The American Civil Liberties Union didnât take too kindly to President Trumpâs suggestions this week to tackle Chicago gun violence
âNow Chicago is out of control,â Trump told Fox Newsâ Sean Hannity on Wednesday. âI donât know what theyâre doing in Chicago to have this many shootings and this many killings and all of the different things that are going on. This is not like itâs the United States of America, and pure and simple, thatâs bad management, thatâs bad politics. Itâs incredible.â
âAnd then you talk to them and say âWhy arenât you doing something?â and they donât even want to talk to you about it,â Trump continued. âItâs really insulting to our nation. And whether you want to take on the NFL, or take on ChicagoâŚthere shouldnât be murders like this. And we have incredible police in this country. They could stop it, if they were allowed to do their job.â
The ACLU of Illinois then issued a statement on Thursday, condemning Trumpâs comments and arguing they show how little the president knows about fighting violent crime in the Windy City.
âIt is disconcerting â once again â to see how little President Donald Trump comprehends about policing in Chicago,â said Karen Sheley, Director of the Police Practices Project at the ACLU of Illinois. âHe offers an âimmediateâ solution to gun violence â aggressive policing. We know what he means â this summer he told a room of graduating police officers to physically abuse suspects. Trumpâs Administration shirked its responsibility to address excessive force in Chicago after a damning report by President Obamaâs Department of Justice. Now he calls for more abuse.â
Sheley also criticized Trumpâs repeated referencing of a so-called mystery cop, who the president insisted again during this most recent interview had told him Chicago police could end the problem immediately if authorities would only let them do theyâre job. She noted the ACLU had sued for federal oversight of the Chicago Police Department, reforms that had been promised by the Obama administration but not yet carried out by Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
âBecause of the Trump Administrationâs unwillingness to do the necessary work to restore trust between the police and the communities they serve, the ACLU has just gone to federal court on behalf of several community groups who are seeking real reform,â Sheley said. âChicago should listen to them, not Trumpâs invocation of a mystery, unnamed police officer, used only to encourage more police violence.â
Trumpâs mystery cop anecdote has been disputed by both the CPD and Mayor Rahm Emanuelâs office, NBC News Chicago reported. A mayoral spokesman even went so far as to say Trump was not living in the âreal world.â
âIf the President has a name for this mystery person he continues to talk about, weâre all ears,â said spokesman Adam Collins. âIn the meantime, we live in the real world and if the president wants to build on the reductions in violence our hard working officers are achieving, if he wants to have an immediate effect on gun violence, he could do something to stop guns from flowing into our city from Indiana and Wisconsin.â
Since the start of the year, there have been 540Â total homicides in Chicago. The city reached its 500th shooting homicide last Friday, a week later than it reached that tragic milestone in 2016, according to Chicago Sun-Times data.