The man whose actions sparked the unrest, 20-year-old Latrell Allen, was charged with attempted murder of police.
Allen, who had previous arrests for child endangerment, domestic battery and burglary, was confronted by police on Sunday afternoon and fled, turning around and shooting multiple rounds at officers as he fled. He was shot and injured by police, returning fire, and rumor then spread that a child had been killed by officers.
Social media was soon alight with rallying cries for protests and looting.
Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx dropped charges against several hundred protesters arrested for looting and other offenses during the George Floyd protests.
David Brown, Chicago Police Superintendent, said at the Monday press conference that looters could have been behaving ‘as if there are not consequences’ because of ‘what happened previously’.
A reporter, addressing the police chief, said: ‘It almost sounds as though you were saying the reason we have this is the courts and the prosecutors were not doing their job, that they were going too easy on the looters from the last time around. Is that my understanding?’
Brown replied: ‘Don’t take it from me. Just go about what’s been done. I don’t want to do your job for you but go about what’s been done. There were no consequences for the people arrested.’
At this point, Lightfoot stood up and addressed the reporter.
‘Let’s be clear,’ she said. ‘Don’t bait us! OK? Do not bait us. Do not bait us.
‘This is a serious situation. People are concerned about their safety. Officers are concerned about their safety. So don’t bait us.
‘What we’re saying is, as a result of what happened last night, there have to be consequences.
‘We’ve got teams of people that are aggressively out there identifying the people responsible, looking at the plates, and working on bringing them to justice.
‘But when we do, and we do make those arrests, our expectation is that is going to be treated with the level of seriousness that it should be, period.’
She angrily denied that Foxx’s decision, or any other ruling by the Chicago authorities, contributed towards the unrest.
‘Don’t try to bait us, mischaracterize, pit one against the other,’ she said.
‘We’re not playing that. We’re in a serious situation here, and we need a serious response. That’s what we’re saying, period.’
Coming soon to a city near you.
By taking food and clothing from the store owners?!
They don’t all have insurance and your little “poor and starving waifs” didn’t just go after Gucci’s and Nike but little mom and pop stores that don’t have insurance and now don’t have stores because you not only STOLE their goods but DESTROYED their businesses.
The guy’s an idiot communist and needs to be shot.
When the Miracle Mile closes their retail and restaurants it will turn into a Ghetto with daily murders. This is what happens when voters vote for Democrats.
Lightfoot said it was disturbing that the looters targeted small businesses that are still struggling to recover from months of COVID-19 closures.
‘This was an assault on our city. It undermines public safety and breathes a sense of insecurity among our residents. It undermines our recovery efforts - these same stores were hit previously, not just by looting but by closures related to COVID-19. They are also small stores and restaurants all of which we’re in the process of recovering and getting back to work, and now this.’
She said there was ‘no justification’ for the looting, and said it had nothing to do with Black Lives Matter, or George Floyd, or Michael Brown - the Missouri teenager shot dead six years ago Sunday. ‘I don’t care - I do not care - whatever justification was given for this,’ she said. ‘There is no justification for criminal behavior ever. You have no right to take and destroy the property of others. Our residents deserve to be safe. Our businesses deserve to understand and enjoy safety and security,’ she said.
“Downtown Chicago was otherwise quiet after authorities cut off access, with drawbridges leading into the city pulled up and freeway exits blocked after riots sparked by a false rumor of a child shot by police. At least 13 police officers were injured as the violence claimed an estimated $65 million in property damage.”
“Mostly peaceful” is now “Quiet”, when 13 cops are “injured”, just injured.
Probably some scrapes and bruises, right, Big Media?
$65M property damage, like hurricane windage, is in the “Quiet” category.
Hmm... What do any of those stores have to eat? You gonna eat a handbag or a shoe?
What good will it do to arrest these criminals if DA Kim Foxx lets them go?....................
Do insurance companies pay out for rioting damage? I thought I heard that they did not.
This is why some cities have “food deserts” where there is no place to buy groceries. Too much crime. Thin profit margins cannot sustain the businesses, so they leave. If you riot in the “nice” places, then Gucci will leave too.
So THIS is what you support, NBA? NHL? MLB?
I suspect that the only thing that will stop the looting now is live ammo.
Great we can mark that off their list of what they want.
i don’t care why they are looting, they should be shot. Rioting and looting undermines society as a whole. It terrorizes the business owners, who may decide to just close up shop and stop working as a business owner. By creating this sort of instability in society you, as a rioter, looter, terrorist, have NO VALUE to society and should be put down like a rabid animal. Rabid animals have no ability to reason. They can’t be persuaded to another course. They have no value and need to be destroyed, just like these rioters, looters, and terrorists.
Human beings can rationalize anything. I used to know a guy that would steal one food item every time he went grocery shopping because he said that cost of shoplifting was baked in to the price of everything else, so that was how he evened it out.
### BLM called the looting reparations####
And I call 10 years in prison the Historic 2020 Federal Homestead Act...
When you “take” reparations of your own choosing, for a perceived past wrong, that is considered an act of war.
Black Looting Matters
When you realize these communists are saying that they can go in and steal the farmers food and destroy his farming equipment that he invested his time and effort and sweat to grow, because he has insurance and they supposedly need food
When you realize these communists are saying that they can go in to the tailors shop and steal the clothes he made and trash his machinery and textiles that he invested his time and effort and sweat to make because he has insurance and they supposedly need to be clothed (although they’re perfectly clothed while looting)
When you realize these communists are saying that they care about the people while they destroy the lives of hard working Americans who’ve sweated and put forth effort to give back to the community...
This is lawlessness and anarchy and a very real attempt to overthrow the nation.
It’s time to take up arms and put the country right. Figuratively and literally)
I guarantee no small business in any large urban area will be able to afford riot insurance again. Such damages will be specifically excluded from coverage and to get such coverage will require a premium none can afford. These business are not coming back.
********This is a serious situation. People are concerned about their safety. Officers are concerned about their safety. So don’t bait us.********
So why don’t you treat it as a serious problem, instead of letting them off the hook so they know they will not face consequences, and will go out and do it again...and again...and again...
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Keep it up, mayor sh!t for brains, and watch those businesses find greener pastures.