Multiple Chicago street gangs have struck a pact to shoot Chicago Police Department (CPD) members if officers draw their weapons on suspects in public, according to a newly obtained federal intelligence warning.
WLS reports:
The “situational information report” from FBI officials in Chicago dated August 26, 2020, states “members of these gang factions have been actively searching for, and filming, police officers in performance of their official duties. The purpose of which is to catch on film an officer drawing his/her weapon on any subject and the subsequent ‘shoot on-site’ of said officer, in order to garner national media attention.”
Alerts based on police intelligence, no matter how unspecific, are frequently distributed to law enforcement agencies according to investigators, especially when they involve threats to officers.
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The FBI alert, headlined “Pact Made by People Nation Gang Factions to ‘Shoot On-Site’ Any Police Officer with a Weapon Drawn” lists street gangs that have become well-known in Chicago the past five decades, from the Latin Kings and Vice Lords to the El Rukns and Black P Stones.
Speaking to WLS, CPD Superintendent David Brown acknowledged that officers face a “sense of lawlessness,” though he would not weigh in on the latest FBI Chicago alert. “I think it’s bigger than a suggestion,” stated Brown. “I think 51 officers being shot at or shot in one year, I think that quadruples any previous year in Chicago’s history. So I think it’s more than a suggestion that people are seeking to do harm to cops.”
The report follows yet another bloody weekend in Chicago, where 55 people were shot, ten fatally, over the weekend, according to the Chicago-Sun Times. Two Chicago police officers, along with a 15-year-old boy, were injured in the shootings.
Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale (D) recently criticized Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), accusing her of losing control of the city amid a surge in crime.
“When you look at everything that’s happening right now in this city, the city is in total unrest. In my opinion, I think the mayor has lost the confidence and the control of this city,” Beale told the Fox News Channel in early August. “She’s listening to the wrong people, and the wrong people are the ones that [are] really leading this unrest in the city of Chicago. You know, the aldermen are the ones that are elected by their constituency, and there’s a total disregard of listening to the aldermen, who know the pulse of this city, know the pulse of their ward.”
In late July, Lightfoot accepted President Donald Trump’s offer of federal law enforcement officials to help combat crime in the city but rejected the idea of federal troops keeping watch on protests as previously seen in Portland.