Fr. Pfleger Has ‘Had It' With Cecil the Lion

Fr. Michael Pfleger posted an angry message to Facebook over the weekend suggesting that Cecil the lion has gotten more attention than violence in Chicago.

The activist and pastor of St. Sabina Church on the South Side posted the message Friday night following a week of heavy coverage of the Minnesota dentist accused of luring Cecil out of a national park and shooting him to death with a crossbow.

Pfleger said he had "had it" with Cecil, and he claimed that "all the brothers out here are also an endangered species." He also invoked the spinoff hashtag #lionlivesmatter echoing the "black lives matter" movement.

The Facebook post was "liked" by more than 3,500 people and shared nearly 1,000 times over the weekend.

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OK, I have had it with CECIL the LION....I now know that #lionlivesmatter.....I think I'm gong to go out tomorrow and... Posted by Father Michael Pfleger on Friday, July 31, 2015

Pfleger's message was posted just one day before Chicago Police released crime statistics showing that overall crime has decreased, but murders and shootings are up. There were 10 more murders in July this year compared to 2014 and 11 more shooting incidents, according to police. Meanwhile, police say overall crime has decreased by 9 percent.

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