As Lightfoot accuses the court of violence, aldermen push back | Chicago News

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses the weekend violence in Chicago at an independent press conference on Monday, June 28, 2021 (WTTW News)

Hours after Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed the closure of the Cook County justice system by the COVID-19 pandemic for escalating violence in the south and west sides of Chicago, several aldermen of Chicago Tonight as the Growing inequality and mistrust of the police are to blame.

Police are still investigating two mass shootings Sunday night, one on the South Shore that left one dead and five injured, and another in Marquette Park that left one dead and 10 injured.

Lightfoot told an independent press conference Monday morning that the two mass shootings were caused by gang conflicts and were retaliation for previous shootings.

After calling the violence heartbreaking and frustrating, Lighfoot called on Cook County court officials to restart regular criminal trials, which have been suspended since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Open the courts, Lightfoot said. People have to spend their time in court. Justice delayed is justice denied. And you hurt not only those who are accused, but also those in the community. The victims, survivors and witnesses who need some justice.

However, Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) said the crime is driven by the income inequality that divides Chicago, not by closing the courts, saying Chicago is a city of extreme wealth and extreme poverty.

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward) said crime is on the rise because the Chicago Police Department does not have the trust of black and Latino Chicagoans and cannot solve the crimes.

Without it, everything else is just a facade, Vasquez said, like putting Band-Aidsover on gunshot wounds.

But Ald. Michele Smith (43rd arrondissement) said the large number of casualties is due to the large capacity weapons used by offenders in many of these cases. Those who use these weapons should be held accountable, and the city should welcome help from the federal government, she said.

Efforts to increase confidence in the Chicago Police Department by putting an elected board in charge of the department were stalled on June 18, after Public Safety Committee Chairman Ald. Chris Taliaferro (29th Ward) blocked a vote on a measure backed by city council’s three largest caucuses and a host of community groups.

Lightfoot opposes the proposal and on Friday called the plan a back door attempt to fund the police department by taking control of the policymaking authority.

The fact that Taliaferro, a Lightfoot ally, is preventing city council from having a debate on the proposal is very problematic, Taylor said.

We can’t even have a conversation, Taylor says. What we did with the police didn’t work.

The proposal should go directly to city council since the public safety committee refused to act, Vasquez said.

Note: This story will be updated with a video.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 |[email protected]

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