Video After The Jump
Earlier this week President Trump threatened to send federal government agencies to Chicago in an effort to quell violence in the city that claimed the lives of 716 people in 2016, and 46 so far this year.
"If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" Trump tweeted on Tuesday, January 24.
When TMZ caught up with Chi-town native, Common, he had a much different take on how to fix the problem.
"For me, I feel like to help Chicago we gotta take care of our own," the rapper and actor said. "Within the community we gotta do things. It's a lot of people out there already organizing and doing things. We need our state and local people to do things. We don't need [Trump's] type of mentality. I'm not focused on the president right now. I'm focused on helping the people in the city and how we can do it."
When he was asked if he believed Trump's idea would basically be declaring martial law and lead to more problems, Common didn't disagree.
"You think?" he responded. "My message is for the people of Chicago, not to the president. I'm not thinking about the president like that. I'm saying we gon' help each other. I'm from Chicago, so I'm telling the people from Chicago we gon' work with the grass roots groups ... the state and the local. And that's how we gon' do it."
What are your thoughts on the violence in Chicago and possible solutions to reverse the current trend? Do you like Common's ideas?
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