Category Archives: Chicago

Adam Toledo shooting renews calls for Chicago police accountability yet again

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Hundreds have attended protests, demanding transparency and justice in a city with a long history of racist policing

Chicago has repeatedly grappled with cases of police misconduct and police-involved shootings, and the fatal shooting of 13 year-old Adam Toledo by Chicago police has renewed demands for justice and accountability yet again.

Eric Stillman, a Chicago police officer, shot and killed Adam following a foot pursuit by officers on 29 March. When the shooting happened, Adam was with Ruben Roman, 21, who has since been charged with several felonies in connection to that night including reckless discharge of a firearm and child endangerment.

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Chicago mayor urges calm as police release footage of Adam Toledo’s killing – video

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At a press conference before the release of footage – which appears to show a Chicago police officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month as he raises his hands to the air – the city's mayor, Lori Lightfoot, describes  the video as 'incredibly difficult to watch, particularly at the end'. She says it is understandable why residents feel an 'all-too-familiar surge of outrage and pain' but urges each resident to wait till they hear all the facts 

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Adam Toledo did not have a gun in his hand, says family lawyer – video

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Adam Toledo, a 13-year old boy shot and killed by a Chicago police officer, was not carrying a gun, his family's lawyer has said, contrary to claims made by the police department. Officials released to the public graphic body-camera footage showing an officer shooting Adam, who appeared to have his hands raised. 'Those videos speak for themselves,' said Adeena J Weiss-Ortiz, the family's lawyer. 'Adam, during his last second of life, did not have a gun in his hand'

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Video appears to show Chicago police shooting Adam Toledo, 13, as he raised his hands

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Chicago mayor urges calm in the city as body-cam footage of fatal shooting of Toledo is released for first time

Body camera video footage released for the first time on Thursday appears to show a Chicago police officer fatally shooting Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old, as he raised his hands into the air.

The footage has ignited fresh outrage in the city where Toledo was shot last month. On Thursday, Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, stood alongside Latino community leaders and called for calm.

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Chicago police shooting victim was 13-year-old boy, department says

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Adam Toledo was killed in an ‘armed confrontation’, police say, as family calls for justice

A 13-year-old boy has been identified as a person shot dead by Chicago police on the city’s west side in what the department called an “armed confrontation”.

Adam Toledo died of a gunshot wound to his chest early on Monday, the Cook county medical examiner’s office said on Thursday.

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Three killed and four wounded in apparently random Chicago shootings

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  • Gunman killed by police named as Jason Nightengale, 32
  • Three women and girl seriously wounded as police seek motive

A man who police say killed three people and wounded four in a series of shootings in and around Chicago posted nonsensical and expletive-laced videos in the days and hours leading up to the attacks.

Investigators were trying to determine a motive for the Saturday afternoon attacks in which police say 32-year-old Jason Nightengale apparently chose victims at random.

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Burning the furniture: my life as a consumer

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Some thoughts on buying a house, white privilege and homewares for the apocalypse

What does it say about capitalism, John asks, that we have money and want to spend it but we can’t find anything worth buying? We’re on our way home from a furniture store, again. We almost bought something called a credenza, but then John opened the drawers and discovered that it wasn’t made to last.

I think there are limits, I say, to what mass production can produce.

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Illinois officer fired after shooting Black couple inside their vehicle

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Officer who fatally shot Marcellis Stinnette and wounded Tafara Williams committed ‘multiple policy’ violations, said police chief

Attorneys representing a Black woman who was shot and wounded inside a vehicle by a suburban Chicago police officer who also fatally shot her 19-year-old boyfriend called the officer’s firing “a first step in police accountability”, but said they were pressing ahead with their own investigation of the shooting.

The Waukegan police chief, Wayne Walles, announced late on Friday the firing of the officer who killed Marcellis Stinnette, a Black man, and wounded Tafara Williams, 20. Walles said in a brief statement the male officer committed “multiple policy and procedure violations”.

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Cheer star Jerry Harris arrested on charges of child sexual abuse images

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Harris admitted during interview after FBI agents raided his home that he had asked teen to send him photos and videos

Jerry Harris, the star of the Netflix documentary series Cheer, was arrested on Thursday on felony charges of production of child sexual abuse images.

The arrest comes three days after twin boys filed a lawsuit alleging he sent them sexually explicit photos of himself and cornered one of them in a bathroom and begged for oral sex.

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Chicago erupts with violence and looting after police shooting

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More than 100 arrested after overnight looting on shopping district as mayor decries ‘an assault on our city’

Unrest and violence erupted in the center of Chicago early on Monday after weeks of bubbling tension in a number of neighborhoods across the city and protests on Sunday after a man was shot by police on the south side.

