Chicago’s Labor Day holiday weekend was another bad one, with the violent crime numbers rising again as Gov. JB Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and President Trump clashed over how to restore order. The fight is not just about policy. It is about whether leaders will face the facts.

In the 37 shootings that occurred over the three-day period, 58 people were shot, with eight of the shootings being deadly. The 58 people shot between Friday and Monday is approximately double the amount from the 2024 Labor Day weekend. In 2023, 39 people were shot, six fatally over the holiday weekend.

Even legacy media noted the timing that fueled the national spotlight. “Fewer than five hours after Trump posted a message on social media on Saturday criticizing Pritzker’s handling of crime in Chicago, a mass shooting occurred in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side that left seven people wounded.”

On CNN, Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez was asked what more the city could do after the bloody weekend. His reply ducked accountability and pointed the finger at the one leader pressing to send help—Trump.

SANCHEZ: And how do you respond, Alderman, I heard you sort of allude to it there, that there’s more work to be done. How do you respond to the argument that there were something like 50-plus shootings, 53 people, 52 people, I should say, were shot in Chicago, 30 different shootings over the holiday weekend, seven people killed.

Aren’t numbers like that still a problem that your city needs to address? What more can be done to address that?

SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Well, I think that what we need to be doing, what we need to do, is we also had a mass shooting, in a Catholic School. We also have had many, many instances where the administration has really escalated — exacerbated the violence in our — in our — in our country, in our — in our cities.

Trump is a dictator. I think we have to be very clear. He’s trying to normalize violence. He’s trying to normalize military deployment in American cities like L.A., D.C., Chicago, and many others to come.

But what we have not seen is really a systemic investment that will actually address the core issues. That mass shootings in my ward. One of them was a tragic shooting of an unhoused neighbor.

Those statements capture the problem. Instead of acknowledging that the city needs immediate help to stop the bleeding, a woke official attacked the president who has vowed to send the National Guard to back up local law enforcement. The families who live with this violence need action, not talking points.

Chicago’s leadership also claims crime is improving, but the holiday numbers show a city still in crisis. When 58 people are shot in a long weekend, residents are not reassured by press releases. They want safer streets, faster responses, and leaders who will bring every available resource to the fight.

The national spotlight is here for a reason. When a city struggles to protect its own people, the White House will push for solutions. Trump has made clear he will send help if local leaders fail to act. That stance matters to parents and small-business owners who cannot wait for another news cycle.

No one should accept double the shooting victims from last year’s Labor Day weekend as “normal.” The choice is simple: empower law enforcement, restore order, and protect kids and communities, or keep making excuses while the body count climbs. Chicago deserves better than spin.

Conservatives know what works: strong policing, clear consequences, and leaders who face facts. The city’s families need that strength right now. It is time to stop deflecting, accept real help, and make Chicago safe again—for every law-abiding neighbor who just wants to live in peace.