Chicago Mayor Threatens Jail for Lockdown Violators

Chicago Mayor Threatens Jail for Lockdown Violators

Chicago Mayor Threatens Jail for Lockdown Violators

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot finally had it up to her eyeballs with people who violate the city’s stay-at-home orders. So she threatened culprits with jail.

But these aren’t the protestors from Friday’s rally, or families enjoying Chicago parks whom she’s addressing. So while you might get your dander up about authorities curtailing peoples’ freedoms, consider that these scofflaws take violations to a whole new level.

These are young adults who keep having huge house parties, in a city where as of this writing there are almost 39,000 cases of COVID-19. Almost 1700 people have died. What’s more, while 30% of Chicago residents are black, they die at six times the rate of white residents.

And where do these house parties mainly occur? In the black community.

On Friday night, Chicago police broke up several parties. On Saturday, they learned of six more planned. So on Saturday night, the Chicago mayor went to the site where a party was supposed to be held, and lectured. Boy, did she lay down the law, as my mother used to say:

“We all need to be thinking about the long game, and having these parties when we need people to continue to stay at home is just silly. What’s it going to mean? It’s going to mean we are never getting out of this.”

Chicago mayor

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Credit: wikimedia commons/CC BY 2.0.

The mayor lowered the boom and threatened jail time:

“Don’t make us treat you like a criminal, but if you act like a criminal and you violate the law and you refuse to do what is necessary to save lives in this city in the middle of a pandemic, we will take you to jail, period.”

Now did any of the youths pay attention to her? Well, they listened, and then blew her off. One called after her as she walked away, and literally told her to go home:

“Ya’ll overdoing it. Ya’ll need to find a cure, talking about go home. You go home.”

Last week the entertainment site TMZ posted a video of one of the house parties. While the videos that regular news outlets showed of that same party were pretty tame, TMZ posted a much more shocking video. In fact, a stripper was there, and boy did those party-goers make it rain.

There was lots of social activity, I’d say, and very little distancing, amirite?

But the organizer of that party, Janeal Wright, later apologized and told reporters why he threw the party. It was to honor two of his friends who were shot to death in 2018.

So he “honored” his friends with a stripper. Okay then.

The Chicago Tribune penned an editorial about the event — without mentioning the stripper, of course — asking the reader for understanding of why black kids are throwing these parties. In their tough neighborhoods they don’t think they’ll live to 25, anyway, says the Tribune. “So let the house party fiasco become a moment to reflect, not condemn,” it concluded.

With a soft soap attitude like that, do you really think these young black adults will heed health warnings? Heck, they scoff at the Chicago mayor, and she’s black, too.

Now I don’t like the idea of tossing people in jail for visiting other people. That’s a huge infringement of rights, and while my husband and I have mostly stayed home, we won’t rat on our younger neighbors hosting a small party outside, or young men playing soccer in a park. I won’t be that Karen. And in a way, I see why young adults might not pay attention to what “experts” tell them about the virus, especially when we’ve all received information that’s all over the place. Where I live, people are angry and tired of that nonsense. They’re worried about their livelihoods, and ready to go back to work.

But these kids are not flouting the law to go to work. They’re more focused on their right to party. And house parties in a city like Chicago are Petri dishes for the virus. Consider that the coronavirus spreads more readily indoors. Consider, too, that over a quarter of black Americans live in multigenerational homes, which means that it’s very likely these partygoers might be bringing the virus home to their grandmas and grandpas. And Grandma and Grandpa might become more statistics in the Grim Reaper’s tally of COVID victims.

It’s no wonder Lori Lightfoot has finally come to the end of her rope regarding these parties. She’s not acting like MI Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or CA Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom I would swear look for excuses to destroy whatever joy people find during this incredibly frustrating time. But the Chicago mayor is trying her best to keep the death toll down in her city, and if it means sending some of these kids to jail, she’ll do it.

