chicagotribune--2020-06-07--Arrests following Aurora unrest: Racially diverse group includes Lifetime reality TV personality, a

Arrests following Aurora unrest: Racially diverse group includes Lifetime reality TV personality, a married couple, several 20-somethings

“ I respect the fact that people across this nation are angry and frustrated about the ongoing lack of attention @ @ @ @ @ racism and the maltreatment of African Americans .
I agree that we should be much @ @ @ @ @ a more equal and just society , ” McMahon said .
“ The individuals ( @ @ @ @ @ interested in mayhem .
... All are opportunistic criminals who sought to steal the spotlight @ @ @ @ @ demonstrating , whether by looting , engaging in violent conduct or putting someone ’ s @ @ @ @ @ .
”

Fire engulfs an Elgin police squad car during the unrest in Aurora on May 31, 2020. (Stacy St. Clair / Chicago Tribune)
A suburban teen with a small history of petty theft set fire to a police vehicle during unrest in Aurora this week in an act of “revenge” against law enforcement, prosecutors say.
Authorities say she has no ties to antifa or the white supremacy groups that some have blamed for the violence and vandalism across the country.
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She has no job and lives with her mom in Kendall County, according to court records.
Vianney Huerta, 19, offers a small portrait of the 21 people arrested following the unrest in Aurora last Sunday. It’s a disparate, racially diverse group that includes a former reality TV personality, a married couple and several 20-somethings with no connections to extremist groups on either end of the political spectrum, investigators say.
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Indeed, authorities say those arrested have seemingly few ties to one another except for their alleged roles in overshadowing the nonviolent protests meant to convey the urgent need for racial equality and police accountability across the country.
“They are drowning out the message that needs to be heard, not just by the public, but by those who are in a position to do something about it,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.
McMahon’s office has charged 11 people with felonies in connection to Aurora’s unrest, including, police say, a husband and wife who attempted to loot a far north side Walmart early Monday morning while local authorities were focused on the devastated downtown. A deputy on his way home from work saw the couple, along with three others, putting electronics and liquor into a car and helped make the arrest, Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain said.
Erica and Frankie Higgins, of Montgomery, were released on their own personal recognizance. The couple, who could not be reached comment, are expected back in court in August.
Prosecutors also charged Bolingbrook resident Michael Salter, 19, with burglary after the Walgreens across from the Aurora police station was broken into Sunday. Salter appeared on the short-lived Lifetime reality series “Bringing Up Ballers,” which followed the lives of Chicago-area basketball stars and their mothers.
Salter’s attorney declined comment Friday.
The chaos began Sunday following a nonviolent protest in which Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman met with demonstrators and joined them in chants of “justice now!”
As Ziman answered questions about everything from body cameras to her department’s hiring practices, a clear divide emerged among those gathered. Some wanted to engage with the officers and continue a nonviolent protest, while others demanded more aggressive tactics.
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The two sides shouted at each other until the more hostile group eventually moved downtown and people began plundering businesses.
Using cinder blocks from a nearby construction site, people shattered storefront windows and climbed inside the businesses as police in riot gear watched. After breaking into one jewelry store, masked looters emerged carrying trays of necklaces and watch boxes.
Some hurled large chunks of concrete at police, while others lit fireworks within feet of officers. A bullet was fired into the window of the armored police vehicle purchased last year following the mass shooting just a few miles away at the Henry Pratt Co.
Authorities responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets repeatedly into the crowds.
While the sheriff’s office requested mutual aid from other departments, the response was low as many towns held officers back to protect their own communities. The Kane County sheriff’s office only had 25 deputies trained to handle riots, making their task even more arduous.
“Those numbers were just not large enough,” Hain said.
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More than two dozen buildings were vandalized and several stores were looted the following night in Naperville. Four people also were arrested on allegations they attempted to burglarize a local gun shop during the mayhem.
Law-enforcement officers and Tribune reporters independently recognized people who had attended both events. Authorities also spotted some of those same people at a nonviolent protest in Batavia on Wednesday and spoke with them before the demonstration began.
“Local law enforcement proactively reached out to them and had a discussion with them,” McMahon said. “I think that might have dissuaded them from trying to incite other people to hijack a civil protest and turn it into something criminal."
In 2018, McMahon successfully prosecuted Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke’s second-degree murder conviction marked the first murder conviction of a Chicago police officer in half a century.
Given his experience with that case, McMahon said he feels a heightened obligation to ensure the demonstrators’ message isn’t eclipsed by violence and vandalism. He has given his staff permission to participate in protests, as long as they agree to help defuse situations when possible and leave if the peaceful gatherings are overtaken by violent groups.
Artists and volunteers paint on a boarded-up section of downtown Aurora on June 2, 2020, after the unrest. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
“I respect the fact that people across this nation are angry and frustrated about the ongoing lack of attention to issues of inequality, racism and the maltreatment of African Americans. I agree that we should be much farther down the road toward a more equal and just society,” McMahon said. “The individuals (facing charges) were more interested in mayhem. ... All are opportunistic criminals who sought to steal the spotlight away from those who were demonstrating, whether by looting, engaging in violent conduct or putting someone’s life and safety at risk.”
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State, local and federal investigators continue to investigate the Aurora unrest, combing through hours of video from surveillance cameras, drones and dashboard camera, authorities said. They also are using facial recognition software to identify suspects.
McMahon said Huerta was identified after police officers and an assistant state’s attorney spent hours poring over images from the scene. Authorities said the teen lit a fire inside a squad car parked on East New York Street.
The fire quickly spread throughout the vehicle owned by the Elgin Police Department, which was on site to help. Onlookers erupted in loud cheers once the squad car became engulfed by flames. She was charged with arson.
“It puts every person’s life in danger,” Kane County assistant state’s attorney Mark Stajdohar said.
Huerta was previously arrested in 2018 by Lombard police for stealing makeup from a J.C. Penney. She pleaded guilty and received court supervision, records show.
She also was arrested for retail theft in 2019 by Chicago police, but the case was not prosecuted, Stajdohar said.
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“If this is something (revenge) from the Chicago Police Department or Lombard, it’s clearly taken out on the wrong police department,” he said.
Huerta remained in Kane County Jail on Friday evening on $10,000 bond.


