Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said today he wasn’t making derogatory comments toward federal agents when he asked where the FBI has been while Chicago police have been fighting the scourge of gang violence in the city, reports the Chicago Tribune. Responding to a question about an operation that netted more than two dozen federal gun trafficking arrests, Daley wondered what took so long.
“Well finally, thank God they did it,” Daley said Thursday of the FBI arrests. “Where have they been? The Chicago police round them up every day. They round them up every day, every week and every month. You give no publicity for that. And they solve crimes in the community. Shootings, they will solve these crimes. We don’t wait for the feds.” Robert Grant, agent in charge of the FBI’s Chicago office, responded to the mayor’s comments by saying that the mayor’s comments had demoralized agents after their hard work on the case. Yesterday, the mayor said he was simply impatient to see the investigation involving federal and local law enforcement agencies reach a successful conclusion. Daley said he wants to see the federal government more aggressively address the interstate movement of drugs and guns, and for the IRS to use tax laws to prosecute criminals.