Chicago City Wire

Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez, currently contesting against U.S. Representative Jesus "Chuy" Garcia in the upcoming March primary election, has criticized Garcia's recent address at the Rainbow Push Coalition's "Emergency Summit For Gaza." Garcia expressed concern over the potential repercussions of Israel's defense forces' retaliation, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that such a response "would only push peace further away."

"Sad watching Chuy gloss over the terrorist attack so efficiently in order to play the part of apologist & enabler," Lopez wrote on X. "It is the same tactic he routinely uses to defend gang culture while decrying police tactics that keep his constituents safe."

Ald. Lopez responded to a video of Garcia's speech that the congressman posted on social media. According to Chuy, the military reaction from the Israeli defense forces will not bring peace any closer. He said it will, instead, escalate the situation, putting the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians at greater risk, “as it has.”

Garcia faced backlash for a photograph taken during his unsuccessful 2015 mayoral campaign against Rahm Emanuel. The picture shows him alongside two men identified by the Chicago Crime Commission as leaders of the Latin Kings who were reportedly involved in a 2012 political campaign in Cicero and faced arrests for harassment. His campaign dismissed these allegations as an attempt to smear his reputation and maintained that many people posed with Garcia at campaign events, according to CBS News.

Moreover, Samuel Garcia, son of Representative Garcia, was accused of affiliating with the Gangster Two Six Nation during a 2007 arrest. He was charged with aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and criminal damage to property. Samuel has had multiple encounters with Chicago police, leading a Chicago Sun-Times columnist to label him as "a neighborhood menace."