Lightfoot snaps at reporter after question of ‘going too easy’ on Chicago looters: ‘Do not bait us’

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) on Monday scolded a reporter who asked if widespread looting and violence that grabbed national headlines Sunday night was the result of courts and prosecutors “going too easy on looters the last time” it occurred in the Windy City. 

“It almost sounds as though you’re saying this is — the reason [this is happening] is because the courts and the prosecutors were not doing their job, that they’re going too easy on the looters from the last time around,” ABC-7 political reporter Craig Wall asked Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.

“No, no, don’t — do not bait us,” Lightfoot injected after some cross-talk. “Do not bait us. This is a serious situation. People are concerned about their safety. Officers are concerned about their safety. So don’t bait us.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reporter: “Do not bait us. Do not bait us.” pic.twitter.com/72me4MXfVc

— The Hill (@thehill) August 10, 2020

“When we do [identify them] and we do make those arrests, our expectation is that this is going to be treated with the level of seriousness that it should be, period,” the mayor continued. “Don’t try to bait us, mischaracterize, pit one against the other — we’re not playing that. We are in a serious situation here, and we need a serious response. That’s what we’re saying, period.”

“Not trying to bait you, ma’am,” Wall responded. 

“Asked and answered,” Brown jumped in. “Do you have another question?”

Many shops on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile were looted Sunday night into Monday morning after calls on social media for looting following police shooting a male suspect on the city’s South Side on Sunday. 

Bridges over the Chicago River were raised in and out of downtown in an effort to reduce traffic on Monday morning, while train and bus service were also temporarily restricted. 

Nine officers were injured during the looting, according to Chicago police, while a security guard and a civilian were shot. Both are in critical condition.