Trump pledge to "send in the feds" rankles Chicago cops, criminals and academics
By Josh Saul On 1/25/17 at 5:02 PM
On Tuesday evening, President Trump sent a tweet declaring that if Chicago doesn’t “fix the horrible carnage going on” there he will “send in the feds”—sparking confusion and criticism Wednesday from city cops, academics and gang members. The president’s tweet cited a report of a 24 percent spike in homicides this year and was posted just after Fox News ran a segment about the level of violence in Chicago.
One ex-gang member took the tweet as a declaration of war. “It sounds to me like he’s trying to gang-bang with us!” Alonzo Lee, a former member of the Gangster Disciple gang in Chicago, tells Newsweek. Lee, who sold marijuana until police raided his house in late 2015, said he thinks Trump’s tweet means he’ll send in undercover agents in unmarked cars. “He’s giving the feds permission to low-key kill us if they see somebody doing something wrong. That’s how I look at it.”
People on the other side of the law also panned Trump’s tweet. “The statement is so broad. I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday morning. He added that he hadn’t been contacted by the White House and he would oppose bringing in the National Guard.
“I think it’s kind of silly and that he doesn’t understand,” a veteran Chicago cop who voted for Trump tells Newsweek. Federal agents are already “sent in,” he says, and with little effect. Twice in the past five years, federal agents from across the country were dispatched to Chicago to work with local police in “surges” attempting to stem the violence, but those efforts are hampered by the short assignments and because FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents don’t know the city. “They bring in outside agents for 90 days to do buys and meet with [Chicago Police Department], and it’s always ********. The violence never stops,” says the cop, who asked not to be named because he’s not authorized to speak with the press.
Read More @ http://www.newsweek.com/trump-tweet-rankles-chicago-cops-gang-bangers-academics-548269
By Josh Saul On 1/25/17 at 5:02 PM
On Tuesday evening, President Trump sent a tweet declaring that if Chicago doesn’t “fix the horrible carnage going on” there he will “send in the feds”—sparking confusion and criticism Wednesday from city cops, academics and gang members. The president’s tweet cited a report of a 24 percent spike in homicides this year and was posted just after Fox News ran a segment about the level of violence in Chicago.
One ex-gang member took the tweet as a declaration of war. “It sounds to me like he’s trying to gang-bang with us!” Alonzo Lee, a former member of the Gangster Disciple gang in Chicago, tells Newsweek. Lee, who sold marijuana until police raided his house in late 2015, said he thinks Trump’s tweet means he’ll send in undercover agents in unmarked cars. “He’s giving the feds permission to low-key kill us if they see somebody doing something wrong. That’s how I look at it.”
People on the other side of the law also panned Trump’s tweet. “The statement is so broad. I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday morning. He added that he hadn’t been contacted by the White House and he would oppose bringing in the National Guard.
“I think it’s kind of silly and that he doesn’t understand,” a veteran Chicago cop who voted for Trump tells Newsweek. Federal agents are already “sent in,” he says, and with little effect. Twice in the past five years, federal agents from across the country were dispatched to Chicago to work with local police in “surges” attempting to stem the violence, but those efforts are hampered by the short assignments and because FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents don’t know the city. “They bring in outside agents for 90 days to do buys and meet with [Chicago Police Department], and it’s always ********. The violence never stops,” says the cop, who asked not to be named because he’s not authorized to speak with the press.
Read More @ http://www.newsweek.com/trump-tweet-rankles-chicago-cops-gang-bangers-academics-548269