Category Archives: Chicago

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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...

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

Posted on by
  • 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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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...

US fast-food workers demand better pay amid growing violence

Posted on by

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...

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

Posted on by

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...

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

Posted on by

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 Kelly arrested on federal sex trafficking charges

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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 leads Pride parades as LGBTQ activists debate state of movement

Posted on by

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...

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

Posted on by
  • 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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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...

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

Posted on by

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...

Chicago runoff election: Lori Lightfoot becomes first black female mayor

Posted on by

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...

Jussie Smollett: Chicago orders actor to pay $130,000 for cost of investigation

Posted on by

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...

Jussie Smollett: prosecutors drop charges against actor accused of fabricating attack

Posted on by

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...

Jussie Smollett: Chicago mayor attacks ‘whitewash of justice’ as charges dropped

Posted on by
  • Decision to suddenly drop 16 charges questioned
  • Smollett: ‘I have been truthful and consistent on every level’

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...

Bernie Sanders’ Chicago 2020 speech to focus on fight against racism

Posted on by

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 lawyer says ‘not easy’ for singer to pay $100,000 bail

Posted on by
  • Singer being held in 7,000-inmate county jail in Chicago
  • Lawyer says Kelly not wealthy despite string of hit records

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...