Lidia Curanaj: Spokesperson for the National Police Association and retired sergeant for the Chicago Police Department, Betsy Brantner Smith. Also with us, Jackie Guider, a Chicago mother who lost both her son and cousin due to gun violence in Chicago. Thank you guys so much for joining us. Jackie, I wanna start off with you first. You lost your your cousin just last week to gun violence, your 33 year old handsome son to gun violence in 2016.
So when you hear governor Pritzker, when you hear mayor Johnson saying that they don’t need more law enforcement, that president Trump is wrong, that more cops on the streets doesn’t result more law and order, what do you have to say to those democrat leaders?
Jackie Guider: I agree with them. They don’t need more, law enforcement here. They’re protected. They have details. Have, living in security, gated communities.
They’re protected. But it’s us, the everyday citizens that need the help here in Chicago, those that they worked for. So, I disagree with them on that because it’s not true. The people, the citizens here are crying out for help. We need help.
We need help. And unfortunately, democratic politicians don’t agree with the citizens that they work for. And that’s sad because it’s the mothers and the fathers and the family members that’s burying their children here at a very high rate. One child being gunned down is one too many. But when my son was murdered by the 2016, it was like seven eighty, people that had gotten murdered in the city.
And so they’re saying like the numbers has dropped and probably have, to some degree, but the murder rate here is way too high still. Right. We need help. We need help.
Lidia Curanaj: We certainly do. And the majority of gun violence victims are people of color. So the very people that the democrats are claiming to protect are the ones that are being hurt the most by their radical left policies. Now, Betsy, a recent Associated Press poll says that 81% of Americans, like you just heard Jackie say, they see crime as a major problem in big cities. So what do you think about mayor Johnson issuing this executive order saying that his police will not cooperate with federal agents?
Betsy Brantner Smith: Well, you know, Lydia, I served in the Chicago Suburbs, but like a lot of Chicago cops, I worked on a task force that involved federal law enforcement. So Johnson’s cops are already working with federal law enforcement. I read that executive order twice. It’s a bunch of silly nonsense. And all he is doing is opening the door for the federal government to come in.
If his police if he won’t let his police officers help federal law enforcement, then the National Guard is going to have to come in and do it. Jackie is so right and she’s so brave to come out and talk about this because she’s absolutely right. Pritzker and Johnson, they don’t have to worry about their own safety. And you see all these far left influencers taking their little selfies from the bean and going to the farmer’s market in Lincoln Park. I challenge them to go to Gresham and go to Austin and go to so many of these other neighborhoods and see what is happening.
Take a look at the 25 people that were shot just in the last thirty hours. The 25 year old woman who was murdered yesterday. Crime is out of control in Chicago, but for some reason Brandon Johnson embraces the criminals, not the cops. We all know he hates law enforcement. He hates his own police department.
It’s eventually going to be up to either the state or the feds to take care of this problem.
Lidia Curanaj: Jackie, I want fifteen seconds for you to look in that camera. And if you could say something to the governor, governor Pritzker, mayor Johnson, what would you say to them?
Jackie Guider: To both of them, I would say, I’m praying, just me personally, I’m praying that their time is up here in the city of Chicago. I am praying that the citizens would vote wisely this time, that we would actually vote them out when the government do not work for you, we don’t need them. And they obviously have not been working for us as citizens here in Chicago. It’s time for change. And the change is gonna have to take place with the citizens standing up for the rights of their family members, their loved ones, their children.
We have to be the voice that stand up. They’re hired beings. These people are hired to work for us. And for some reason, it’s like everything is switched. We’re starting to act as if they’re dictators to us.
And I’m I’m just praying that this change in the hearts of the people would change toward the way we elect officials here in Chicago.
Lidia Curanaj: Jackie, thank you so much for telling your story and for being brave, I’m so sorry for your loss. And, Betsy, thank you so much for joining us.