Foxx Controversy Takes Center Stage Prior To Election Day
CHICAGO (CBS) -- On the day before the Chicago mayoral election, emotions are running high, but they're not centering around the candidates.
It's about the future of Chicago's top prosecutor Kim Foxx. CBS 2 political reporter Derrick Blakley has the story.
On top of the new mayor's myriad of problems including budgets, taxes and corruption, a downtown demonstration once again revealed the very deep chasm that exists between Chicago police and much of the black community.
Protesters from the Fraternal Order of Police saw as a simple matter of right and wrong.
"We shouldn't be painted as racists or anything. We're looking for unbiased justice," said retired CPD officer Gene Karczewski.
But the Kim Foxx supporters, mostly African American, saw it simply as a matter of race.
"We are not going to be quiet when someone is being crucified and they're crucifying Kim Foxx unjustly," said Rev. Dora Merritt-White.
When Foxx supporters confronted FOP protesters outside Foxx's Loop office, a series of loud, verbal exchanges followed, including one from Black Lives Matter veteran Jedidiah Brown and a retired officer who alleged that Foxx has been too soft on crime.
And another Black Lives Matter veteran charged that the FOP outrage over Jussie Smollett's case can't really be about Jussie.
"Even if he was convicted, he still wasn't getting jail time because he didn't have a record," said Ja'Mal Green. "This isn't about Jussie Smollett. This is about the overall picture and the fact that's she's a black woman."
But a Lincoln Park banker who came to the protest just because the Smollett case enraged him.
"He put the police department through an awful lot of work for nothing. Then the guy walks off because he appears to be connected," said banker David Rudis. "I don't know if he walked off because he was connected or not, but it doesn't pass the smell test."
Neither Lori Lightfoot nor Toni Preckwinkle showed up at the protests. Lightfoot greeted CTA passengers Monday afternoon. Preckwinkle visted a soup kitchen, Devon Avenue businesses and afternoon commuters.
According to Chicago election officials, more people have voted by mail but fewer voters used early voting than four years ago. 60,000 people applied to vote by mail. That's more than 30% greater than 2015. For early voting with one day to go, 100,000 people have voted.
That's a drop-off of 30%.
To learn more about both candidates, head to CBSChicago.com/voterguide. There are bios, interviews and where the mayoral candidates stand on key issues.
And stay with CBS 2 on Election Day. We'll have up-to-the-minute election results on our newscasts and at CBSChicago.com.
