Chicago Pastor Challenges Trump To Put Some 'Meat To The Tweets'
(CBS) – People in one of Chicago's troubled neighborhoods would welcome federal help, but they want more information from President Trump.
CBS 2's Jim Williams reports.
"I've been living in Englewood all my life," says Bernard Beck.
And in Englewood, where flashing police lights are as common as vacant lots, the 40-year-old is clear he would find it unacceptable if there were National Guard members on street corners.
"I'd feel like a prisoner in my own area, to be honest with you. My own city. I would feel like a prisoner," Beck says.
President Trump doesn't say what he means when he tweeted Tuesday evening he'll "send in the feds" if Chicago doesn't fix the "carnage."
Chicago priest Michael Pfleger says it sounds like Trump is proposing a military solution.
"National Guard comes in to do one thing: suppression. We got a cancer going on here with this violence. We don't want to just stop the bleeding. You want to get to the root cause of it," he says.
Poverty is the problem, Pfleger insists.
Still, Bishop Edward Peecher says, he is "ambivalent" about Trump's remark because Chicago needs help to keep stolen guns out.
Behind his Chicago Embassy Church in Englewood, thieves broke into train cars and made off with weapons.
"This president has a chance to put some meat to his tweets -- meat to the tweets," Peecher says. "If he does that, he stands a good chance of being a two-term president, but if he doesn't do that, he's hot air."
Peecher says he'd be willing to meet with Trump.
Justice Department sources tell CBS News the feds don't have troops they can deploy, but they can offer Chicago more FBI agents, prosecutors and DEA agents.
People in Englewood say they hope the president can persuade businesses to invest in the area
