Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot must be vying for Queen of Gaslighting. It’s the only reasonable explanation for why she tried to tell reporters Tuesday that crime in her city is actually on the decline – even as violent homicides and shootings skyrocket to historic numbers.
After Newsmax reporter William Kelly asked her if she owes her city residents an apology for allowing rampant crime to explode out of control in the Windy City, Lightfoot claimed
“Crime is not out of control in our city. In fact, crime is on the decline,” she said.
"The premise of your question, which is it's chaos everywhere, the fact of the matter is, sir – which you also didn't point out, but I will so we get this straight – is we're actually seeing a decline in homicides and shootings, yes sir,” she added without citing any actual statistics before quickly moving on.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot: “Crime is not out of control in our city. In fact, crime is on the decline.”
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 30, 2021
pic.twitter.com/zpOJ03lnxq
But the stats don’t appear to bear out that claim. According to the Wall Street Journal, homicides are up 22% so far this year in Chicago. If that’s not bad enough, the disturbing trend follows a 50% increase between 2019 and 2020.
The number of shootings in Chicago has also risen this year over last, with the Chicago Tribune reporting 1,587 people shot so far this year, nearly 200 more than at this time in 2020. The city has also seen a triple-digit increase in the number of carjackings, clocking in at 708 as of June 13 compared to 416 by that time last year.