CHICAGO — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday pledged federal support to fight a surge in youth violence in Chicago and other cities, calling the brutal beating death of a teenager on the city’s South Side a wake- up call for the country.
But neither offered specifics or outlined any new strategies on how to quell the increase in violent deaths among teens.
Duncan and Holder were sent to Chicago by President Barack Obama to meet with officials, parents and students from Christian Fenger Academy High School after the vicious beating of student Derrion Albert, 16, whose Sept. 24 after-school death was captured on a cellphone video.
“Youth violence is not a Chicago problem, any more than it is a black problem, a white problem or a Hispanic problem,” Holder said. “It is an American problem.”
Obama’s administration has asked for $25 million in next year’s budget for community-based crime-prevention programs, Holder said.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said the high-profile involvement of Obama’s administration isn’t “show and tell” but a genuine commitment to address youth violence. The Associated Press
