Chicago suffered another violent weekend over the Independence Day holiday, with at least 88 people shot since Friday, 14 of whom were killed, according to new reports.

Among the 74 people injured through Monday were children, including a five-year-old girl who was shot in the leg and a six-year-old girl, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

A Chicago police commander and a sergeant were also shot while dispersing a crowd, with the commander struck in the foot and the sergeant shot in the leg, according to the outlet. Both were reportedly transported to Stronger Hospital, where their condition is not known.

ONE-MONTH-OLD AMONG 32 PEOPLE SHOT IN CHICAGO AS GUN VIOLENCE CONTINUES TO RISE

City officials had been bracing for an especially violent holiday weekend, which Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown dubbed "the most critical weekend of the year" due to its historically high rates of violence.

After Chicago aldermen called a special meeting of the city council on Friday, the department announced a July 4 weekend violence mitigation plan, which focused on 15 violence-prone areas within the city, and canceled days off for officers, who instead worked 12-hour shifts.

"So it's really data driven," Chicago police Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott said of the plan. "We want our activity in the same locations where the crimes are occurring."

"What I can say will happen is that the Chicago Police Department will give its all," Brown said.

The meeting notice, signed by 19 aldermen, said the goal of the officials convening was to "inform the residents of Chicago that its leaders are doing everything possible to create safe neighborhoods."

Chicago has suffered 326 murders year-to-date, a 1% increase since last year on this date and a 35% increase year-to-date since 2019, according to the Chicago Police Department. There have been 1,489 shooting incidents in the city so far this year, a 12% increase from last year's figure of 1,333 year-to-date, police added.

The spike in violent crime comes amid tension at the national level over funding for police departments. While some on the Left have called for defunding police departments and reallocating the funds to other community concerns, such as housing and mental health programs, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was Republicans who supported defunding police departments.

"The president did mention ... that the American Rescue Plan, the state and local funding, something that was supported by the president, a lot of Democrats who supported and voted for the bill, could help ensure local cops were kept on the beat in communities across the country," Psaki said last month.

"As you know, didn't receive a single Republican vote," she added. "That funding has been used to keep cops on the beat."

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Republicans have slammed Psaki's comments as "gaslighting."

"When Jen Psaki blamed Republicans for defunding the police last week, it wasn’t spin — it was gaslighting. ... Republicans support the police and Democrats have led a campaign to defund the police. For the Biden administration to suggest otherwise is a cynical, calculated lie," Sen. Ted Cruz wrote in an op-ed for Fox News.

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Tags: News, Chicago, Gun Violence, Crime, Police, Independence Day

Original Author: Jeremy Beaman

Original Location: At least 74 Chicagoans injured and 14 killed in shootings over July 4 weekend