Nation

Chicago Violence: 102 People Shot, 14 Fatally Over Father’s Day Weekend

Published

3 years ago

June 22, 2020

The city of Chicago saw the most shooting victims of 2020 in one weekend over the Father’s Day holiday weekend with 102 people shot, 14 of them fatally, The Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Many of the victims were young, including a three-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, and a 17-year old boy who were all shot and killed over the weekend.

A 3-year-old boy who had his whole life ahead of him.

To the despicable individuals responsible for this senseless act of violence, you have no place in this city, no home in our communities, no shelter to hide.

— Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) June 21, 2020

I ask that anyone with information on this incident please come forward or submit a tip anonymously at https://t.co/Tt6O9g49ZD.

— Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) June 21, 2020

In response to the record violence, Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown stressed the need for a better strategy to keep violent offenders off the streets and in jail and to better monitor the violence.

“Bullets also tear apart families. Bullets destroy neighborhoods and ruin any sense of safety in a neighborhood,” Brown said.

Brown added, “No one should be able to walk away from killing a 3-year-old and a 13-year-old without consequences.”

The weekend’s numbers follow the City’s most violent weekend in decades when 82 people were shot, 19 of them fatally.

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Featured

Trump: Tanks to Ukraine could escalate to use of ‘NUKES’

Published

5 days ago

January 26, 2023

Alexander Carter

Former President Donald Trump stated bluntly on Truth Social, “FIRST COME THE TANKS, THEN COME THE NUKES. Get this crazy war ended, NOW. So easy to do!”

Trump was referring to the escalation of war in Ukraine. He, like many other commentators and lawmakers, are warning that the decision to continue sending weapons – and now tanks – could potentially lead to the use of “nuclear weapons.”

It’s mission creep and it’s dangerous, they say.

Why? Because Russian President Valdimir Putin has indicated in two different speeches that he would use nuclear weapons to defend Russia, if needed. Those warnings are not just bluster but a very real possibility.

And the escalation of war is visible.

Russia launched 55 missiles strikes across Ukraine Thursday, leaving 11 dead. The strikes come one day after the United States and Germany agreed to send tanks to Ukraine in an effort to aide the country. 47 of the 55 missiles were shot down according to Ukraine’s Air Force command.

Eleven lives were lost and another 11 were injured additionally leaving 35 buildings damaged in the wake of the attacks. According to The New York Times, Denys Shmyhal, said in a post on Telegram. “The main goal is energy facilities, providing Ukrainians with light and heat,” he said.

Ukraine is now demanding that they need F-16 fighter jets. In a post on twitter Ukrainian lawmaker, Oleksiy Goncharenko said, “Missiles again over Ukraine. We need F16.”

Morning. Missiles again over Ukraine. We need F16.

— Oleksiy Goncharenko (@GoncharenkoUa) January 26, 2023

The US has abstained from sending advanced jets in the chances that a volatile decision could foster more dangerous attacks like former President Trump’s post on Truth referred to. If the US did authorize the decision to lend Ukraine the F-16 jets Netherlands’ foreign minister, Wopke Hoekstra, would be willing to supply them. According to The New York Times, Hoekstra told Dutch lawmakers, “We are open-minded… There are no taboos.”

F-16 fighter jets are complex to work on, they are not the average aircraft that can be learned in a matter of weeks. It can take months for pilots to learn how to fly these birds. European and US officials have the concern that Ukrainian forces could potentially use the jets to fly into Russian airspace and launch attacks on Russian soil.

Western allies are trying to avoid such a provocation, because that could lead to nuclear warfare in reference to what Putin has said he would do to defend his country.