Earlier: In Peoria, Some People Did Something, Gun Violence Broke Out (13 Shot, No Deaths) and The “Leaded Law” And Mass Shootings—Poor Black Marksmanship Is Saving Lives
From the Washington Post news section:
By Kim Bellware and Mark Guarino
July 21, 2020 at 7:10 p.m. PDTCHICAGO — Federal agents will be deployed to Chicago for an anti-violence operation that is expected to bolster existing law enforcement efforts but won’t resemble the same heavy-handed tactics seen recently in Portland, Ore., Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a federal prosecutor in Chicago said Tuesday.
Although details on how many agents will be deployed to the city and when remain unclear, several state and local officials signaled their wariness at federal intervention ordered by President Trump, who frequently disparages Chicago and politicizes its gun violence epidemic.
How dare Trump politicize Chicago’s gun violence epidemic? Science says that gun violence epidemics have nothing to do with politics.
From the Chicago Sun-Times:
14 shot outside Gresham funeral home
The shooting happened in the 1000 block of West 79th Street; 1 person of interest is being questioned.By Frank Main, Carly Behm, Sam Charles, and Emmanuel Camarillo Updated Jul 21, 2020
Fourteen people were shot Tuesday evening outside a funeral home in Gresham on the South Side — the largest number of victims in a single Chicago shooting in recent memory. ….
Chicago fire officials said they were listed in conditions ranging from serious to critical. …
Carter said a black vehicle was speeding west on 79th Street when people inside began “firing at attendees of a funeral.” Some of those at the funeral returned gunfire with those in the vehicle. The driver then turned north onto Carpenter, while at least one person in the vehicle continued to shoot at the funeralgoers.
The driver soon crashed in the 7800 block of South Carpenter. Those inside the vehicle ran off in different directions, though one “person of interest” was taken into custody and was being questioned by detectives Tuesday night, Carter said.
Sources said the funeral was for Donnie Weathersby, 31, who was shot and killed last week in the 7400 block of South Stewart — about a mile and half northeast of where Tuesday’s shooting occurred.
… Arnita Geder and Kenneth Hughes said they were in their home watching TV when they heard gunshots.
“We went out in the street and all we saw was bodies just laying everywhere,” Geder said. “They were shot up everywhere.”
“We thought it was a war out here. It’s ridiculous all the shooting that’s going on out here, it really has to stop,” she said. …
Tuesday’s mass shooting is among the bloodiest single incidents of violence in modern Chicago history – leaving a tally more akin to a battleground in Afghanistan or Iraq than a city street. …
Tuesday’s mass shooting comes just one day after President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he was looking at sending federal agents to Chicago and other cities to combat crime.
“We’re not going to let this happen in our country. All run by liberal Democrats,” the president said Monday.
That prompted Mayor Lori Lightfoot to say, “We don’t need federal agents without any insignia taking people off the streets, I think, unlawfully.”
Trump has repeatedly bashed Chicago as an example of big cities unable to contain surges of violence this year. Murders in Chicago are up almost 50% compared with the same period of 2019. And on May 31, Chicago suffered the single deadliest day in six decades, with 18 murders. As violence has risen in recent months, police activity has fallen, with arrests, traffic stops and street stops far below 2019 levels, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis found.
iSteve commenter Jack Armstrong notes:
So, a largely peaceful funeral where most mourners weren’t shot.
And only a few of the funeral party fired back.
