Editorial: The slaying of Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston is getting far too little attention
Chicago media swarmed with debate over the events of the April 15 weekend, when a large group of Chicago teens headed downtown, with some causing serious property damage and even beating people up.
That’s because the event had the kind of controversy that generates web traffic.
On the one side you had Chicagoans lamenting the disruption of public order, the lack of parental responsibility and the economic consequences of people being afraid to come downtown. On the other, you had Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson, who the following Wednesday said this to legislators in Springfield: “They’re young. Sometimes they make silly decisions. They do. And so we have to make sure that we’re investing so that young people know they’re supported.”
So, then, two sides existed to provide grist for the mill of talk radio and weeks in review. And while we weighed in criticizing Johnson’s remarks, we also understood his point about everyone’s right to enjoy downtown and the need for better options for teens, especially in the summer.
But there are no two sides to what happened to Chicago police Officer Aréanah Preston. What happened here should chill every Chicagoan’s bones.
As the Tribune reported following a bond hearing, Preston was still in her uniform after her shift when four teenage robbers caught her in their sights. The teens, between the ages of 16 and 19, were allegedly in the midst of what prosecutors rightly described as a “very violent crime spree.” The fact that Preston was wearing a police uniform appears to either have been incidental or offered a yet-greater level of opportunity. Police officers have guns. Guns can be quickly sold.
The motivation for this crime spree, according to prosecutors? A girlfriend of one of the suspects wanted money for a barbecue. So these kids allegedly wanted Preston’s weapon, which they likely knew they could turn into cold, hard cash. And so this officer, who was about to graduate with a master’s degree from Loyola University, was gunned down. In her uniform, in front of her own home. And Preston was not even the teens’ first victim that night, prosecutors said, citing at least five prior robberies in quick succession.
What, we wonder, does the new administration have to say about that, beyond offering sympathy and noting it was “a tragedy,” which offers a rough equivalence of “hopes and prayers,” a mantra on the gun-toting right?
Wrap your head around this: According to prosecutors, Jaylen Frazier asked a friend whether he had seen the media’s coverage about Preston being shot and killed and proudly told him “it was his work.”
“It was his work.” That is what we are dealing with, a mindset not easily solved by more summer programs.
At Loyola’s graduation ceremony Saturday, there will be one fewer graduate marching.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot put out a statement praising police for apprehending these suspects who were held without bail, for which we can all be thankful. The teens appear to have been oblivious to being caught on camera. And now we trust they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Meanwhile, Preston’s friends and family made statements about her kindness, vivacity and her love of being at the center of everything.
All the chatter about kids downtown is really a sideshow compared with what happened to Preston, even if national attention was now more focused elsewhere.
Just as we cannot become inured to mass shootings, we cannot become inured to this. We look forward to Johnson addressing the issue either on inauguration day or when he is next in Springfield.
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