News/Commentary

Teen mob goes WILD in downtown Chicago, 2 people shot

April 16, 2023 | | Print Article

Hundreds of unruly teenagers descended into downtown Chicago late Saturday and essentially rioted, reportedly because they weren’t allowed into Millennium Park, which, according to reports, is only open to those over  21 after 6:00 pm on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Meanwhile, as the teens jumped on cars and smashed their windows, two other teens nearby were shot non-fatally and taken to a hospital for treatment.

“Police said a 16-year-old boy was shot in the arm, and a 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg. Both victims were transported to Northwestern Hospital in fair condition,” local station WLS reported.

“It’s heartbreaking, kids fighting, chasing each other, some of them got guns. It’s really heartbreaking when one of them actually gets hurt, and that’s unfortunate, happened last night,” a witness who saw the chaos unfold told local station WMAQ.

Meanwhile, a woman whose car was smashed up by the teens told local station WFLD that her husband was beaten up as he sat in the driver’s seat.

“The crowd was trying to get into Millennium Park, but there are checkpoints around the perimeter and people under 21 are not allowed without an adult,” WFLD notes.

Why were they trying to get into the park so late? They’d seen “flyers posted on social media for a meetup of teens,” according to WMAQ.

Cellphone video obtained by WMAQ reportedly shows a Tesla fully engulfed.

“It was a car, they were standing on multiple cars, standing on cars, and one of the cars just kept driving in circles, which I believe that’s the one that caught on fire, they set on fire,” a witness said.

A squad card was reportedly also damaged, but no officers were injured.

“Police did arrest one person Friday night, a 17-year-old boy, who has been accused of multiple gun crimes,” according to WMAQ.

“What’s its going to take? The community has to step up, parents have to step up, we can’t keep blaming politicians and waiting on them. It starts with us, its going to take us to save us,” one witness said to the station.

“It was a lot of cops here, but they were still outnumbered. There were so many teenagers that showed up, and they tried to keep the peace and keep them under control,” another witness said.

This was reportedly the second night in a row that the teens rioted.

A total of 20 people were shot between Friday and Saturday.

“According to Chicago Police Department data, 20 people were shot in 17 separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The victims included 15-year-old Demea Morris and 17-year-old Daniel Rios, who were each killed,” according to local station WTTW.

All this comes following the election of a new far-left mayor, Brandon Johnson, who believes in so-called “community policing” versus traditional policing. Indeed, appearing on CBS News earlier this month, he offered leftist idea after leftist idea on how to deal with the city’s raging crime epidemic.

Johnson stressed that his policy is all about making so-called “critical investments.”

“The way we [keep everybody safe] is by investing in people. There’s a direct correlation between youth employment and violence reduction. There’s a tremendous correlation between providing mental health care their services and reducing crime,” he said.

“You know, this notion that the only way in which, you know, we can protect the people of Chicago and the people of of our country is this notion of being tough, you know. What is required in this moment is for us to be smart about our investments, to be critical in our thinking, and then to make sure that what we’re doing actually works,” he added.

Critics were very doubtful that his plan would work. After this weekend’s events, they’re probably even more doubtful now …

Vivek Saxena
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