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Chicago Police Say 57% Of Carjackings Committed By Juveniles. Chicago Mayor Argues Problems Come Because Youths ‘Do Not Feel Loved’

   DailyWire.com
Mayor Lori Lightfoot at South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago on July 9, 2020. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images

As the Chicago Police Department announced that 57% of the carjacking suspects in 2022 are juveniles, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot told young people at a townhall gathering devoted to public safety “there are too many young people in this room who do not feel loved, too many, and we’ve got to change that around if we’re going to change around the trajectory of their lives.”

“The mayor said Chicago cannot ‘arrest ourselves’ out of public safety problems,” Fox 32 reported.

But at a meeting of youths discussing carjackings, when asked by CNN “what did you see when you’re on the ground on a day-to-day basis with carjackings going on,” one young man offered, “I think most of the people that do carjackings, they do carjackings because they’re either bored and they don’t have nothing else or they do it off of  peer pressure.”

Vondale Singleton, the founder and CEO of the CHAMPS Male Mentoring Program, told CNN, “Our young men have a lot of time on their hands; schools shut down and they were bored, so they’re out here joyriding and they don’t understand the ramifications of their actions and choices and decisions that they make …”

Sergeant Ebony Bullock of the South Fulton Police in Georgia told CNN, “So the most important thing is being aware of your surroundings.  Make sure that you’re in a well-lit area; you’re not by yourself, and you’re not fumbling when you get to your car and not distracted. … You’re staying vigilant when you’re alone because that’s when you become a prime target.”

Yet last week, Kwame Amoaku, 51, the head of Chicago’s Film Office, was rushed to intensive care after being attacked by three juveniles attempting to steal his car, and it was early in the morning.

At roughly 8 a.m. Wednesday outside his home near the National Museum of Mexican Art, Amoaku noticed three young men inside his car. When he confronted them, they assaulted him and then fled in an SUV, only to return moments later and assault him again before stealing his car. He wrote on Facebook, “This AM I was attacked, beaten, and my car stolen by three kids. Thanks to all who have reached out. I’m in the ICU, I’m going to be ok.”

His daughter wrote on Facebook, “My dad was viciously attacked outside his home.  He will be unable to work or cook for himself. Please donate if you are able. You never think this would happen to your family. Until it does.”

The Daily Wire reported last December:

The texts that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot — who has been harshly criticized for her leadership as her city descends further into chaos — sent over more than two and a half years with city aldermen have been revealed, and in one text during the riots after the death of George Floyd she bluntly stated, “The city is up for grabs.”

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