Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot
Lori LightfootMayor calls Chicago looting ‘a planned attack’ Feehery: Weak mayors destroy America’s major cities. Lightfoot catches up with reporter after question of ‘going too easy’ on Chicago looters: ‘Don’t make us bait’ MORE (D) says the looting and violence that struck late Sunday and early Monday in the city center, after a police match, were not the unplanned actions of angry Protestants, but an organized attack.
“When people appeared on downtown Michigan Avenue with U-Haul trucks and lorries, and sophisticated equipment used to cut metal, and the methods used, and how fast it was spun. ..that was not a spontaneous reaction, ”Lightfoot told Time magazine in an interview published Wednesday.
She added: “Sure, there are people who participated who were motivated by many different reasons, and certainly were motivated by posts on social media that encourage people to get downtown. But the core of what happened – that is organized criminal activity … It was a planned attack. “
Tensions rose in Windy City on Sunday night after 20-year-old Latrell Allen, who is black, was shot dead by Chicago police.
According to the department, officers responded to reports of a man with a gun in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. When officers approached Allen, he apparently took off running.
Police say that while they were chasing, Allen shot at them. Back at the fire, officers beat Allen in the shoulder, according to Police Superintendent David Brown.
Allen is reportedly still in the hospital, but is expected to recover. He is accused of two counts of attempted murder in the first degree and one count of possession of a concealed weapon. His bond was raised to $ 1 million on Monday.
However, exact details of what happened immediately after police officer Allen was shot were scarce, giving incorrect information rapid traction.
Rumors that Allen was a 15-year-old boy who had been shot and killed 15 times were soon spread.
Chicago police did not provide clear details about the case Monday morning.
Latricsa Allen, Latrell Allen’s mother, further added to the confusion, telling The Chicago Tribune that her son told her in the hospital that he had no gun on him, and Chicagoans who witnessed the shooting said Latrell Allen tried to give himself up before he was shot.
An investigation into the case by the Civil Liability Bureau of Police found that the officers involved in the shooting did not carry body scams, meaning there could be no video evidence to support any of the allegations. to support both parties.
Following the fast-moving and often inaccurate reports on Sunday, Magnificent Mile and other shopping districts in Chicago sustained heavy damage and looting. Time reports that between midnight and 3 a.m., the 911 exchange board in the city received more than 1,800 calls, when the average for that period would have been in their teens.
Lightfoot told Time that the looters knew the times when police officers would be empty and chose “the moments where they feel they have the best chance of making a move.”
In response to Monday, Lightfoot shelled an additional 400 officers downtown. Expressway exits leading to the center were closed and almost every bridge in the area was raised to seal access.
Activists have criticized Lightfoot for treating the situation.
“The mayor can not expect people to play by their rules because they refuse to treat them with basic dignity,” a statement from Black Lives Matter Chicago said. “These protests can only end if the safety and well-being of our communities are definitely a priority.”
That the police have no evidence to show us because their body cams were comfortably out, but they can still lock up the man that has THEY SHOT because he does not have MILLION DOLLARS. We say bullshithttps: //t.co/3yqjCbkhIs
– BLMChicago (@BLMChi) 11 August 2020
It has been a grim summer in the third largest city in the US. In July, 573 Chicagoans were shot, 58 of them boys. As of the end of last month, Chicago has recorded at least 430 homicides for the year, a 51 percent increase from the same time in 2019.
And this is not the first time this year that protesters and police have squared off in downtown Chicago. Large demonstrations took place in the city in response to the murder of George Floyd’s Minneapolis police at the end of May. Stores on the Magnificent Mile were then also severely damaged.
President Trump
Donald John TrumpDemocrat calls on White House to take back ambassador to Belarus nominated TikTok to collect data from mobile devices to track Android users: Peterson report wins Minnesota House primarily in crucial swing district MORE has repeatedly criticized Democratic mayors’ treatment of protests and unrest in several cities, including Chicago, threatening to deploy federal troops.
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