Ald. Lopez Reportedly Threatened By Gang, Given Police Detail

By Rachel Cromidas in News on May 8, 2017 8:30PM

Photo: Scott Olson / Getty Images

After speaking out against a shocking mass shooting that left two people dead and eight people wounded in Brighton Park on Sunday, a Southwest Side alderman's home and offices were put under security from Chicago Police Department officers, according to a report.

A "credible threat" was made against Ald. Raymond Lopez (Ward 15) by members of the Satan Disciples gang, Frank Main and Jordan Owen of the Sun-Times report. The alderman's office did not immediately return a request for comment. He declined to comment to the Sun-Times, according to the paper.

News of the reported security details arrive after Lopez made full-throated calls for neighbors to come forward and assist police officers with criminal investigations—even as he speculated that community members have been afraid to reach out to law enforcement in recent times in part because of fears of deportation, according to DNAinfo.

"The wake-up call has been here. It's time for us to act," Lopez said after the shooting. "It's time for each and every one of us to start looking at what's going on our block identifying who is a gang member, who's selling drugs and who is supporting them in our communities."

Lopez also made the controversial comment that he was "thankful because today no innocent lives were lost," referencing police's belief that the mass shooting—which happened in the 4600 block of South Rockwell Street on Sunday, at around 5:20 p.m.—was gang-related retaliation. The victims had been gathered at at makeshift memorial for Daniel Cardova, who was fatally shot some 12 hours before gunmen opened fire on the crowd.

Lopez later urged residents to gather on Monday evening for a take-back-the-block-style congregation near where the shooting happened.

Police said in a preliminary statement that the shooters used rifles in the slaying. "High-powered" rifles were also used by gunmen in an attack on two plainclothes police officers just five days earlier, in nearby Back of the Yards, according to police. The two tactical-unit officers, who reportedly wore bulletproof vests, survived the assault, which was carried out by gang members who mistakenly believed the officers were members of a rival gang. A reputed member of the La Raza gang, Angel Gomez, 18, faces two counts of attempted murder in that shooting; and police are looking for others who may have been involved.

As investigations ramp up, the Sun-Times offered this grim context and scary portent:

"Sources said gangs in Back of the Yards and Brighton Park know La Raza will come under intense scrutiny from the Chicago Police Department for the rest of the year because of the shooting of the two officers. That’s expected to create a power vacuum in those neighborhoods and in other parts of the city, which La Raza’s rivals will try to exploit.

Police officers have been on high alert in Back of the Yards and Brighton Park in recent months because many of the gang shootings in those neighborhoods have involved assault rifles that are capable of piercing officers’ body armor."