President Donald Trump spoke at FBI headquarters on Friday, and once again the conversation turned toward gun violence in Chicago.
“What the hell is going on in Chicago? What the hell is happening there?” the president said. “For the second year in a row, a person was shot in Chicago every three hours. You don’t think these people in this room can stop that? They’d stop that.”
Chicago has been a frequent target of the president’s criticism, as he has called the city “a disaster” and has frequently cited high gun violence as evidence that gun regulations don’t work.
According to data compiled by the Chicago Tribune, there have been 3456 shooting victims so far in Chicago this year, which means that a person is shot every two hours and 25 minutes, according to the paper.
That number is down from last year, when 4331 people were shot in the city, according to data compiled by NBC 5.
During a press conference Friday, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson defended the department and cited statistics that show that violent crime is going down in Chicago.
"I don't like the fact that our cops are getting poked at and this city is getting poked at, because a lot of that narrative is incorrect," he said.
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The president also discussed what he called “anti-police sentiment,” and called for the death penalty for those who kill a police officer.