Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson responded to Donald Trump's criticism after he shunned the president's speech to a national convention of police officers that was being held in the city while protests against his visit took place on the streets.
Trump said the police chief 'could learn something' from the event, but in a statement published later, Johnson said the city was leading the way on lowering crime and that he would not get 'caught up in negativity'
Continue reading...The top police officer in Chicago told the mayor he had “a couple of drinks with dinner” before he fell asleep at a stop sign while driving home on Thursday, an incident the chief contends was related to a change in his blood pressure medication.
Superintendent Eddie Johnson did not mention having anything to drink when he spoke to reporters on Thursday night and a department spokesman said then officers who responded to a 911 call reporting a man asleep in a car at a stop sign did not observe any signs of impairment.
Continue reading...Voters’ feelings on socialism have shifted with half of those under 40 saying they would prefer to live in a socialist country
In his 1998 film, Bulworth, Warren Beatty played a Democratic senator who goes rogue, embarking on a truth-telling binge in which he spouts radical truths no Democrat serious about election would ever utter. At one stage, Bulworth even mentions socialism.
“In America that’s like saying cocksucker,” Beatty once told me with a chuckle over dinner at his home in Los Angeles shortly before the film came out in Britain a year later. “We have this so-called thriving economy which has missed most people and while the disparity between rich and poor increases we have just one party – the money party, made up of Republicans and Democrats.”
Continue reading...A bill making its way through the Senate would set the hourly wage at $15 nationwide, to be enacted over six years
Maria Torres followed eight sprinting co-workers into the kitchen’s walk-in fridge, screaming “Gun!” They locked the door against an armed intruder.
“He was threatening everyone with a gun,” the 58-year-old McDonald’s cook said, recalling that morning last December in the Princeton Park section of Chicago. “He came in very erratic. We couldn’t understand what he was saying.”
Continue reading...Chicago Police Board finds the officers exaggerated the threat posed by the 17-year-old to justify his shooting
The Chicago Police Board on Thursday fired four police officers for allegedly covering up a white officer’s 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.
The nine-member board found the officers exaggerated the threat posed by the 17-year-old McDonald to justify his shooting by Jason Van Dyke and voted unanimously for the dismissal of Sgt Stephen Franko and officers Janet Mondragon, Daphne Sebastian and Ricardo Viramontes.
Continue reading...Mayors in major cities have pledged to support those targeted by Sunday’s ‘enforcement operations’
When CG heard that Donald Trump had announced raids by the immigration enforcement agency Ice a few weeks ago, she turned to her husband. Get groceries, she told him, like a storm is coming.
“Bananas, milk and bread,” CG lists off, remembering what she told him, “Because who knows when we’ll leave the house.”
Continue reading...R&B singer expected to be taken from Chicago to New York to face charges relating to child pornography and obstruction of justice
R&B singer R Kelly has been arrested on sex trafficking charges, according to American law officials.
The 52-year old was arrested in Chicago on Thursday night on 13 federal sex crime charges, and was expected to be taken to New York, according to officials.
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That’s all for today – thanks for reading, everyone. Here’s what happened:
And, before we close down for the evening, a quick look at festivities in Seattle, which also hosted a Pride parade today.
Continue reading...New York’s massive LGBTQ Pride march kicked off Sunday with attendees cheering the cast of Pose, the FX show about late-20th century ballroom culture, and a car representing the activists Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson as the procession moved through Manhattan.
Related: We've been to a marvelous party: when gay Harlem met queer Britain
Continue reading...In a speech denying allegations of antisemitism, misogyny and homophobia after Facebook banned him from the social media platform, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan referred to “Satanic Jews”.
Related: Facebook bans Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos and other far-right figures
Continue reading...Defamation lawsuit alleges that Smollett’s lawyer and firm repeatedly assert that the brothers carried out a real, bigoted attack on actor
Two brothers who say they helped Jussie Smollett stage a racist and homophobic attack against himself filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Empire actor’s attorneys, alleging that they repeatedly asserted publicly that the brothers carried out a real, bigoted attack on Smollett despite knowing that was not true.
A lawyer for Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of the brothers. It names the well-known defense attorney Mark Geragos and his law firm as defendants.
Continue reading...Actor had refused to reimburse city for overtime as police sought to verify his account of a racist, anti-gay attack
Chicago filed a lawsuit against Jussie Smollett on Thursday in a bid to recoup the costs of investigating a racist, anti-gay attack that authorities say was orchestrated by the Empire actor as a publicity stunt.
The 12-page civil lawsuit, filed in Cook county court, is the latest volley in a legal battle that shows no signs of abating since Smollett reported that masked men beat him up on 29 January in Chicago, shouting slurs and wrapping a rope around his neck.
Continue reading...While the election of Lori Lightfoot made history, many fear her reign will simply maintain the status quo
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Continue reading...Former head of city’s police board also becomes first openly LGBT mayor after winning runoff vote
Lori Lightfoot made history on Tuesday as she defeated Toni Preckwinkle in a runoff election to become the next mayor of Chicago, becoming the first black woman – and first openly LGBT person – to hold the position in the city.
The reform candidate will succeed mayor Rahm Emanuel this spring.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has said the FBI and justice department will review the case after city prosecutors abruptly dropped charges
Chicago city officials on Thursday ordered the Empire actor Jussie Smollett to pay $130,000 to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of a street attack that police say was staged to promote his career.
A letter from the city’s legal department to Smollett and his attorneys said that figure covers overtime worked by more than two dozen detectives and officers who spent weeks looking into Smollett’s claim in January, including reviewing video and physical evidence and conducting interviews.
Continue reading...State’s attorney’s office says 16 counts against Empire actor dropped ‘after reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case’
Prosecutors agreed on Tuesday to drop criminal charges against the Empire actor Jussie Smollett for faking a hate crime attack in Chicago.
Smollett was charged with 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly hiring two men to stage a racist, homophobic attack against him in downtown Chicago earlier this year.
Continue reading...Prosecutors have agreed to drop criminal charges against the Empire actor Jussie Smollett for apparently faking a hate crime attack in Chicago, drawing claims from mayor Rahm Emanuel of a “whitewash of justice”.
Smollett was earlier this year charged with 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly hiring two men to stage a racist, homophobic attack against him in downtown Chicago.
Continue reading...The Vermont senator will conclude a two-part launch in the Windy City, harking back to his student days in the civil rights era
With the Chicago skyline around him, Bernie Sanders will on Sunday conclude his two-part presidential campaign launch by emphasizing the role of race and racial discrimination in American society.
Related: Bernie Sanders draws on personal history in 2020 campaign launch
Continue reading...R Kelly remains in jail as confidants make arrangements to pay the $100,000 bail needed to free him as he awaits trial for aggravated sexual abuse, his lawyer said.
Related: R Kelly: judge sets $1m bail for singer on sexual abuse charges
Continue reading...The R&B star R Kelly is due in court in Chicago on Saturday, charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17.
Related: R Kelly in police custody after being charged with 10 counts of sexual abuse
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