Lightfoot responds to Foxx's criticism after no charges in gang shooting
CHICAGO - The back and forth continues.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot still cannot believe that Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx has not filed any charges in a brazen, daylight shootout recorded by multiple cameras.
The mayor is now asking federal prosecutors to see if they can charge the gunmen captured on video.
Foxx claimed at a news conference Tuesday that there is not sufficient evidence to bring charges in the deadly gangland battle in the Austin neighborhood, noting that no witnesses are willing to risk their own lives by testifying.
The mayor notes it was recorded by multiple police and private cameras.
"We know who started it. We saw the cars roaming around that house. We see the individuals get out of that car and initiate a firefight. We know that. One person is deceased. But the other two were captured very shortly afterwards with guns — guns used in that firefight," Lightfoot said.
The mayor is not alone. A Sun-Times Editorial asked, "A Wild West shootout terrorizes Austin in broad daylight and not one suspect is charged?" The newspaper reports police believe it grew out of a dispute between factions of the "Four Corner Hustlers" street gang.
The ACLU of Illinois defended Foxx's decision not to prosecute anyone, blaming rogue police officers who have undermined community trust as the reason eyewitnesses will not testify against gangbangers.
Lightfoot said she will soon meet Foxx face-to-face and will ask one basic question.
"The facts and the evidence are here. I'm hard-pressed to think about what the additional evidence would be, when it's all captured on videotape. You have officers on the scene who have bodycams and dashcams. What more is necessary?" Lightfoot said.
FOX 32’s Political Editor Mike Flannery weighed in on the situation as well.
"Before I go, I’ve got say I’m stunned by the ACLU of Illinois' naive claim — in the context of this apparent gangland killing — that distrust of police is the reason witnesses won't come forward. I've been to these crime scenes and I’ve talked to eyewitnesses. Time and again they've told me what they're afraid of is being killed by gangbangers like this bunch from the Four Corners Hustlers," he said.