A Chicago pastor is challenging claims that the city’s crime situation is improving, urging President Donald Trump to step in before violence escalates further.
Pastor Corey Brooks, who leads Project H.O.O.D., a South Side violence prevention group, said Wednesday that the community has already suffered 254 deaths in 233 days, with 80% of the victims being Black boys.
Updated figures from the city’s official crime dashboard now report 266 homicides this year, averaging more than one per day.
“For anyone in our community to say that things are getting better and that people are safe, that is an outright lie,” Brooks told “Fox & Friends.”
The pastor is calling on Trump to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, pointing to the administration’s recent crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., where the National Guard’s presence coincided with a 12-day stretch without homicides—a streak that ended Tuesday.
Brooks argued that Illinois leaders are blocking similar intervention in Chicago for political reasons.
“One of the number-one priorities of government is to make sure that the citizens of America stay safe. And that should be the number-one priority of the governor and the mayor, but it’s not,” he said.
“The only thing that they’re really concerned [with] when it comes to Black lives that matter, is Black lives matter that vote.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, both Democrats, have rejected Trump’s offer of federal assistance.
“We are being targeted because of what and who we represent,” Johnson said during a press conference Monday.
Pritzker warned the Trump administration: “Mr. President, do not come to Chicago.”
Trump, however, said Tuesday he is prepared to intervene.
“I’m willing to go to Chicago,” he said, criticizing local leaders for failing to acknowledge the city’s challenges. “Which is a big trouble, but we have a governor that refuses to admit he has problems.”
Brooks stressed that the violence is a deeply personal issue for his community.
“There’s no doubt about it that crime is still a serious problem in the city of Chicago,” he said.
“We still have mothers who are burying young boys, and their sons are dying prematurely. That is a serious issue. And for individuals to make us try to feel as if we’re witnessing things getting better, that’s not right.”
While acknowledging that sending in the National Guard would be a temporary measure, Brooks said it could provide a crucial break in the cycle of violence.
“I realize that the National Guard is a temporary fix, but it will calm things down,” Brooks said. “It’s up to organizations like ours to continue to do the solutions and bring the help that we need.”
He added that staying silent is no longer an option.
“We have to speak out. We have to say something. We have let the world know that this is an issue in Chicago,” he said. “And we can’t let the mayor nor the governor dictate how that is said.”
