Chicago shooting: Lightfoot and prosecutor Foxx exchange war of words over no charges laid in gang shootout



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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lashes out at Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx for citing “mutual fighters” in his decision not to press charges against those arrested in a Deadly shooting in a neighborhood in broad daylight filmed last week between members of rival gangs.

“She has to explain to the public, why? Given this evidence, a pod camera right there that captured it all and police officers at the scene in uniform, and a patrol car there, why isn’t that enough?” Lightfoot said at a press conference Monday. “If the bad guys out there who pick up guns and shoot without any regard for the sanctity of life, don’t believe there is a responsibility for them, the brazen will not end. will intensify, it will continue and our communities will not be safe. “

One person was killed and five others were arrested and then released in connection with the shooting that took place on Friday in the Austin neighborhood on the city’s West Side. Three gang members began shooting at a single family home in broad daylight in an attempt to lure members of an opposing gang faction. Three individuals inside retaliated, killing one of the offenders outside.

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More than 70 round shells were recovered in the shooting captured by a city camera, and a set of uniformed officers in a marked patrol car were also at the scene in a short time and witnessed The activity, Lightfoot, along with five alderman, in a letter obtained by Fox 32, implored Foxx to reconsider felony charges, such as attempted murder, at least against the two original surviving assailants.

People inside the house refused to come out and a SWAT team was called in, giving them time to dispose of all their weapons and clean up any remaining evidence, the letter said. Several cases of firearms, but no weapon, were found, a fact according to the mayor and the alderman alone justifies a more in-depth investigation.

“After looking at this, gaining a deep understanding from the detectives who were leading the investigation, it’s really hard to understand this decision,” Lightfoot continued at his press conference on Monday. “It’s complicated, for sure. But we really urge the public prosecutor herself to get personally involved, to look at the evidence, and I think there are at least some charges that can be brought. against the individuals who started the shots. “

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“We cannot live in a world where there is no responsibility,” said the mayor. “When there is no responsibility, that is, individuals who wreak havoc, who shoot indiscriminately or at a target but without any regard for the sanctity of life and for health and good – being other people, if they don’t feel like the criminal justice system is going to hold them accountable, we are going to see a level of cheekiness that will plunge the city into chaos. We cannot let this happen. “

Foxx defended his office’s decision in a statement released later Monday, saying Lightfoot, as a former federal prosecutor, should know better than to adjudicate cases in the media without sufficient evidence.

“As a former federal prosecutor, the mayor knows the ethical obligation of the prosecutor to bring charges only when the facts, the evidence and the law justify it,” Foxx said. “She is also fully aware that as a prosecutor we are obliged not to judge cases in the media. It is not known why she chose to make such statements, especially in the absence of full information which were presented to our office by CPD. “

“The facts that the mayor presented today are simply not consistent with what was presented to us by CPD, and are not corroborated by the evidence we have received,” continued the public prosecutor. “The staggering violence that devastates our communities is horrific, however, we must always uphold our ethical and legal standards in assessing charges. As a former prosecutor, she knows it.”

Foxx explained that detectives contacted his office on Friday “and immediately recognized that given the chaotic nature of the scene, they were unable to determine how events unfolded.”

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“We reviewed the evidence presented to us in consultation with the detectives and they agreed that we were unable to approve the charges based on the evidence presented,” she wrote. “However, as always, as more evidence is gathered, we are ready to lay charges where appropriate.”

Foxx reportedly initially cited “mutual fighters” in its decision not to press charges, a legal term referring to when the two sides voluntarily fight on an equal footing. But the mayor and alderman wrote in their letter on Monday that from their point of view, “the individuals who started the shots were not ‘mutual fighters’ and were certainly not shooting in self-defense.”

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