chicagotribune--2020-06-07--Family alleges negligence by Bridgeview nursing home in COVID-19-related death of 81-year-old

As of the end of last month , the state ’ s long-term care facilities , which include traditional nursing @ @ @ @ @ , had reported a cumulative 2,700 deaths related to COVID-19 , which includes fatalities among @ @ @ @ @ ’ t specify the number of each , according to the state health department .

The family of an 81-year-old man whose death in early April was attributed partly to COVID-19 has sued the Bridgeview nursing home where he had been living.
The wrongful death complaint, filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of James Zbonski, alleges gross negligence on the part of administrators and staff at Bridgeview Health Care Center, 8100 S. Harlem Ave.
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The Burbank man died April 6 at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, with his death attributed to COVID-19 along with acute respiratory failure and pneumonia, according to the lawsuit, which seeks damages in excess of $50,000.
In a statement Friday, Martha Peck, administrator of Bridgeview Health Care, said it had received a copy of the lawsuit and is reviewing the allegations, but could not comment on the specifics.
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“Once the facts come out in court, we are confident they will show the tireless work we have put into keeping our vulnerable resident population safe from this pandemic,” Peck said.
The facility reported 34 cases of the virus and 15 deaths connected to COVID-19 to state officials as of May 29, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The lawsuit alleges the rehab center failed to monitor patients and staff for symptoms of the virus, and didn’t properly isolate patients who showed symptoms.
The lawsuit alleges that Zbonski’s roommate at the health care center had exhibited symptoms of the virus and died just days before Zbonski. The complaint was filed by the Chicago firm Levin & Perconti, which concentrates its practice, among other areas, on nursing home abuse and neglect.
Zbonski’s death was a “byproduct of years, if not decades, of the nursing home’s mismanagement, misallocation of resources and understaffing,” the complaint alleges.
The family says that although facility administrators were aware that residents and staff were either symptomatic or had tested positive for the virus, staff lacked necessary protective equipment.
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Figures released Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show that more than 7,000 workers in long-term care facilities in Illinois have likely been infected with the virus, and many facilities reporting they are running low on protective gear.
Of Illinois facilities reporting to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 23% said they were short on nursing staff and 27% said they were short on aides.
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As of the end of last month, the state’s long-term care facilities, which include traditional nursing homes and assisted living centers, had reported a cumulative 2,700 deaths related to COVID-19, which includes fatalities among patients and staff but doesn’t specify the number of each, according to the state health department.
Zbonski’s family notes, and state records confirm, that Bridgeview Health Care has been cited numerous times in recent years by state health officials for not properly disinfecting medical equipment and not developing and implementing infection control measures.
In a mid-April, a COVID-19 facility review by Medicare and Medicaid inspectors found that the center “failed to follow practices to contain the spread of COVID-19 by proper use of personal protective equipment and proper handling of clean and soiled linen.”
Bridgeview Health Care “did not exercise reasonable and due care and the level of diligence and competence required of a long-term skilled nursing care facility” in the treatment of patients, and failed to implement infection control and prevention measures in violation of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act, according to the complaint.
mnolan@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-08--Overnight violence in Chicago: Man shot dead in Englewood, six wounded in Bronzeville attack

Later in the night , about 11:15 p.m. , six men were shot in the Bronzeville neighborhood .
Police said @ @ @ @ @ in the 3700 block of South State Street when someone in a vehicle fired shots @ @ @ @ @ a chest wound and was in serious condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center @

Chicago police work at the scene where a 35-year-old man was shot and killed in the 6800 block of S. Emerald Ave., in the Englewood neighborhood on June 7, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
A man was shot to death in Englewood and six others were wounded in a Bronzeville attack hours later on Sunday night, according to Chicago police.
The Englewood shooting happened about 8 p.m. in the 6800 block of South Emerald Avenue. Police found a 35-year-old man in the street. He was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Hospital. No one was in custody.
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Later in the night, about 11:15 p.m., six men were shot in the Bronzeville neighborhood. Police said they were on the sidewalk in the 3700 block of South State Street when someone in a vehicle fired shots. A 29-year-old man suffered a chest wound and was in serious condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
The other men, between the ages of 29 and 48, suffered arm, leg and foot wounds and were listed in good condition at University of Chicago and Mercy hospitals.
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No one was in custody.


chicagotribune--2020-06-08--Chicago police officer hit in vest by gunfire on West Side, officers fired at in Englewood

He and other officers responded to the 500 block of North Leamington Avenue about 12:20 a.m. because a man fired @ @ @ @ @ times during a domestic disturbance , police said .

