‘Shoot any cop on-sight and film it’: FBI warns Chicago police of plot by gangs to target officers

The FBI has warned Chicago police about a plot by street gangs to shoot any cop on-sight with their weapon drawn and film it.

The federal intelligence alert from FBI officials was sent to Chicago area law enforcement on August 26, warning that 36 notorious gangs have made a pact to gun down cops ‘in order to garner national media attention’, reported ABC 7.   

The threat comes as two cops were gunned down in the street while carrying out a traffic stop Sunday during yet another bloody weekend in the Windy City that left 10 dead and 44 injured in shootings.

Chicago has been rocked by a dramatic spike in violent crime in recent months, with a staggering 505 people murdered so far this year.  

Meanwhile, tensions are building nationwide between law enforcement and the public following a spate of incidents where black men and women have been killed or seriously injured at the hands of cops across America. 

The ‘situational information report’ sent by the FBI Wednesday states that: ‘members of these gang factions have been actively searching for, and filming, police officers in performance of their official duties. 

‘The purpose of which is to catch on film an officer drawing his/her weapon on any subject and the subsequent “shoot on-sight” of said officer, in order to garner national media attention.’

The alert, called ‘Pact Made by People Nation Gang Factions to ‘Shoot On-Site’ Any Police Officer with a Weapon Drawn’, names nearly three dozen street gangs involved in the pact including the notorious Latin Kings, Vice Lords, El Rukns and Black P Stones, ABC 7 reported. 

The outlet said the intelligence came from ‘a contact whose reporting is limited and whose reliability cannot be determined’, such as a police street source, a cooperating witness, or from undercover recordings.  

The Chicago Police Department confirmed to DailyMail.com they had been made aware of the threat against its officers and are taking steps to protect them.  

‘We have been made aware of this threat by a law enforcement partner,’ a CPD spokesperson said Tuesday. 

‘The Chicago Police Department takes all threats against officer safety seriously and we will take all necessary measures to safeguard our officers.’ 

Violent crime has surged in many US cities in recent months, with Chicago ravaged by a surge in shootings and murders so far in 2020.

Local officials and federal law enforcement have clashed over their handling of the crime wave with Donald Trump hitting out at Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot on several occasions and threatening to send in federal troops.   

Stark CPD data reveals murders have rocketed 52 percent from 333 between January 1 and August 30 2019 to 505 for the same period this year. 

A staggering 2,152 shootings have taken place so far in 2020 – 739 more than the 1,413 that had taken place by this time last year. 

The city recorded a bloody weekend this week, with 54 shot including 10 fatally.  

One person was killed and four others injured in a drive-by shooting in broad daylight outside a pancake house Sunday afternoon. 

Hours earlier, two Chicago police officers were shot during a traffic stop around 2:30 am Sunday morning.  

One of the cops is in a serious but stable condition and had to undergo surgery for lung and abdominal injuries. 

The other was shot in the shoulder and has been released from hospital.

A suspect, who was shot by a third cop on the scene, was injured and taken into custody over the shooting. 

It is not clear if the attack on the cops is in any way connected to the street gang plot foiled by the federal agents. 

CPD Superintendent David Brown said ‘people are seeking to do harm to cops’ and the risk to officers is increasing in the streets.

‘I think it’s bigger than a suggestion,’ Brown said Monday, according to ABC 7. 

‘I think 51 officers being shot at or shot in one year, I think that quadruples any previous year in Chicago’s history. 

‘So I think it’s more than a suggestion that people are seeking to do harm to cops.’ 

Calls have been mounting for police forces nationwide to face budget cuts or be altogether defunded as Black Lives Matter protesters demand an end to police brutality and systemic racism in the wake of the ‘murders’ of black people in police custody in recent months.   

Anti-racism and ‘defund the police’ protests ramped up three months ago after a white cop ‘murdered’ unarmed black man George Floyd on Memorial Day by kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes.  

Just weeks after Floyd’s death, Rayshard Brooks was shot dead outside a Wendy’s drive-thru in Atlanta while he was running away from cops.  

On August 23, unarmed black man Jacob Blake as shot in the back eight times and left paralyzed by Wisconsin police while his three young sons watched on.   

Shocking footage has also been circulating on social media of cops violently attacking protesters gathered to demand an end to police brutality.