Good morning, everyone.
Thank you all for being here.
Today I'm joined by members of my administration, Deputy Mayors Gary Gatewood, Beatrice Ponce de Leon,
as well as our Corporation Counsel, Mary Richardson-Lawry.
Today I want to give you a brief overview of this past weekend,
and then, of course, I'm going to provide you with an update of our work around keeping Chicagoans safe,
which is my top priority.
This weekend, we saw more than 20,000 Chicagoans doing what Chicagoans do well, which is peacefully demonstrating their opposition against the Trump regime.
With tens of thousands of people on the streets, our police officers managed to keep everyone safe, and we only ended up having to arrest one individual during the protest.
I do want to give a special thanks to our police department and all of our officers who were on the ground this weekend and every weekend and every day.
The Office of Emergency Management, as well as the other city departments that helped keep everyone calm and safe,
the Chicago Department of Transportation, Streets and Sanitation, the Chicago Fire Department, and, of course, my Office of Community Safety.
All of you did a tremendous job showing up for the people of Chicago and demonstrating to the world how we can exercise our First Amendment while maintaining peace in our city.
But I'm also very grateful that all of you as city workers showed up with a level of professionalism and dedication to our city that I really did appreciate that over the weekend.
We also, while managing protests, we also had more than 12 large events across our city,
which included the Puerto Rican People's Day Parade,
which was yet another display of the incredible cultures that make up the soul of Chicago,
the celebration of Pope Leo the 14th at Raitt Field,
and the IPW, which welcomed press from more than 60 different countries.
But this is Chicago.
This is who we are.
We can protest, we can celebrate our culture, and we can honor the Pope.
We really do do it all.
At the same time, on Saturday night, it was a very long day for me.
I had a chance to participate in our Saturday night, late-night basketball events.
This is a collaboration between our Office of Community Safety, City Colleges, Park District, CDPH, Lyft,
and our community partners, Operation Basketball and Project Swish.
I want to give a special shout-out to both of those organizations.
who are doing an absolute fabulous job at creating opportunities for our young people to engage.
This is our second late-night basketball event.
These are targeted activations for weekends where we have historically seen high levels of violence.
We brought young people together around sports, food, and music.
I did shoot 50% from the field, but I'm not going to act like I still got it, though.
So, I mean, you know, I'm no Angel Reese, but I do my very best.
But I'm also grateful.
Although that we had Malcolm X, as well as Washington Park Fieldhouse, they both hosted us.
We will announce additional targeted activations throughout the summer as part of my overall vision for community safety.
Finally, these are some of the recent numbers around community safety.
I continue to roll up my sleeves and challenge all of our city departments,
along with our police department to continue to do the work that's necessary to keep people safe.
As I've gathered, all sister agencies as well as our city departments
and working strategically within neighborhoods that have been historically disinvested in,
the work that my administration has put me forward, we're seeing some of the results there.
I do want to reiterate, though, that the police department continues to do its part as I offer up direction of how we have to engage with our residents.
And we're solving more cases because of the hard work, but we are also providing and refining our strategic deployments.
but we're also rebuilding trust with communities throughout Chicago
and the partnerships that we continue to make with community violence intervention workers.
We're seeing the historic declines in crime and violence in our city.
So year to date, you can see violent crime is down 21 percent.
Homicides are down 27.6 percent.
Shootings are down 38.
Robberies are down 33 percent.
So these are obviously encouraging trends.
My top priority is to build the safest, most affordable big city in America.
And, of course, over the next few weeks, we're going to continue to address these hot spots as they arise
with targeted resources effectively working to keep Chicagoans safe this summer.
But it's not just policing.
It's policing and our investments in affordable housing, policing,
and in our work where we hire thousands of young people this summer and, again, creating more spaces.
Yesterday, I'm very proud to announce that we're investing $4.1 million into the community wealth building operation
as we continue to work forward to create yet more opportunities, particularly on the west and south sides of Chicago,
to recover from historic disinvestment.
We're going to continue to address historic disinvestment as we build safe, affordable communities,
particularly at a time in which so much at the federal level is working to do the opposite.
Also, you know, while we're doing all of this work to make our cities safer,
we are still finding ourselves more and more under the threat of the federal government.