Officers investigate where Chicago police exchanged fire with an adult male, with an officer being struck in the vest, in the 500 block of North Leamington Avenue on June 8, 2020, in the South Austin neighborhood. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
A Chicago police officer was shot in the vest after responding to a domestic disturbance in the South Austin neighborhood early Monday, authorities said.
The officer was taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition, police said.
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He and other officers responded to the 500 block of North Leamington Avenue about 12:20 a.m. because a man fired a handgun three or four times during a domestic disturbance, police said.
After officers arrived, the man returned to the home through the basement and fired a shot at an officer standing at the top of a staircase, police said.
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The round hit the officer near his shoulder and was stopped by his protective vest. He returned fire. No one was struck.
Police chased the man and he was arrested a few blocks away, near the corner of Lake Street and Latrobe Avenue, police said. Officers recovered a weapon.
Later, in the Englewood neighborhood, police said someone fired shots at officers about 3:35 a.m. near 72nd Street and Emerald Avenue.
No officers were hit and none returned fire. Police found the shell casings on 74th Street, around a corner onto Emerald Avenue, a little more than 45 minutes after the initial burst of gunfire.
No one was injured.


chicagotribune--2020-06-08--Column: It’s time to weed out criminals who hide behind a badge

Black people who ended up recently with a knee pinned to their neck or staring into the barrel of an @ @ @ @ @ as helpless to defend themselves as those who dangled from a limb .
It always @ @ @ @ @ , and police have known it from the start .

Jade Collier, 5, watches Chicago police officers walk by a rally June 4, 2020, on State Street against the use of officers in Chicago Public Schools. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
Since the civil unrest began over George Floyd’s killing, some police officers have been acting like thugs.
Rogue officers have been getting away with misconduct for decades. America could have punished them, but it was easier to just pay out settlements and look the other way.
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Most of us have the utmost respect for the honorable officers who risk their lives for us every day. But it’s time to weed out the thugs who hide behind the badge.
Now that we have begun to make it clear that bad cops must be stopped, some officers are turning on us like wild animals that have been unleashed on fresh prey. They’re not only attacking black people now. They’re beating up anyone who gets in their way.
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For some officers, hunting African Americans is a sport. Black neighborhoods are the arena and residents are the opponents in a bitter game of thrones. Officers who could referee often refuse to intervene, choosing instead to egg the ruthless cops on with their silence and cover up the misconduct when they’re done.
When it comes to social justice, the police always have been on the wrong side of history.
The night riders who terrorized African Americans through much of the 20th century were given free rein. Many of the faces underneath the white hoods belonged to sheriffs, police chiefs and others sworn to protect.
For centuries, lynching was the primary sport of the South. Crowds routinely gathered to watch black men hanged from a tree for an act as petty as looking at a white woman. Police officers commingled with the mobs, their badges in full view — because there was no need for cops to hide.
Black people who ended up recently with a knee pinned to their neck or staring into the barrel of an officer’s gun were as helpless to defend themselves as those who dangled from a limb. It always has been an unfair fight, and police have known it from the start.
It is impossible to bring about social justice without understanding how current events relate to the sins of the past. There is no way to change what happened then, but we do have the power to chart a new path.
Without a doubt, things left unresolved always return to haunt us. Watching the video of Floyd’s distressed face pressed to the pavement, his eyes closed and foam seeping from his mouth, was as unsettling as the image of Emmett Till’s swollen, savagely beaten face peering from his open casket in 1955.
America’s quickness to turn the page on the vicious police attacks that occurred during the 1960s protests that were sparked, in part, by Till’s murder by white vigilantes, make us vulnerable today.
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As thousands demonstrate against the police brutality that caused Floyd’s death, we must remember that there was once a police commissioner in Birmingham called “Bull” Connor. He defied anything that threatened the status quo and dispatched his officers to retaliate ferociously against protesters marching for civil rights.
The water hoses and dogs aren’t present now, but the animosity against anyone fighting for change remains. Across the country, some police officers have become increasingly angry and unwieldy.
In Buffalo, New York, officers shoved a 75-year-old protester onto the pavement, leaving him motionless and bleeding from the head. In response to the suspension of two officers involved in the incident, all 57 members of the police unit that responds to protests and other crowd control situations quit the tactical team.
Some cops have been blatantly vindictive. Two Chicago officers were stripped of their powers after a young woman reported they broke her car window with clubs, pulled her out by the hair and placed a knee on her neck.
In Asheville, North Carolina, police in riot gear destroyed a medical station created by protesters, tipping over tables holding medical supplies and food, stabbing water bottles with knives and pushing volunteers out of the way.
Police in Los Angeles were caught on video slamming peaceful protesters with billy clubs and shooting them point-blank with rubber bullets. In Fort Lauderdale, police shoved a protester to the ground as she knelt with her hands in the air.
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In Austin, Texas, officers shot beanbag rounds into the crowd and critically injured a student, fracturing his skull and causing brain damage. Then they fired at the people who were attempting to get him medical attention.
Six officers in Atlanta were criminally charged for pulling two college students from their car and shooting them with a stun gun while they were stuck in traffic during a protest.
Officers were filmed in Los Angeles shooting a woman in the face with a foam projectile, fracturing her eye socket, as she struggled to get away from a cloud of tear gas. In New York City, officers rammed two SUVs into a group of nonviolent protesters. And in Minneapolis, law enforcement officials fired paint bullets at people standing on their porch as one officer yelled, “Light ‘em up.”
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These officers have misconstrued the protests against ruthless cops as a blanket indictment of all police officers. Their actions are designed to push Americans into a corner and force us to choose between law and order and chaos. Their message is, “You are either with all of us or against all of us.”
They refuse to accept that our desperate calls for accountability and punishment for cops who refuse to follow the rules are not an assault on everyone who wears the uniform. It is, rather, an attack on the inequitable institution of policing.
The difference between “Bull” Connor’s America and the country we live in today is that the masses are no longer satisfied being complicit in the misbehavior of a few.
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Floyd’s death has taught us that we can no longer close our eyes to the truth.
The thugs who don’t deserve to wear the badge of honor are stepping into the open and telling us who they are. It is our duty to take them at their word.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-06-08--Midwestern cities continue to lose population. Two of the fastest-shrinking are in Illinois.

