Outraged Chicago residents ripped Mayor Lori Lightfoot Wednesday for allowing “out of control” homeless encampments to grow at O’Hare International Airport.
“@chicagosmayor is the one that allowed it and opened O’Hare up as a safe space for the homeless. Yes, she knows it. Great for tourism,” Chicago-realtor Shanon Towson tweeted sarcastically.
Another Windy City native fumed that she felt unsafe at the airport when she was confronted by an unhinged homeless man last week.
“I was terrified at the airport yesterday when a man approached my husband and I flailing his hands in our faces,” Natasha Patel tweeted at Lightfoot.
“YES it’s a bad impression on the city by people who travel here from all over the world.”
Critics began tearing into the progressive mayor’s lackluster policies after photos emerged depicting the airport as a sprawling, “dystopian” encampment for the city’s rising homeless population — sparking safety concerns among staff and passengers.
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Stunning photos show filthy makeshift shelters set up inside terminals of the major travel hub, including a vagrant sleeping inside a vestibule — for which critics promptly blamed Lightfoot, who is seeking re-election this month.
“This is brought to you by miscreant who believes she’s entitled to another term … to further destroy a once great city @chicagosmayor,” another critic slammed.
Other observers retweeted photos of homeless passed out on the floor of the airport or living next to heaps of trash — demanding “move the vagrants out,” and proclaiming that “@LoriLightfoot does not care at all” and “You need to lose your reelection.. this is unacceptable!
“Unbelievable,” another critic wrote. “Where’s @chicagosmayor?
Vonkisha Chatman, a custodian who works the overnight shift in Terminal 1 and 2, told CBS News. “It’s out of control. None of us feel safe.”
When asked for comment by the Post, the Mayor’s Office emailed a statement from the Chicago Department of Aviation that said: “The CDA is aware of the increasing population of unsheltered individuals at O’Hare International Airport. It’s a common occurrence at this airport and airports nationwide when temperatures drop in the winter months.”
