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On March 29, police in Chicago, Illinois chased 13-year old Adam Toledo down an alley and shot him, killing the unarmed seventh grader as he raised his hands. The recently released body camera footage shows police demanding that the young boy show them his hands. When he does, the cops fired.
This murder comes at a time when demanding justice for police-perpetuated killings is at an all-time high, with the murder trial of Derek Chauvin ongoing in Minneapolis, and the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by Officer Kim Porter just days ago.
In a press conference on April 2, Toledo s mother, who was not aware her son was killed until two days after the shooting, demanded answers from the Chicago Police Department. They had a lot of options, she told reporters while visibly emotional, indicating that officers could have shot him in his legs, his arms…I don t know, but not kill my baby.
Today, Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice and White House Public Engagement Director and Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond hosted a virtual discussion with.
Today, Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice and White House Public Engagement Director and Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond hosted a virtual discussion with a wide cross-section of youth advocates for community violence prevention. Participants shared their perspectives around the intersectionality of gun violence, how to craft successful community-based violence interventions, and the importance of survivor-led and victim-centered policymaking in the community violence prevention space.
Ambassador Rice and Senior Advisor Richmond expressed gratitude for the participants’ central role in elevating the issue of gun violence as a public health crisis and ensuring that youth, in particular Black and Brown young people, are at the tables where the violence prevention policies impacting their communities are created. They underscored President Biden’s commitment to taking action to make our communities safer and to ensure that equity drives our policymaking across the federal government.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
SPRINGFIELD Gun dealers say they are selling more firearms than ever in the Chicago area since the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and they predict sales will shatter the records set during last year’s civil unrest and in the early days of the coronavirus panic.
“It’s the busiest you could ever imagine. It’s been lines around the block, out the door, around my store every day since March,” said Jeff Regnier, owner of Kee Firearms and Training in far southwest suburban New Lenox.
“Now recently we had the storm of the Capitol. That has gun sales 10 times from what it was in the pandemic, which was already 10 times what your normal business was.”
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The Illinois Legislature has a chance to save lives by reducing gun violence. But it must act quickly.
The local firearms toll is staggering. In Chicago alone, 769 people were killed in 2020, mostly by guns. More than 4,000 were shot. Just over this past holiday weekend, 30 were shot and six were killed. Gun violence also has increased in cities around the state.
Illinois does not have to meekly accept such horrific mayhem.
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Legislation called the Block Illegal Ownership bill would plug legal loopholes through which guns flow to the criminals who turn streets into killing zones. It passed in the House in 2020 but stalled in the Senate as the Legislature took fewer votes during the pandemic.