Mike Pence, running mate to Donald Trump, on Sunday hailed what he said was Trump’s “plainspoken way” to explain a tweet by the Republican candidate that drew accusations of insensitivity following the shooting death in Chicago of a cousin of basketball star Dwyane Wade.
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Nykea Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother of four who lived on the city’s South Side, was walking about a mile and a half from the University of Chicago when two males walked up and fired shots at a third man, according to The Associated Press.
Police are questioning two men who they say are persons of interest, according to reports. It is being investigated whether the encounter between the men was a robbery, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Saturday afternoon.
Aldridge, who was pushing her baby in a stroller, was hit in the head and the arm and taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died, police said.
Police have not said why the shooting occurred, but that Aldridge was an innocent victim caught in the crossfire.
“Aldridge’s cousin, Dwyane Wade, the 12-time NBA All-Star who recently signed a contract with his hometown Chicago Bulls, employed the hashtag #EnoughIsEnough” in tweeting about her death. “African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP”, he tweeted, though his polling numbers among blacks nationally are in the single digits.
“So we send our thoughts and prayers to the family and we also promise to fight for a much, much better tomorrow”, Trump added.
Chicago’s murder rate has soared over the previous year and is on track to end with more deaths than the city has seen in decades, and perhaps ever. At the end of his tweet, Trump wrote: “Just what I have been saying”. We need more help& more hands on deck. Not for me and my family but for the future of our world.
He also later posted this: “My condolences to Dwyane Wade and his family, on the loss of Nykea Aldridge”.
Later, Trump’s tweet was deleted and reissued with the correct spelling of Dwyane Wade’s name. “We’re going to try to help these people to transform their minds and give them a different direction”.
A FAMILY MOURNS Wade’s mother, Pastor Jolinda Wade, said it’s hard to believe that just one day after participating in an ESPN gun violence panel, their family would be touched by violence.
Trump’s tweet appeared to be his latest effort to convince African-American voters to choose him over Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, highlighted by a meeting with African-American and Hispanic Republican leaders at New York’s Trump Tower last week.
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Taylor placed four stuffed animals, one for each of Aldridge’s children including a newborn baby, on a nearby tree that turned into a makeshift memorial on Saturday.
