Two mass shootings here — not just one.
The median household income in HP is nearly $150,000 and more than 80 percent of the population is white, with a large Jewish community. In Parkway Gardens on the south side of Chicago, the median household income is less than $30,000, and more than 90 percent of the population is Black.
First, it should be pointed out that there were two mass shootings in the Chicago area this weekend — not just one. The demographic and income differences between Chicago and its suburban neighbor 20 miles up the lakeshore can’t explain either of the mass shootings. But they do say a lot about the underlying causes of crime and violence in each and the different responses each of the mass shootings received in the media and politically.
When the news started breaking about the Highland Park shootings some relatives and out-of-town friends called to make sure we were okay. We assured them we were fine and that we actually lived in the city of Chicago and were more than 20 miles from Highland Park where the shootings took place.
But in fact, we live much closer to the other mass shooting(s) which were taking place right here in the city. For those, there’s been little national news coverage. No counseling for the victims or their families as far as I’ve heard.
There were no pictures of the shooters posted along with the make and model of their getaway cars just hours after the shootings. No videos of the cops chasing and then easily (no shots fired) capturing the killer. A far cry from the 60 shots fired by Akron police into the body of Jayland Walker following an attempted traffic stop or the knee on the neck of George Floyd.
There were no media interviews with neighbors who said, “We’re shocked. We moved here because we thought it was a safe haven.” No hand-wringing speeches by Pres. Biden, Gov. Pritzker, or the long list of national and state pols who raced out to HP in time for the presser and photo ops but who’ve been sitting on real gun-control legislation for years (decades).
Nationwide, the Gun Violence Archive is a tracking project that defines mass shootings as those in which at least four people are killed or injured. Even if you don’t technically count the 10 dead and 62 wounded — nearly all people of color —in Chicago this weekend as a mass shooting, they did include an “official” mass shooting by a lone gunman of 5 victims including a 10-year-old boy in Parkway Gardens, a south-side housing complex. No arrests were made there, and the shooter has not been identified.
My brother Fred points out this morning:
…there is no wall around Highland Park that can keep guns out. Chicago and Illinois have some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. Yet guns flood into our city from neighboring states like Indiana that have little in the way of gun restrictions. The Supreme Court just made it more difficult to pass restrictive gun laws.
Republicans will take these failed local laws as proof that gun control doesn’t work. Some will even claim that a well-armed parade crowd in HP could have taken down the shooter. Others will turn the focus away from guns altogether and on to mental illness.
Illinois State Senator Darren Bailey, the Trump-backed candidate for governor, called on everyone to “move on” within hours of the HP shootings.
"Friends, let's pray for the law enforcement and even the organizers of this parade," Bailey was heard saying. "The shooter is still at large. So let's pray for justice to prevail, and then let's move on and let's celebrate the independence of this nation."
Bailey is a gun-rights advocate and once held a raffle for people to win a Hammerli TAC R1 22 rifle to push ticket sales for a fundraiser.
Fascist Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is already blaming the shooting rampage in which Robert E. Crimo III is a suspect, on drug abuse or the side effects of antidepressants even though there are no reports of any drug use on Crimo’s part. What we know about him so far is that he has been seen at Trump rallies and that he was the administrator of a Discord channel named "SS," the shortened moniker used by the infamous Nazi paramilitary group, the Schutzstaffel, who were mainly responsible for carrying out the numerous atrocities during the Holocaust,
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) seized on a recent mall shooting in Copenhagen as evidence that Denmark’s strict gun control laws don’t work. However, she failed to point out that it was the country’s first mass shooting in seven years. In the US so far this year (what time is it?) there have been 309 mass shootings in just 184 days. HP was the 12th mass shooting with assault weapons this month.
I feel deep sorrow and sympathy for the Highland Park victims and their families and especially for the children that were killed or hurt in the rampage and anger towards the shooter and the system that produced him. I also recognize that this weekend’s total of Chicago shooting victims exceeds the number in the entire history of Highland Park.
Thanks for pointing what happened in CHicago and Highland Park. Clearly, even the stronger laws of Illinois are not enough to prevent mass shooting. Other steps also are necessary.
My comment is NOT a criticism of Illinois laws. It's just clear that they are not sufficient. Also, I think your point about shootings in Chicago (and lack of attention to these killings) is a huge problem.