Recent reporting has indicated that Donald Trump is trying to escalate tensions in Chicago
by expanding, you know, his deportation efforts.
You know, we even saw a piece in the Rolling Stone quoting that the Trump administration is officially saying that Chicago is next.
And, you know, again, just another sort of example of his animus towards working people.
But it's important, especially now, that Chicagoans know their rights.
We are working to relaunch our campaign that we launched back in January
with a CTA at over 400 digital displays across the city
to make sure that even if the federal government doesn't know
or care about the Constitution,
that Chicagoans deserve to know their constitutional rights.
So thank you all for being patient with me this morning
and looking forward to answering your questions.
Okay, we have time for one question and one follow-up.
Start with Justin.
Thanks.
Hi, Mayor.
So what happened with the – sorry, I'm having a bit of a brain freeze here – with the rideshare ordinance?
You know, it is not moving forward here in the city.
There's a bit of a deal brokered, but it appears that it did not have the votes, and that's part of the reason a compromise was forged.
You know, why didn't you get more involved to whip forwards in support of that ordinance?
Well, obviously, the city of Chicago, we're the most pro-worker city in America.
I mean, my record speaks to that, so there's real bona fide there.
Look, I brought both sides together, but it was the decision to go to the state as they worked to formally unionize.
Look, any work that happens in the city of Chicago should be properly and fairly compensated.
But in this instance, that was a decision that was made by the coalition,
and we fully support their efforts to be unionized and to get the type of compensation that really reflects, you know, our values as a pro-worker city.
You know, that will take quite some time.
They've got to get the right to unionize at the state level approved and actually organize when a contract, you know.
This ordinance could have provided the same level of benefits, at least on the pay side, much sooner.
Why not fully get behind that effort and try to get it across the finish line?
You know, again, there's no question that I'm the most pro-worker mayor in the entire country.
And, you know, when people make organizing decisions, as I've done as an organizer in this city,
they're well within their rights to take it up at any level of government.
Here's what's most important, is that I fully support the efforts of fair compensation
and the right to unionize, and I'll continue to bring people together
to ensure that the workers of this city are supported.
Good morning, Mayor.
Good morning.
You cited reporting that showed that Chicago was potentially next for more expanded deportation efforts,
potentially military deployments.
But I'm wondering, in light of that, have you seen anything to confirm that,
or what would be the process for you all learning if that were to come to pass?
Thank you for the question.
It's not like the federal government has given us any heads up, right?
There's no communication from the federal government with our local police department.
It's quite problematic.
This is why we're relaunching our Know Your Rights campaign.
There's a great deal of resistance in this city around a host of things from the Trump administration.
The fact that, again, that he's removing black history, right,
that he is attacking the LGBTQ plus community as much as we possibly can,
whether it's in the courts, whether it's in the streets, or it's with policy.
We're going to continue to defend and stand up for working people.
And just to follow up, would you know in, like,
is there a procedure or anything that the federal government needs to notify you
before something like that were to happen,
a National Guard deployment or Marines or something like that?
I think it's important that the president respects the Constitution
And if you're asking me if this president is going to work with city leaders, it's clear that he's not interested in doing that.
He's not even interested in working with Congress, which this is where these issues should be taken up.
They have not moved on anything substantive at the federal level.
There's no effort for comprehensive immigration reform that could help repair a broken system.
There's no commitment to help transform our economy.
There's no commitment to invest in our public education system.
The only thing that we've received from this president is his ongoing attack against equity, diversity,
his ongoing attack against working people,
establishing policy that ultimately protects the interests of the wealthy in this country
is the priority that he has carried out.
Anything other than that, he's been a miserable disappointment and failure.
Good morning, Mayor.
Good morning.
The senior Trump official in Rolling Stone said Chicago is next if they go too far.
How are you interpreting that, and what would be your administration's plan of action
if Trump makes good on his threat to send the military here?
I'm not going to speculate what someone means.
I don't think that would be responsible.
I can only control the things that I have jurisdiction and purview over.
standing up for civil rights
in the city of Chicago
is a long tradition in history
just a few feet away from this room
Dr. Keenan Al-Raby
looked right into the eyes of Richard J. Daley
and challenged him to do more around housing
protest is something that has allowed for this room to exist
black, brown, white, Asian
women
So, I mean, we have to go as far as necessary to protect our Constitution and our democracy.