Related: US treasury secretary says Congress could reach deal if Democrats are 'willing to be reasonable' – live

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Violence and looting erupt in downtown Chicago as crowds clash with police – video

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Violence and unrest erupted in central Chicago on Monday following protests on Sunday. Earlier a man was shot by police on the south side of the city. Pockets of disruption on Sunday escalated overnight into looting on the so-called Magnificent Mile central shopping district and some other parts of the city. The Chicago mayor, Lori Lightfoot, said police are investigating a possible link between the latest unrest and the shooting of the man in the Englewood neighborhood, but said there 'cannot be any excuse' for what she called 'brazen and extensive criminal looting and destruction'

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DoJ to investigate federal forces’ tactics in US cities as mayors condemn Trump

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Watchdog to look at use-of-force allegations in Portland and Washington as other mayors say: we don’t need your deployments

The justice department inspector general said on Thursday it would conduct a review of the conduct of federal agents who responded to unrest in Portland and Washington DC, following concerns from members of Congress and the public.

Related: DoJ watchdog opens investigation into federal agents' actions in Portland – live

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Trump announces ‘surge’ of federal officers into Democratic-run cities

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Civil liberties watchdogs condemn plan to send hundreds of agents into cities including Chicago and Albuquerque

Donald Trump has announced a “surge” of hundreds of law enforcement officers into Democratic-run cities including Chicago, drawing condemnation from civil liberties watchdogs.

The US president’s move came after a crackdown by federal agents on anti-racism protesters in Portland, Oregon, and was consistent with his emphasis on “law and order” as a key component of his reelection campaign.

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Oakland moves to bar police from schools as bigger cities reject change

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Movement to get officers out of schools sees progress even as Chicago and Los Angeles school boards vote to keep them in place

A growing movement to get police officers out of US schools saw a major victory this week when Oakland’s school board voted to eliminate the school district’s dedicated police department.

But in Chicago and Los Angeles, despite protests by youth activists, support from teachers’ unions, and an outpouring of public support, school boards voted to keep police in public schools, at least for now.

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George Floyd killing: protests rage as anger mounts in cities across US – live

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In Los Angeles, protesters marched through the downtown area before shutting the 110 freeway.

From @KTLA: protestors have shut down the 110 freeway pic.twitter.com/1WI75tIMOl

LAPD seen trying to detain protesters after squad car windows smashed, officer attacked downtown https://t.co/uHrpaRp3xm pic.twitter.com/gmxNAdO1uM

Demonstrator in DTLA made a cordon blocking the road out of Bird scooters pic.twitter.com/aV8c63SG4k

Kellie Chauvin, the wife of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with killing George Floyd, is divorcing her husband because of his role in Floyd’s death.

Kellie Chauvin,
Through her attorney wife of former Officer Derek Chauvin the former Minneapolis Police Officer charged with murdering #GeorgeFloyd released a statement saying she is devastated by Floyd’s death, sends condolences to his family and is divorcing her husband @wcco pic.twitter.com/A5n7bYgdbK

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‘There are two pandemics’: Chicago’s gun violence persists amid lockdown

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Shootings and murders have remained fairly consistent during shelter-in-place, with the city registering more shootings in March than the previous year

The coronavirus pandemic has forced Chicago into lockdown, closing restaurants, bars, stores and even its celebrated lakefront. But the crisis hasn’t slowed the city’s devastating gun violence epidemic.

While crime overall has ticked down slightly amid shelter-in-place orders from local leaders, shootings and murders have remained fairly consistent so far, with the city registering more shootings in March this year than the previous year.

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Penguins openly explore Chicago aquarium closed due to Covid-19 – video

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An aquarium in Chicago has let its penguins wander around freely after closing to visitors indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Shedd Aquarium said on social media: 'While this may be a strange time for us, these days feel normal for animals at Shedd'

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Jussie Smollett: actor charged again over alleged hoax attack

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  • Smollett indicted by special prosecutor on six counts
  • Actor accused of lying to police in Chicago

The TV actor Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a special prosecutor on six counts accusing him of lying to Chicago police – almost a year after similar charges against him relating to an alleged hoax attack were dropped amid outcry from many sides.

Smollett faces six counts of disorderly conduct, the special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

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‘I’m happy, but I am also broken for those left behind’: life after Manus and Nauru | Elaine Pearson

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Resettlement in the US has allowed some long-persecuted people to flourish, but that doesn’t let Australia off the hook

“To freedom.”

Imran, a 25-year-old Rohingya refugee from Myanmar, raises a glass with a big smile. We are in a bustling restaurant on Chicago’s north side. This midwestern city seems a million miles from Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, or the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru, yet it’s now home to several Rohingya men resettled under an agreement between Australia and the US.

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Boy, 15, charged in Chicago Halloween shooting of seven-year-old girl

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A 15-year-old boy was charged on Friday night with attempted murder in the suspected gang-related shooting of two people on Chicago’s West Side, including a seven-year-old girl who was out trick-or-treating in a bumblebee costume when she was shot in the neck and critically injured.

The shooting was another grim example of children in the city being caught in crossfire while walking down the street, sitting on a porch or laughing with friends inside a house.

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