Reporter #WilliamJKelley
Wild Raw Video From Today’s Presser - The tension spiked the moment I questioned #Mayor #Johnson about the attack on #Bethany #McGee — the young woman who was set on fire on #Chicago public transit.
I told the Mayor that Chicagoans were outraged after he described the attack as “an isolated incident” and said it was “a sickness to incarcerate violent repeat offenders who look like him.” Disgusting.
I also asked whether his reaction would have been different if someone he loved had been set on fire by a repeat violent offender,
Instead of addressing my questions, the Mayor called my entire premise “disgusting and racist.” Outraged, I retorted back: “So you think Bethany deserved that?”
I also questioned him over his decision to limit attendance at the #Christkindlmarket - threatening its existence, saying:
“The fact that you think that a Christmas market across the street from City Hall is more a threat to public safety than violent black teenagers running down State Street shooting people at a Christmas tree lighting shows your priorities.”
This is the full, unedited exchange as it happened — on camera, in real time. Johnson and his staff lobbed digs at me throughout. Like a petty schoolyard bullies.
It's not pretty - but its real. #thatreporter
https://blossom.primal.net/8e11392cd3e20ca50ae6d41eebd84163bded215fe6d37074b73115190a53a5ba.mp4
