CHICAGO – President Trump on Tuesday appeared to confirm plans to send National Guard troops into Chicago after a violent Labor Day weekend in which 52 people were shot and at least eight were killed.
While elected officials and experts debated the politics and legalities of the situation, Fox 32 wanted to hear from residents on the city’s South and West sides for their take.
What they’re saying:
Reporter Tia Ewing’s first stop was in Garfield Park on the city’s West Side.
“They shouldn’t have authority to try to police … the city because they don’t know the rules and regulations of what officers do,” said resident George Smith.
Anthony Hopson added, “My thing is, is we in war with ourselves, or, like, is the government in war with the citizens?”
Garfield Park ranks second among communities with the most shootings so far this year, according to city crime data, with 93 people having been shot in the area and 13 being killed.
The handful of residents who spoke to Fox 32 shared a common view, that the National Guard is not the solution. Some described it as a temporary fix to a much deeper problem.
Meanwhile, 14 miles away in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side, Fox 32 interviewed two women from different generations. Despite the age gap, their opinions aligned. Both questioned the need for troops. One of them said Chicago is not nearly as bad as some other cities and expressed concern that the city might be used as a political pawn.
“President or whoever is sending this off to us or bringing, deploying these National Guards here, I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea,” said Toni Shelby. “We need to have more policing in these areas where they’re doing these crimes, and that’s all to it, and it shouldn’t just be downtown.”
Amadi Damole said, “The National Guard will only be a temporary solution to an everlasting problem, because even if you get National Guard here, sure, crime will go down, but I don’t think that it will get to the root of the problem. It’ll slap a Band-Aid on. There’s a lot of reasons why there’s a lotta crime that goes on throughout Chicago and even surrounding neighborhoods. Some people have a lack of resources. Maybe they were not raised the right houses, and when bringing National Guard in here, all that’s gonna do is instill fear.”
