Chicago’s Mayor-Elect: City Should Not ‘Demonize’ Rioting Teens

The mayor-elect of Chicago, Illinois, said that while he does not condone violence, “it is not constructive to demonize” the teens who participated in four nights of violent rioting, which included a shooting on Saturday. 

“In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend. It is unacceptable and has no place in our city. However, it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities,” Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson said in a statement Sunday.

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“Our city must work together to create spaces for youth to gather safely and responsibly, under adult guidance and supervision, to ensure that every part of our city remains welcome for both residents and visitors,” he continued. “This is one aspect of my comprehensive approach to improve public safety and make Chicago livable for everyone.”

Chicago’s sitting mayor, Lori Lightfoot, also released a statement, calling the rioting “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,” Lightfoot said. “Most importantly, parents and guardians must know where their children are and be responsible for their actions. Instilling the important values of respect for people and property must begin at home.”

As Breitbart News previously reported, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) was first called out in force at around 10 p.m. Wednesday night when about 200 teens erupted in a mass fight in the city’s popular Millennium Park at the southern end of the “Mag Mile.” The Wednesday night incident became the city’s first “large group” incident of the year, according to Chicago’s CBS affiliate.

The youths were reportedly fighting and harassing other people at the park, according to reports. The crowds of unruly teens came back on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as police struggled to head off violence.

Videos on social media shows gangs of teens jumping on top of mass transit buses and rushing through the streets of Chicago on Friday as police officers work to control the chaos. 

Fox Chicago reported that the roving gangs of teens were also seen bashing in car windows, and after shots were fired, they noted that they pulled their news crews off the street due to safety fears.

NBC 5 Chicago reported that two teens were wounded in the Loop on Saturday as hundreds of teens once again flooded the downtown area and engaged in spasms of violence. The victims, two boys, 16 and 17 years old, were reportedly hit by bullets while standing among the crowd when an unknown assailant fired the shots. It is not known if the shots were fired during a fight nearby or if it was just random, senseless shooting.

Johnson addressed the violence on Friday as well in a visit to Jesse Jackson’s Operation Push headquarters.

“My heart breaks for the families, which should never have to suffer the pain of a child being shot or lost to gun violence in our city. As a father, what I want for my own children is what I want for every child in Chicago. Their safety, and their healing from trauma, will be a priority of my administration from day one and beyond,” Johnson said in a statement.

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“But we will not just protect our children — we will love them, and nurture them, and give every one of them the hope and purpose they deserve,” he concluded.

Johnson, a former union organizer, has previously claimed that blame for the city’s rising crime rate could be laid at the feet of businesses because, in his estimation, “70 percent don’t pay corporate taxes.”

The nights of chaos occurred just days after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) chose Chicago for the site of its 2024 National Presidential Convention, and despite that fact that the city suffers one of the nation’s highest murder rates.

Warner Todd Hudson contributed to this report.