Street gangs in Chicago are becoming more aggressive against law enforcement.
According to a report from ABC7, a federal intelligence alert has gone out to law enforcement in Chicago warning them that three dozen street gangs “have formed a pact to ‘shoot on-sight any cop that has a weapon drawn on any subject in public’.”
The Chicago FBI officials’ “situational information report” was released on August 26, 2020, which highlighted that “members of these gang factions have been actively searching for, and filming, police officers in performance of their official duties. The purpose of which is to catch on film an officer drawing his/her weapon on any subject and the subsequent ‘shoot on-sight’ of said officer, in order to garner national media attention.”
These kinds of alerts are generally sent out to law enforcement agencies, above all, when they relate to threats to officers.
The FBI’s “Potential Activity Alert” comes from “a contact whose reporting is limited and whose reliability cannot be determined.” ABC 7 contends ”That could mean the information came from a police street source, a cooperating witness in an ongoing case, or from discussions overheard on a wiretap or other surveillance recording.”
CPD Superintendent David Brown believes there is an overall “sense of lawlessness” that law enforcement is tasked with confronting. Brown believes that the threats to police officers are existential and are becoming greater by the day.
“I think it’s bigger than a suggestion,” Brown declared. “I think 51 officers being shot at or shot in one year, I think that quadruples any previous year in Chicago’s history. So I think it’s more than a suggestion that people are seeking to do harm to cops.”
Brown’s statements came after a violent weekend in Chicago when 54 people were shot. Of those people shot, were two Chicago police officers. The CPD officers are expected to survive but ten people succumbed from their wounds during this time period.
ABC 7 highlighted some of the gangs listed in this alert:
The FBI alert, headlined “Pact Made by People Nation Gang Factions to ‘Shoot On-Sight’ Any Police Officer with a Weapon Drawn” lists street gangs that have become well-known in Chicago the past five decades, from the Latin Kings and Vice Lords to the El Rukns and Black P Stones.
In Brown’s view, the surge in police attacks is a clear sign that “people are seeking to do harm to cops.”
“We need police officers and as community members we need to push back fervently against lawlessness,” Brown stated.
With how radicalized the U.S. has become, some of its most basic institutions of public order are under assault.
Given that Chicago is in Illinois — an already anti-gun state — citizens have very little options for defense. In turn, this anti-law enforcement wave coupled with restrictive gun control, will make countless lawful citizens vulnerable to criminal elements.
In sum, none of this will end well for Chicago residents and urban centers which have embraced the “Defund the Police” sentiment.