“ I think those cities are very susceptible to having populations hurt by the new service economy or the new @ @ @ @ @ ’ s because they have such a historical reliance , and a current reliance , @ @ @ @ @ , ” Wilson said .
“ And for those city economies that have not diversified @ @ @ @ @ , they get pummeled .
And what does that mean to get pummeled ?
People @ @ @ @ @ living there and earning a living wage .
They simply can ’ t make ends @ @ @ @ @ primed for thinking about leaving and trying to find something better . ''

Two Illinois cities, Rockford and Decatur, are among the fastest-shrinking cities in the country, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, part of an ongoing trend of Midwestern cities losing residents while cities across the Southwest and West continue to grow.
Decatur, in central Illinois about 40 miles east of Springfield, has lost 7.1% of its population since the 2010 census, according to the recently released 2019 population estimates. That drop is the third-largest percentage loss in the U.S. among cities with a population of 50,000 or more. Rockford comes in at No. 15 on that list. The northern Illinois city, the fifth-largest in the state with an estimated 145,609 residents, has lost 5% of its population during that nine-year period.
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Rockford’s total population loss of 7,676 people over the last decade places it ninth nationwide among large cities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with Decatur (-5,385) at No. 15. Four of the five cities that have lost the most people since the last census are in the Midwest. Detroit has lost the most people, about 43,000, since 2010, followed by Baltimore, St. Louis, Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio.
Chicago, meanwhile, remains the third-largest city in the country, behind Los Angeles and in front of Houston. The gap between Chicago (2.7 million) and Houston (2.3 million) continues to shrink, though the difference remains sizable.
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Chicago’s population is essentially flat from the 2010 census, with an estimated 2,693,976 people living in the city in 2019, 1,676 fewer than nine years before. Meanwhile, Houston has been steadily gaining population, gaining about 225,000 new residents over the last decade.
Houston has experienced the second-largest numeric increase in population, behind only Phoenix, of all U.S. cities with a population of 50,000 or greater since 2010, according to the Census Bureau. New York remains the nation’s most populous city by a wide margin, with 8.3 million residents. Los Angeles, at No. 2, has nearly 4 million people.
David Wilson, professor of geography and urban planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said Illinois cities like Rockford and Decatur are suffering from structural, systematic forces in the new postindustrial economy. Midsize Midwestern cities in particular, especially those in the so-called Rust Belt that relied on manufacturing, have been hurt in recent years by a lack of federal aid for municipalities and a closure or movement of industrial companies, which leads to higher local taxes and a lack of jobs that can provide for a middle class life.
A man passes in front of an empty building along Market Street on May 28, 2020, in Rockford. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
“I think those cities are very susceptible to having populations hurt by the new service economy or the new postindustrial economy, and that’s because they have such a historical reliance, and a current reliance, on manufacturing and heavy-duty industry,” Wilson said. “And for those city economies that have not diversified, they really get hurt, they get pummeled. And what does that mean to get pummeled? People have a very difficult time living there and earning a living wage. They simply can’t make ends meet. And they become primed for thinking about leaving and trying to find something better."
This phenomenon, Wilson said, disproportionately hurts the black middle class and is unequally distributed among socioeconomic classes, affecting those who earn less money or who relied on the manufacturing jobs that no longer exist.
The coronavirus will exacerbate all of these factors, especially when it comes to curtailing of public services, but also the perception that cities like Rockford and Decatur are unsafe, Wilson said.
“It’s going to create a further divide between the haves and the have-nots in places like Joliet, Aurora, Rockford,” Wilson said. “And people are going to want to leave.”
In Rockford, the area north of downtown was once humming with industrial manufacturing facilities that attracted thousands of workers. Now the facilities are mostly abandoned. Front entrances that once welcomed employees are shuttered, blocked by weeds and unruly bushes. Huge parking lots are silent and empty. Gates are padlocked.
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Factories also once made work plentiful in downstate Decatur. A 2013 Tribune story about the global agribusiness company Archer Daniels Midland moving its headquarters from town noted that locals once joked that a worker could get fired from one plant and land a new job the next day. In 1980, Decatur’s population was at a high of 94,000. Now it is 71,000.
Danville, in eastern Illinois near the Indiana border, is among the fastest-decreasing metro areas, when the census takes into account population beyond city limits. Danville has lost 7.2% of its population since 2010, behind only Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Charleston, West Virginia, and Beckley, West Virginia.
Lindsey Beard, 57, rides his bike on East State Street on May 28, 2020, in Rockford. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Population change and loss, Wilson said, is often more about the combination of these complex factors and economic and governmental conditions in particular cities, more than people’s desire for change. Individual decisions are made within that reality.
“More and more middle-class families have a difficult time finding their economic footing in places like Aurora and Joliet and Rockford,” Wilson said. “If you look at where job growth is, either you try to find a way into the new high-tech economy or you find yourself essentially bailing out into the dead-end, low-wage economy. People say, well, maybe that’s not suitable, maybe there’s something better down the road and we should move to the Sun Belt, maybe we should move to the East Coast, and try our hand there.”
It is a myth, Wilson said, that high earners, even in places like Rockford and Decatur, are fleeing the state. In fact, he said, the biggest population losses appear to be coming from those who earn less. And when they decide to leave, they turn to places with better job prospects, lower taxes and, secondarily, better weather, Wilson said.
These factors bubble to the top of the most recent census data release, which shows cities in Texas booming. Five of the country’s most populous cities are in Texas, with San Antonio (7), Dallas (9), Austin (11) and Fort Worth (13) joining Houston.
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And that growth trend is continuing. Six of the country’s fastest-growing large cities since 2010 are in Texas, according to the census, and every one of the Top 15 are in the South or West regions. Expanding beyond city limits, three of the Top 10 metro areas with the largest gains in population nationally are in Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin.
Fort Worth and Charlotte, North Carolina, moved into the Top 15 most populous U.S. cities list, bumping Indianapolis and San Francisco. And Phoenix is now the fifth-largest city in the country, overtaking Philadelphia.
The Census Bureau releases population estimates each year between censuses. The 2020 census is continuing, with deadlines extended because of the coronavirus pandemic. More precise population information from the census, including state population totals that will determine apportionment of seats in the U.S. House, will begin to be released in spring 2021.


