'That is an outright lie!' Chicago pastor rips into Democrats over crime

A pastor in Chicago passionately argued against claims from Democrats about crime as President Donald Trump is preparing to send federal troops into the beleaguered Illinois city.

Chicago lawmakers and community leaders have pointed to recent statistics showing that crime has decreased in the Windy City in order to accuse the president of authoritarianism. Pastor Corey Brooks pushed back in an interview with "Fox & Friends."

'We still have mothers who are burying young boys, and their sons are dying prematurely. That is a serious issue.'

Brooks, who runs a violence-prevention organization called Project H.O.O.D., said the current level of crime completely justifies the federal surge of troops. He pointed to the fact that there have been 254 deaths since the beginning of the year and that 80% of those victims were black males.

"For anyone in our community to say that things are getting better and that people are safe, that is an outright lie!" the pastor said.

"One of the number-one priorities of government is to make sure that the citizens of America stay safe. And that should be the number-one priority of the governor and the mayor, but it's not," Brooks added. "The only thing that they're really concerned [with] when it comes to black lives that matter is black lives that matter that vote."

The federal surge implemented in Washington, D.C., also led to outrage from some local leaders, but others, like D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), admitted that the troops helped bring down crime tremendously.

"There's no doubt about it that crime is still a serious problem in the city of Chicago," Brooks continued.

"We still have mothers who are burying young boys, and their sons are dying prematurely. That is a serious issue. And for individuals to make us try to feel as if we're witnessing things getting better, that's not right."

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Brooks went on to say that ultimately the solution to crime must come locally but that a federal surge would help that effort.

"I realize that the National Guard is a temporary fix, but it will calm things down," he concluded. "It's up to organizations like ours to continue to do the solutions and bring the help that we need. But we have to speak out. We have to say something."

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