Chicago gang leaders have reached out to President Donald Trump and hope to combat violence in the city with him, according to pro-Trump megachurch pastor Rev. Darrell Scott.
Scott, who is from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, discussed the possibility of working alongside top Chicago gang members with the president when he met with him at a Black History Month event at the White House on Wednesday, Fox News reported.
"I was recently contacted by some of the top gang thugs in Chicago for a sit-down," Scott told Trump. "They reached out to me because they associated me with you, they respect you, they believe in what you're doing, and they want to have a sit-down about lowering that body count."
"That's a great idea," Trump said. "Chicago is totally out of control."
"We've got to lower that body count, we don't want to talk about anything else, get that body count down," Scott replied. "They agree that the principles that they can do it. These are guys straight from the streets, no politicians, straight street guys."
Chicago has seen 38 homicides and 182 shooting incidents in the city so far in 2017 as of Jan. 25, the Chicago Police Department told CNN.
"They're going to commit that if they lower that body count, we're coming in and we'll do some social programs," Scott said.
"If they're not going to solve the problem, and what you're doing is the right thing, then we're going to solve the problem for them," Trump said. "Because we're going to have to do something about Chicago, because what's happening in Chicago should not be happening in this country."
Last week, Trump sent out a tweet in which he called the city's gang violence "carnage," and threatened to send in the "feds" if progress is not made.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
"They want to work with this administration," Scott said while meeting with the president. "They reached out, I didn't reach out to them ... they believe in this administration, they didn't believe in the prior administration."
"I love it," Trump said.