National

Deadly Weekend in Chicago Highlights City’s Gang Warfare

Published

9 years ago

July 7, 2015

Antonio Brown, left, father of Amari Brown, is embraced by a community member, Monday, July 6, 2015, in Chicago. Authorities say 7-year-old Amari Brown, who was celebrating the Fourth of July with his family, was among three people who were shot and killed overnight during a weekend outbreak of gun-related violence in Chicago. (AP Photo/Christian K. Lee)

DON BABWIN, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — A 7-year-old boy who was one of seven people shot to death in Chicago over the holiday weekend was the son of a gang leader with a lengthy arrest record, and police say the man’s refusal to cooperate with detectives highlights the city’s ongoing challenge to curb gang-related violence.

During the Fourth of July weekend, 48 people were wounded by gunfire in 34 separate incidents in Chicago. Seven homicides also were reported during the same three-day period last year, and this year’s total in the nation’s third-largest city nearly matched the combined numbers for New York (one), Los Angeles (three) and Houston (five) — the other cities that rank in the top four in population.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has repeatedly lamented that the lack of tough gun laws in Illinois has made the streets that much more dangerous because of the quickness with which people arrested on gun charges are back on the street.

Among them, he said, is the father of the young shooting victim. McCarthy said that the bullet that struck Amari Brown in the chest “was meant for his father,” whom he described as a “ranking gang member” who had been arrested 45 times.

Antonio Brown’s refusal to cooperate with the investigation is a familiar hurdle for Chicago police that as of Monday had yet to capture a suspect in Amari’s death.

After Brown was arrested for gun possession last April, he was released on bail the next day, McCarthy said.

“If Mr. Brown is in custody, his son is alive,” McCarthy told reporters Sunday.

Brown’s family bristled at the suggestion that Brown bore any responsibility for his son’s death as well as the contention that he was the intended victim.

“He was in the house using the washroom,” his uncle, Carl O’Neal, told The Associated Press on Monday. “Yes, he’s a former gang member. Yes, he’s been arrested, but what does that have to do with a man shooting at a group of kids?”

The Rev. Ira Acree, who appeared with Brown and other family members at a news conference Sunday, also questioned McCarthy’s assertion that the boy would be alive if his father was in custody.

“I can understand his anger and his frustration … but the fact is 50 people were shot over the weekend,” said Acree. “Are you going to tell me that all 50 people had a relative that caused them to be shot?”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel visited with the Brown family on Monday and expressed concern about Antonio Brown’s actions.

“The idea that you’re taking a 7-year old out at midnight, you have a responsibility to that child, and then to cooperate with the police department on a crime committed to that 7-year old,” Emanuel said.

Three years after capturing the attention of the country when the total of homicides topped the 500 mark, the number of slayings is once again climbing after dropping each of the last two years. As of June 28, there were 203 homicides compared to 171 for the same period last year. And there were 1,045 shooting incidents compared to 866 for the same period last year.

That total does not include the slaying of 17-year-old Vonzell Banks, who was shot to death Friday afternoon at a playground named after Hadiya Pendleton. It was Pendleton, an honor student, who in 2013 became a national symbol of gun violence in Chicago when she was gunned down as she talked with friends just a mile from President Barack Obama’s South Side home just days after returning from the president’s inauguration.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

18 hours ago

April 19, 2024

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.