Two Dems Who Support Police Reforms Are Both Carjacked Just Hours Apart

Two Democrats who supported police reforms in Philadelphia and Chicago were both carjacked just hours apart from each other.

Democratic Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, 62, was robbed at gun point in Philadelphia’s FDR Park on Wednesday afternoon, 16 hours after Illinois State Senator Kimberly Lightford, 53, and her husband, Eric McKennie, were also carjacked on Tuesday night in a suburb 20 minutes outside of Chicago.

Both women supported police reform policies last year following the Black Lives Matter movement, with both co-sponsoring a bill in their respective offices to allow mental health specialists to be dispatched as first responders instead of police officers.

Lightford, the Illinois Black Caucus chairwoman, had also previously supported cutting police budgets in the state, with Chicago proposing to slash $59 million from their police department’s budget while violent crimes soar in the Windy City.

Scanlon’s incident came after Philadelphia’s woke District Attorney, Larry Krasner, claimed there is not a ‘crisis of lawlessness’ – despite robberies skyrocketing by 27 per cent since 2020 and murders breaking an all-time record this year.

And the attack against Lightford came just two days after Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot made a U-turn and asked for federal agents to help to get the city’s crime under control amid the proposed slash to the local police department.

Scanlon was walking to her parked vehicle and was approached by two men driving a dark-colored SUV, WPVI reported.

They demanded her keys and then fled in her 2017 Acura MDX with license plate LKG-8893. She had her car, purse, wallet and phone stolen but was not injured, her office confirmed.

Law enforcement officials told KYW News Radio that FBI agents and state police arrested five people, four males and one female, Wednesday night in connection to the crime. Police have not said if any charges have been filed.

‘I am relieved that Congresswoman Scanlon was not physically injured, and my thoughts are with her during this difficult time,’ Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement.

‘The PPD will continue to provide any support needed in this case and will work diligently alongside our federal partners to assist in bringing those responsible to justice.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department for additional comment.

In a statement about the robbery, Scanlon’s spokesperson Lauren Cox said: ‘Wednesday afternoon, at around 2:45 p.m., Congresswoman Scanlon was carjacked at gunpoint in FDR Park following a meeting at that location.’

She added: ‘The Congresswoman was physically unharmed. She thanks the Philadelphia Police Department for their swift response, and appreciates the efforts of both the Sergeant at Arms in D.C. and her local police department for coordinating with Philly PD to ensure her continued safety.’

The crime against Congresswoman Scanlon comes at the end of a violent year in Philadelphia under ‘progressive prosecutor’ Krasner, who won re-election this year.

Just 16 hours earlier, Illinois’ Democratic State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford was the victim of carjacking Tuesday night in a Chicago suburb, police confirmed.

Lightford and her husband, Eric McKennie, were not harmed by the three masked subjects who took off in her black Mercedes-Benz SUV, said Chief of Police Thomas Mills.

‘This is still an ongoing investigation but I can confirm no shots were fired by the police,’ Mills said. ‘The victim did hear what they believed to be gunfire.’

Lightford said in a statement: ‘First and foremost, I am thankful that my husband and I are alive and physically unharmed. I am trying to process the trauma of what happened. I want to thank everyone who has offered their love and support.’

The Illinois Black Caucus chairwoman worked with Barack Obama when he was a state senator representing and in the late 1990s the two worked together to pass a racial profiling reform law.

Her run-in with armed criminals comes two days after Lightfoot pleaded with Attorney General Merrick Garland to send Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents to the city for six months to combat rising crime.

Lightfoot announced on Monday that she made a formal request to Garland to send ATF agents to Chicago for six months, a well as more federal prosecutors and federal marshals to help get illegal guns off the streets.

Her request comes after she proposed slashing $80 million from the Chicago Police Department budget in 2020 during ‘defund the police’ protests.

The proposal was later scaled back and 3.3% of the budget – or $59 million.

The incident took place about 12 miles west of Chicago, which is currently fighting a 25-year high murder rate, with 767 homicides occurring within the city so far this year.

Carjackings in the Windy City have jumped by about 32 percent through Sunday, with 1,781, up from 1,352 during the same time last year, Chicago Tribune reported

Crime has run rampant in Philadelphia, where on December 10, a groom was robbed of his Rolex watch by armed bandits outside a wedding hall.

Cops who responded to the scene caught up with the criminals and they were officially arrested last Thursday after being linked to at least 10 other robberies since October.

Video surveillance of the incident shows the unnamed groom outside with other members of his wedding party in the Old City neighborhood when the three gun-toting criminals jumped out of a sedan and ran up to the group and demanded the newlywed turn over his pricey watch.

The city of brotherly love has shattered its 30-year-old record for annual murders, surpassing the much larger cities of New York and Los Angeles.

As of December 6, Philadelphia had recorded 521 homicides for the year, surpassing New York’s 443 and Los Angeles at 352.

This is despite the fact that with a population of 1.5 million, Philly is less than half the size of Los Angeles and one-fifth of New York.

The grim trend follows national calls to defund police departments, and in some cities, reforms to bail rules that critics claim let dangerous offenders loose pending trial.