Chicago’s mayor says the city’s weekend problem with downtown violence and crime can only be fixed by parents instilling values in their children at home.
Hundreds of teenagers and young adults gathered downtown over the weekend, including at the city’s famous Millennium Park, where some engaged in “reckless and disruptive behavior” and were arrested, Chicago police told Channel 5.
Nine adults and six children were arrested late Saturday night. Two tweens in the middle of a large crowd around State and Madison streets were shot. A 14-year-old boy was shot at 31st Street Beach during a similar gathering on Friday.
Cars were damaged on both evenings. Channel 5 said it pulled its TV crew from the area due to fears for the employees’ safety. Police were outnumbered, the station said.
Lori Lightfoot, the city’s outgoing mayor, said parents must help with the problem.
“Twice in the last few days, several large groups of young people have gathered across the city,” said Lightfoot, a Democrat. “Many of them were there to have a good time and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. However, some of those young people were involved in reckless, disrespectful, and unlawful behavior. As I have said before, we as a city cannot and will not allow any of our public spaces to become a platform for criminal conduct.
“Most importantly, parents and guardians must know where their children are and be responsible for their actions,” Lightfoot added. “Instilling the important values of respect for people and property must begin at home.”
The mayor said the city had “invested millions of dollars” to “support community-based organizations to partner with youth to co-activate fun, safe spaces all over the city throughout the year.”
“We ask parents to partner with us by making sure that your children's plans are safe and that they know when to exit a situation before it becomes unsafe,” she added.
Bill Morton, president of the Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce, said incoming mayor Brandon Johnson must take action. Johnson will be inaugurated on May 15.
“This is killing our small businesses,” Morton said. “This is causing an exodus outside of the state of Illinois and outside of the city of Chicago. We're losing revenue in the city of Chicago. We're losing residents in the city of Chicago. We're losing residents in the state of Illinois, something has to be done about this.”
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Lisa-Blue
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
