Chicago’s police superintendent fired back at President Trump over his criticism of the city over recent shootings, saying the president hasn’t responded to local officials’ requests for aid to combat crime.
“Seven people shot and killed yesterday in Chicago. What is going on there — totally out of control. Chicago needs help!” wrote Mr. Trump on his Twitter account Thursday.
It’s at least the second time Mr. Trump has highlighted crime in Chicago as president, having previously threatened to “send in the Feds” if they city couldn’t “fix the horrible ’carnage’ going on.”
Supt. Eddie Johnson responded Thursday night, acknowledging that the gun violence is “unacceptable.”
But he noted that the city’s suggestions for ways the federal government could help stem the violence have gone unanswered.
“We’ve made requests to the White House and the Justice Department for them to support our work — from increasing federal gun prosecution to more FBI, DEA and ATF agents to more funding for mentoring, job training and more,” Supt. Johnson said. “We are still waiting for the administration’s response to our request.”
Mr. Trump’s previous comments about sending “the feds” to Chicago raised eyebrows among policing experts, who questioned whether he was suggesting a deployment of the National Guard. The notion rankled local officials, who in turn provided their own suggestions for the type of federal aid that could be helpful in reducing the city’s crime rate.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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