safety. So, do not bait us. What we are saying is, as a result of what happened last night, there must be consequences. We have teams of aggressive people who identify the people responsible, look at the plates and work to bring them to justice. “
THE MAGNIFICENT MILE OF CHICAGO, GOUDKOST GRONDZERO OF GUN BATTLES, LOOTINGS
She added: “If we do that – if we do make these arrests, our expectation is that we will be treated with the level of seriousness that it should be. “We are not playing that. We are in a serious situation here, and we need a serious response.”
The reporter insists he did not try to lure the mayor before Brown shrugged him off to ask if he had another question.
A door to the Block 37 store building will be destroyed Monday, August 10, 2020, after vandals struck overnight in the famous Chicago Loop.
(AP)
Earlier in the press conference, Brown suggested that the linear treatment of people arrested during the summer unrest over George Floyd’s death played a role in what happened in Chicago on Tuesday.
“Not many of these cases were pursued in full,” Brown said. “These looters, these thieves, these criminals are emboldened by (the lack of) consequences … embolded to do more.”
He added that many of the arrests made in May and June were not “fully prosecuted.”
‘We need to address the arrests that Chicago police officers are making by posing a major threat to their own safety. “They are being shot at to make these arrests,” Brown said.
Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx has disputed any suggestion that her office was accused weeks ago of prosecuting people arrested for robbing businesses. She said none of these cases fell through.
“That’s just not true,” she said. “Those cases are now before the court.”
CHICAGO COMES TO BRIDGES, DOWNTOWN ACCESS RESTRICTIONS AND MORE RIOTING
The slaughterhouse in downtown Chicago unfolded early Monday following a police officer on the South Side city Sunday afternoon.
Brown told reporters that the shooting of the man who opened the fire apparently prompted a social media post urging people to form a caravan and convert it into the business and shopping district.
Some 400 additional officers were dispatched to the area after the department located the post. Over several hours, police made more than 100 arrests and injured 13 officers, including one who was hit in the head with a bottle, Brown said.
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No officers were injured by gunfire, but a security guard and a civilian were admitted to hospital in critical condition after they were shot, and five guns were recovered, Brown said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
