Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pushed back Tuesday evening against talk of a federal clampdown on big-city lawlessness, saying she wouldn’t allow President Trump to “terrorize” the city’s residents by sending in federal troops.
Ironically, Lightfoot’s Twitter message came almost simultaneously as at least 14 people were reportedly shot outside a funeral home on the city’s South Side — with a number of other shootings occuring elsewhere in the city as well.
“Under no circumstances will I allow Donald Trump’s troops to come to Chicago and terrorize our residents,” Lightfoot wrote.
CHICAGO SHOOTOUT AT FUNERAL SENDS AT LEAST 14 TO HOSPITALS, POLICE SAY
“We do not welcome dictatorship,” the mayor added in a newspaper interview.
“We do not welcome dictatorship.”
— Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot speaks in Chicago, May 20, 2019. (Associated Press)
After news spread about the funeral home shootings, Lightfoot vowed those responsible would be held accountable.
“Too many guns are on our streets and in the hands of people who should never possess them,” Lightfoot wrote. “These individuals will be held accountable. I ask that anyone with information on this incident please come forward or sumbit a tip anonymously at cpdtip.com.”
The victims were fired upon while leaving the funeral home when a fast-moving vehicle rode past around 6:30 p.m. local time, according to police.
Some of the mourners shot back at the vehicle before it crashed down the block. The victims were taken to five hospitals in serious and critical condition. At least one person has been arrested but police haven’t given a motive or said if the shooter and the victims knew each other, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The funeral was for a 31-year-old man fatally shot last week near Tuesday’s shooting, The Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing sources.
On Monday, President Trump vowed to send federal forces into the city.
Will work ‘collaboratively’
That same day, Lightfoot told MSNBC she would not allow “tyranny” in Chicago – a reference to controversial tactics used by federal agents sent into Portland, Ore., to quell rioting – but admitted Tuesday the city would be working “collaboratively” with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to bring down violent crime, the Tribune reported.
“All those agencies are here. They’ve been here for decades. They have ongoing cases that they’re investigating,” Lightfoot said, according to FOX 32 in Chicago.
Cities frequently work with federal agencies on cases involving drugs and violent crime.
A neighbor who lives near the funeral home said she went outside when they heard gunshots.
“All we saw was bodies just laying everywhere. They were shot up everywhere,” Arnita Geder told the Sun-Times. “We thought it was a war out here. It’s ridiculous all the shooting that’s going on out here, it really has to stop.”
Lightfoot said Tuesday the city welcomes actual “partnership” with the federal government.
“But we do not welcome dictatorship, we do not welcome authoritarianism and we do not welcome unconstitutional arrest and detainment of our residents,” she told the Tribune.
She said the city would go to court if the federal government deployed “unnamed federal special secret agents onto our streets to detain people without cause and effectively take away their civil rights and their civil liberties without due process,” referring again to Portland.
Feud with McEnany
Last Thursday, Lightfoot called White House press secretary a “Karen” on Twitter after McEnany said Lightfoot was a “derelict mayor” amid Chicago’s escalating violence.
Hey Karen, watch your mouth,” Lightfoot tweeted in reference to McEnany.
“Karen” is a pejorative word usually referring to a middle-aged white woman who seems entitled.
On Friday, Chicago saw more unrest as police and rioters clashed near the city’s Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park. Nearly 20 police officers were injured as rioters hurled objects at them.
Tuesday’s shooting was one of the worst in the city’s recent memory and comes as more than 2,000 people have been shot in Chicago this year, FOX 32 reported.
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The latest shooting came a day after more than 20 people were shot in the city Monday and after a deadly weekend in which 63 people were shot and 12 were killed.
Lightfoot was among several big-city mayors demanding the withdrawal of “federal forces” earlier this week in two letters to Attorney General Bill Barr and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
