Tuesday, June 09, 2020

Chicago Sees Deadliest Weekend of Gun Violence in 2020 as George Floyd Protests Continue




(File photo: Joshua Lott/Reuters)

Chicago saw its deadliest weekend of gun violence this year as protests, riots, and looting continued to rock the city after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

A total of 24 people were killed and at least 61 injured by gun violence, more than half shot on Sunday. Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said that 17 of the gun deaths occurred on Sunday alone.

The deaths included many younger people, including several 18-year-olds and victims in their 20s. Among those injured were a 15-year-old and three 17-year-olds.

During the same weekend last year, a much smaller number, 52 people, were injured by guns, eight of whom died. Gun violence in Chicago also spiked last weekend: 10 people were shot fatally and 39 more were injured during the city’s deadliest Memorial Day weekend in five years. A 16-year-old boy was among the victims.

Both peaceful protests and riots broke out in Chicago during the last week of May in response to the death of Floyd, a black man, who died in police custody after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for about nine minutes, including after Floyd passed out. Riots have continued through both subsequent weekends in several other metropolitan areas around the country, including New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.

Hundreds were also arrested as rioting continued and police enforced the city’s curfew.

Last weekend’s gun violence evoked memories of the demonstrations of 1968, when rioting and looting spread across Chicago after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The one difference, in ’68 it was by and large the African American community. In 2020, this is whites and blacks. In fact, there are more whites than blacks involved in these demonstrations than blacks across the world,” said Martin Luther King, III, King’s son. “The world has been impacted by this incident.”

MAIREAD MCARDLE is a news writer for National Review Online and a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College. @johnsonhildy


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RELATED ARTICLE


As the Nation Deals with George Floyd Unrest, Chicago Had Their Bloodiest Day in 60 Years

By Matt Vespa | Townhall.com


 Source: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune via AP

Well, as the nation is engulfed in rioting over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police, we’re back to the Black Lives Matter arena of discussion. Yes, Floyd was killed by the police. It’s all on video. It’s ghastly. The officers were rightfully fired and charged. There was pretty much universal agreement on that front. Floyd was unarmed, he was arrested on the suspicion of using counterfeit currency, and somehow that led to his death. Officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with second-degree murder, while the three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. Sorry, there should be protests and anger over this; the use of force was absurd. Chauvin kept his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for nearly ten minutes. But that all went out the door when the riots began. You can peacefully protest all you want, but the moment you start to target cops, commit arson, and loot—you’ve lost the moment. It’s time to re-establish law and order. 

And while the nation deals with the rioting, we’ve seen how feeble Democrats are who run these cities. The mayor of Mill City appeared to surrender portions for demolition by the mob. In Chicago, well, people decided to exploit the unrest by committing 18 murders in 24 hours, the bloodiest day in 60 years (via Fox News):

Bloody Chicago recorded 18 murders on May 31, making it the city’s deadliest day in 60 years.

The dubious milestone was reached on a day Chicago was roiled by another round of protests and looting following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

The 18 deaths tallied by the University of Chicago Crime Lab made May 31, 2020 the single-most violent day in six decades, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday. The Crime Lab numbers go back only to 1961.

On May 29 and May 30, there were seven murders. In a city with an international reputation for crime, the 25 murders on those three days made for the most violent weekend in Chicago’s modern history, according to the paper.

“We’ve never seen anything like it, at all,” the crime lab’s senior research director, Max Kapustin, told the newspaper. “I don’t even know how to put it into context. It’s beyond anything that we’ve ever seen before.”

Chicago’s next most violent day was Aug. 4, 1991, when 13 murders were recorded.

And yet, there’s probably going to zero outrage over this, which is typical given that the Windy City has had many bloody holiday weekends. As soon as summer hits, the city becomes a shooting gallery despite having some of the most anti-gun laws on the books. And its police department also has had issues, with the Laquan McDonald shooting that became a scandal for the Rahm mayoralty when it seemed pretty clear he kept the dashcam footage buried until after he was re-elected. McDonald was murdered by former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.