And so whatever is necessary, that we should all be committed to doing just that.
Anything short of protecting our democracy would really be a poor display of our appreciation of our ancestors.
You know, as far as what this administration has been allowed to get away with,
we have put forth lawsuits
of which we've seen some success there
we'll continue to move policy
that protects the interests of working people
and we'll make sure that the people of this city know their rights
it's clear that the Trump administration
expects people to behave ignorantly
that's not who we are
and so whether it's making sure that our residents know
what their constitutional rights are
or moving policy or moving at the legal level
in the courts will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the sensibility of our democracy
is still intact.
And last week, your law department said that the city did hand over some documents to ICE
as part of its subpoena on streets in San, seeking employment eligibility records.
Did these records contain any personal information?
Mary Richardson-Laurie Corporation Counsel, we received two requests on that through administrative
What we said was, with respect to City Key, that we declined to provide documentation.
There was another administrative warrant category for streets and sand where, under federal law,
we had an obligation to at least provide a listing, and that information was provided
without the kind of detail that you've just referenced.
Let me also take the moment to clarify for the last two questions in terms of the legal response.
You should be aware that on Sunday we filed and joined the state of California, the city of Los Angeles, the city of San Francisco
to express our protestations to the federal use of National Guard.
That is a right that's reserved in the governor's.
It is also prohibited, as the judge ruled, under the Tenth Amendment.
So we filed to join those state actions and city actions, as have others,
to ensure that Chicago is on the docket, if you will,
on the legal framing around it being in violation of the Tenth Amendment.
We don't get a notice in advance of when any action is taken.
But we are able to notice through the court system where we stand, what this mayor's values are,
and why we think it is a violation of the Constitution to deploy troops or National Guard absent authority under the Constitution.
Good morning, Mayor.
Hey, good morning.
Just as a reminder, this is the Senior Craig's last Tuesday meeting, so let's not recall with the business.
I want to ask you a couple things.
One, can we get your reaction to what happened to the lawmakers in Minnesota?
And because we know that there were some Illinois lawmakers that were in some form of a list.
Have you gotten information from state police or FBI whether you were on that list?
Well, first of all, my reaction is that, like, I believe people across the country were definitely shocked
as well as appalled by, you know, this handiest act.
And, you know, as just a human being, you know, these were not just legislators.
These were people.
These were, you know, people had loved ones.
People cared for them.
And so to think that, you know, a political position would provocate someone
and to carry out an act of terror is just appalling and deeply disturbing.
And our, you know, my heart goes out to, you know, their families.
You know, as far as, you know, my own, you know, personal, you know,
safety and security for me and my family, you know, I do have, you know,
regular updates in the event that there are people who are offering up direct threats.
But I think what's most important here in this moment is that as a nation,
we have to really come together and unite around our shared sense of humanity
and that even when we have political disagreements, you know, it should never lead to political violence.
On a different topic, if I might, there's been a resolution that has been filed by Deborah Silverstein
asking for the Commission on Human Relations to hold public hearings on the rise of anti-Semitism.
And I'm wondering, will you support this resolution and the idea of having these hearings
and she wants you to declare anti-Jewish hate an emergency in Chicago?
I do support the efforts in the resolution to really highlight and call out the growing anti-Semitism
across the country, really across the world.
I have in very emphatic terms.
You know, express my disdain as well as my rebuke of the anti-Semitic presentation, rhetoric and actions that have caused a great deal of fear and harm to the Jewish community in Chicago.
We'll continue to rebuke those actions as well as words and hateful expressions that can lead to violence.
And as far as these hearings are concerned, I think there's some value of being able to expose how anti-Semitism has caused a great deal of fear and trepidation within our Jewish community.
And I'm going to do everything in my power to protect the Jewish community and work with law enforcement, but also work with our community partners and agencies and all of those who understand what our collective role is in ensuring that the Jewish community is loved and supported and seen and protected.
Hi, Mayor. I wanted to follow up on Craig's first question in light of what happened over the weekend in Minnesota.
Is the city doing more to protect city council members and the high-profile people in your administration?
Well, there's always a special effort to ensure that all public servants are able to deliver on behalf of the people of Chicago without fear of violence.
because these type of tragedies, of course, will always cause us to review our practices.
