Fired Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy Blames ‘Black Lives Matter’ Movement For Raised Violence

Fired Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy blames the rise of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement for the spike in violence across the country and hopes the incoming Trump administration will do more to empower police.

McCarthy shared his views during a recent New York City radio interview, where he also blasted protests staged all across the country aimed at bringing attention to an apparent rise in police brutality as creating a “political atmosphere of anti-police sentiment.”

McCarthy later added, “so what’s happening, and this is ironic, is that a movement with the goal of saving black lives at this point is getting black lives taken, because 80 percent of our murder victims here in Chicago are male blacks.”

He then charged that less than half of 1 percent of all shootings across the entire city are the result of police opening fire on civilians for whatever reason.

McCarthy was unceremoniously dumped as Chicago’s top officer after video of officer Jason Van Dyke shooting teenager Laquan McDonald as he walked away from officers that had surrounded him in October, 2014, became public.

Police were called to the scene amid reports of a man parading down the street carrying a large-sized knife. Officers had been on the scene for several minutes and seemed to be in control of the situation by the time Van Dyke arrived and opened fire on the teen within seconds of being on the scene.

Dashcam video captured the 17-year-old McDonald being gunned down by Van Dyke in October of 2014, but the video was not made public until nearly two years later because city officials fought its release. Soon after the footage was viewed by the public-at-large, Van Dyke was indicted on first-degree murder charges and fired by the department.

While McCarthy now concedes that the McDonald slaying was a “bad shooting,” he still insists that efforts by groups like Black Lives Matter is doing nothing more than “hamstringing” law enforcement.

“We are very clearly going down the wrong path,” said McCarthy, adding that he is hopeful Republican presidential elect Donald Trump and his Justice Department will do more to empower police.

“I think the Trump election quite frankly is a reaction to that,” he said. “I think the people are tired of career politicians who’ve never really had a job telling us how we should think and how we should act.”

At the time of his dismissal, Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters, “Superintendent McCarthy knows that a police officer is only as effective as when he has the trust of those he serves. The undeniable fact is that the public trust in the leadership of the department has been shaken and eroded.”

When he was hired, McCarthy vowed to reform and refocus a department that had gained a national reputation as one rooted in corruption. Despite all the drama that continued to play out within the department on his watch, McCarthy has insisted he was made the fall guy by Emanuel.

“One of the things people love to say to me in Chicago, they say ‘man you got screwed, but somebody had to take the hit,'” he said.

McCarthy also argues that shootings and crime overall significantly dropped during his tenure and since he has vacated the top position, shootings are dramatically up over the year before, putting the entire city in crisis mode.

The Black Lives Matter movement has gained national prominence over the last several years based on its response to such police killings as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Walter Scott in Charleston, South Carolina, Eric Garner in New York City and Trayvon Martin in Miami Gardens, Florida.

[Featured Image by Scott Olsen/Getty Images]