Fewer Police Equals More Crime; 2 Politicians, Victims of Carjackings, Learn Hard Lessons

 

Two Democrats who supported police reform in Philadelphia and Chicago were both carjacked at gunpoint within 24 hours of each other.

Illinois state Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) was targeted in suburban Chicago on Tuesday night, while Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) was carjacked Wednesday afternoon after an event in South Philadelphia.

Lightford was driving with her husband, Eric McKennie, in Broadview at about 9:45 p.m. when three masked suspects in a Durango SUV hijacked the couple’s black Mercedes.

Police said “multiple gunshots” were fired during the incident but Lightford and her husband weren’t physically hurt.

The suspects fled in the Mercedes and Durango, according to police.

Lightford, the state Senate majority leader, said in a statement that she was still trying to process the trauma.

“First and foremost I am thankful that my husband and I are alive and physically unharmed. I am trying to process the trauma of what happened. I want to thank everyone who has offered their love and support,” she said.

Her ordeal came hours before Scanlon, a fellow Democrat, was carjacked at gunpoint in a separate incident as she returned to her blue Acura MDX at about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Scanlon was targeted in South Philly by two men in a dark SUV who demanded she hand over her keys, police said.

Her personal cellphone, government-issued phone and purse were inside her car when the carjackers took off.

Scanlon’s spokesperson said she was “physically unharmed” following the ordeal.

Her car was found in neighboring Delaware with five suspects inside just hours later, according to police.

The suspects, whose names weren’t immediately released, were all in custody Thursday.

Mayor Jim Kenney said he was “appalled to learn of this violent crime” against the congresswoman, whom he described as his friend and colleague.

“My thoughts are with her during what I’m sure is a traumatic time,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe in our city, and sadly that hasn’t always been the case this year. It’s disheartening and infuriating that criminals feel emboldened to commit such a reckless crime in the middle of the day in what should be a place of peace — one of our city’s parks.”

Both Scanlon and Lightford have previously spoken out about police reform — especially in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis last year.

They both co-sponsored bills in their respective offices that called for mental health specialists to be dispatched instead of police to some incidents.

“We have seen too many lives taken and communities devastated by police brutality and racial profiling,” Scanlon tweeted after Floyd’s death. “Action is long overdue. 

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