However, the politically powerful in Illinois also have some ‘splainin’ to do, and that includes Lightfoot herself. Last month she received a haircut, even though salons are closed, and got a lot of heat from shaggy Chicagoans. Then there’s IL Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose wife recently went to Florida to spend time at the family’s $12 million estate.

Lockdown for thee, but not for me, right? Neither of those actions are examples for young black Chicagoans who, like the rest of us, want to enjoy life again.

But back to the house parties.

There’s something disturbing about locking up people for attending a loud, crowded party. It goes against the grain of our American sense of freedom. But I wish I knew how anyone can convince these kids that their behavior just might bring the virus home to grandparents, or aunties or uncles, whom they love.

 

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Kim is a pint-sized patriot who packs some big contradictions. She is a Baby Boomer who never became a hippie, an active Republican who first registered as a Democrat (okay, it was to help a sorority sister's father in his run for sheriff), and a devout Lutheran who practices yoga. Growing up in small-town Indiana, now living in the Kansas City metro, Kim is a conservative Midwestern gal whose heart is also in the Seattle area, where her eldest daughter, son-in-law, and grandson live. Kim is a working speech pathologist who left school system employment behind to subcontract to an agency, and has never looked back. She describes her conservatism as falling in the mold of Russell Kirk's Ten Conservative Principles. Don't know what they are? Google them!

20 Comments
  • GWB says:

    young adults
    Who have like a 0.2% chance of death (and only a 5% chance of hospitalization) if you include up through age 39 as “young adult” (Va statistics, if I’m reading them right). Even if they go home to elderly family members, they’re not thinking that far ahead. (Also, while they may be partying like animals, they might be taking precautions around those elders. I’ve seen that sort of behavioral compartmentalization.)

    if you act like a criminal and you violate the law
    Ummmm, was it passed as a law? I don’t think it was. Is she acting under authority of a law? Maybe.
    This is part of the problem with all these shutdowns – the ones that are laws haven’t been tested (hopefully they will be soon!) and the rest are just general powers of “the general welfare” naturally vested in the executive branch.
    (Deletes rant about stupid laws making people more likely to flout the law, and that likely being the case already in Chicago.)

    So he “honored” his friends with a stripper. Okay then.
    This is NOT a “youth” issue. This is NOT an issue of people violating the shutdown. This is a CULTURE issue. This is the culture in a lot of our urban areas, reinforced by various media (and certain politicians). It goes way beyond our current crisis.

    they don’t think they’ll live to 25, anyway
    Well, that’s been the excuse for the thug culture for at least 3 decades now, probably closer to 5.

    that nonsense
    Yes, nonsense it was from the beginning.

    But these kids are not flouting the law to go to work.
    Wow, now you sound
    just like Karen, deciding what’s “essential” and such. Keep this in mind next time you argue with an anti-gunner about you not “needing” a certain firearm.

    if it means sending some of these kids to jail
    Said every totalitarian, ever. (Remember, too, that if they are part of the culture that does this, going to jail is a reward to them. It increases their street cred.)

    Now, having thrown out those criticisms, you end with exactly the right attitude:
    I wish I knew how anyone can convince these kids
    And that goes back to the “soft soap” from the Chicago Tribune. There’s a cultural indifference to death and a whole lot of other things going on that hamper the “black community”* right now. The left thinks the answer to it is to clamp down hard with rules and laws and blanket prohibitions**. We’ve just seen how that does not work.
    We (that is, freedom lovers) have to 1) fight win the culture war, 2) get the crime-fighting focused on actually locking the bad people away, and 3) take away the crutches that reinforce the nihilism (like generational welfare).

    (* That’s in quotes because it is the phrase du jour. It’s a way to make it a racial thing instead of a culture thing. Because I know lots of people who are black who are not part of that.)
    (** Like gun bans. Or total lockdowns house arrest.)

    • Kim Hirsch says:

      So after that long diatribe, what solution would you have?

