Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot cited the coronavirus Monday as the reason for the city’s escalating murder rate.
When told that homicides in Chicago are “up more than 30%” and asked, “What is happening right now,” the mayor pointed to “the ecosystem of public safety” in a CNN interview.
“All of these forces are coming together at the same time and making it very difficult. The ecosystem of public safety that isn’t just law enforcement but is local, community-based, they, too, have really been hit hard by COVID [-19] and are now just kind of coming back online and getting their footing.” (RELATED: Chicago Mayor Heard Calling Police Union Leader A ‘Clown’)
Shootings killed 18 people over the last weekend in June in the city — including two children and a teenager. There were similar results over the July 4th weekend.
Gun violence increased despite stay at home orders. Lightfoot has previously blamed Republicans for the mayhem.
Lightfoot has kept a tight lid on the city throughout the coronavirus, with a lockdown that threatened to have people arrested for attending parties. “Now I’ve directed Superintendent Brown to order all police districts to give special attention to these parties. And this is how it’s going to be,” Lightfoot said.
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot arrives at Wrigley Field on April 16, 2020 in Chicago Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
“We will shut you down, we will cite you and if we need to, we will arrest you and we will take you to jail. Period. There should be nothing unambiguous about that.” (Chicago Pastor Accuses Mayor Of Lying About Police Presence At Services Violating Lockdown Order)
Despite the mayor’s insistence that Chicago residents exercise strict social distancing, in April she quietly visited her hair stylist in direct contravention of her own lockdown orders, justifying the decision by stating, “I’m the public face of this city and you know, I’m a person who [takes] personal hygiene very seriously and I felt like I needed to have a haircut. So I got a haircut.”