Durbin: I Won’t Judge Emanuel on Single Incident

John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network

Chicago’s embattled mayor seems to have U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s support.

Durbin says he’s never seen Chicago as tense as it is now after Laquan McDonald shooting video sparked weeks of protests calling for policing reform and the resignation of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Durbin says these issues predate Emanuel, and feels the mayor is serious about addressing them.

“I’m not going into stand in judgment of any single incident that mayor was involved in,” Durbin said, “but I will say this: my conservations with him in the last several weeks tell me he is focused on making the changes that will bring this city back together again.”

Durbin is more critical of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s actions in the McDonald investigation, questioning why it took 13 months to bring murder charges against police officer Jason Van Dyke after shooting McDonald 16 times.

Despite that criticism, Durbin isn’t joining other Democrats in endorsing one of Alvarez’s primary opponents.

“I haven’t been asked to get involved in that primary. I don’t seek primaries, (I) try to stay away from them if I can,” Durbin said.

Durbin hadn’t formally endorsed Alvarez’s re-election bid, while he had publicly backed Emanuel’s campaign for a second term last year.