Officials Bash Chicago Partygoers Who Stood 'Cheek-to-Jowl'

Police said 50 people were asked to leave Saturday's gathering
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 28, 2020 9:50 AM CDT
Officials Bash Chicago Partygoers Who Stood 'Cheek-to-Jowl'
From left, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. JB Pritzker, and US Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) tour a COVID-19 alternate-care facility in Chicago on April 17.   (Tyler LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

There's an unmistakable cough heard on a video clip showing dozens of people packed into a Chicago townhouse on Saturday. The woman who shared the footage on Facebook Live, only to be met with angry face responses, suggested partying was no different than grocery shopping. "Y'all go out to stores (food-4-less, wal-mart, target) and touch all type of s--- after somebody else had already touched it," she wrote, per the Washington Post. "Faith over fear god got me and mines." After the party was shut down early Sunday, with about 50 people being sent home, local officials couldn't help airing their frustration. "Reckless actions like these threaten our public health and risk erasing the progress we have made," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, noting partygoers were standing "cheek-to-jowl."

"By doing that, by standing together, not social distancing, many people not wearing masks, you're literally putting everyone around you in danger," including family "who are not there with them," Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said, per WLS. It's a message worth repeating, as Chicago police say they've broken up more than 5,200 groups in violation of a statewide ban on large gatherings since March 31. On Monday, police returned to the Northwest Side townhouse where the party occurred, citing the owner for disorderly conduct, per the Post. Ill. Rep. LaShawn Ford said the female owner was away from home and unaware of the gathering, per NBC Chicago. It was the second party hosted by the woman's adult son in recent weeks, Alderman Gilbert Villegas tells the Sun-Times. (More Chicago stories.)

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