ONLY 42 OF HUNDREDS OF KAEPERNICK'S FREEDOM FIGHTING LOOTERS HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH FELONIES

Chicago Looting Nets 42 Felony Charges

By Rosemary Sobol

Chicago Tribune
August 14, 2020

CHICAGO -- At least 42 people have been charged with felonies after hundreds of people tore through the Magnificent Mile and elsewhere in the Chicago early Monday morning, looting stores and clashing with police, according to the latest figures released by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office Thursday.

The charges include one for attempted murder, 28 for burglary and looting, six for gun possession, five for aggravated battery or resisting a police officer, and one each for theft and criminal damage to property, the office said.

In one case where State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office declined to approve felony charges, police detectives “concurred’' with the decision, according to the statement.

Earlier this week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot pressed Foxx to make sure there would be “consequences” for the widespread looting, which virtually shut downtown Monday morning as bridges were raised and trains were stopped to control the unruly crowds.

“Our expectation is that this is going to be treated with the level of seriousness it should be. Period,” Lightfoot said.

Foxx has been criticized as being too lenient after the lootings earlier this summer during the fallout from the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. After the mayor’s news conference, Foxx pushed back with her own a few hours later, insisting that her office approved charges for the vast majority of looting-related felony arrests.