With temperatures rising in the 90s and gunshots flying near him, Alderman David Moore (17th) said he will continue to camp out with a sleeping bag in Englewood, to call attention to the numerous drug sales and problems that have been going on for a long time.
After he slept two nights in a tent on an empty lot at 73rd Place and Ada, police said gunshots came close to hitting Moore on June 15. One person was injured, police said.
The shooting was recorded and posted on Moore’s Facebook page. In the 10-minute video, a woman was talking about barbequing on Father’s Day when numerous gunshots rang out. The video goes black and returns with Moore waiting for the police to arrive.
He says in the video, “So, shots were just fired on the block. Threats were made to us. No one was hit. Waiting for CPD to show up. I think they’re on the other side but I’m not sure. We won’t be pushed out of here. This is what people have to live with…This is a real-life situation. I’m very angry right now. Very angry.”
Moore said he is tired of the drugs and shootings on the street. He vows to continue to sleep in a tent to call attention to the problem. Since the incident last Sunday, Chicago police have vowed to work with Moore to create a plan to end drug violence in the area.
A Crusader journalist visited the site on Monday, June 17. The camp tent was gone, but a blue canopy was still up under 94-degree temperatures. Moore sat in an SUV while several police cars were parked on the street.
“I was at the table talking to a young lady on the block and all shots broke out,” Moore told the Crusader.
Moore said he will continue to sleep at the site until he “gets a clear strategy from CPD.”
The street was empty when the Crusader visited on Monday. But Moore said before his campout made headlines, 73rd Place was jammed with drug traffic. He described the road as a “superhighway for drug deals.”
Moore said, “there are people selling drugs everywhere, but no one has a superhighway on a residential block. I’ve been dealing with this for five years. They operate in front of a vacant home. And a vacant city lot.”
It’s the same street where 18-year-old Tiffany Boswell was killed by random gunfire while she sat in a car in front of her family home.
This year, there have already been 13 murders, 136 aggravated assaults and 92 drug abuse violations in Moore’s Ward, according to the Chicago Police Department.
Moore last month led the City Council to pass an ordinance to require Chicago to keep the ShotSpotter contract on a ward-by-ward basis.
Mayor Brandon Johnson earlier this year cancelled the contract, which will end after the Democratic National Convention. The gunshot detection system alerts police to the sound of gunfire. Many residents in Black wards want to keep the system, which they say is more effective than calling 911.
On Fox32 Chicago, Moore was asked if the Democratic National Convention will bring attention to the problem.
“It’s not going to show the problem at large, for the simple fact is that, this administration wants to extend – like I was talking about ShotSpotter through the DNC, right? But you don’t want it after the DNC, so we want ShotSpotter there to protect the dignitaries and highfalutin people, but we don’t need it… to protect the everyday people,” he responded.
“The DNC won’t be on… West 73rd Place. They’ll be in a beautiful downtown area with lots of police, lots of state police, lots of federal police, and so you’re going to see a different Chicago, instead of the two Chicagos that we know of.”
Moore last week told ABC7 Chicago, “Nothing substantial has been done. Different commanders have tried to help, tried to do things, but nothing, no dent or anything. And so, the residents are tired,” he said.
“I just want to bring attention to this. So, I’m going to be camping out there for the next few weeks, or the whole summer, whatever I have to [do].”
