Chicago Tribune reporters serving as apologists for Chiraq teen shot by cops expose much deeper problems

From Pierre Loury's Facebook page

Last month Pierre Loury, a 16-year-old member of the New Breeds street gang was shot to death in the notoriously violent North Lawndale neighborhood in what was described as an "armed confrontation" with a Chicago police officer.

Shortly after his death a picture from Loury's Facebook page went viral--in it he's holding a gun and his throat tattoo with the letters "RMG," in honor of a dead gangbanger, is clearly visible.

In their Chicago Tribune story headlined "Boy, 16, shot by police, lived and died in one of city's toughest neighborhoods," Alexis Myers and Jeremy Gorner attempt to explain away Loury's problems, all but saying it's society's fault.

The boy's stepfather is named, but there is no mention of Loury's biological father. His younger brother has a different last name. Readers don't know if any of Loury's adult family members have a job--no occupations are mentioned. Loury had a job of sorts--selling drugs, which gave him money to be a daily marijuana smoker and a "flashy dresser." He rarely attended school but dreamed of attending college so he could become an engineer.

Abandoned North
Lawndale home

That stepfather remarked to the Trib about Loury, "We never knew he was doing all this stuff because we gave him his privacy," adding, "He never brought a gun into this house. He has little brothers and sisters, and he's their role model."

Role model?

Since Loury's privacy was respected, how did the stepdad know that the kid didn't keep his gun at home. And if Loury didn't, where did he store that gun? Beneath a flower pot outside?

Loury, who joined the New Breeds when he was 10 or 11, was arrested several times but his most notorious crime was participating in a violent robbery and beating of a woman on a Chicago Transit Authority el train. After the attack half of the victim's head was shaved and she needed four staples to heal her head wound. Loury was on probation for that crime when he was shot to death last month.

The night following Loury's death Black Lives Matter activists shut down a Chicago expressway during a protest.

North Lawndale isn't a real community. Take away the street gang economy, welfare, Section 8 housing subsidies, and Illinois Link cards, what is left?

Am I harsh? Yes. But the truth can be painful.

I hate to end this post on a down note, so I'll offer a hat tip to Jason L. Riley's book, Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.

Related post:

(Photos) Abandoned homes in Chicago's violent North Lawndale neighborhood