Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said there is an unprecedented situation in Chicago with a rise in gun violence.
In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Foxx said she believes the crimes being committed are “hyperlocal.”
“There are not people from other areas of the city coming in, causing harm, and going back,” she said.
Foxx said background checks for gun sales have been high since the coronavirus outbreak picked up in April and that people who aren’t legally approved to own a firearm turn to getting guns through illegal means.
“We have an issue in Chicago that has not changed, which is oversaturation of illegal guns in our communities,” she said. “I think we’re in really, really uncharted territory. Right now, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic, in the middle of a financial collapse, civil unrest and an oversaturation of guns, and violence that just is unrelenting.”
Chicago has had 450 murders this year through Aug. 2, which is a 55% rise from the same period a year ago.
The uptick in violence recently prompted the Trump administration to send federal agents to quell the unrest in Chicago and other major cities.
The program to send in agents, called Operation Legend, has led to federal criminal charges against three people in Chicago in its first two weeks. Two felons were found with illegal handguns and ammunition, and a third was arrested after a handgun modified to fire like a machine gun was found in his bedroom, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot initially said she would not allow federal law enforcement into the city but, in recent days, changed her tune, saying an “all-hands-on-deck” partnership is the only way to curb the violence.
Foxx made headlines earlier this year when she decided to drop charges against hundreds of protesters who gathered in the Chicago area following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
