A group of Chicago City Council members requested that Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker immediately declare a state of emergency in Chicago and deploy the national guard in light of ongoing rioting and looting in the city.
The City Council held a special meeting Friday to consider the resolution. The governor was asked to deploy the national guard for a period of 4 months to assist local law enforcement in quelling the unrest.
The council members also asked for monthly public safety hearings and “reports regarding the collective and unified efforts to address the rioting, looting, destruction, and most importantly, the safety of all Chicagoans.” (RELATED: ‘I Make No Apologies Whatsoever’: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Defends Banning Protesters From Her Block, Citing Safety Concerns)
Demonstrations have been ongoing in Chicago for months. The city was struck with another wave of violence following a police shootout Sunday, where a 20-year-old man reportedly shot at police and was injured when police returned fire.
Looters broke into a Chicago mall and are looting the place clean tonight. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/wKJZbcvpoZ
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 10, 2020
False information circulated on social media regarding the incident, including a claim that the suspect was 15 years old.
“Right now we are 3 months into turmoil, destruction, looting, and rioting,” alderman Anthony Napolitano, one of the council members who signed the resolution, said during the Friday meeting. “All I’m asking for is a conversation.”
Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a news conference that 2 of the 4 council members who signed the resolution “unfortunately have a history of grandstanding,” NBC5 reported. She accused the aldermen of “trying to seek media attention.”
“I have 0 to gain by grandstanding,” Napolitano said during the meeting. “All it is is 20 years of me working for this city and loving it, and giving it everything I got to protect it, and I’d just like to have the conversation.”
By a vote of 30 to 17, the city council moved to refer the resolution to the Committee on Public Safety.
Members of the City Council’s Black Caucus accused Lightfoot of failing to protect some neighborhoods when the Illinois National Guard was deployed in June. The national guard also told the Daily Caller News Foundation that they were unaware of where their troops were deployed.
