Chicago City Wire

Former Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy slammed Mayor Lori Lightfoot's response to Saturday night rioting in The Loop, suggesting it has grown out of control because she is still treating it like a protest.

"It’s time to take off the gloves and stop trying to control the crowd and start making arrests," McCarthy said. "Can we call it a riot and get it over with?"

McCarthy, who was Chicago police superintendent from 2011 to 2015 under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, made the comments on WGN-TV News.

He said police should be using tear gas to disperse downtown rioters, who have attacked and injured police officers, destroyed 13 police cars and looted dozens of stores, including Macy's on State Street and the Nike Store on Michigan Avenue.

He said Lightfoot is ignoring Chicago Police Department plans for mass street violence like this.

"This department has been trained, it’s been equipped. And we’ve done the planning for incidents like this in the past. Where those plans are and where that training is and where that equipment is, I have no idea today," McCarthy said.

"We’ve got to to step up and take extreme measures. Put these people in jail where they deserve to be, and not let them out tomorrow," he said. "As citizens of this city and as a police department, this is simply unacceptable."

McCarthy said efforts by Chicago police critics like Lightfoot, who led the city's Police Accountability Task Force before running for mayor, to foment hatred of law enforcement have created an environment where riots like these could occur.

"I’ve been talking about this for five years. You reap what you sow," he said. "For the last five years, what we’ve been doing is hamstringing the police and emboldening criminals."

McCarthy, 61, is a New York native who now lives in Chicago. He ran unsuccessfully for Chicago mayor in 2019.