And working with our superintendent, as well as the lead of my detail,
to ensure that all public servants are able to carry out their function
without the fear of political retaliation, particularly violent,
we'll continue to review all of our efforts.
On a lighter note, the Chicago Fire's proposal is out for their new stadium, the 78, $650 million private money.
Do you see any obstacles then?
And what has the soccer club asked for in terms of road, city infrastructure?
Well, you know, first of all, I'm grateful that we have an owner of one of our sports franchises
that is committed to putting skin in the game and grateful for Joe Mansueto
and all of the work that he does in Chicago Fire does outside of, you know, their matches, right?
Their community involvement is much appreciated.
You know, as far as the specific asks, we haven't got into a whole bunch of details just yet.
What I am encouraged by, as you know, is that our Cut the Tape initiative has attracted more people willing to do business,
particularly large investments in the city of Chicago.
Much like SciQuantum, much like the 1901 project and, you know, other major developments,
my administration is going to work with the ownership to ensure that this investment is something that the people of Chicago will benefit from.
But it's too early at this point to be able to give you any specifics.
But what I can say is my administration has an incredible record in securing support operationally for large investments.
We clearly can handle it.
We've demonstrated that in the first two years of office.
multi-billion dollar investments, they would not make that type of emphatic investment
if they didn't think that my administration can carry out a structure that would allow
for this development to come into complete fruition.
Mayor Johnson, Reverend Jackson, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton wrote a letter to Donald Trump
asking him to drop the DOJ investigation into your racist hiring practices.
Yet yesterday you announced a reparations fund saying investing in black is not a criminal act.
Do you think that these continued race-based actions on behalf of your administration are going to improve the case
or hurt the case with not only the DOJ but Chicagoans who don't have...
Got the question. Thank you.
I believe the people of Chicago not only deserve these investments on the west and south sides of Chicago,
but I believe the people of Chicago have been disappointed that previous administrations refused to do that in the past.
Many Chicagoans have told me that they see this.
That number has come down. Is it millions, thousands, now just many?
I guarantee you my numbers are better than yours. I guarantee you that.
How many Chicagoans have you spoken to?
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, like, share, comment.
And they tell me, Mr. Mayor, that this letter...
that you asked Reverend Jackson and Al Sharpton to write,
actually it makes you guilty.
It makes you look like you're afraid of the civil penalties
that you will be personally responsible for.
Okay.
Do you feel that this letter will somehow result in a preemptive pardon?
Please answer the question.
Well, I'm not afraid to invest in the people of Chicago,
and I hope you're doing much better.
Thank you. We'll go to Charlie.
On his way out, School Board President Pedro Martinez made some very serious allegations yesterday,
in particular that you were trying to engineer a situation whereby these Chicago public schools would be bailed out by Springfield.
Is there any truth to his allegations, and do you want to say anything to Mr. Martinez as he leaves Chicago from Massachusetts?
Well, I mean, there's no such thing as a state bailout if the state has not fully funded our public education system.
There's just no such thing.
I think everybody's in agreement that the state of Illinois, though it's moving in the right direction,
there's still a lot of work to be done to ensure that our schools are fully funded.
I just, I don't know why when it comes to poor people, when government does its part, that that's considered a bailout.
But for corporations, that's not, right?
So this is actually pretty simple math here.
State of Illinois has an opportunity as a new vehicle has been formed around the evidence-based funding formula model
to ensure that all of our students receive the quality education that they deserve.
It's not just unique to Chicago.
Every school district around the state of Illinois requires greater investment.
If we're going to continue to keep our class sizes down, if we're going to continue to respect, you know, the work of veteran educators,
if we're going to make sure that we have libraries and social workers and counselors, it really requires us to invest in our future.
Look, I talk about this all the time.
It's not enough to just say that you care about children.
You know, the Bible says that where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.
I believe that's Matthew 6 and 21.
So let's just make sure that if our heart is with the children of the city of Chicago,
let's make sure that our treasure is aligned with that.
Now, one question on a slightly different topic.
There have been complaints from the FOP that police recruits haven't been getting paid.
There's a payroll snafu.
There's something that's not allowed recruits that came on the job in May.
to collect as many as two paychecks.
Are you aware of that, and what are you doing to fix it, if so?
Yeah, I'm aware of it.