      We (that is, freedom lovers) have to 1) fight win the culture war, 2) get the crime-fighting focused on actually locking the bad people away, and 3) take away the crutches that reinforce the nihilism (like generational welfare).

      Right. Good luck with that in large solidly Democrat cities like Chicago. What would your plan look like? How would you start? Especially, as you pointed out, This is a CULTURE issue. This is the culture in a lot of our urban areas, reinforced by various media (and certain politicians). It goes way beyond our current crisis.

      Oh, and. . .
      Wow, now you sound just like Karen, deciding what’s “essential” and such. Keep this in mind next time you argue with an anti-gunner about you not “needing” a certain firearm.
      Except Karens rat people out. If I lived in that neighborhood that’s the last thing I would do, maybe literally. So no, I’m not Karen. And if you can’t understand how working for a living is more “essential” than partying, I think you need to readjust your libertarian goggles.

      I think in this case the mayor knows her city far better than either you or I, and even if I don’t agree with her on many things, I’ll give her the benefit in this situation.

      • GWB says:

        And if you can’t understand how working for a living is more “essential” than partying, I think you need to readjust your libertarian goggles.
        Not libertarian. But definitely someone who tries to operate off of principles. That is, things that are a foundation to everything else. That means they have to be equally applicable. Once you begin determining what is and is not “essential” you slip immediately into control of other people’s lives.

        Mind you, this is different from “Let’s set our priorities.” This is a teaching approach (your statement that I praised), rather than a restrictive/coercive approach. The one works on the basis of individual autonomy, the second is based solely on authority.

        BTW, this is why (as I’ve written in numerous comments on this website and others over the years) a republic can only work with a “moral and educated people.” Or, as I’ve put it: Govern yourselves, or someone else will govern you – because you will be governed.

        If you believe that these people (or at least enough of them to dominate the electorate) can’t be educated into decent morals, then you have written off our republic. It’s over. Done. Finis. The best we can hope for is a great divorce, leaving Liberty a much less statuesque lady then before.
        That may be our current situation. But I refuse to go gently into that good night.

        • Kim Hirsch says:

          Nice words, but again, what would you do right now in the city of Chicago?

          • GWB says:

            Me? Build a wall around it and send in Snake Pliskin. But that’s not really a solution, is it?

            Right now? There is very little to nothing that can be done to affect the short-term. Even more totalitarianism won’t fix anything. It won’t even necessarily stop the spread of Winnie The Flu. It will just get more blacks with criminal records in Chicago.

            What you can do is work toward the future, though. So that as the next crisis comes around, the people are better prepared. And, eventually, they vote out the sorts of people who keep them chained by their vices, and begin to actually govern themselves.

      • Rad4Cap says:

        “Except Karens rat people out”

        No. Karens just demand the STATE jail people for things she doesn’t LIKE.

        “I think in this case the mayor knows her city far better than either you or I”

        It ain’t “HER” city – any more than the people in it are HERS. The people of that city are ALL free individuals with unalienable rights. They are NOT “her” PROPERTY – nor YOUR property. You don’t get to dispose of their lives and efforts as you all see fit.

        In other words it is YOU who needs to readjust your *Statist* goggles and learn that the State has NO right determining WHAT actions you take are “essential” and “non-essential”.

  • Ann in L.A. says:

    As sympathetic as I am about many of these protests, I’d be far more sympathetic if the people at them were wearing masks. Not wearing masks just lets everyone dismiss them as idiots. Lightfoot is right here: “What’s it going to mean? It’s going to mean we are never getting out of this.” If people are desperate for this to end, then stop going out without a mask on. People need to show that they can take the responsibility to protect their neighbors without the heavy hand of the government locking everyone down in perpetuity.

