THERE IS NO CITY IN AMERICA WHERE PEOPLE ARE SAFE FROM BLACK CRIME!
IN PRE-COVID NUMBERS, BLACKS MAKE UP ONLY 8% OF THE POPULATION OF SAN FRANCISCO BUT PERPETRATE 40% OF THE CRIMES. STORE LOOTINGS, ASSAULT, CAR JACKING.... ALL FORCED ON BLACKS BY WHITEY
More than 200 citizens have been murdered this year in the Windy City. About half were younger than 30, and three-quarters were black.
The Washington Post reported seven fatal police shootings of black Chicagoans in 2021. There have been none so far this year.
‘The City is Not Safe’: Suspect in NYC Subway Shooting Had 19 Prior Arrests
The main suspect in a New York City subway shooting on Sunday has 19 prior arrests, including for assault, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the New York Post.
Law enforcement sources told the Post Andrew Abdullah is wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of Daniel Enriquez. Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell on Monday morning tweeted pictures of the suspect, who is still at large, asking New Yorkers for "help identifying & locating" the shooter.
As part of a progressive criminal justice reform effort, New York abolished cash bail in 2019 for most misdemeanor and nonviolent charges. Opponents of the bail law have credited it with an ongoing rise in crime in municipal areas as the law permits more repeat offenders.
"The worst part is, even if they catch this person, he's going to be out again," Enriquez's sister, Griselda Vile, told the Post on Sunday. "I wish you guys would go back to Mayor Adams and tell him the city is not safe."
At a press briefing Sunday, NYPD chief of department Kenneth Corey said the subway shooter was a dark-skinned, heavyset man who paced back and forth on the subway car before he fired "without provocation."
Abdullah has also been charged with menacing and grand larceny, the Post reported.
Chicago Mayor Imposes Weekend Curfew for Teens After Downtown Shootings
Democratic mayor Lori Lightfoot is imposing a weekend curfew for all minors in Chicago following three shootings downtown last weekend that left one teenager dead.
"Young people are absolutely welcome downtown, but in the evening hours they must be accompanied by a responsible adult," Lightfoot said on Monday after she announced the 10 p.m. curfew. The fatal shooting occurred on Saturday in Millennium Park during a weekend that saw 33 total shootings, 5 of which were fatal.
Hundreds of teenagers gathered in the Chicago Loop over the weekend, in a chaotic scene that halted traffic and saw some jump up on top of cars. Police superintendent David Brown said the crowds appear to have coordinated their efforts on social media. Twenty-six minors and four adults were arrested in connection with the Millennium Park shooting, and police found seven guns among the arrestees.
Chicago in 2021 had its deadliest year in a quarter century, with 797 homicides recorded. Under Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker, Illinois ended cash bail the same year. Law enforcement leaders have criticized the elimination of cash bail, citing cases of released criminals who committed other crimes. In August, a man released on bond bought a handgun that was later used to kill a police officer.
Lightfoot has a strained relationship with city law enforcement, who in 2020 blamed her for surging police retirements following a summer of anti-police protests.
Chicago has long had a curfew for minors at 11 p.m., but it is unclear how strictly it's been enforced. In addition to beefing up park security, Lightfoot said she has directed the Chicago Police Department to increase tracing for guns found in the possession of minors.
The Illinois ACLU decried the mayor's curfew order, saying "the promise of strict enforcement will result in unnecessary stops and arrests and further strain relations between CPD and young people of color."
More than 200 citizens have been murdered this year in the Windy City. About half were younger than 30, and three-quarters were black.
The Washington Post reported seven fatal police shootings of black Chicagoans in 2021. There have been none so far this year.
The South Carolina Democratic Party Has a Cocaine (Trafficking) Problem
In the last three years, political operative Jason Belton joined a billionaire Democrat's presidential campaign, became a campaign manager for a U.S. Senate race, and won election to a South Carolina Democratic Party leadership position—all while under federal indictment for trafficking nearly nine pounds of cocaine.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Belton and a co-conspirator in February 2017 contacted a drug source in California to request large quantities of cocaine, which they planned to distribute out of Columbia, S.C. Days later, the indictment states, Belton accepted a package containing four kilograms of coke from San Bernardino drug dealer Estevan Ortiz, who is also known as "Stevie," "Wonder," and "Little Man."
Federal agents went on to arrest Belton in South Carolina in January 2018. As the case progressed, however, Belton became implicated in a nationwide drug trafficking ring that federal authorities busted in 2020 following a three-year investigation. Belton's California connects were caught with 77 kilograms of cocaine, 9 kilograms of heroin, 150 pounds of methamphetamine, 989 fentanyl pills, 19 guns, and nearly $2 million in cash, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a January 2020 press release. Following the bust, federal prosecutors moved Belton's case to the Golden State, where it remains active.
