Chicago Mayor Johnson: ‘The Addiction on Jails and Incarceration in This Country, We Have Moved Past That; It Is Racist, It Is Immoral’

Johnson: “As the mayor of this city, I can tell you that Chicagoans are not calling for military occupation. They are calling for the same thing that we’ve been calling for for some time, and that’s investment. What safe cities across America all have in common, they invest in people, and that’s what we’re doing in Chicago. We need the federal resources to make sure that we’re building more affordable housing, expanding mental and behavioral healthcare, education, all of these things that could reduce crime and provide real community safety. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars for a publicity stunt to invoke chaos and terror, the federal government should spend that money on proven solutions to crime and violence reduction. We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence. We’ve already tried that and we’ve ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence. The addiction on jails and incarceration in this country, we have moved past that. It is racist, it is immoral, it is unholy, and it is not the way to drive violence down. (applause) We cannot return to the same failed strategies that got us here in the first place. Under the previous presidential administration, we requested more federal resources to address gun violence in our city. We continue to make that same call. We have made significant progress on our own, but there is so much more that we can do if we had real support from the federal government.”