    • Rad4Cap says:

      “People need to show that they can take the responsibility to protect their neighbors without the heavy hand of the government”

      Because people do NOT have rights. They have *conditional* PERMISSIONS granted by the State. And if they refuse to submit to the State’s DEMANDS, then they DESERVE to have those permissions REVOKED by the “heavy hand of government”.

      :eyeroll:

  • Scott says:

    We all need to be thinking about the long game, and having these parties when we need people to continue to stay at home is just silly. What’s it going to mean? It’s going to mean we are never getting out of this.”.. That’s actually inaccurate, eventually the stupid ones will die off, or become immune..
    Agree 100% with GWB, this is a culture issue, one that only those in the culture can fix. While it would be sad if these fools bring it home to grandma and grandpa (and their parents if they’re not in jail), those “adults” are the ones that allow this “culture” to flourish. If they’d done their jobs as parents, there wouldn’t be such a widespread issue with feral teenagers / young people.
    Sadly, they ” community” is reaping what it’s sown, and proving Darwin right. And when you add in the “rules for thee, but not for me” as you point out, it only exacerbates the situation.

    The comparison to gun rights and the “you don’t need ” that type of firearm is exactly the same thing. it’s a slippery slope when you allow govt to infringe on rights and decide what you “need” or what’s “essential”

    • Kim Hirsch says:

      While it would be sad if these fools bring it home to grandma and grandpa (and their parents if they’re not in jail), those “adults” are the ones that allow this “culture” to flourish. If they’d done their jobs as parents, there wouldn’t be such a widespread issue with feral teenagers / young people.

      “If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. I shudder to think that might be your attitude, Scott. Aren’t we conservatives supposed to be pro-life?

      Yes, it’s a cultural issue. But again, as I asked GWB: What is your solution? I’m waiting to hear.

      • GWB says:

        I gave my solution (in broad terms). It isn’t short-term, and it’s a lot of work. It may fail (people often don’t like to learn). We have to work to change attitudes and shift the culture back to an even keel.

        As to being pro-life, yes. But we are also pro-consequences. I disagree with what sounds like Scott dismissing the former in favor of the latter, but his point is valid: without the cultural failure of the parents (and others) this phenomenon doesn’t occur. We have to work to change that – and one tool in our arsenal is requiring people to suffer the consequences of their stupidity/failure/foolishness. Much of the governmental interference we conservatives decry is an attempt to actually prevent those consequences – everything from food labeling to taking equipment out of playgrounds to welfare to abortion.

        • Kim Hirsch says:

          I gave my solution (in broad terms). It isn’t short-term, and it’s a lot of work.

          I absolutely agree with that. But what does the mayor do in the short term? Especially when most COVID deaths occur in the black population (which is a fact, not a liberal construct)? Also, while you said while they may be partying like animals, they might be taking precautions around those elders. I’ve seen that sort of behavioral compartmentalization, do you seriously think those party goers are wearing masks at home around their grandparents?

          Again, what other choice does Lightfoot have in this particular instance?

          • GWB says:

            What other choice? Well, there’s the bully pulpit. And there’s changing the way law and order is handled – the effects will only be seen long-term, but she needs to start now.

            most COVID deaths occur in the black population
            So do most deaths from “gun violence”. Because Chicago has a huge black population and a large chunk of that is immersed in this awful culture. And the WTF deaths within the black population are partly due to a culture that is unhealthy – smoking, drinking, drugs, obesity. It’s not a black thing, but the fact that a higher percentage of blacks have those issues.

            BTW, one of the most important things I’ve learned in my decades since 29 is that once things pass a certain point, you need to let go and let God. At a certain point things will just have to work themselves out. What you can do in the meantime is prepare for the point at which you can do something. Sort of “hold on loosely, but don’t let go.” Or, in the inimitable words of Jonah Goldberg, “Don’t just do something, stand there!”
            So, persuade and educate. Prepare for not just the apocalypse, but for the point at which the apocalypse might be turned away. And be prepared to help with that.