It's a filing mechanism that there are some steps that have to be taken on the other side.
You know, we do have, admittedly, a system that is a bit antiquated,
and so we have to work to innovate how paperwork is processed,
but there are a number of steps that, quite frankly, from the payroll side that was not received,
and that's why we had that gap.
But it's something that the police department recognizes that they have to do,
and as that process is smoothed out and streamlined,
the hope is that we don't have that type of disconnect and breakdown.
Will they be able to help?
People who work are going to get paid,
But, you know, people have to do the right paperwork for us.
It's not just a matter of someone not getting a check.
There's actual paperwork that has to be filed that was not.
What I'm saying is that some of those filings, there are a bit antiquated.
There's a way in which we can better streamline that.
Like I've said this repeatedly, we've inherited a really, really antiquated system,
the entire city as a whole, and we're working hard to innovate it.
But paperwork was not properly filed.
And once that paperwork was filed, then the right steps that would proceed would allow for folks to be paid.
But it's not a matter of whether or not they'll be paid.
It's a matter of whether or not they'll actually follow the process.
I'm going to work hard to create a better process so that we don't have, I guess,
the level of weight that slows these aspects down.
Good morning, Mayor.
It is.
It is.
You give five questions.
No.
Oh, I think I have five questions left that have been asked already.
But one of them is that going back to the imminent ICE raids, if they do come,
what is your message to people within the immigrant communities about whether or not they should be going outside?
going to work, whether they should feel comfortable about that or should they stay in the shadows.
Yeah.
You know, let me just say, first of all, congratulations, Craig, really on an amazing career.
Thank you.
You know, you have been not only a professional but quite the gentleman of what I've experienced,
at least in my first couple of years in office.
So thank you for that.
And I hope that you and your wife get a chance to spend a whole lot of time and free time in Chicago
buying and purchasing so many things and staying in the hotels,
all the things that I need to make sure that I close my budget gap.
I'm counting on you and your family.
We're going to do everything except the hotel.
All right, all right.
You know, look, the Trump administration has sown seeds of division and fear,
and it is quite disturbing and alarming.
What I have done and what we've maintained is that as a welcoming city,
First of all, our sister agencies and our police department and our city departments will not engage in any of those federal operations at all.
We're going to do everything in our power to make sure that people know their rights.
These human traps that are being put forward, where families are being lured into buildings where you have masked men with weapons,
look, we're in favor of ensuring that people who are committing crimes
and are undocumented or just committing crimes
and may be documented that they should be held accountable.
What we're not in favor of is seeing grandmothers and grandfathers
and mothers and fathers ripped away from children,
little girls being thrown into unmarked vans
and taken off to God knows where
that's just inhumane
so we're going to continue to make sure that we're working with community based organizations
and the full force of government to do our part
to ensure that people know their rights
and that we're doing everything that we can to keep families together
Yes, thank you.
Thank you for that question.
I appreciate the opportunity to share a little bit more.
You know, we can't tell people not to be afraid.
Folks are seeing what is happening here and in other cities.
But what we can do is give people information.
And I think these are very personal decisions that everyone makes for themselves and their families.
the level of risk that they want to take and how much preparation they want to take
to make sure that they do keep their families safe.
So, again, I will share IllinoisImmigrationInfo.org.
There's a wonderful tool there for creating a family plan.
Unfortunately, our families have to think about who will take care of their children
if someone is detained, about maybe giving guardianship to someone they trust,
filing, keeping their important documents in a safe place,
and even giving power of attorney for their financial responsibilities to someone.
So in this moment, we don't know what might come.
There are definitely threats and fears about massive raids,
but the best that people can do is be prepared.
And I think we all have a role to play to keep our city safe.
The mayor has made very clear what our role is as a city, but just as individual residents of Chicago, as neighbors, as friends, colleagues,
you know, think about how you can support someone in your life that might be dealing and grappling with this uncertainty in this situation.
And then I want to remind folks that we celebrate World Refugee Day every year.
It's officially on June 20th, but today is the celebration in Daly Plaza.
Our asylum system is broken, and in fact, this administration has put a pause on asylum,
and yet we're seeing growing tensions and war in different places around the country.
And so as we keep calling for comprehensive immigration reform and fair asylum laws,
today is a day to make your voice heard, if that's important to you,
and to celebrate and remember those folks that have come here as refugees
seeking a safe place to create a new home.
