By David Martosko | DailyMail
Donald Trump used his Twitter bully pulpit on Monday to blast Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for allowing his city’s murder and firearms shooting rates to spiral out of control.
‘Chicago murder rate is record setting – 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016,’ Trump tweeted.
‘If Mayor Rahm Emanuel can’t do it he must ask for Federal help!’
2016 was one of the most violent years in Chicago history with the most homicides in two decades – more than New York and Los Angeles combined.
The nation’s third largest city also saw 1,100 more shooting incidents last year than it did in 2015, according to data released Sunday by the Chicago Police Department.
Emanuel, a former Barack Obama White House chief of staff, visited with Trump at his Trump Tower office on December 7.
The pair reportedly talked about the mayor’s concern that Trump would deport ‘dreamers,’ children brought to the U.S. illegally who have commit no crimes during their years-long unauthorized stays.
Chicago’s statistics underline a story of bloodshed that has put the city at the center of a national dialogue about gun violence.
The numbers are staggering, even for those who followed the steady news accounts of weekends ending with dozens of shootings and monthly death tolls that hadn’t been seen in years.
The increase in homicides compared to 2015, when 485 were reported, is the largest spike in 60 years.
Police and city officials have lamented the flood of illegal guns into the city, and the crime statistics appeared to support their claims: Police recovered 8,300 illegal guns in 2016, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said during a news conference Sunday that Chicago is among many U.S. cities that have seek a spike in violence, including in attacks on police.
He said anger at police, including in the wake of video released that showed a white Chicago officer shooting a black teenager 16 times, has left criminals ’emboldened’ to violent crimes.
He also said it’s becoming clearer to criminals that they have little to fear from the criminal justice system.
‘In Chicago, we just don’t … >>> Continue at DailyMail