by Eileen Wieneke
Mayor Johnson’s rationale for vetoing Superintendent Snelling’s authority to implement Snap Curfews is a complete farce.
This has nothing to do with “criminalizing children” and everything to do with protecting them. He and the majority of the City Council know that.
Let’s be clear: Chicago leads the nation in school-age youth murders. This year alone, 83 children have been shot and 14 killed. Vetoing Snap Curfews—just like eliminating ShotSpotter—will cost lives. They are placing ideology ahead of public safety.
This is the same mayor who, as a top CTU leader, kept schools closed during COVID in defiance of the science—resulting in a 50% increase in school-age youth homicides and a historic rise in violent crimes both committed by and inflicted upon children.
And as for his “investments in youth,” his summer jobs program hasn’t returned to pre-COVID levels. The new CTU contract is a $1.5 billion taxpayer funded gift to his former employer, giving them higher pay and more members while denying poor families alternatives to failing schools.
Parents who lost children to gun violence gather at Chicago police headquarters to demand that Chicago police detectives solve their cases. [Photo by Carlos Javier Ortiz / Wonderful Machine]
Great article. NYC Mayor Eric Adams, who’s also a Democrat is the total opposite of Emperor Brandon Johnson. Unlike Brandon Johnson, he’s pro police. Pro curfew.