Illinois

Young kids need something to do in the evenings. Here in the burbs there are often house parties that get out of hand and any damage is typically limited to the property owner, but can easily spread out to the community. It isn't just an inner city problem.

Any time you get a massive crowd of unsupervised kids with no real plans other than meeting up, you risk mob mentality taking over (regardless of alcohol, drugs and/or guns). Curfews are going to need to be enforced, especially for unplanned gatherings as this will only get worse as the weather improves.

I think Johnson was trying to say not to demonize all youth because of the actions of one mob, just as one should not demonize all police. (And yes, many Chicago police are corrupt. Having served on a jury in Cook County, I witnessed first hand cop after cop unnecessarily lie to the jury.)