But Belton's apparent criminality has done little to deter his career—in fact, the operative's political sphere expanded significantly after his arrest. In August 2019, Belton joined liberal billionaire Tom Steyer's presidential campaign as its deputy political director, a gig that earned him more than $40,000 over a six-months period. After Steyer left the race in February 2020, Belton cofounded a political consulting firm, C&J Consulting, which boasts at least one client: Democratic South Carolina state legislator Krystle Matthews, who is challenging Republican senator Tim Scott. Belton, who in January was elected the third chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party Black Caucus, has described himself as Matthews's campaign manager.
Belton's political work did overlap with his criminal indictment in one instance. In March 2020, Belton successfully persuaded the court to remove his GPS ankle monitor because he said it interfered with his work as a "lobbyist."
"Belton now wishes to eliminate the GPS location monitoring condition which requires him to wear an electronic ankle bracelet," Belton's attorney wrote in a court filing. "Belton has advised me that he is a lobbyist and the electronic ankle bracelet presents a problem for him with security on his frequent entries into the State House in Columbia, South Carolina."
Belton and the South Carolina Democratic Party did not return requests for comment.
In addition to his affiliation with Steyer and Matthews, Belton has worked with an array of prominent South Carolina Democrats through his state party leadership role. Gubernatorial candidates Joe Cunningham and Mia McLeod attended the South Carolina Democratic Party Black Caucus's "Sunday Dinner" event in March, as did former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. Belton's self-described "grassroots political action" nonprofit, Vision Walkers, also provided security for House majority whip Jim Clyburn (D., S.C.) during an August 2020 event in Columbia.
Due to the size and complexity of Belton's federal drug case—the indictment lists 23 additional defendants—the operative's trial has been delayed on at least four occasions as attorneys sort through evidence. Belton is scheduled to travel to California for trial in August, just two months after Matthews will face off against two opponents in South Carolina's Democratic Senate primary election. He won't have to worry about covering the travel costs, however. In March 2021, the court granted a request from Belton's attorney that orders the U.S. Marshals Service to "furnish defendant Jason Donnell Belton with air fare, lodging, and per diem subsistence expenses in connection with the trial of this case."
Belton's 2018 arrest was not his first significant run-in with law enforcement. In 2007, local police arrested Belton over his involvement in a drive-by shooting. Belton, who was 19 at the time, received six months' probation for "criminal conspiracy," court records show.
But the political operative's criminal history and active legal battle are not the only sources of controversy for South Carolina Democrats. Belton's business partner, fellow C&J Consulting and Vision Walkers cofounder Craig Khanwell, is a longtime follower of anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has compared Jews to termites. Khanwell—who serves as South Carolina Democratic Party Black Caucus second chair—has referred to Farrakhan as his father figure, praised Farrakhan as "the epitome of the greatest among men," and argued that accusations of anti-Semitism are merely "a trick" to "stifle legitimate criticism of Jews and Zionist Israel."
Khanwell has also espoused extreme anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. In one Instagram post, he said taking the vaccine would mean giving Bill Gates, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other "white" men "control of my molecular information." In another post, Khanwell shared a TikTok that called COVID the "biggest hoax of America" and speculated that those who died from the virus may have actually died from the flu. In June 2021, the South Carolina Democratic Party blamed Republicans for the state's "extremely low vaccination rates."
Chicago imposes ban on youth in downtown area on weekends
On Friday the Chicago City Council Committee on Public Safety voted 14–3 to pass a city-wide ordinance imposing a curfew on all minors aged 12–17. These youth are now banned from being in the streets, or any other public place, later than 10 p.m. any day of the week. In addition, the city will not allow anyone under the age of 18 to enter Millennium Park in the city’s downtown area later than 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday unless accompanied by an adult.
The new ordinance allows for few exceptions, including attending a ticketed concert or other event like the Lollapalooza summer music festival. These events are generally attended by wealthier middle-class youth and tourists, rather than Chicago’s young workers.
The curfew law was introduced by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot after 16-year-old Seandell Holliday was shot and killed in Millennium Park on May 14.
Minors found in violation with the curfew will be subject to arrest by Chicago police, a confrontation that carries with it the threat of lethal violence if an officer claims to fear for their safety. On the night of May 18, an unarmed 13-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded by Chicago police in an alleged carjacking incident. The child was running away.
Lightfoot claimed the law is intended to protect young people from gun violence. “It gives me no pleasure to impose these rules and restrictions. But having exhausted every other opportunity, every other tool and remedy, we’ve got to go to this next step to make sure that our jewel of Millennium Park is available and open to everyone,” Lightfoot said when the youth bans were announced.
The curfew was criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union, which issued a statement saying the law will only cause “unnecessary stops and arrests.”