chicagotribune--2020-06-08--Two black women denounce Black Lives Matter protests in unusual confrontation in West Town

“ Right now it ’ s almost become a food desert because there ’ s been a lot of looting @ @ @ @ @ travel like 15 minutes for a pharmacy and residents got ta go 20 minutes away @ @ @ @ @ said Jahmal Cole , founder of My Block , My Hood , My City , @ @ @ @ @ low-income neighborhoods .
That group , along with The Social Consult , GoodKids MadCity and @ @ @ @ @ the event .

Megan Crepeau, William Lee, Kaitlin Edquist

The crowd outside Nini’s Deli was starting to thin Sunday afternoon as Justin Starns watched his friend add more spray paint to the plywood boarding up the restaurant: “BLM,” in all caps, in baby blue.
He was taken by surprise, he said, when a black woman walked up and demanded to know: “Oh, is that for me? Does my life matter?”
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She and another woman “said I’m getting paid by (liberal hedge fund billionaire) George Soros, I’m a house Negro,” said Starns, who is black.
On a day when Mayor Lori Lightfoot lifted Chicago’s curfew and several peaceful protests were held, an unusual confrontation took place in West Town: Two black women, who only identified themselves as Bevelyn and Edmee, denounced the Black Lives Matter movement as demonic and fraudulent before a group of mostly white and Latino demonstrators.
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Bevelyn, second from right, screams at Sam LeBlanc, left, outside Nini's Deli in Chicago during a demonstration in response to the restaurant's owner Juan Elias-Riesco's recent controversial comments. Bevelyn went to the boarded up restaurant in support of Elias-Riesco. (Raquel Zaldivar/Chicago Tribune)
Edmee, center, pulls down posters outside Nini's Deli. (Raquel Zaldivar/Chicago Tribune)
“I see a lot of ‘Black Lives Matter,’ ” Edmee cried. “This does not represent me! This is ungodly! Jesus!”
The protest Sunday had an unlikely focal point: The now-shuttered Nini’s Deli, where the reportedly extreme homophobic and anti-Black Lives Matter views of the owner and his brother surfaced publicly last week.
Four employees quit their jobs in protest. Chicago institutions ranging from Intelligentsia Coffee to the Chicago Fire soccer team to Chance the Rapper cut ties with the restaurant, according to social media posts. The owner’s church changed its online name to the Underground Church of Chicago, and apparently took down its website, alleging that threats of violence against the group drove it into secrecy.
And Bevelyn and Edmee, who said they traveled from out of town to support Nini’s, stayed in front of the restaurant for hours, separated from the crowd by a row of expressionless police officers in helmets and visors.
Bevelyn, shorter and energetic, kicked over cans of spray paint and tore off stickers from the plywood, denouncing abortion, Democrats and Black Lives Matter with equal fervor. When the crowd broke into a chant of “Sellout! Sellout!” she began to dance, a taunting look on her face.
Edmee, tall and statuesque, spoke in the commanding cadence of a veteran preacher.
“This is demonic!” she said. “You are being used and abused!”
“Jesus got betrayed by someone like you b------ over there!” someone from the crowd shot back, inspiring a chant of “Judas! Judas! Judas!” from the demonstrators.
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When someone flicked water from a bottle at Bevelyn, the tensions escalated, and dozens of police officers lined up on Noble Street, two by two.
“This man’s business was beat to the ground in the name of Black Lives Matter,” Bevelyn told the Tribune in an interview conducted in shouts between the barrier of police officers. “This is evil. This is ungodly.”
Bevelyn and Edmee, whose website describes them as traveling ministers, wanted to show support for the owner of Nini’s after meeting his pastor last week, Bevelyn said.
“We have the right to say we don’t support LGBTQ because it’s an abomination,” she said. “I have the right to say that ... even if (the owner) was a racist, he had a right to be one.”
Bevelyn, right, and her friend Edmee, third from right, argue with Chicago police officers outside Nini's Deli. (Raquel Zaldivar/Chicago Tribune)
Meanwhile, officers were stoic, apart from their quiet speculation on the fringes of the crowd about which side would last longer in the June heat.
It took nearly three hours. By 3:45, Bevelyn, Edmee and a few supporters announced they were leaving, to widespread cheers.
