Mayor Johnson commends how police handled latest teen takeover
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In his almost three months in office, Mayor Brandon Johnson has not often made himself available for questions from reporters.
But on Wednesday, the mayor opened up his office and spent an hour fielding questions about a variety of pressing issues in Chicago. As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported, among the issues the mayor addressed was the most recent instance of teenagers and young adults converging on one area of the city this past weekend.
Mayor Johnson took issue with someone's characterization of the incident Sunday night near Roosevelt Road and Canal Street as mob action – repeatedly stopping a reporter who interjected as he spoke.
"That's not appropriate. We're not talking about mob actions. I didn't say that. What I'm… hold on a second, OK? Respectfully, these large gatherings – these large gatherings, just… hold on a second, I promise you, we have time to talk," Johnson said. "It's important that we speak of these dynamics in an appropriate way. This is not to obfuscate what has taken place."
Just after 9 p.m. Sunday, the group of young people looted the 7-Eleven at 560 W. Grenshaw St. – adjacent to a Mobil gas station at Jefferson Street.
The store was trashed as young people tossed stolen merchandise into the air and ran away with their arms full of goods.
At one point, a fire extinguisher was set off near the gas tanks outside the store.
Police called for a mas arrest. More than three dozen people – ages 12 to 20 – were taken into custody.
"If you're an officer, you should be putting hands on people and arresting them right now - not watching them walk by you," the supervisor said.
Store owners said it was the second such incident in that area in the past few weeks.
Mayor Johnson on Wednesday commended Chicago Police for the way they handled it.
"To the best of their ability, I believe that they attempted to engage with our young people, with community partners – giving as much warning as they possibly could," Johnson said. "And you know, unfortunately, arrests were made. Unfortunately, some damage was caused. And the level of sensitivity and patience that our officers expressed = I'm appreciative of that.
Mayor Johnson says his administration continues to work with community groups – adding they have actually intercepted and prevented some of these large gatherings. The point was if those community groups had not done so, the city would have seen more such teen takeovers.
The mayor did not give specific times or dates for these thwarted takeovers.