The town of Chicago noticed an uptick in violent crime over Labor Day weekend, and, predictably, President Donald Trump is utilizing the information to bolster his threats to deploy Nationwide Guard troops to the Windy Metropolis, even though crime is down in Chicago general.
In response to Newsweek, 52 shootings occurred all through the town over the three-day weekend, leading to seven fatalities. Final yr, throughout Labor Day weekend, 5 individuals died and one other 31 individuals had been injured in capturing incidents. Trump, as typical, reported inaccurate numbers — complicated the variety of shootings with the variety of capturing victims, and nonetheless being off by two — and simply plain lied in regards to the current state of basic crime within the metropolis.
“No less than 54 individuals had been shot in Chicago over the weekend, [eight] individuals had been killed,” Trump wrote Tuesday on his social media platform Fact Social. “The final two weekends had been related. Chicago is the worst and most harmful metropolis on this planet, by far.” (Trump pulled that line in regards to the “final two weekends” being “related” fully out of his rust-tinted hind elements whereas presenting no statistical proof that it’s true.)
If solely information and actuality didn’t hold getting in the best way of Trump’s propaganda.
From Newsweek:
Nonetheless, fatalities had been down this yr in comparison with gun-related in deaths in 2023, the place ten individuals had been killed, and in 2022 the place eight deaths had been reported, in keeping with the Chicago Solar Occasions. One other 56 had been injured in capturing incidents in 2022 whereas 34 had been harm in 2023, in keeping with native stories.
So, Chicago had a violent weekend, together with a number of mass shootings that reportedly occurred, however that doesn’t change the truth that violent crime is down in Chicago by 21.6 %, in keeping with new year-to-date crime statistics launched by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who, together with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, has mentioned repeatedly that the town neither desires nor wants Trump to weaponize the Nationwide Guard towards it below the guise of cracking down on crime, because the president has additionally threatened to do in Baltimore, NYC, San Francisco and different democratic cities the place crime is on the decline. (And Trump made these threats whereas all however admitting he’s a wannabe dictator.)
“We might even see militarized immigration enforcement,” Johnson mentioned in an announcement Monday of Trump’s threats. “We might also see Nationwide Guard troops. We could even see lively responsibility army and armed autos in our streets. We’ve got not referred to as for this. Our individuals haven’t requested for this, however nonetheless, we discover ourselves having to reply to this.”
In addition to the truth that Trump is, as typical, mendacity about crime being on the rise, dismissing crime information that signifies the alternative is true, he’s additionally, as soon as once more, planning to deploy troops into cities with out even bothering to seek the advice of the town’s leaders, which Pritzker identified in an announcement of his personal at a press convention final week.
“If this was actually about preventing crime and making the streets secure, what potential justification may the White Home have for planning such an distinctive motion with none conversations or consultations with the governor, the mayor, or the police?” the governor requested rhetorically.
It’s value mentioning that, on Tuesday, a federal choose in San Francisco dominated that the Trump administration broke the regulation when it deployed army troops into the streets of Los Angeles to assist out with ICE raids, and barred the DHS from doing so once more anyplace in Southern California.
It’s nearly as if no one desires Trump to behave like a dictator besides Trump, his administration and hundreds of thousands of Republicans who as soon as claimed they had been towards tyrannical governments.
Go determine.