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“Does anyone want to get baptized?” one of them called out. The demonstrators erupted into laughter as police escorted them south on Noble Street and peacefully out of sight.
But Sunday also brought some breathing room to a city that had grown tense in the aftermath of protests, looting and general unrest.
Lightfoot lifted the 9 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew, and the city restored Loop street access and CTA service. Those measures were put in place last weekend after a sometimes-tense downtown protest against police brutality wound down and widespread looting and breaking of windows began.
Floyd’s death sparked outrage across the country after video surfaced showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes straight.
Demonstrators gather for a peace walk on East 79th Street in Chatham in solidarity with George Floyd and families broken by police brutality. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
The protests continued Sunday morning in Chicago, where a multiracial crowd of hundreds of people gathered at one of the South Side’s busiest intersections.
Starting at 79th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, at least 300 demonstrators walked a mile to a bank parking lot on State Street. Organizers began giving away 1,000 meals to hungry residents from the Chatham, Auburn Gresham and Englewood neighborhoods following unrest that left numerous nearby businesses temporarily closed.
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While the protest resembled other peace marches, with participants holding Black Lives Matter signs, organizers also sought to call attention to the lack of stores after looting.
“Right now it’s almost become a food desert because there’s been a lot of looting, and seniors have to travel like 15 minutes for a pharmacy and residents gotta go 20 minutes away to get milk,” said Jahmal Cole, founder of My Block, My Hood, My City, which leads volunteer initiatives in low-income neighborhoods. That group, along with The Social Consult, GoodKids MadCity and D.O.P.E. Youth, sponsored the event.
Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, added that shuttered pharmacies are of particular concern because of the number of senior citizens affected.
“Literally every minute, seniors were pulling up saying, ‘Where am I going to get my prescription? I need my heart medication,’” he said. “And it was devastating that I couldn’t give them a definite answer.”
Demonstrators including a band march through the Beverly neighborhood on June 7, 2020, for police accountability. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
A demonstrator wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt marches through the Beverly neighborhood. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
A few hours later and about 5 miles southwest, at least 300 people gathered in Beverly, a multiracial neighborhood of large homes and green lawns that is home to many Chicago police.
As hundreds of mostly young people marched up Longwood Drive to a drumbeat of “Black Lives Matter,” some residents like Brenda Carter came outside to wave at protesters.
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“It’s long overdue,” said Carter, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years.
And on the other end of the city, in north suburban Evanston, hundreds of demonstrators filled Fountain Square, some spilling into the surrounding streets and blocks as they tried to socially distance.
Cook County Judge Lionel Jean-Baptiste addressed the crowd, urging attendees to continue to study and learn about racism and keep fighting for reform.
“While we suffer setbacks, the motion forward is the absolute,” he said. “We are never going to go backward. We’re going to go forward.”
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
wlee@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-07--George Floyd fallout: Lightfoot lifts Chicago curfew; peaceful protesters march through South Side p

George Floyd fallout: Lightfoot lifts Chicago curfew; peaceful protesters march through South Side police neighborhoods; hundreds rally for reform in Evanston

“ I felt compelled to do this because I ’ ve worked in this theater for years and I ’ @ @ @ @ @ by this theater , and I ’ ve been taught about a safe space , @ @ @ @ @ William Boles , who said he was one of the organizers .
“ To see @ @ @ @ @ being silent during this time is very upsetting .
There is nothing on their signage @ @ @ @ @ And after the events of this past week , artistic organizations who are not saying @ @ @ @ @ out .
”

