© Reuters / Jim YoungPeople gather for a candlelight vigil against gun violence in the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, United States, July 3, 2015
Thirty people were shot across Chicago from dusk on Saturday until dawn on Sunday, after Independence Day celebrations. One of them was Amari Brown, seven, killed in his front yard late Saturday night in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
"It's scary to think you can't even be outside in the front yard because you fear for your safety. It's really ugly right now," a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous told DNA Info.
Chicago police say Amari was killed by a "bullet meant for his father," Antonio, described as a ranking member of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang. Antonio Brown had been arrested 45 times, most recently in April on charges of gun possession.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy at a news conference on Sunday, holding up Brown's 22-page arrest record.
Last year, 82 people were shot over the holiday weekend, and 16 of them died. Five of the wounded were shot by the police, compared to none this year. In an effort to improve security, McCarthy said, the Chicago PD had a 30 percent increase in patrols, with officers working 12-hour shifts.
The superintendent blamed the ongoing violence on what he said were Chicago's "lax gun laws."
"Gun possessors are potential murderers," he said. "If they don't learn a lesson for carrying the gun, they keep carrying the gun. They get into an argument, now instead of fighting, they shoot."
According to McCarthy, the Chicago PD was seizing "about one illegal gun per hour" over the holiday weekend. Some of the weapons were displayed at the press conference.
"We need some help here, folks," McCarthy said. "We have to fix this broken system."
Rampant gun violence prompted some rap artists to begin using the term "Chiraq" - a portmanteau of"Chicago" and "Iraq" - sometime around 2012.
When director Spike Lee announced "Chiraq" would be the title of his new film dealing with gun violence in the neighborhood of Englewood, the recently re-elected mayor Rahm Emanuel said he was"not happy" with Lee's use of the term.
"While I don't support the title and I don't like the working title, the topic is a conversation that has been ignored for too long and needs to be discussed," Emanuel said after meeting with Lee in April.
Chicago politicians are giving @SpikeLee grief about #Chiraq, while 7 year old Amari Brown is killed watching Chicago fireworks. #wrongFocusEmanuel was first elected mayor in 2011, after serving as the White House Chief of Staff for President Barack Obama, another notable Chicago resident.
— Corey Buckner (@CoreyBuckner) July 5, 2015
According to local media, 222 people have been killed in Chicago since the beginning of 2015.
Here, where my family lives, I suspect we have a far higher rate of gun ownership than Chicago proper. To my knowledge, no one here was shot at all, let alone killed by gunfire. The reason for that disparity is crystal clear. Unlike Chiraq (I love that term), with its fascist Rahm Emmanuel and fascist police "confiscating guns," gun possession is not limited to criminals. I stood in the grocery store next to my partner last Thursday night, and an older gentleman was grinding his almond butter with his 1911 .45 strapped to his hip. I admired his sidearm, and my partner didn't even notice it. I had left my own .45 in my vehicle, but took that and my rifle with us when we repaired to the backcountry the next day. (Our little dog is terrified of fireworks, so we try to get away from them as everyone gets stupid celebrating the founding of a nation that is nothing more than a fiction.)
I once lived in Houston for a time, and I remember a weekend during which 22 people were killed. Houston and Chiraq aren't violent and dangerous because of guns. They are violent and dangerous because of their gangs (especially the ones wearing badges); their crushing economic and social dysfunctions; their fascist governments; their urban ignorance, dysphoria and delusions.
I'll make Rahm Emmanuel a deal: He can keep Chiraq, and I'll keep my guns.
Molon Labe, Rahm.