Hinz: 'The Bean' shooting promises to overshadow the week in politics
News is breaking out on all sorts of fronts this week, be it the GOP gubernatorial candidates finally debating as a group - sort of - or an at least preliminary vote on a new city ward map, or action in D.C. on aid to Ukraine.
But, sadly, another horrific, damaging weekend of street violence takes the lead, and is likely to reverberate for a while.
Though there were shootings all over town as the weather heated up, the most damaging - at least to Chicago's hopes to getting tourists and their money to return to the city - came just steps away from The Bean at the heart of Millennium Park. Police could only react Saturday night as a 16-year-old, part of what some dubbed a flash mob, was shot to death just steps away from the sculpture, leading to scenes of young people running down nearby streets, jumping up and down on a police car, and dozens of arrests.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot was out of town, on a speaking and fundraising swing through Texas. She put out a statement saying that while "the overwhelming majority" of those in the park were just out to have a good time, the city cannot tolerate "chaos" and immediately will require all minors in Millennium Park to be accompanied by "a responsible adult" after 6 p.m. from Thursdays through Sundays.