Category Archives: Chicago

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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Chicago is not ‘on fire’: police chief hits back at Trump criticism – video

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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'

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‘A couple of drinks with dinner’: Chicago police chief found asleep in his car

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  • Eddie Johnson says incident related to medication
  • Mayor’s comments differ from first official explanation

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.

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Socialism used to be a dirty word. Is America now ready to embrace the ideology?

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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.”

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US fast-food workers demand better pay amid growing violence

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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.”

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Laquan McDonald: four fired for alleged cover up of white officer’s role in killing

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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.

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‘Every day, it is a risk’: immigrant communities paralyzed by fear of impending Ice raids

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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.”

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R Kelly arrested on federal sex trafficking charges

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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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New York leads way as Pride marches mark 50 years since Stonewall – as it happened

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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.

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New York leads Pride parades as LGBTQ activists debate state of movement

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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

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Louis Farrakhan denies antisemitism – then refers to ‘Satanic Jews’

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  • Nation of Islam leader speaks in Chicago after Facebook ban
  • Christian and Jewish leaders in city condemn invitation

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

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Jussie Smollett case: brothers who helped stage attack sue actor’s attorney

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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.

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Jussie Smollett: Chicago sues Empire actor to recoup cost of investigation

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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.

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