On Jan. 31, the City of Chicago resolved to end the city's daily gun violence.
Just kidding, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza with Mayor Brandon Johnson casting the tie-breaking vote.
The reactions on X to the news were all similar to the Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro, who wrote, "You should call for a ceasefire in your city."
Acton Institute's Emily Zanotti tweeted a map of shootings in Chicago in her post which said "Ceasefire here next? Maybe?"
The map posted by Zanotti comes from the website "Hey Jackass," which has tracked violent crime (mainly shootings) in Chicago for over a decade.
Here are the top stats from Hey Jackass as of Feb. 1:
Hey Jackass also shows 34 were killed and 122 wounded in January. Last month's stats were lower than January 2023, which the website credits to cold weather while also taking a jab at the cease-fire resolution.
"A string of frigid, sub-zero days helped keep a lid on the nonsense for part of the month while solving the age-old issues of Middle East peace and climate change handled the rest via transference," reads the text under the January Wrap-Up total.
Hey Jackass has a Substack account these days. Give them a follow and check out their recent post about how the site came to be.
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Groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Democratic Socialists of America, and the Party of Socialism and Liberation have pushed one-sided cease-fire resolutions at city councils nationwide for months.
North Carolina cities have seen JVP activists hand them cease-fire resolutions.
More To The Story has covered the events at the Raleigh City Council for several months. The groups behind the cease-fire resolution in Raleigh's case are the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN), the Triangle chapter of JVP, and the Party of Socialism and Liberation.
Rania Masri, co-director of NCEJN, seems to be spearheading the resolution efforts in North Carolina and has publicly stated that targeting city councils is "one of the most powerful places we can insert our influence..."
Masri called the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel a "beautiful day," celebrated Hamas terrorists as heroes, and has made statements calling for the "eradication of Zionism."
These anti-Israel groups have also aligned with Black Lives Matter and Antifa in staging protests that often block traffic on major roadways.
Anti-Israel demonstrators blocked a major freeway in Durham last year during the evening rush hour and around 125 pro-Hamas supporters holding “from the river to the sea” posters protested outside the state’s top radio station, WBT in Charlotte.
The Durham Police didn’t make any arrests or try to get the protesters off the road. Neither did the Charlotte Police.
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) blasted the response to the shutdown of the Durham Freeway (Highway 147) by “Hamas sympathizers.”
“Allowing protesters to take over a state highway and block people from picking up their children, going home to their families, or heading to work for hours is an abject failure of the most basic function of government — to provide for law and order,” Berger said in a statement. “The Cooper administration and the City of Durham’s decision to coddle Hamas sympathizers at the expense of the daily lives and plans of hundreds of law-abiding citizens is a dereliction of their primary duty to North Carolinians.”
Another traffic-blocking protest in Raleigh occurred last November, where anti-Israel groups marched down Hillsborough Street, starting from the N.C. State University campus and ending at the Capitol. That’s nearly a two-mile stretch filled with busy intersections.
Just last week, a group of protesters blocked a major intersection in downtown Raleigh - right in front of the Marbles Kid's Museum. There were no arrests made.
The pro-Hamas protesters in Raleigh shut down nearly the same location last November - and, again, the police made no arrests. The same protesters have also vowed to do it again, and “will continue to escalate.”
Meanwhile, at UNC Chapel Hill, it was the protesters who were shut down and shown the door when they attempted to interrupt a Jan. 22 event featuring Bari Weiss and Frank Bruni.
Citing the Campus Free Speech Act passed by the legislature in 2017 which requires universities to protect the rights of speakers to be heard, an administrator told the protesters "You are not allowed to disrupt this event. You will need to leave. You will need to leave now.”
And security on-site at the event made sure they did.
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