In Letter to Lightfoot, Trump Demands End to 'Horrors' of Chicago Violence
President Donald Trump pulled no punches Friday, demanding immediate action from Illinois Democratic leadership following weeks of violence on the streets of Chicago.
Counting himself “horrified” in an open letter to Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the president highlighted from a recent Sun-Times article just a few of the myriad tragedies which befell Chicago on May 31 — the Windy City’s bloodiest day in roughly 60 years.
“I write to you today to call your attention to and urge action on the devastating violence in Chicago,” Trump wrote. “While I have been heartened to see crime reductions nationally the last few years, I have been horrified by the continued violence in this great American city.”
“Violence and death, which are disproportionately harming young African Americans, are tragic and unacceptable, particularly on such a shocking scale,” the president wrote.
“More Americans have been killed in Chicago than in combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq combined since September 11, 2001, a deadly trend that has continued under your tenure.”
According to the Sun-Times, the last weekend in May saw 25 people killed and more than 85 wounded in gun-related incidents across the Chicago metropolitan area — more than were hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 in the same 48-hour span.
Among the dead were a young father of three, two adolescent students and a three-year-old toddler.
Though largely unrelated, the shootings also coincided with protests, looting and rioting brought on by the widely publicized death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Police Department custody just one week prior. Those demonstrations had left Chicago police spread thin.
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