Stephen A. Smith called out Al Sharpton, LeBron James, the new Chicago Mayor, and other loud celebrities for the lack of outcry over Black-on-Black violence following another deadly holiday weekend in Chicago.
53 were shot and 11 were killed in Chicago but new mayor Brandon Johnson blamed did not blame the criminals: “We understand that when communities have been disinvested in and traumatized, that you are seeing the manifestation of that trauma.”
Enter Smith who said: “When we gonna look at ourselves when it comes to Black people being killed in the streets of America? I don’t even want to get into what happened in Chicago, but I have no choice.
“If one Black person was killed by the police, we’d raise holy hell, and in some cases there’d be riots in the streets.
“And dammit, I’m not here to sit up there and blame anybody for that, because I’m tired of the nonsense that we’ve seen going on in the streets aimed at Black Americans.
“That’s not where I’m going.
“What I’m saying is, where’s the due diligence when it comes to putting a spotlight on what we are doing to each other?
“This shit is pissing me off.
“It’s not the first time this has happened.
“It’s been happening year after year after year.
“Where’s the noise at? Where’s the protest?
“Where’s mainstream media talking about that it, that’s what I wanna know, because let me tell you something — nothing else matters if we’re dead, nothing else matters,” Smith said.
According to ABC:
It’s been a violent and deadly Memorial Day weekend in Chicago with at least 53 shot, 11 fatally, police said.
The shooting victims range in age from 2 to 77 years old, representing every part of the city.
The violence occurred despite a collaborative public safety effort that the new mayor hopes to implement all summer.
In Back of the Yards, a man critically-wounded in the back, and another man was shot in the face in a South Chicago home.
Police said three people were shot while standing on the sidewalk in the 9100-block of South Harper Avenue when someone drove up and fired at around 1:45 a.m.
A 59-year-old man, 57-year-old woman, and a 77-year-old man were all hit and transported to local hospitals.
Over the weekend, 35-year-old William Hair’s family spoke to ABC7 about what happened to their loved one early Saturday morning in Lakeview.
“He was there with his best friend. They pulled up, didn’t have a chance to do anything. His best friend, thank God, was with him, and valiantly tried to save his life, and performed CPR, helped him breathe. My son fought for his life, but he was gone,” Bill said.
New Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, on latest surge of violent crime:
“We understand that when communities have been disinvested in and traumatized, that you are seeing the manifestation of that trauma.” https://t.co/tleaJqmpoI
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) May 31, 2023
Latrell Allen, the man shot by Chicago police in August 2020, sparking a wave of looting across the city, was found guilty last night on all charges, including four counts of attempted murder of police officers.https://t.co/8t13hb8hbG
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) June 1, 2023
We have to stop killing each other pic.twitter.com/eLybCybZui
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 30, 2023
