Chicago Prosecutor Kim Foxx: 42 Charged with Felonies Related to Looting Spree

Forty-two suspects were charged following the looting and unrest in Chicago on Sunday, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced Thursday.

“As of today, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has sought felony charges in 43 cases related to the events Sunday night. Forty-two of those cases have been approved,” the press release said.

“In the case where the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) declined to file felony charges, the CPD detectives concurred with not charging a felony,” the release continued.

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

Foxx commented:

The State’s Attorney Office is ready and available to review cases brought to us by law enforcement and to charge those cases when appropriate. I am committed to keeping our communities safe and continuing to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to demand accountability and seek justice for the people of Cook County.

However, a recent analysis by the Chicago Tribune found the attorney had “dropped over 25,000 felony cases, including charges of murder and the alleged hate crime hoax from former Empire star Jussie Smollett.”

“During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor, the Tribune found. For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%,” the paper said.

In a tweet Friday, the attorney wrote that her office was “fighting to make sure the system is fair, just, and equitable for everyone”:

As @ChiefDavidBrown and @chicagosmayor have said, we do not allow excuses for criminality like last weekend and we will hold those who do harm accountable. This week, of the cases called into our office by CPD, we have approved 44 felony charges related to Sunday night’s events.

— State’s Attorney Kim Foxx (@SAKimFoxx) August 14, 2020

However, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPD Superintendent David Brown appeared to blame Foxx for Sunday’s looting spree, according to Fox News.

“Brown suggested that because so few were hit with serious charges during the previous looting in late May and early June, it caused more to do the same,” the outlet said.

Foxx reportedly denied those claims.

“The notion that people believe they are somehow empowered because people weren’t prosecuted for looting back in the wake of the unrest beginning is simply not true. Those cases are coming to court now,” she said.