- SNL’s Weekend Update host Michael Che made fun of Chicago on Saturday
- The joke came days after Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson used his deciding vote to pass the controversial measure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
- The resolution made Chicago the largest US city yet to demand a ceasefire in the four-month war
Even Saturday Night Live is poking fun at the Windy City after the crime-ridden metropolis’ progressive mayor passed a controversial resolution this week.
SNL’s Weekend Update host Michael Che quipped, ‘Chicago became the U.S.’ largest city to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.’
He then continued with the punchline, ‘And in return, Gaza called for a ceasefire in Chicago.’
The joke came days after Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson used his deciding vote to break the tie in favor of the controversial measure, which called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza without the release of hostages.
The resolution made Chicago the largest US city yet to demand a ceasefire in the four-month war which has cost more than 26,000 Palestinian lives.
Even Saturday Night Live is poking fun at the Windy City after the crime-ridden metropolis’ progressive mayor passed a controversial resolution last week
![Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson used his deciding vote to break the tie in favor of a controversial measure this week, which called for an immediate ceasefire without the release of hostages](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/04/06/80824541-13043225-image-a-2_1707029614566.jpg)
Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson used his deciding vote to break the tie in favor of a controversial measure this week, which called for an immediate ceasefire without the release of hostages
The clip of Che’s joke has soon gone viral on social media, as an X user who shared the video said: ‘Even “left-leaning” media is laughing at Chicago.’
‘Far too often, Chicago is the punchline to a joke. Elect clowns, expect a circus. Do better, Chicago,’ the user wrote.
Another user wrote: ‘Oh boy, I’m glad I moved. Please be safe.’
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters thronged the building and the public gallery for the knife-edge vote which saw Johnson strong-arm opponents before casting the deciding vote.
Johnson asked two senior aldermen to stay away if they could not support it, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, and was slammed for using his casting vote to inflame tensions.
Alderman Debra Silverstein, the sole Jewish member of the city council pleaded with colleagues not to pass the resolution.
‘There’s not even a single mention of the dozens of raped women,’ Silverstein said to heckles from the crowd, as a police officer stood close by.
‘No reference to the brutal depravity that is now seared into the psyche of every Israeli and every Jewish man, woman and child.’
Even Illinois’ governor JB Pritzker slammed the vote in a city that is due to hold the Democrat’s National Convention in August.
‘I was disappointed that no consideration was given to the women who were raped by Hamas fighters who crossed over into Israel, kidnapped people, that the deaths that were caused by those terrorists were not acknowledged,’ he said.
‘And the City Council, if they’re going to talk about the challenge of war in the Middle East, you’ve got to make sure you include all of the perspectives. They did not do that.’
![Chicago's Democrat Mayor was accused of strong-arming opponents and slammed for using his deciding vote to ensure the controversial measure passed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/04/06/80797199-13043225-Chicago_s_Democrat_Mayor_was_accused_of_strong_arming_opponents_-a-3_1707029684632.jpg)
Chicago’s Democrat Mayor was accused of strong-arming opponents and slammed for using his deciding vote to ensure the controversial measure passed
![Police struggled to keep order as the corridors were taken over by protesters](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/04/06/80797135-13043225-Police_struggled_to_keep_order_as_the_corridors_were_taken_over_-a-4_1707029690916.jpg)
Police struggled to keep order as the corridors were taken over by protesters
![As the mayor worked furiously behind the scenes to make the resolution pass, crime has exploded across the city in the past two years](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/04/06/80797165-13043225-Councilors_struggled_to_get_through_as_protesters_occupied_the_b-a-5_1707029705912.jpg)
As the mayor worked furiously behind the scenes to make the resolution pass, crime has exploded across the city in the past two years
As the mayor worked furiously behind the scenes to make the resolution pass, crime has exploded across the city in the past two years.
Murders are down 13 percent this year and 20 per cent in three years, but all crime is up 17 per cent – particularly car theft and robbery.
Under Johnson’s predecessor Lori Lightfoot, crime rose from 46,572 total complaints to 65,421 in 2022 – though this was almost entirely driven by massive increases in car theft, burglary, and robbery.
And the past year did not reverse the city’s fortunes as crime was up 64 per cent from two years ago, 68 per cent from three years ago, and 55 per cent from four years ago.
Murders and shootings are on a three-year slide, both falling 13 per cent this year and 20 per cent from 2020, with shootings down 25 per cent in that time.
However, both are up compared to before the Covid pandemic – murders up 24 per cent on 2019 and shootings up 15 per cent.
Robbery is up 23 per cent on last year and 39 per cent from 2019, while theft was stable this year but up 41 per cent since 2019 and 94 per cent since 2020.
By far the biggest jump in crime was thefts related to vehicles, which jumped 38 per cent this year and a staggering 227 per cent on 2019.