Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson was slammed by critics for his response to hundreds of Chicago teenagers smashing car windows, attacking bystanders and firing guns in the street over the weekend.
"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," Johnson said in a statement on Sunday.
"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."
Fox News’ Gianno Caldwell said Johnson’s comments did nothing but create excuses instead of calling for accountability.
"I grew up on the south side of Chicago extremely poor– lights and gas and water off at the same time, my mom addicted to crack cocaine. I was starved of opportunities. But still, I'm here talking to you," he said Monday on "Your World with Neil Cavuto." "I don't take that as any excuse. And it's become a problem that the left continues to try to use statements like that to handicap people and give them [an] excuse to commit these kind of crimes."
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Caldwell, whose younger brother was murdered in Chicago last year, shared that he wrote an op-ed in the New York Post titled "Black lives must matter to us." He argued Black lives should matter not just to those outside the African American community, but those inside it as well.
"We saw an FBI report back in 2018 which showed that 89% of the individual murder victims that were Black were committed by Black perpetrators. So at what point are we going to begin to sound the alarm in our own community that we got to wake up, and we've got to begin to talk about these issues in a very honest and candid way?" he asked. "We've not necessarily been doing that. It's always the blame on something else, and that must come to an end."
Host Neil Cavuto questioned why Black murder victims being killed by Black offenders doesn’t get as much attention from the mainstream media.
"Well, it's not popular," Caldwell responded. "This isn't to say that Black people killing Black people is not a popular topic among the mainstream media. I think you look at The New York Times and maybe some of those places and CNN editorial leads... They don't want to talk about that kind of thing. They want something that's going to be spicy. The police killing a Black person is something that's more interesting to their viewership than anything else. And it's a problem because people are dying at alarming rates."
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Eleven people were killed over the weekend and 26 were wounded due to gun violence in the Windy City, according to Fox 32 Chicago. "Eleven Black people were killed, ranging from the ages of 14 to 65. A 65-year-old murdered? A 14-year-old murdered? And it's become acceptable. Black lives must matter to us," Caldwell added.
Crime has continued to spike in the city with total crime increasing 45% year-over-year from January to April 9 according to data from the Chicago Police Department. Vehicle thefts are up 135% and robberies have increased by 15%. However, homicides have decreased by 15% year-over-year.
