Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggested that people who host or promote house parties during the coronavirus pandemic will face fines and arrest for not following the city’s strict stay-at-home order. Lightfoot, a Democrat, further hinted that authorities would use social-media posts in order to find perpetrators.
Lightfoot made the remarks during a Saturday press conference amid reports of multiple large house parties in the city, which was experiencing the first warm weekend of the year. Chicago police broke up multiple large gatherings over the weekend including one party with a reported 150 guests.
“Now I’ve directed Superintendent Brown to order all police districts to give special attention to these parties and this is how it’s gonna be: We will shut you down, we will cite you, and if we need to, we will arrest you and we will take you to jail,” Lightfoot said Saturday.
By Lightfoot’s reasoning, she herself should have been arrested in early when she violated her own order by receiving hair-styling services that are forbidden to other Windy City residents.
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“There should be nothing unambiguous about that. Don’t make us treat you like a criminal but if you act like a criminal and you violate the law and you refuse to do what is necessary to save lives in the city in the middle of a pandemic we will take you to jail.”
According to Lightfoot, the time for half-measures and education regarding COVID-19 is officially over: “So, that means if you host a party, if you promote a party, if you go to a party, we’re not playing games, we mean business and we are going to shut this down one way or the other,” the mayor said. “The time for educating people into compliance is over, don’t be stupid, don’t come out, don’t advertise on social media, we’re watching you and we are going to take decisive action.”
Instead of breaking down COVID-19 infections and deaths by their true nature — age and underlying medical conditions — the mayor chose to break the statistics down by race. She chided young people for being selfish and noted, “Yes folks, black people can get COVID-19. The first death in our city was that of a black woman who got the disease and unfortunately passed away as a result and what we also know is that 53% of the deaths in Chicago are among black people, 23% are among Latino and growing every single day.”
Lightfoot scolded the young for not caring about the elderly or their families: “When you go out and party when you go to your mama, your grandma, or anybody in your household who has an underlying medical condition, you are bringing death to their doorstep, make no mistake about it.”
Lightfoot and Chicago police are asking city residents to inform on neighbors who might be holding social gatherings. The city has set up a website so that loyal apparatchiks can give their neighbors up to the authorities.
Chicago police superintendent David Brown reiterated Lightfoot’s threats: “We have given enough warning. We’re getting to the point where we’re trying to save lives and if our message is not resonating with people who are promoting parties, or coming out to parties, we have to take that next level of enforcement to make sure that we save lives,” Brown said.
Even during this time of pandemic, Lightfoot’s words are chilling. “We will shut you down.” “Don’t be stupid.” “We’re watching you.” These are not the pronouncements of a democratically elected city official. They’re the words of a dictator.
Photo: AP Images
James Murphy is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of subjects, with a primary focus on the ongoing anthropogenic climate-change hoax and cultural issues. He can be reached a [email protected]