          • Politically Ambidextrous says:

            The mayor might attempt to enlist the cultural icons that the affected population pays attention to and ask them to back her messages against house parties (and other behaviors that spread the virus). Given the distrusting, anti-authority element inside the culture, this may be impossible.

            [Hey, maybe she can ask Illinois speaker “Boss Madigan” to stop by the South Side and personally break up a few of the parties (without the benefit of his security detail). That might solve a couple of problems…]

            • Kim Hirsch says:

              That is an excellent idea. Chance the Rapper comes to mind. But let’s leave R. Kelly in prison. . .

              I like your idea about Boss Madigan stopping by the South Side. Heh.

          • Rad4Cap says:

            “What does the mayor do in the short term?…what other choice does Lightfoot have in this particular instance?”

            Leave people free.

      • Scott says:

        Kim,

        I am definitely a conservative, and definitely pro-life. I have had family members die from this ChiCom virus. I do not wish that anyone dies from it, but being on the front lines in this thing, I do understand that people will. In general they are people with pre existing conditions, often as GWB points out a few posts below due to poor life choices. I would suggest that we should do all we can to encourage better choices among these groups, but as they commonly ostracize members of their culture for “acting white”, or making choices that fall outside of the “thug life”. While I believe that there should be outreach, I am also a realist enough to understand that this will likely fall flat,. As another post pointed out, Mayor DeBlasio was “shocked” that criminals that had been released due to this virus were so ungrateful as to go out and immediately commit more crimes. When this is the “culture”, do we really think they’ll suddenly cut down on self destructive behaviors, just because someone tells them they should? As has been pointed out by others, the only true fix to this situation is a long term shift in behaviors, and though there may be a short term answer, My opinion is that government overreach is not that answer, and that in fact, until these groups want to change, there will be no answer.
        This does not mean that I have the same attitude as Scrooge. I have, and will continue to pray that they experience a change of heart, that allows them to realize that they’ve been lied to by the left for decades, and come to realize that they can have a better life, if they just choose to do so. Thing is, they’ll need a more persuasive spokesperson than a mayor that has that do as i say, not as i do mentality.

  • Sadie McQueen says:

    Let’s not overreact here. As of the 2018 census, the Windy City had a population of 2,705,994. A covid-19 death count of 1700 is a percentage of 0.06282. Yes, they were stupid, and did a stupid thing, but it’s Chicago. I’d say they are more likely to die in a drive-by than from covid-19.

  • Chancellor says:

    But what does the mayor do in the short term?

    Well, for starters, follow her own damn guidelines. If she’s cheating on hair styling, it’s probable she’s cheating on a lot more. When you start with a population that’s contemptuous of authority to start with and act like a hypocrite, to expect them to follow any of your guidelines is well, not wise.

    Unfortunately, due to her own arrogance, she’s lost moral authority on this issue. So, failing moral authority, she’s fallen back on her last alternative: brute force. And, naturally, since she’s failed on moral authority, she’s throwing the police into the line of fire. And it will likely end badly for at least one police officer.

    So, really, the question is: Would I put police in the line of fire due to my own failings to follow my own regulations? No, I wouldn’t.

  • Bill Dumanch says:

    Numbers-these kids aren’t dumb.
    They observe the news reports; they ARE training in Colleges and Universities across the Globe.
    They did the breakdowns. They analyzed those numbers.
    They know EXACTLY what this is.

    All their reading and movies placed this dystopian nightmare scenario front-and-center in their thoughts, their minds rendering of the future planet living conditions.

    Star Wars-least EVERYONE forgets, isn’t exactly a ‘stellar'(I had to) report on “PAST RESULTS DO NOT REFLECT FUTURE SLAVERY DUTIES” Thank you, THE MANAGEMENT
    Wasn’t the FORCE just Free Will?

    It’s here.
    THEY will Shut You Up.
    “This is the way it’s gonna be from now on”.

    Said Billy Sunday….

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