Commissioner in Talks With UN to Put Troops on the Streets of Chicago
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Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin is in talks with United Nations officials to explore the possibility of putting UN troops on the streets of Chicago to address the city’s horrendous gun violence problem.
Boykin flew to New York last week to meet with UN assistant secretary-general for peacebuilding support, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to discuss the issue.
“The United Nations has a track record of protecting minority populations,” Boykin said before the meeting. “There was tribal warfare between the Tutsis and the Hutus in Africa, and they deployed peacekeeping troops there to help save those populations and reduce the bloodshed. We have to do something — black people in Chicago make up 30 percent of the population but 80 percent of those who are killed by gun violence.”
Boykin said that UN peacekeepers would be more suited to patrolling the streets than the U.S. National Guard because they are better “trained” for the role.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel did not directly address any potential role for the United Nations in Chicago when asked by reporters.
The idea of deploying UN peacekeepers on U.S. soil is likely to rile many on the right who have warned about international forces conducting gun confiscation operations domestically for decades.
Earlier this year, President Trump suggested deploying the National Guard in troubled areas of Chicago, but his idea was fiercely opposed by Democrats.
“What the hell is going on in Chicago?” asked Trump during a speech last week, as he drew attention to statistics suggesting that violent crime across the country is on the rise again.