President Trump has consistently called out Chicago for it struggles in combating its rising violence, and has even threatened to “send in the feds!” as recently as a month ago.
And on Tuesday night, Trump mentioned Chicago in his joint address to Congress and how its rate of shootings illustrates the country’s “cycle of violence.”
However, neither Trump nor the Justice Department have actually gone in to help, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not happy.
“Because this is so important, I’ll always be ready with this list whenever the president asks,” Emanuel said in a statement following Trump’s address. “The better question, I’d suggest, is whether the president cares enough about violence in our city to do more than talk or tweet about it.”
Emanuel has met with both White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.
But Emanuel says his administration has made “specific requests” for more law enforcement resources that have not been fulfilled by the federal government.
Through February, there have been 94 murders in Chicago compared to 98 through the first two months of 2016, the Chicago Police Department announced Wednesday. There have also been 404 recorded shooting incidents so far in 2017 compared to 399 through the same period last year.
Chicago-area politicians are also displeased with Trump’s lack of action.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said Trump’s speech showed a “deeply flawed understanding of the causes of gun violence in Chicago and across the country.”
Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Chicago, called Trump’s speech “campaign promises on steroids.”
However, the congressman added in a tweet that he invited Trump to come visit Chicago and he said “yes” — but no other details were offered.
Last month, Chicago’s top cop expressed anger about how long it is taking to get help from lawmakers.
“Now what I want to say is this: We have said what we need from the federal government, and we embrace that. We will take more federal agents, more funding for mentorship programs, educational opportunities, housing programs. … We need all of those things. This violence problem isn’t a one-point fix. It’s a multi-layered onion that we have to just keep peeling back until we get to the root of it,” Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a press conference.
He added: “But at some point you have to stop talking, and you have to to do action. And that’s what we’re doing. So we’re not waiting. We will embrace the help when we get it. The crime in Chicago won’t wait for anyone else to come and help us, so we’re doing what we can now to try and resolve this issue.”
