Last year proved to be the deadliest in a quarter of a century for Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) strife-torn Chicago.
The Hill reports that Chicago police confirmed the city witnessed 797 homicides during the course of 2021.
The Associated Press notes the 797 homicides represent “25 more than were recorded 2020, 299 more than in 2019 and the most since 1996.”
Moreover, there were “3,561 shooting incidents in 2021, which is just over 300 more than were recorded in 2020.” The figure of 3,561 represents over 1,400 more shooting instances than were seen in 2019.
The Chicago Police Department pointed out that it was targeting illegal guns throughout the year and was able to “[take] a record 12,088 guns off the street in 2021.” The seizure of so many guns is correlated with the formation of the Gun Investigations Team, which is designed to hamper “the flow of illegal guns into the city.”
The Chicago Sun-Times noted a higher figure for Chicago homicides in 2021, reporting that city hit the figure of 800 homicides for the year when 23-year-old Sheridan Freeman was shot dead inside a home in West Pullman on December 14.
On December 21, 2021, Breitbart News reported that Mayor Lightfoot reached out for the ATF’s help in fighting the surging homicides in her city after previously saying coronavirus was driving up the fatalities:
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.