For the latest updates, check out Monday’s live blog here.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Sunday announced that the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. city curfew has been lifted, effective immediately. The city also announced that CTA rail and bus service resumed in the downtown area Sunday, a day after a crowd estimated at 20,000 people marched to the Near North Side.
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Meanwhile, a crowd of at least 300 people gathered at a Southwest Side park for a march set for neighborhoods where Chicago police officers live. The march, organized by the group Black Rising, was the second peaceful march through the Far Southwest Side on Sunday.
Later on Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators filled Fountain Square in Evanston, some spilling into the surrounding streets and blocks as they tried to socially distance.
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[ Tribune photographers capture the protests and unrest in Chicago ]
[ Who are the activists behind the protests? Meet the Faces of the Fallout ]
[ Get breaking news as it happens with email alerts from the Tribune ]
Here are the latest developments:
5:47 p.m.: Hundreds rally for reform in Evanston
Hundreds of demonstrators filled Fountain Square in Evanston Sunday afternoon, some spilling into the surrounding streets and blocks as they tried to socially distance.
Several local groups joined together to organize the Rally to Support Black Lives. More than a dozen people spoke to the crowd about the importance of understanding the history of racism, the need for police reform and ways that people can take action moving forward.
“We’ve been screaming this for over 400 years,” said Jared Davis, one of the rally organizers. “For whatever reason, other people have not wanted to believe us.”
Attendees held signs emblazoned with the words, “Black Lives Matter,” “Defund the police” and “No justice, no peace.” The names of those who have died at the hands of police over the years covered the sidewalks in colorful chalk.
Corey Winchester teaches history and sociology at Evanston Township High School. He talked to the crowd about the need to support all black lives, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. He also called out for white allies to break their silence and step up to join in the fight against racism.
“I did not cause [the fight],” he said. “I did not start it. I didn’t ask for it. Your ancestors did, and it’s the inheritance that we all have. This is yours to help solve.”
Another speaker, Judge Lionel Jean Baptiste, urged people to continue to study and learn about racism and to keep fighting to reform society. His words and the words of other speakers were echoed by demonstrators shouting out that the world could not go back to “normal” after this.
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“While we suffer setbacks, the motion forward is the absolute,” Jean Baptiste said. “We are never going to go backward. We’re going to go forward.” — Kaitlin Edquist
5:04 p.m.: 2 black women denounce BLM at deli protest
The third day of protests outside a shuttered West Town deli took an unusual twist Sunday when two black women stood before the crowd and denounced them in the name of Christianity.
“I see a lot of ‘Black Lives Matter,’” said one woman, identified only by her first name, Edmee. “This does not represent me! This is ungodly! Jesus!”
“Y’all work for George Soros!” her friend Bevelyn said. “Y’all doing this for Antifa!”
The crowd — mostly white and Latino — had gathered to demonstrate outside Nini’s Deli after the restaurant’s owner and his brother reportedly expressed anti-Black Lives Matter and anti-gay sentiments.
Bevelyn, right, and her friend Edmee, third from right, argue with Chicago police officers outside Nini's Deli in Chicago during a demonstration on June 7, 2020, in response to the restaurant's owner Juan Elias-Riesco's recent controversial comments. Bevelyn and Edmee went to the boarded up restaurant in support of Elias-Riesco. (Raquel Zaldivar/Chicago Tribune)
The women, who said they had traveled from out of town to support Nini’s owner, stayed in front of the restaurant for three hours, separated from the crowd only by a row of stoic police officers in baby-blue helmets and visors.
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They tore down stickers posted on the boarded-up restaurant’s exterior, kicked over cans of spray paint that had been used to write “BLM” on the plywood, and told members of the crowd that their movement was demonic.
“Jesus got betrayed by someone like you b------ over there!” someone from the crowd shot back, inspiring a chant of “Judas! Judas! Judas!” from the demonstrators.
After about three hours of impassioned back-and-forth heckling, the women and a handful of supporters announced they were leaving and were escorted away by police as the crowd cheered. – Megan Crepeau
4:20 p.m.: Marching through police neighborhoods
A crowd of at least 300 people gathered at a Southwest Side park for a march set for neighborhoods where Chicago police officers live.
The march, organized by the group Black Rising, was the second peaceful march through the Far Southwest Side on Sunday.
Demonstrators including a band march through the Beverly neighborhood on June 7, 2020, for police accountability. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
After negotiating a protest route with local police, the afternoon march stepped off from Barnard Park in Beverly.
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As hundreds of mostly young people marched up Longwood Drive to a drumbeat of “Black Lives Matter,” some residents like Brenda Carter came outside to wave at protesters. “It’s long overdue,” said Carter, who has lived in the neighborhood of large homes for 25 years.
Organizers are calling for the defunding of police and taking officers out of Chicago Public Schools, in addition to calling for police reforms. — William Lee
12:44 p.m.: Chicago curfew is lifted
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Sunday announced that the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. city curfew has been lifted, effective immediately.
“I know this time in our city and our country has been difficult for us all, and I’m grateful to our residents for working together to navigate this challenging time,” she said on Twitter.
The curfew is lifted effective immediately. I know this time in our city and our country has been difficult for us all, and I’m grateful to our residents for working together to navigate this challenging time. — Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) June 7, 2020
Lightfoot put the curfew in place on May 30 after a sometimes-tense downtown protest against police brutality wound down and widespread looting and breaking of windows began.
