CHICAGO — Former Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez sharply criticized Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx Sunday for her office’s handling of the video evidence of the police killing of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.
“You turned your back on all of us that are seeking justice in the city of Chicago,” Gutierrez said.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Kim Foxx said she did not watch the body camera footage before one of her prosecutors read a narrative of the shooting in court that implied Adam was holding a gun when he was shot.
When the video was later released to the public, it appeared to show Adam toss the gun in the split second before the officer opened fire.
“I said surely the State’s Attorney’s office would not on repeated occasions tell the public in Chicago that Adam Toledo was in an armed confrontation with a police officer. And then when I saw the video as it broke and crushed my heart, he had two hands up in the air and no gun in his hand,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez criticized Foxx for not reviewing the videos prior to the prosecutors’ appearance in court, and said Foxx was not interested in the Latinx constituency.
“Not one Latino or Latina serves on her top leadership team. And, zero out of eight at the Chief level. Zero out of seven at the Bureau Chief level. Only two Latinx supervisors in the entire office and only one deputy supervisor out of 700 attorneys,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
He said that Foxx should “reflect on this blunder and take corrective measures immediately” at the end of his statement.
Foxx was elected in the wake of her predecessor’s handling of the Laquan McDonald police shooting with Gutierrez’s endorsement after the video came to light.
“She really let us down,” Gutierrez said.
WGN reached out to Kim Foxx’s office for a response to Gutierrez’s criticism and has yet to respond.