After attempted Trump assassination, former Chicago Mayor Lightfoot laments violent rhetoric in America
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Sunday that the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump came amid a "toxic mix" of violent rhetoric, people on "the fringe," and dangerous weapons.
"It takes your breath away to think about something like this happening at a political rally," Lightfoot said. "It hurts your heart as a human being that anyone was injured—much less killed—in an act so American, which is coming to a political rally to hear from a candidate."
But the former mayor said the possibility of something like the assassination attempt on former President Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday is something that can never be dismissed.
"When you combine the soaring rhetoric that is baked in violence and demonizing people who have different political views—and then you add to that toxic mix a number of people who become followers on the fringe that are disconnected from the normal society, that may have mental illness, and then the ready access to firearms—it's horrible to think about this as a possibility," she said. "But you have to think about this as a possibility."
Lightfoot said there are too many AR-style guns on the streets of the United States today—and they are also used over and over again in mass shootings.
"As somebody who believes that those kind of weapons should be restricted to the military and law enforcement, I hope that part of what comes out of this tragic, really tragic event, is a conversation about restricting the access of civilians to these kind of weapons," she said.
Irika Sargent's full interview with former Mayor Lightfoot:
Lightfoot called for optimum communication when it comes to ensuring that the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is secure in August.
"I think the DNC itself—I would love to see communication with the party chair, to the state parties talking about what additional steps they would be taking to make sure people are safe—in their hotels, at McCormick Place, at the United Center, in transit, to and from."
The former mayor also said keeping the city and its buildings protected has to be a priority—noting that there are questions about how well the Secret Service secured the stage where former President Trump spoke on Saturday.
"You want to make sure that law enforcement is totally coordinated; that they're coordinated with any of the buildings nearby," Lightfoot said. "For example, after the Las Vegas shooting, we went through a real protocol to look at the various hotels that border the Grant Park area—the high-rise buildings on the northern side—in particular thinking about drones that could potentially carry weapons that could be launched from the lake."
Lightfoot also called on unity in condemning political violence.
"What I'd love to see is a joint statement by both—denouncing violence, denouncing these kind of acts," Lightfoot said, "and you know, people are calling it political violence—it's violence."