Some members of the city council have also opposed the law. Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, said he opposed the measure based on studies that show historically curfews have no effect on reducing crime. Alderman Ray Lopez, who is challenging Lightfoot in the 2023 mayoral election from the right, criticized the proposal, pointing out that Chicago already has an 11 p.m. curfew and that in recent years it has gone unenforced with curfew citations dropping from 2,453 in 2018 to 364 in 2021.
In recent years Chicago has indeed seen an intense rise in violent crime. In 2021 nearly 800 homicides were reported, an increase of about 300 deaths compared to 2019 and 25 more than 2020. So far this year there have been over 200 shooting deaths.
None of the Democratic officials spoke to the root cause of gun violence: economic devastation and decline in living standards for the city’s working class, and the Democratic Party’s decades of privatization and austerity that have created a social crisis to which it has responded to with police patrols dispensing lethal violence.
The response of the mayor to criminalize youth and use the police to crack down on them does nothing to prevent violence. Rather, the police-state measures have only been deployed now that the crisis of working-class youth has spilled over into the wealthy downtown areas and threatens to spook customers away from Chicago’s lucrative tourism industry.
The vast majority of all shooting deaths in Chicago take place within the impoverished and working-class areas on the south and west sides of the city. These areas, once home to countless manufacturing and industrial jobs, have been stripped of resources and public services, including massive cuts to education, mental health and social services.
The effects of deindustrialization and general lack of economic opportunities has profoundly impacted young people. A 2020 study found that in Chicago over 8 percent of young people aged 16–19 were neither in school nor employed. For ages 20–24 over 20 percent were out of work. When looking at just Chicago’s black residents, who are overwhelmingly working class, the unemployment rate for the 20–24 age group jumps to 38 percent.
In West Garfield Park, the neighborhood with the most homicides per capita in 2021, at 21.8 killings per 10,000 people, the median income is just $25,648 per year. Similarly, in neighboring North Lawndale, the area with the most total homicides, 44 deaths, the median income is $26,781 per year. The poverty line in Chicago is estimated to be around an annual income of $26,000 for a family of four.
A 2020 study from the Northwestern Institute for Policy Research found that in 2019 the median age of a homicide victim was 27 years old, and that young people aged 18–24 were the most likely to be killed in a violent crime. Black youth aged 18–19 were the highest-risk group, facing a homicide rate of 182.7 per 100,000 residents.
Despite the crisis-level deterioration in many areas, Democratic leaders are deepening their attack on public education. Just last month, parents of Chicago Public Schools students protested outside the schools headquarters to oppose budget cuts.
Earlier this month, Forbes magazine announced the state of Illinois now has twenty billionaires, all living in the Chicago area (except Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, who officially resides in the state capital Springfield while in office). There is no lack of resources for social needs—schools, jobs, health care and social services or transportation infrastructure. Chicago has also received $1.9 billion in federal pandemic relief funding. But the Lightfoot administration gave some $281.5 million to the police for payroll, and $465 million to JP Morgan Chase bank, retiring short-term city debt.
Damayanti Wallace, co-founder of “GoodKidsMadCity” (GKMC), a Chicago youth organization dedicated to ending violence, spoke with the WSWS and shared thoughts on the curfew.
“The curfew further enforces the idea that punishment is the only way to produce changed behavior in people and especially youth. I believe it is to target young people in general. Instead of offering resources to young people and giving them the option of whether or not to be in one place or another, they are automatically being punished and restricted.”
On the effects of the curfew, Wallace said, “The violence may reduce, it may not. Regardless, the root problem is still there. Youth are looking for things to do as they come into their adulthood. Those curiosities should be fostered instead of pushed away.”
“Youth require resources. They need to be given opportunities and see what the world has to offer otherwise the influences of their neighborhood, television shows, music become the only world they know… Chicago is hyper segregated, and poverty is concentrated, Black and Brown youth are forced to compete for resources and the colonized violence we experience, plus the police state makes us further marginalized.”
GKMC has been petitioning the city to pass a “PeaceBook” ordinance that would provide resources for various youth programs in the poorest communities in Chicago. So far, their demands have been ignored by Lightfoot and other city officials.
Wallace concluded saying that the PeaceBook is only an initial proposal and that ultimately young people desire to be free of racism, homophobia and capitalism. “Black youth should be able to move freely without restrictions!”
The imposition of the curfew comes after thousands of youth in Chicago have come into open struggle against the city government that is dominated by the Democratic Party and presides over the city’s inequality. Hoping to suppress further political opposition, like those of the massive George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020, Lightfoot and the ruling class are embracing authoritarian police state measures. That same summer the mayor instructed police to make arbitrary arrests of young people ahead of the July 4 weekend.
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