Weekend bloodbath is political shrapnel
The weekend bloodbath that left 71 people shot and 12 people dead has become political shrapnel in the Chicago mayor’s face.
Fired Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy was first to attack Mayor Rahm Emanuel, citing a six-hour period that left five people dead and more than 30 others shot, most of them teenagers.
Mayoral challengers Lori Lightfoot, Ja’Mal Green and Paul Vallas also spoke up in the wake of the tally from 5 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday: three people shot Friday evening; 14 shot Saturday; 48 on Sunday; and six early Monday.
“This is a mayor who continues to ignore this epidemic of violence that’s taking over communities on the South and West Sides of this city,” McCarthy was quoted as saying in an emailed statement.
McCarthy got an assist from his former boss, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
On Sunday, Giuliani tweeted as the body count rose. Too bad he got McCarthy’s name wrong — then over-estimated the number killed.
“Chicago murders are direct result of one party Democratic rule for decades,” Giuliani tweeted.
“Policing genius Jerry McCarthy can do for Chicago what I did for NYC,” Giuliani tweeted. “Slashed homicides over 70%. Tens of thousands of lives saved.”
Then came another tweet that got McCarthy’s first name right, but misspelled Emanuel’s last name.
“Give Garry McCarthy your support @ Garry4Chicago. Tomorrow I will get you information to contribute. MAKE CHICAGO SAFE AGAIN! He can do a lot better than Mayor Emmanuel who is fiddling while Chicago burns,” Giuliani wrote.
Giuliani then sent a third tweet that greatly exaggerated the body count in Chicago.
The Giuliani twitter-storm prompted McCarthy to issue another statement; it broke ranks with the former New York City mayor — and misspelled Giuliani’s name.
“I am a proud Democrat and I do not agree with Mayor Guiliani’s political views and I certainly remain opposed to the misguided, divisive tone and policies of Donald Trump,” he wrote.
“I cannot say strongly enough how saddened I am to see ‘America’s Mayor’ stand with a president with whom I am diametrically opposed. I also categorically disagree that Democrats — as Guiliani suggested — are responsible for Chicago’s tragic gun violence. The blame lies squarely with Rahm Emanuel’s weak leadership and failed policies.”
Mayoral challenger Lori Lightfoot chimed in with a claim that public safety is “the right of every Chicagoan — not a question of ZIP code or a commodity for the wealthy.”
“As mayor, I will confront our city’s gun violence directly and with empathy, rather than remaining silent as more than 70 people are shot in a single weekend,” Lightfoot was quoted as saying in a statement. “Rahm Emanuel cannot sit this out. He’s the mayor and our city is facing a public health crisis.”
Another candidate, community activist Ja’Mal Green, blamed a “lack of investment” in violence-ravaged innercity neighborhoods.
“While I can hold the mayor accountable for a lot, it’s also the communities that have to change their communities and step up. We need community residents to step up and actually start up the block clubs and talk to these young guys on the streets, “Green said.
“We also need services in these communities that we don’t have from this administration. The administration definitely gets an ‘F’ when it comes to minority communities.”
Vallas touted a plan to hire back up to 400 retired Chicago Police detectives and restore two shuttered detective areas to bolster a clearance rate on homicides and other violent crime that is “one of the worst” among major U.S. cities.
“This is a crisis in which four out of five killers in Chicago are literally getting away with murder. Is it any wonder this past weekend witnesses more than 60 shootings in the city?” said Vallas, who held a news conference outside the 6th Police District.
“There is absolutely no substitute for an effective detective division that has the resources, capacity and experience to solve serious crimes.”