UMVA has learned that a wave of violent shootings swept through Chicago over the weekend, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake, with seven people dead and 38 injured in a shocking display of gun violence.
The Windy City was reeling from the bloodshed, which included a drive-by mass shooting on Juneteenth that sent shockwaves through the community. The brutal violence prompted a swift response from President Donald Trump, who called on Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker to take action and requested federal assistance to quell the violence.
According to information obtained by UMVA, at least two dozen shooting incidents took place over the weekend, with victims ranging in age from 18 to 50. The violence was widespread, with multiple incidents reported on Friday night, including one in Princeton Park on Chicago’s South Side, where 12 people were hospitalized after two unidentified individuals fired into a crowd.
The violence continued unabated on Saturday and Sunday, with additional deaths and injuries reported. A 14-year-old boy was shot multiple times on Thursday, resulting in his death, leaving a youth football team and community in mourning.
The Midwest Hawks youth football team, of which the boy was a member, mourned his passing, saying that "there are no words that can ease the pain of a loss like this." The team and community were left to grapple with the senseless violence that had taken the life of a young and promising life.
President Trump took to social media to shame Pritzker for not taking action, writing that "Lots of Killing going on in Chicago" and questioning why the governor hadn’t reached out for help. Trump claimed he could make Chicago a safe city in just one month, pointing to his crime crackdown in Washington, D.C. as evidence of his ability to drive down violence.
Despite Trump’s offers to deploy the National Guard and federal authorities to Chicago, Pritzker has repeatedly declined, stating emphatically that "Mr. President, do not come to Chicago" and adding that Trump was "neither wanted here nor needed here." The governor has instead chosen to push back against Trump’s claims of a surge in violence, even joking about the situation on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show.
Pritzker appeared on the show dressed in a Kevlar vest, quipping that Chicago was not experiencing a hellscape, but rather a city where people were being forced to endure the hardships of "people being forced to eat hot dogs with ketchup on them, and our deep dish pizza, well, has gone shallow." His comments sparked a mix of reactions, with some calling them tone-deaf and others seeing them as a clever way to deflect criticism.
