AMAC Exclusive – By Andrew Abbott
Earlier this month, at least four members of the Four Corner Hustlers, a Chicago street gang, poured out of two vehicles into a residential neighborhood and opened fire at a house occupied by a rival faction of the same gang. While most were using semi-automatic handguns, it was reported that some weapons were illegally modified to fire automatically. In response, at least three individuals returned fire from inside the house. When a police cruiser arrived at the scene, the gang members outside the home quickly fled. One of the vehicles was later “torched,” which is street talk for immolating the evidence. The other vehicle crashed after an extended police chase. All of the occupants inside the vehicle were arrested. The gang suspects in the home refused to surrender, triggering a standoff with SWAT officers. While they eventually did back down, no weapons were recovered from inside the home. In total, five people were arrested and one was killed.
But despite police capturing much of the deadly gunfight on camera, State Attorney Kim Foxx released all five suspects and rejected all charges against them. Foxx invoked the principle of “Mutual Combat,” a legal term referring to instances in which two parties enter into a mutually agreed fight “upon equal terms.” When pressed by reporters about the absurd decision, Foxx’s office shifted its message, stating that they had “determined that the evidence was insufficient to meet our burden of proof to approve felony charges.”
Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown criticized the decision, saying, “We want to charge everyone; we want the judge and the courts to sort it out, not to anticipate what might happen before a jury or a judge.” In cases like this, where it may be difficult to determine who started the engagement and suspects are uncooperative, determining outright blame can indeed be challenging. But for that very reason, most prosecutors will bring every charge forward and then work out a deal during negotiations. Discharging a firearm in a residential neighborhood, resisting arrest, arson, and illegally modifying a firearm are just a few of the crimes committed beyond the actual murder.
The decision to refuse all charges is so alarming that even far-left progressive Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned that it could plunge the city “into chaos.” Such a rebuke from a fellow Democrat may seem stunning to many political observers. But this is hardly the first time that Foxx’s office has come under scrutiny for effectively refusing to enforce the law.
Foxx first made national headlines in 2019 for her office’s handling of the now-infamous Jussie Smollett case. Earlier that year, actor Jussie Smollett filed a police report alleging that he was the victim of a hate crime. He claimed that two individuals wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats attacked him with a noose and an “unknown chemical substance” while calling him racist and homophobic names. The case received international attention. However, it was soon revealed that Smollett had staged the entire thing, and he was charged with filing a false police report, among other crimes. Despite this, Foxx refused to charge Smollett. This decision shocked the country and led to a special prosecutor investigation which found that Foxx’s office had mishandled the case.
But arguably the most egregious abdication of Foxx’s duty as state attorney came last month. Two girls, 7-year-old Serenity Broughton and her 6-year-old sister Aubrey, were victims of a drive-by shooting. While Aubrey recovered, Serenity died from her wounds. With the help of law enforcement, the victims’ family was able to find the shooter. However, Foxx again refused to prosecute the murderer, leading Commander Eric Winstrom of the Chicago Police department to chastise Foxx’s office. “Having people that we know committed murders, for cases we are confident should be charged, walking the streets is demoralizing,” he said. “To not try these cases and push back on the detectives saying we want more is a disservice to the detectives doing a great job but also to our community.”
Foxx’s actions should perhaps not be so surprising given that she is one of the pet projects of George Soros, the far-left billionaire who has in recent years dumped millions of dollars into state and local races with the goal of electing radical “social justice” prosecutors like Foxx across the country. Foxx won her elections in 2016 and 2020 with the help of millions in campaign funding from Soros. She now presides over the second-largest district in the country, meaning that the delusional Soros vision of criminal justice is now wreaking havoc on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
But while violent criminals roaming Chicago’s streets may be fine with George Soros – after all, he doesn’t have to live there – Foxx’s blatant dereliction of duty has perhaps finally turned Lightfoot, a mayor often criticized for her own radically progressive agenda, against a fellow radical progressive. Last week, Lightfoot sent out a campaign email that, while not naming Foxx directly, said the mayor “did not understand” the decision not to bring charges in the case. Lightfoot also said, “We know that we cannot have a city where this kind of incident happens and no one is held accountable.” In response, Foxx says she is “mortified” by Lightfoot’s criticism and that Lightfoot is inappropriately overstepping her authority.
For Lightfoot, going after Foxx is likely just a matter of political survival. Chicago has seen a record spike in murders this year, and Lightfoot will eventually have to face the voters. After enabling and even encouraging the rise in crime through Defund the Police rhetoric and soft-on-crime city policies, Lightfoot is now desperate for someone else to blame. While Foxx undoubtedly also shares a large degree of responsibility for not taking dangerous criminals off the streets, Lightfoot is no less guilty.
For the sake of public safety, Chicagoans can only hope for a new direction in both City Hall and the state attorney’s office at the earliest possible opportunity.
Andrew Abbott is the pen name of a writer and public affairs consultant with over a decade of experience in DC at the intersection of politics and culture.
