Chicago is experiencing a rise in lawlessness and violence, as it saw an increase by as much as 76% in shootings from the same period last year. Reports indicate that almost all of the shootings have taken place in Black communities of the city. Chicago has long been recognized as one of the most violent cities in the United States but the increase in shootings is unprecedented.

During the Independence Day weekend, a total of 67 people were shot within the city, with 18 of those victims dying. What makes that more tragic is that four of those who died were children. The number of homicides has also risen with 89 being reported for June compared to the 50, which was reported from last year. The number of homicides can be deceiving, the city is so violent that it is possible there are more cases that have not been documented.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has blamed a lot of things for the surge in violence except for herself. She blamed the lockdown and the economic downturn resulting in a lot of jobs being lost. Experts point out that the real cause for the shootings becoming even more frequent in the city is the unchecked prevalence of gangs. The gang members are the ones doing most, if not all, of the shooting. While some of the victims of shootings are gang members themselves, some are just collateral damage to the ongoing gang wars that are devouring the city, including the children.

“The root causes of gangs globally are grounded in the same concepts — fractured society, disenfranchisement with all of society’s resources and infrastructures, such as education, jobs, family structure, single-parent homes, cyclical crime, and crime influences, poor housing and health care, poor education, and education preparation,” a former FBI agent that worked on the Chicago gangs explained.

Unfortunately for the law-abiding people in Chicago, their mayor is not bothered at all by the amount of criminality that is happening around her in the city.