During a press conference on Thursday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) defended banning protesters on her block by enforcing laws against protests at residential homes by stating that she, her family, and her home have received threats, and “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that they are protected.” Lightfoot also stated that she has “a right to make sure that my home is secure.”
Lightfoot responded to a question on why she was enforcing the law against protests at homes that hasn’t been enforced when there were protests at the homes of other Chicago mayors by saying, “This is a different time like no other. And I’m not going to make any excuses for the fact that, given the threats that I have personally received, given the threats to my home and my family, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that they are protected. And I make no apologies whatsoever for that. We are living in very different time[s]. And I’ve seen the threats that have come in, and I have an obligation to keep my home, my wife, my 12-year-old, and my neighbors safe. The deployments that are there are there when they are necessary. It’s not a 24-hour thing. And I think that residents of this city, understanding the nature of the threats that we are receiving, on a daily basis, on a daily basis, understand that I have a right to make sure that my home is secure.”
She further stated that her family and neighbors didn’t sign up for being put in danger and “We have a right, in our home, to live in peace, just as every resident in our city does.”
Lightfoot added that it is against the law to protest in residential neighborhoods and that she doesn’t have “hundreds of police officers” in front of her house every day.
(h/t Chicago Tribune)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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