Chicago is hurting right now and folks across the city are asking the same thing: How did the hell did we even get here?
A routine walk home turned into a nightmare Monday afternoon for a 33-year-old mother and her kids in South Deering. Around 3:10 p.m., on the 10600 block of South Bensley Avenue, a group of children rolled up on the family and brutally attacked them, according to police.
The video is extremely hard to watch as it shows school-aged children, some barely older than the little boy they beat, were seen punching, kicking, and stomping both mother and son. No arrests have been made. Meanwhile, folks across Chicago called it “disgusting,” “unthinkable,” and “a failure on all levels.” Both victims were rush med to Trinity Hospital, where they were listed in serious condition at the time.
The mother, who identified herself as Corshawnda, spoke with Fox Chicago and said the moment wasn’t random, her son had been dealing with bullying at Orville T. Bright Elementary for more than two years. But according to her, the school didn’t do enough to protect him.
”I asked my kids to come to the next side of the street with me so they wouldn’t get jumped, so we kept walking,” she said of her son and daughter who was also present at the time of the attack. “They followed us all the way there, they hit my son first, dragged me in the grass and pulled my baby’s hair,” she told the outlet. “I’m trying to get justice for my son. I’m thankful to everybody that came out here to support me.”
The violence cut deep throughout the city even reaching the music community. Chicago-born rapper Lil Zay Osama spoke out after seeing the video, offering to fly the family to Los Angeles for dinner and Christmas shopping to help lift their spirits.
He told FOX 32:
”It’s just something that shouldn’t be going on; kids should be able to go to school and be comfortable walking home from school and at school learning. Kids of that age should not be doing things like that, especially to an adult and to their peers they go to school with. That’s crazy, that shouldn’t be happening in our community, we gotta do better,” he said.
Chicago Public Schools also issued a statement condemning the attack, calling it “horrifying” and promising support for the family.
They said CPS is coordinating with the Mayor’s Office, CPD, CHA, and other departments to help the victims and ensure safety at the school.
Mayor Brandon Johnson also released a statement as well, making it clear the city won’t tolerate what happened:
”I was deeply disturbed to see the video of young people attacking a mother and her child on the Far South Side yesterday afternoon. That type of behavior is unacceptable in our city and we must not normalize that type of senseless violence…”
Dozens of fed-up parents and neighbors showed up outside the school Tuesday morning, chanting “No justice. No peace.” They weren’t just protesting, they were demanding accountability.