Chicago activists want National Guard deployed across city to stop violent crime
CHICAGO - Chicago activists are calling on the Illinois National Guard to be deployed across the city after another bloody weekend in which nearly 60 people were shot, including two young sisters.
"Chicago continues to witness the outlandish destructive behavior of gun violence and crime that is holding people hostage in their homes," activist Raul Montes, Jr. said in a statement.
A group of activists will hold a 6:45 p.m. Monday night press conference at 2658 S. Kolin Avenue in the South Lawndale neighborhood. They will be offering a monetary reward for the arrest and prosecution of the person responsible for shooting a 7-year-old girl and her younger sister Sunday afternoon on the Northwest Side.
The group will also be asking for the deployment of the National Guard to "help eradicate and seize the crime in Chicago."
As the summer violence continues to surge, this past weekend, Chicago saw 56 people shot — eight of them fatally. One of the victims killed was 7-year-old Serenity Broughton. The shooting also wounded her 6-year-old sister who is "fighting for her life" at Loyola University Medical Center.
Last weekend, 75 people were shot, including a Chicago police officer who was killed during a traffic stop.