Thank you.
Thank you.
No, it's just the level of collaboration we've seen with folks working together.
Obviously, the mayor has highlighted.
The need for folks to be safe and remain calm, we're going to continue to do that.
As he's also highlighted, we do not work with the federal agents on any immigration issues whatsoever,
but what we do is protect Chicago, and so that's the work that we'll continue to focus on, Greg.
Thank you.
This is going to be good. This is it, huh? This is the last one?
Yeah, I guess so.
Okay.
All right.
It was five.
But actually, I just want to clarify,
this goes back to the anti-Semitism.
You're behind the hearings.
Do you believe that anti-Semitism, which we're
told is on the way up, despite other hate crimes dropping,
are we in a crisis?
Would you say that this is a crisis point when it comes
to anti-Jewish activities and crimes?
What we've seen is, I believe as a whole,
I believe it's 37% of hate crimes
have been committed against Jewish individuals.
This is a problem, right?
And this is why I think that we're not having these hearings
just because we just want to hear ourselves talk about it, right?
I mean, the hearings are motivated by the fact that there is a growing anti-Semitism globally
and that as a city and as an administration, you know, we have to remain firm
in rebuking all forms of anti-Semitic verbiage, language, or actions.
So I take this very seriously.
It's important that the Jewish community hears directly from me as well as my administration
of how we're going to work with our police department
and other agencies to keep the Jewish folks in this community
in the city of Chicago safe.
Thank you.
Hi there.
Hi.
Since the beginning of the year,
Chicago police officers have shot 12 Chicagoans, killing six.
Are you concerned that this is reflective of a larger problem
with how Chicago police officers are using force
against members of the residents of the city?
Well, the sanctity of life is something that I think we all should value.
I certainly do.
And what I don't want to ever see is that we have interactions with law enforcement in the community,
and it ends tragically.
You know, it's something that I am aware of,
and, you know, we're going to continue to ensure that the relationship between law enforcement
and everyday residents continues to strengthen, you know, community trust is imperative,
especially at a time in which we're seeing levels of violence decline in this city
in a way that we haven't seen in over a decade, right, if not longer in some instances.
So that good work that we have done to build trust as well as to strengthen the trust
between law enforcement and the community, I'm going to remain optimistic that we can continue to do that.
And, again, you know, the life that has been lost with any interaction with law enforcement is tragic,
and we want to prevent that at all costs.
Tomorrow the Chicago City Council could vote on the so-called SNAP curfew ordinance.
Are you convinced that it is constitutional,
and are you clear on how Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling would use that power if it is approved?
Well, I'm not convinced.
and, you know, the superintendent is in alignment with me.
He never asked for it.
And quite frankly, not only did he never ask for it,
as you indicated, that there are some levels of concern that I still do have.
I mean, look, my administration, I've worked tirelessly to keep people safe.
And we're building a safer Chicago, right?
The numbers and the data pan out.
What I've said from the very beginning since I've taken office, we have to do the things that work.
We're doing the things that work.
Otherwise, we wouldn't see the decline that we're experiencing right now.
And I think it's lazy governance, quite frankly.
It places too much pressure on law enforcement.
But I continuously say that we cannot just simply rely upon policing alone.
We need people to help my administration do the things that work.
When we invest in people, violent crime goes down.
The evidence is there, 27% reduction in homicides.
Robberies are down.
shootings are down shooting victims are down i remember each of you in this room as we had
conversations when i was running for office well mayor johnson those ideas sound great but it's
going to take years i remember you all were there mayor johnson that sounds great but what are you
going to do in the immediate in less than two years we've seen a gradual decline in every single
violent category in this city i have leaned in stepped up shown up every single day in this city
to drive violence down in the city of Chicago, doing the things that work.
I need partners to help with that.
We cannot afford lazy governance.
And then we just wash our hands, absolve ourselves of any responsibility, and say, police, you do it.
That is antiquated.
That form of governance is dead, and it should remain dead.
So, look, the superintendent didn't ask for it.
We work hard to prevent these type of gatherings from happening.
Sometimes gatherings happening without notification.
It's not like people wake up every day and put something on social media to say,
we're going to cut up and we're going to draw 300 people over here.
