Chambana Sun

State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) and the Illinois Freedom Caucus are slamming Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson over his comments regarding mob violence in Chicago. 

"We all want Chicago to succeed. Unfortunately, what we heard today does not inspire confidence that Chicago is moving in the right direction," Halbrook said in a press conference with the Caucus. "The mayor-elect has an opportunity to lead on issues like crime and taxes, but he has shown an unwillingness to embrace the policies, the changes that are needed.” 

Halbrook’s comments came after Johnson spoke to a joint session of the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday. 

"Demonizing children is wrong. We have to keep them safe as well," Johnson said, FOX 32 Chicago reported.  

Johnson excused away the mob violence, chalking it up to being “silly.” 

"They're young. Sometimes they make silly decisions,” Johnson told legislators. “They do. And so we have to make sure that we're investing so that young people know they're supported. And we also have to make sure that police officers who put their lives on the line have the resources that they need to keep us safe.”

Over two incidents on Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15 as many as 1,000 teens flooded into parts of Chicago and torched cars, smashed windows, and attacked people. Three were shot during the two days of mob violence.

In one video a group is shown cornering a man and woman and then brutally beating them. 

“Victims of violent Chicago ‘Teen Takeover’ attack (video below) speak out, reveal that no arrests have been made. The victims stated that the attack was completely unprovoked and unexpected. ‘Everything went crazy… They said they were going to kill us…’ Chicago is only going to get worse,” Collin Rugg, Co-Owner of Trending Politics, said on Twitter.