The crowd at the first World Series baseball game booed Donald Trump. Traditionally, the president has thrown out the first ball, but not this one. Then, the crowd booed POTUS, released an anti-Trump banner, and chanted “Lock Him Up!” With a baseball rejection hangover the morning after, he went on to cause more trouble.
The commander-in-chief set off another firestorm as he hopped the helicopter, then Air Force One to Chicago for a fundraiser and to speak to a police chiefs’ event. Trump has repeatedly insulted the windy city as “a disaster,” “horrible carnage,” and even compared it to Afghanistan. He also attacked its Democratic leadership for mishandling violence.
‘If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible “carnage” going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!’
The last time that the president went to Chicago, the protesters were so strong that POTUS had to cancel his campaign rally. For this event, the Chicago police have anticipated protesters on both sides of the political aisle.
Longtime activist for immigrants’ rights Pastor Emma Lozano and other protesters set up camp directly in front of the Chicago Trump Tower. CBS News reported that the pastor said:
‘We are here to change hearts and minds. We should celebrate our immigrants, because they have built this city and built this country. We all have come from somewhere else. We’re the descendants of immigrants.’
Chicago has heavily armed its police force for this presidential visit. He was last here in 2016 as a candidate in the presidential election. At that time supporters and protesters became so violent, the president closed down his rally.
Interim Superintendent at that time John Escalante said that the president lied about the course of events. The top cop said he thought the rally organizers canceled the rally, because about half of those in attendance were against Trump. He said:
‘I think they saw that, and they didn’t want to be embarrassed. They could see it wasn’t going to look good and told him, “You are going to get shouted down,” and they made up this thing about safety concerns.’
During the 2016 clash, two police officers and two others were injured and five others were arrested.
Trump was scheduled to speak to the police chiefs’ event on Monday. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson hosted the group, but he said he had no plans to attend Trump’s speech. The reason he gave was opposing the president’s immigration policies.
It got worse. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that she would not be meeting with POTUS. She opposed his proposition that let federal contractors’ religion determine whom they hired. Ivanka Trump, however, defended her father by posting Chicago’s gun violence statistics online.
Johnson said:
‘I can’t in good conscience stand by while racial insults and hatred are cast from the Oval Office or Chicago is held hostage because of our views on new Americans.’
The number of homicides in Chicago has decreased by 31 percent in 2019 versus 2016. Shooting incidents were also down 38 percent, according to the police department’s statistics.
U.S. Attorney John Lausch said:
‘We are using every available federal law enforcement tool to reduce violent crime and help keep our citizens safe.’
Spokesperson for the Police Department Anthony Guglielmi said the president’s Justice Department should have been credited for reducing gun violence:
‘We’ve never had a partnership as with the U.S. Attorney’s Office as we’ve had with John Lausch. He’s gone on ride-alongs with the superintendent on holiday weekends. He’s at all the gun stat meetings.’
Johnson’s decision to miss Trump’s address did not go over well with the city police officers’ union, the Fraternal Order of Police:
‘[S]uch a gesture would be an insult to both President Trump and the office of the presidency itself and would be a mark of disgrace upon the city throughout the entire nation, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.