Here's what I believe we should spend more work doing,
ensuring that we have progressive revenue so that we can build more affordable homes.
I had to fight tooth and nail to get 1,000 more positions for the summer jobs.
You all were there.
You all know I proposed 30,000.
I had to give up 1,000 because people didn't think that was a worthwhile investment.
That's 1,000 less children.
1,000 less children will have an opportunity this summer.
But you want to give the police the power to be able to issue a curfew as it wishes
instead of giving the city of Chicago the power to actually invest in people?
What sense does that make?
It doesn't make any sense.
It's a sloppy form of governance.
I actually find it to be, quite frankly, we're investing in people.
And that's what it takes to build the safest, most affordable big city in America.
Hi, Mayor.
Hi.
The Sun-Times reported last week that the police department has responded to FOIA requests from immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE,
and shared personal information about arrestees, including country of origin.
Does it concern you that CPD is routinely providing this type of information to DHS and ICE, and do you think this should be investigated?
FOIA requests. Mary Richardson-Laurie.
We are looking at the specifics around that issue, but as you might know,
in the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago, we're subject to pretty broad parameters around FOIA,
and this actually may be an opportunity for us to revisit the laws
and see where there might be an opportunity to contract the parameters of FOIA
so that Nation of Origin, for instance, would not be information that is subject to release.
But in terms of the specifics, I won't get into those details because we are reviewing those with CPD.
Are there specific personal information details that CPD could have or should have redacted under current law before sending these documents?
We are reviewing the specifics with CPD, and I am restrained from talking about any details.
On the curfew ordinance, Mayor, you know, I reported on the court hearing where Superintendent Snelling said that he would never use the power to institute a curfew with just 30 minutes notice and never ask for that provision of the ordinance.
Should the council consider lengthening that warning period?
And if not, Snelling, and maybe this is a question for the deputy mayor, who asked for the 30 minute time frame?
Why is it in there?
It's a great question.
We didn't ask for it.
The superintendent didn't ask for it. No one in my administration or my police department has asked for a curfew reduction.
In fact, all the evidence points in the opposite direction.
There's no evidence that curfews prevent or lower incidents of this magnitude.
In fact, I believe the vast majority of the individuals who have been arrested at these gatherings are 18 and older.
We're not even talking about individuals that would necessarily fall within the framework of a curfew violation.
Look, the police department already has the provision to call for a dispersal order.
And if someone is committing a violent crime, you don't.
You can be arrested at 4 p.m. or 3 p.m.
It's like they don't have to wait until 10 o'clock to arrest people
if they're doing something that's in violation of the law.
As I said to your colleague,
we continue to say that we support police officers
except for when we want to give them the responsibility and the burden.
To me, it's just backwards.
We are seeing some of the greatest declines in violent crime in this city.
of which many people did not believe that our provisions would actually work
or that it would take too long.
Well, it hasn't.
It hasn't.
27% reduction in homicides.
There are less people who have lost their lives to gun violence this year
than the year before.
We're moving in the right direction.
Why not just work with my administration to continue to do the things that work
versus these make-believe, lazy, sloppily put-together ordinances
that work to just, like, absolve people of actually having to do the real hard work.
Because it actually takes a lot of work to challenge the ultra-rich
in this city to pay their fair share.
I know it. I've taken a rest for it before.
It takes a lot of work to demand Springfield to actually invest more
in all the things that we know that works.
Now, here's a time in which you have more progressives in charge,
you have Democrats in charge across the state of Illinois,
But yet we still have a revenue structure that is unfair and places too much of the responsibility on working people.
We all know that our expenditures in particular, as much as we work to save dollars in this city,
over $200 million over the course of just this fiscal year alone,
but if we're going to continue to build the safest, most affordable big city in America,
we need to talk about the things that actually allow us to do that
versus a knee-jerk reaction to something that, quite frankly, requires a little bit more sophistication
than just giving the police more power.
I think you've been clear in your opposition to the current version of the curfew ordinance.
Would you not oppose or support a version that includes input from your deputy mayor, Gatewood?
I don't think this is necessary at all. I just don't.
27% reduction in homicides, 38% shootings, robberies, all going down.
This is not to say that we don't have to review our practices when it comes to how we prevent these large gatherings from taking place.
