Chicago activist: City is like a war zone
Tio Hardiman, Violence Interrupters Executive Director, discusses surging city violence on 'The Story'
Chicago’s surge in violent crime is not getting any better under Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Superintendent David Brown, Violent Interrupters executive director Tio Hardiman said on "The Story."
"I would not be so hard on Lori Lightfoot or Superintendent Brown if they would stop saying they have a plan," Hardiman said. "Whatever plan they have, the plan is not working. And right now in Chicago, we need a lot of help out here because Chicago is like a war zone."
"We want Lori Lightfoot to do a good job, we want the superintendent to do a good job but right now they’re failing," he added.
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President Biden visited Chicago Wednesday to meet with city officials, but Hardiman argued the president should have been met face to face with people impacted on the ground such as the parents of the 1-month-old shot on Chicago’s South Side last week.
"You have a lot of grassroots organizations out here in Chicago that are doing a lot of good work on the ground," he said. "President Biden should come to the valley instead of going to the top of the mountain."
Brown has blamed the uptick in crime on the courts while Hardiman pointed out that offenders are not often being arrested. The activist suggested that the only way to reduce violence to launch a Black unity program.
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"I think the police and the mayor and a lot of elected officials are looking in the wrong direction," he said. "Over 80% of the gun violence takes place in the Black community. It’s the responsibility of Black men to bring peace to their community first.
"No matter how much money they send to Chicago, you’re still going to have high numbers of gun violence until Black men unify and address their own people right here in this day and time."
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