President Donald Trump has taken aim at Chicago, threatening to crack down on the city if it doesn’t quell the violence and bloodshed that has been roiling the city for the past year.
Trump tweeted Tuesday, “If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on…. I will send in the Feds!”
If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded to Trump’s tweet on Wednesday, saying he “welcomed” federal help in combating the city’s crime problem, CNN reported.
“A lot of the guns, you know, coming into Chicago come from out of state…Federal entities are set up to deal with that. And they do. And they work with us.”
Trump tweeted about the violence in Chicago in early January, too, urging Emanuel to get it under control: “If Mayor can’t do it he must ask for Federal help.”
Chicago murder rate is record setting - 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017
The city, one of the nation’s largest, saw more than 760 murders in 2016, an almost 60 percent increase over the 2015 homicide rate, police said. It was the highest number of murders in Chicago since 1997.
But Chicago is on track to beat those numbers, with more than 40 people killed so far this year.
