‘There Will Be Consequences’: Mayor Brandon Johnson Mourns Lives Lost To July 4th Gun Violence

2 years ago

On Monday, Mayor Brandon Johnson joined the Chicago Police Department's public safety press briefing and spoke about the gun violence over the July 4th weekend.

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Transcript

00:00Today I stand here today heartbroken

00:03Over 100 people have been shot in this city

00:0719 people have been killed this holiday weekend

00:11But these are not just numbers on pages

00:15These are not just headlines in the news

00:21No

00:24These are our fellow Chicagoans

00:27There are neighbors family members who've lost their lives

00:34These are 19 families whose lives are forever altered

00:38And 19 families who woke up this morning without a son without a daughter

00:44Without a mother without a father without an aunt without an uncle

00:48Over 100 people whose lives will never be the same

00:51Whose next chapter in life is recovery and healing from this violence

00:59These 100 people are members of families and communities

01:04Numbering in the thousands who are also feeling the devastation and the impact of the incessant violence in the city of Chicago. I

01:14Know all too well how this shows up as I've often encountered the trauma in my classroom

01:20With my former students after a violent and horrific weekend

01:27As a father raising a family on the west side of Chicago

01:32This violence we are seeing it's very close to home

01:38This violence plague in our community it is deeply personal. This is not about just simply tallying our pain

01:45This violence that happened this weekend did not happen in a vacuum, however

01:50No

01:52It didn't

01:54We are standing here today talking about a violent weekend because of generations of disinvestment

02:00And deep disenfranchisement in the exact communities where so much of the violence is taking place

02:09But we are here to say emphatically

02:11But we are here to say emphatically that this is enough, it's enough

02:20When this reckless violence ravages across our city this magnitude we are losing a piece of the soul of Chicago

02:29It deeply pains me to admit that but it is true

02:35But I will not stand idly by we will not be passive in this moment

02:40We need to ensure that we are holding every single individual accountable for the pain and trauma and the torment that they have caused in this city