Cook County Commissioner Wants Shooters Charged As Domestic Terrorists
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the wake of a holiday weekend in which at least 55 people were shot in Chicago – 12 of them fatally – a Cook County Commissioner was calling for city- and county-wide action to quell gang violence.
Commissioner Richard Boykin (D-Forest Park) said the sheer number of people shot and killed over the Memorial Day weekend cries out for action, and he proposed a seven-point plan, including charging shooters and accomplices with domestic terrorism, which could carry penalties of 20 years to life in prison. Boykin said such charges are appropriate, because gangs seek to intimidate citizens.
"These small, but dedicated group of individuals – small minority of the community, probably less than 5 percent – are determined to destabilize communities," he said. "These dedicated groups of individuals – some black, some Hispanic – are destabilizing our community, and we must put an end to it, or else this violence will put an end to us."
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The commissioner said too many people are dying, and hot summer weather isn't here yet.
Another step of his plan would call for establishing "parenting workshops conducted by not-for-profits, churches, houses of worship; all throughout the city of Chicago, and the county of Cook," he said.
Boykin also called for expanded drug courts, and said he wants to see all of the top local officials hold a major summit on violence.
