Fed up with an open-air drug market he blames for three homicides, including the killing of an 18-year-old last weekend, Englewood Ald. David Moore (17th) is taking matters into his own hands, while forfeiting his personal comfort.
He’s grabbing a sleeping bag and setting up a tent in a vacant lot at 1264 W. 73rd Place. He vows to live there “however long it takes” to chase away the drug dealers making life miserable for area residents.
“There’s 10 people out there at a time. Sometimes more. They took over the street. … Literally, people cannot get down the street because it’s a super-highway on a small residential street with houses. Constantly cars coming and the guys are out there not even hiding. Just handing their customers whatever drug they’re handling,” Moore said.
“We’ve got to bring some attention to this and, some way or another, let these residents know that somebody is with them. I’ve got some volunteers with me. I’m expecting some more people to show up. If they don’t, I’ll be by myself. … Hopefully, we can get the residents engaged in helping to take their block back. If we can get it stabilized, then we can turn it back over to the residents. That’s what I ultimately want to do.”
The most recent of the three slayings was Sunday night, when Trinity Boswell, 18, was shot and killed near 72nd and Ada. The shooting occurred after a get-together in the area, as an argument turned violent.
Dirkeisha Acklin Johnson, Boswell’s mother, told ABC7 her daughter rushed to a parked car to take cover when the shots rang out, but a bullet “came through that window and hit my baby in the head.”
Just hours later, Boswell’s 22-year-old friend was seriously wounded after an apparent drive-by shooting in the same area where Boswell was murdered.
“These monsters are killing our women, our children,” Johnson told ABC7.
Moore said he was “flooded with multiple calls” from area residents in response to the Sunday night violence. He’s demanding that Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, a former Englewood District commander, put a squad car on the block and keep it there until the drug dealers leave.
“As we put cops in places like downtown and stage them there, I want police offices staged on that block. If we get one car there until we fully take this block back, that’s something you want,” Moore said.
“We’ve gotten it before, but it wasn’t for long periods of time. It was for a day or two.”
By early Friday evening, Moore had set up a camping tent and a table on a vacant lot in the middle of the block on 73rd Place. About a half-dozen men — drug dealers, Moore said — had moved to a spot about half a block away. Moore brought a generator to power his laptop. He also brought placards for residents to post in their windows, declaring they would call police about any suspicious activity.
Moore’s demand comes as the Chicago Police Department tries to reduce runaway overtime and preserve the added expense for NASCAR, Lollapalooza and the Democratic National Convention.
“An 18-year-old girl got killed. Do you think I care about overtime?” Moore asked. Nor does he care about his own safety, he said.
“I don’t have any fear. God removed it from me years ago,” Moore said. “It’s not real. Fear is not real.”
Contributing: Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere
