Chicago City Wire

Three people died and two others were injured during a shooting while participating in a car caravan at the intersection of South Archer Avenue and South Kedzie Avenue, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“Car caravans and drag racing can be stopped if police are allowed to make arrests, confiscate cars and impose heavy fines,” Democrat Mayoral Candidate Paul Villas wrote on Twitter. “Social media monitoring gives police and city tow and boot crews time to mobilize and to even prepare to disable vehicles by laying spike strips.”

The American Friends Service Committee noted car caravans can be used to do social distance protesting.

A drag racing caravan of more than 100 cars took over an intersection in the Brighton Park neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest side over the weekend, ABC reported. Cmdr. Don Jerome of the Chicago Police said they received complaints about the large caravan and were monitoring the situation via live video feed when they received an alert of at least 13 gunshots going off.

Officers who responded to the scene found that 5 people had been shot. Three of the men were pronounced dead when they arrived at the hospital. Two of those men were 20 years old. The two other men who were shot were listed as in serious condition but expected to survive. Those men were 19 and 21 years old.

"Drag racing, street racing is now new in this city," Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said Monday during a press conference, NBC Chicago reported. "It's just reached a really a fever pitch, with people increasingly becoming more violent toward cops. What we're all concerned about is not only drag racers, but harming someone by losing control of a car, and some innocent bystanders or spectators being hit by these cars going at very high rates of speed."

A new ordinance allows Chicago Police Officers to issue fines for street racing and to impound vehicles involved, but racing continues to be a problem, CBS News reported. Since July, CPD has impounded 26 vehicles and submitted requests for an additional 72 cars to be impounded. The department has also made 35 arrests related to drag racing. From January of this year through mid-August, CPD responded to 1,800 separate racing incidents.

The Arkansas Times reported Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. created an executive order that prohibited car caravanning and drag racing.

Vallas announced that he is running for mayor of the City of Chicago in a video posted to YouTube on May 31. Vallas highlighted several issues, including lead in drinking water, "sky-high property taxes," Chicago Public Schools (CPS) not "putting students first," and "rampant" violent crime. "Chicago is burning," Vallas said, showing footage of a police vehicle in flames with "ACAB" ("all cops are bastards") spray painted on its side during the George Floyd riots of 2020, followed by footage of incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot, Police Superintendent David Brown, and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

Chicago Business reported Vallas hired Joe Trippi and Mark Mellman to aid in his election efforts.

Vallas served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) from 1995 to 2001, NBC reported. He then headed school districts in Philadelphia, Louisiana, and Connecticut.