Following unprecedented violence, President Biden visited Chicago on Wednesday, July 7th. Well, sort of. Biden, along with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, addressed “the fight against gun violence” on the tarmac at O’Hare International Airport.
Biden’s visit came on the heels of the most violent weekend in the city’s bloody history. Over the 4th of July weekend, more than 100 people were shot, 19 of them fatally. On the day of Biden’s visit, two ATF agents and a Chicago police officer were shot.
Just two weeks prior to his visit, Biden announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) would launch five firearms trafficking strike forces. They are aimed at targeting gun trafficking corridors in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC over the subsequent 30 days. All those cities have seen an uptick in gun violence.
That 30-day time frame ends this Friday, so the clock is ticking.
DOJ announcements about the strike force have been remarkable vague. The strike forces will, it said, “share information and otherwise collaborate across districts where firearms trafficking schemes cross state or jurisdictional boundaries.” Vague and meaningless.
Despite Biden’s visit, the gun violence in Chicago goes on unabated. This past weekend 61 people were shot and 10 of them died. Many of the incidents were drive-by shootings. Victims were both men and women.
As is usually the case, children were among Chicago’s shooting victims. A 14-year-old and 16-year-old boy and a 12-year-old, 14-year-old, 15-year-old, and 16-year-old girl were all shot in separate incidents. Most of the other shooting victims were in their late teens or twenties. The oldest victim was a 62-year-old man.
No one seems willing or able to stop the senseless bloodshed. The president offered a weak-watered announcement that had absolutely no effect on gun violence. The Democrat-run city has seen an increase in black-on-black violence with no intervention from national or civil rights figures.
Where is Jesse Jackson? Where is Al Sharpton? Or any of the loud-mouthed so-called civil rights leaders who fanned the flames after the death of Gorge Floyd. Their silence is deafening and their inaction speaks volumes.
They say Black Lives DON’T Matter. Loud and clear.
Image from: newyorkpost.com
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