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The brother of a murder victim is harshly criticizing former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for saying Chicago’s crime crisis has been “manufactured.”
Speaking on CNN’s “The Arena” in early September, Lightfoot argued President Donald Trump manufactured a crime crisis in Chicago to give him a pretext to send in the National Guard, as he has threatened.
“This was never about violent crime. It’s not going to be about violent crime,” Lightfoot said. “I don’t think we should pretend that this manufactured crisis and his attempt to provoke people in Chicago is a legitimate exercise of power. It is not.”
“[Trump] will not do any of these things because this is not about violent crime, it’s about something else.
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Police investigate the scene of a drive-by shooting on July 6, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In recent months, Trump has called for federal action to curb violent crime in the Windy City, and has even threatened to send in the National Guard.
At Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on Sunday, Trump said, “We’re going to save Chicago from horrible crimes.”
Fox News political analyst Gianno Caldwell’s 18-year-old brother, Christian Beamon, was killed in a shooting on Chicago’s South Side on June 24, 2022. The Chicago Police Department said at the time that Caldwell’s brother wasn’t the intended target.
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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during an election night rally at Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council on Feb. 28, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois. Lightfoot lost in her bid for a second term. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images)
Caldwell pushed back on Lightfoot’s comments when speaking with Fox News Digital, saying that families in Chicago are desperately asking for help.
“The Democrats are ignoring a crisis that has impacted families like mine when my brother Christian was murdered on June 24, 2022, in Chicago. Families are hurting. Families are begging for help,” Caldwell said. “The people of Chicago have been waiting for someone to actually care about crime and put policies in place that protect the citizens.”
Caldwell said that Lightfoot’s comments regarding crime don’t “square with the reality that people are facing.”
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Chicago police conduct an investigation after a shooting on Wabash Avenue between Madison and Washington streets on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“People are frightened by those experiences that people are having in Chicago. It is not normal, it should not be normal, but it has been normalized by the Democratic Party, who’s failed community after community on this issue, especially the Black community,” he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Lightfoot for comment.