Chicago suffered another deadly weekend of violence, capped off by riotous looting downtown.
At least 40 people were shot, four fatally, as the city’s Democratic mayor struggles to maintain order.
Weekend shootings
A city already plagued by gun violence, Chicago saw its murder rate jump by 50 percent in 2020, and 139 percent in July, as cities all across America suffer an increase in homicides. Last weekend proved no exception to the rule, as a wave of shootings claimed the lives of four men and left many injured, including three teenagers.
Heading into the weekend, two men in their twenties were fatally shot in separate shootings early Saturday morning on the south and northwest sides. A 14-year-old boy survived a shooting early Saturday in West Pullman in fair condition.
A 31-year-old man was killed around 3 a.m. Sunday on the Southwest Side, hours after a 15-year-old girl was grazed by a bullet at a park on the South Side. She is in fair condition. Late Saturday evening, a 17-year-old boy was shot in Lawndale on the West Side, and he is in fair condition.
A fourth homicide occurred early Monday morning, when a a 22-year old man was fatally shot in the chest on the South Side.
Chicago spirals with riots, shootings, looting
Chicago spiraled out of control Monday morning as looters organized caravans of cars and ransacked high-end stores in the Loop and North Side. Storefronts were demolished and at least two people were critically injured, including a security guard. Over 100 people were arrested in the crime spree, and 13 officers were hurt.
The looting was apparently sparked by the police-involved shooting of an armed suspect in the South Side on Sunday. The 20-year-old suspect, who police said shot at officers while attempting to flee, is recovering in the hospital and has been charged with attempted murder.
Black Lives Matter protests formed in response to the looting and the subsequent arrests, with demonstrators declaring that the organized theft was a form of “reparations.”
The city’s police superintendent, David Brown, said Monday that criminals have been “emboldened” by a failure to prosecute looters and rioters back in May and June, when unrest broke out over the death of George Floyd.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) did not seem to have things under control when the city raised bridges over the Chicago River, in a desperate effort to keep looters out of downtown early Monday. Still, the embattled mayor is refusing help from President Donald Trump.
“Again, no, we do not need federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop,” Lightfoot said.
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