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Christmas Weekend Homicides in Chicago |
By
Stephen Lendman |
| Christmas weekend was extraordinarily violent in Chicago, my home for
nearly the past half century. Police reported 27 shootings, seven killed on Christmas day. A Chicago Tribune account read like a war report, listing one incident after another, victims either wounded or killed. Through early December, reported homicides exceeded 700, according to police records. The Tribune said “(t)he year got off to a violent start with 50 homicides in January and rarely let up even after the end of the summer - the peak season for shootings.” Weeks before yearend, 4,050 occurred, according to police records, a stunning number - averaging 11 daily. The Tribune said police statistics don’t include “about an additional 20 killings on area expressways, as well as police-involved shootings, justifiable homicides or death investigations that could later be reclassified as homicides.” Halloween weekend was this year’s most deadly - 59 reported shootings, 17 fatalities. Chicago gun violence “far outpace(s) both New York and Los Angeles combined,” the Tribune explained. Most victims are men, largely under age 30. South and West side impoverished neighbors are most affected, impacted by gang turf wars and drugs trafficking - far from Streeterville near Lake Michigan where I live, its residents well protected by police. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. |