CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — The House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings on Chicago violence on Tuesday, focused on Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s handling of criminal prosecutions.
Members of the GOP-led House said they wanted to take a closer look at rising crime in the city, according to WLS, which reported at least four people were held up at gunpoint early Tuesday morning.
Chicago has led the nation in murders for the last 11 years, even though it has a population only a third of New York City’s.
“Innocent people in Chicago are victimized by a justice system that cares more about political correctness than punishing the criminals who have harmed them and their families. For 11 years, 11 years, Chicago has led the country in homicides, and has only gotten worse under State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. According to an official report, like Chicago Police Department, crime in Chicago overall has increased during the last five years by nearly 20%. That is also a huge problem in Chicago, which saw an 114% increase in car thefts and the 32% increase in other steps between 2018 and 2022,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“The Left has attacked law enforcement and sought to defund the police. And then when crime goes up, they act shocked,” he added at the “Victims of Violent Crime” hearing, which also featured testimony from retired Chicago Police detective Lt. John Garrido III and retired officer Carlos Yanez Jr, who was shot 4 times in a traffic stop that killed his partner, Ella French.
“With all the policies and procedures put into place, officers find themselves with their hands tied behind their back. Being an officer is stressful enough. But now it seems like there is a witch hunt after officers unnecessarily,” Yanez said. “Officers continue to lap up violent offenders, but we find them back on the street committing even more violent crimes, including murder.”
Political analyst Gianno Caldwell also testified, saying the city has become an “active warzone” after losing his brother to gun violence, saying that Chicago’s Democrat prosecutors “recklessly” ignore murders that disproportionately affect the Black community.
“Many of these same individuals have screamed left and right ‘Black Lives Matter,’” he said.
His brother’s killer has not been found.
Caldwell called on Congress to “employ the full use of the FBI to help clear murder cases in our cities.”
Foxx faces mounting criticism over her office’s ability to prosecute crime, with an exodus of prosecutors that caught the attention of many in the criminal justice community.
Foxx released a statement, saying, “As the nation is on the verge of a Republican-sponsored government shutdown, Jim Jordan has chosen to come to Chicago rather than fulfill his obligations to his constituents. Instead of focusing on the victims of mass shootings caused by weak gun protection laws, including his own district, he has chosen to spend his time with John Catanzara-the man who in the immediate aftermath of January 6th, proclaimed it to be a peaceful protest. This behavior is not surprising, but it is alarming. Jim Jordan seeking to exploit the deaths of black and brown victims of crime, rather than supporting common sense gun legislation is in line with his continued hypocrisy and alignment with his party that’s beholden to a man currently facing 96 felony charges across 4 jurisdictions.”
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