Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) went off on a reporter during a press conference shortly after the city saw mass looting and rioting on famous Magnificent Mile, which was started after false rumors claimed Chicago Police killed a 15-year-old boy.
Lightfoot condemned the rioting and said she wanted to see all those who were arrested to be prosecuted under the fullest extent of the law.
"It almost sounds as though you’re saying this is the reason is because the courts and the prosecutors were not doing their job, that they’re going to easy on the looters from the last time..." a reporter began to ask Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.
"Don’t take it from me, just go about what’s been done. I don’t want to do your job for you. There were no consequences for the people arrested," Brown began to reply.
“No, no, don’t — do not bait us! Do not bait us. This is a serious situation," Lightfoot interjected.
"People are concerned about their safety. Officers are concerned about their safety. So don’t bait us! What we are saying is as a result of what happened last night there have to be consequences," she continued. "We’ve got teams of people that aggressively out there identified the people responsible, looking at the plates and we're going to bring them to justice. But when we do and we do make those arrests our expectation is that this is going to be treated with the level of seriousness that, period. Don’t try to bait us, mischaracterize, pit one against the other, we’re not playing that. We are in a serious situation here and we need a serious response. That’s what we’re saying, period."
Brown stated in the press conference more than 100 arrests were made, with charges including looting and assault on officers. He added officers will now be working 12-hour shifts and all upcoming days off have been canceled.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member