Tipsheet

Two Blue Cities Were War Zones Over the Holiday Weekend

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 06, 2026 11:00 AM

Chicago and Milwaukee, two blue cities about 90 minutes apart, both descended into chaos over the Fourth of July weekend, with multiple shootings, fights, and at least two injured law enforcement officers.

Both cities have something in common: neither has been run by a Republican for decades.

We'll start in Milwaukee, this writer's hometown, where street takeovers, fights, and shootings stretched the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) to its limit. Two officers were hurt: one was hit by a car and another was hit by a firework set off in a store parking lot.

Here's more:

An 18-year-old suspect was arrested after striking a Milwaukee police officer with his vehicle and prompting officers to fire during a chaotic Fourth of July street takeover on Water Street early Sunday morning, the Milwaukee Police Department said.

The incident unfolded around 2:16 a.m. in the city’s downtown entertainment district as officers patrolled amid reports of reckless driving, crowds blocking streets and multiple gunshots near East Knapp Street and North Water Street. Uniformed Milwaukee Police Department officers on foot observed an Audi fleeing the scene. As the vehicle attempted to escape, the driver struck one officer with the car while firing weapons at officers, police said in a press release.

Officers, including the injured one, returned fire. The suspect vehicle fled but was later located unoccupied in the 1200 block of West Fond du Lac Avenue. Authorities found the 18-year-old driver nearby. He had been struck by officers’ gunfire and was arrested after receiving treatment for non-fatal injuries at a hospital. A gun was recovered from the suspect’s vehicle, and another was found in the area.

The injured officer, a 25-year-old woman with less than a year on the force, was treated for non-fatal injuries and is expected to recover. Two other officers involved were placed on administrative duty pending an investigation.

Do better, Milwaukee.

That's shameful.

If only the Milwaukee Common Council had been able to ban food trucks after 10 p.m. 

(That's sarcasm, by the way).

Milwaukee's court system has been notorious for letting criminals off easy. The county's 'gun court' is a joke that lets violent offenders walk through a metaphorical revolving door.

But Chicago is no better. At least 20 people were shot, and four were killed, including a child. Three others were stabbed.

Thanks to ending the city's Shotspotter program, Mayor Brandon Johnson has caused the unnecessary deaths of more Black men than most other politicians. Pritzker dismisses the crime as part of living in a city.

'Youths' or 'teens.'

We do not, yet the Democrats keep continuing to make us live this way.