President Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reigned from his White House duties years ago to become the Mayor of Chicago. Since that time, violent street crime, primarily in the south side of Chicago, has skyrocketed.
During frequent campaign stops during the fall campaign, then-candidate Trump referred to Chicago as “out of control” and evidence of the “wild west.” He pledged as president he would clean up the situation, even suggesting the National Guard would intervene.
On Friday, President Trump tweeted that he’s dispatching “federal help” to fight Chicago’s massive crime problem. He labelled it as reaching “epidemic proportions” and “totally out of control.”
President Trump has again voiced his disgust with the violence in Chicago and the total lack of any solution from Emanuel or the Governor of Illinois. “Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help. 1714 shootings in Chicago this year!” the president wrote.
Trump did not say specifically what he has in mind. But on Thursday, 20 agents with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were sent to Chicago to bolster the staff of 120 already in the city, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
The actual total of Chicago citizens that have been shot this year is 1,737. Of that total, more than 300 of them were shot fatally, the Sun Times reported.
Trump’s long-awaited response comes after he said in January, “Send in the Feds!” It appears that time has now come.
