Lightfoot says violence rate is slowing after bloody weekend in Chicago

"We are seeing a downward trajectory, where other cities are continuing to see a climb," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

Mayor Lightfoot, who promised to reduce Chicago’s bloody street violence, said Monday that this month has been less violent than last year in June.

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2021 is so far Chicago’s deadliest year in more than a decade, with 65 people shot just last weekend and ten killed.

The whole world watched video out of Humboldt Park this past weekend when two people in a minor car accident were suddenly swarmed and shot, execution-style. They were the latest victims of Chicago’s worst violence in years.

Mayor Lightfoot, though, takes credit for slowing down the rate of increase.

"Now, I’m the first to tell you that's cold comfort to a single person who's been shot, a single person who's been killed," Lightfoot said.

In fact, City Hall's own website shows murders so far in 2021 are up 5% over last year and up an astounding 29% over the year before that.

The director of the mayor's Office of Violence Reduction, though, joined a police news conference to praise Lightfoot's strategy of mobilizing resources beyond police alone.

"We are very encouraged by the progress we have seen so far this year," said Norman Kerr. "This year we've employed an all-city and all-government response. So that includes involving city departments, streets and sans, BACP, etcetera, libraries, parks, but also community-based organizations as well."

"With our whole of government approach, we have started to bend the curve of violence in this city," added Chicago Police Supt. David Brown.

When discussing Chicago’s bloody numbers, remember that last June, the pandemic-stricken city was rocked by violence after George Floyd’s murder in Minnesota.