But even if you look at this ordinance, and the Deputy Mayor can speak to this, there were gatherings last night that weren't posted.
Am I correct?
You're correct.
There were large gatherings last night, and just for clarity.
And let me just say one other thing, too.
Do you know that there are gatherings that happen particularly on the west and south sides of Chicago
that never get any notification or any attention?
Can I just pose a question?
Why is it worth considering a curfew when it happens in one section of the city,
but when it happens somewhere else, no one gives any attention to it at all?
I'm not asking you to answer it.
I'm just raising it just to elevate the consciousness right now of the city of Chicago.
I do find it somewhat odd and even ironic, you know, that for neighborhoods on the west and south side of Chicago,
when these type of gatherings take place, they don't get coverage, right?
I mean, it doesn't mean that we don't have these concerns.
What we're saying is that in many instances when these gatherings take place, they're arresting 18-year-olds.
The last large gathering that happened in Auburn-Gresham,
how many people, like four or five of the six kids that were arrested don't even live in Chicago?
Something like that. What neighborhood?
Well, that was in Auburn-Gresham.
That was four or five of the young people who were shot didn't live in Chicago.
But in regards to everything that we do in the city, in regards to public safety,
working with the police department, we work together on everything.
We work together with every agency in the city.
So regardless of what any ordinance says, everything we do to drive violence down in this city is a collaborative effort of folks working together.
From the mayor to myself, the superintendent, the chief of patrol, who's called me twice since we were sitting up there.
CVI?
Everybody.
The philanthropic community, the business community.
I'm sorry.
No, no, you're good.
I'm just saying, you all, it would be different if violent crime was going up in Chicago.
We should be celebrating the fact that violent crime is going down in Chicago.
That I'm rolling up my sleeves every single day.
I told each and every one of you, I live in Austin.
There is no mayor in the history of Chicago that wakes up in one of the most violent neighborhoods in Chicago.
This is the thing that I think about every single day, protecting our children.
You know what it feels like when you get a...
Report when a 14-year-old is shot, or worse, killed?
That weighs on me every freaking day.
I'm raising children in this city.
I know what it's like to feel unsafe and to be targeted.
We have to stop as a city falling to some of the most ridiculous, remedial forms of governance.
It has not worked.
And now we're doing stuff that works, and then they want to come up with another idea that has not worked.
What sense does that make?
I'm saying ask deeper, more profound questions about why young people are gathering in spaces in the first place.
That's why I was up to freaking midnight on Saturday night out, you know,
hanging out with some of the young people at the late night basketball, showing up for these young brothers.
They all could be my son.
They can all be my nephews.
And it's just like we're debating something that doesn't work.
Why are we even debating it?
Here's what people should be asking.
Mayor Johnson, how is it that within two years your administration has driven filing crime down in this city more than we've seen in a decade, if not longer?
Ask me what is working versus a failed attempt to criminalize people.
Look, of course we're concerned about gatherings.
We don't want people to get hurt.
I'm simply saying is you all know good and well if the numbers were going in a different direction,
Y'all would be asking me all kind of questions about what is it that I'm doing that's not working.
We're doing the things that work.
And I'm not saying that you can't ask about this.
I know it's being debated.
I'm just simply saying that, my goodness, you all, Chicago, we have suffered for decades in this city around violence.
And now here it is, two years in my administration,
Every single major violent category in this city where violent crime is recorded, it's going down.
Unprecedented numbers.
Look, we're hopeful that we will continue to see this trend.
But I get so sick and tired of the lazy form of governance that people don't seem to have any answers,
do not want to roll up their sleeves to figure out how we can invest in the lives of black and brown children,
to make sure that black and brown women and parents are supported.
Most of this stuff we can transform overnight if we actually invested in families.
The cumulative wealth of black families in this city is zero freaking dollars.
You got black people waking up every single day in this city with all the wealth,
and they're barely breaking even, and they're talking to me about a curfew.
Unemployment that we're trying to address.
Thousands of opportunities that we're trying to create.
building more affordable homes and doing it under extreme circumstances
with a federal government that is stomping on the Constitution.
And Chicago is standing firm, still building homes, still creating jobs,
still building our transportation system, still investing in our young people,
still providing more mental and health care services.
Those are the things that are working.
We'll keep doing it.
Thank you all.