Access to downtown was shut down for days as Chicago River bridges were raised and roads were blocked. The Illinois National Guard was brought in to enforce the road closures. On Sunday and Monday, looting took place in many city neighborhoods.
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As Chicago started to reopen as planned Wednesday amid the coronavirus pandemic, many bridges were lowered and some street access was restored.
Then on Friday night, the city again shut down a stretch of the iconic Lake Shore Drive through the weekend to help facilitate protesters, in hopes of preventing a repeat of last weekend’s chaotic civil unrest over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
At the time, Lightfoot said the curfew would continue and the city would hire hundreds of security providers to protect neighborhoods on the South and West sides.
Saturday’s peaceful protest drew an estimated 20,000 people, who marched from Union Park stretching across at least seven city blocks as they headed north on Ashland Avenue then east on Division Street, eventually ending up on the Near North Side.
Early Sunday, the city restored Loop street access and CTA service. — Chicago Tribune staff
12:26 p.m.: Hundreds gather for peaceful protest on South Side, give away 1,000 meals to hungry residents
A multiracial crowd of hundreds of people gathered Sunday morning at one of the South Side’s busiest intersections for a peaceful protest a week after unrest over George Floyd’s death spread across Chicago.
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Starting at 79th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, at least 300 people walked a mile to a bank parking lot on State Street. Organizers began giving away 1,000 meals to hungry residents from the Chatham, Auburn Gresham and Englewood neighborhoods following unrest that left numerous nearby businesses temporarily closed. The event was sponsored by My Block My Hood My City, The Social Consult, Good Kids Mad City, and D.O.P.E. Youth.
While the protest resembled other peace marches, with participants holding Black Lives Matter signs, organizers also sought to call attention to the lack of stores after looting.
Demonstrators gather for a peace walk on East 79th Street in Chatham on June 7, 2020, in solidarity with George Floyd and families broken by police brutality. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Jahmal Cole speaks to demonstrators gathered for a peace walk on East 79th Street in Chatham on June 7, 2020, in solidarity with George Floyd and families broken by police brutality. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
“Right now it’s almost become a food desert because there’s been a lot of looting and seniors have to travel like 15 minutes for a pharmacy and residents gotta go 20 minutes away to get milk,” said Jahmal Cole, founder of My Block, My Hood, My City, which leads volunteer initiatives in low-income neighborhoods.
Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, added that shuttered pharmacies was of particular concern because of the number of senior citizens affected.
“Literally every minute, seniors were pulling up saying ‘Where am I going to get my prescription? I need my heart medication,’” he said. “And it was devastating that I couldn’t give them a definite answer.”
Grammy-award winning songwriter and Chatham resident Che “Rhymefest” Smith revved up the crowd in his calls for equity of security, claiming poor neighborhoods were left to fend for themselves while downtown was protected. Smith told the crowd that he didn’t want to talk to Mayor Lori Lightfoot “as a politician, but like an auntie” whom he wanted to understand was making crucial community decisions. — William Lee
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11:32 a.m.: At Victory Gardens, boarded up windows turned into billboards for a theater artists’ protest
At least 100 activists from the Chicago theater community gathered outside Victory Gardens Theater on Saturday afternoon to protest both the George Floyd killing by Minneapolis police and recent staffing changes at the venerable Chicago theater company, located in the historic Biograph Theatre in Lincoln Park.
Prior to the gathering at 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., several scenic artists from the theater had used the boards as canvases for an artistic protest.
“I felt compelled to do this because I’ve worked in this theater for years and I’ve been taught about equality by this theater, and I’ve been taught about a safe space,” said the scenic designer William Boles, who said he was one of the organizers. “To see a theater that I respect being silent during this time is very upsetting. There is nothing on their signage. Just empty plywood. And after the events of this past week, artistic organizations who are not saying anything deserve to be called out.”
Several of the peaceful protesters outside the theater Saturday said they were infuriated by the theater’s decision to board up its glass frontage rather than follow the model of such New York theaters as the New York Public Theatre and the Atlantic Theatre in opening lobbies and welcoming protesters with water and other shows of support. Read more here. — Chris Jones
10:52 a.m.: Chicago police investigating protest video where officer is heard using gay slur
Chicago police say they are investigating a video in which an officer is heard using a gay slur during a confrontation with protesters last weekend.
On the video posted to social media, an officer is seen carrying a stop sign and walking toward a police van. A traffic cone and barricade are thrown in the officer’s direction as his back is turned to protesters. The officer turns and yells the slur and curses at the protesters, who curse back. Read more here. — Chicago Tribune Staff
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7:50 a.m. Sunday: City restores CTA and street access to Loop
CTA rail and bus service has resumed in the downtown area as of 5 a.m., according to a tweet by Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management & Communications. The tweet says some bus routes may continue to be rerouted due to street/bridge closures. Lake Shore Drive, I-90/94 and I-290 were also open, and all bridges in the loop will be lowered and open by 9 a.m.
NOTIFY CHICAGO: Lake Shore Drive, I-90/94 and I-290 will open at 5 a.m. Also, all bridges in the loop will be lowered and open by 9 a.m. — Chicago OEMC (@ChicagoOEMC) June 7, 2020
6:24 p.m.: Two people arrested Friday for defacement to public property during Naperville protest
Naperville police on Friday arrested two people for criminal defacement to public property during a protest downtown that drew a crowd of about 200 people, a news release from the police department said.
When police developed what they say was reliable information some in the group intended to commit “criminal acts,” police lines were established to help control the crowd, police said.
“As some of the members of the protest group began to actively engage police officers and state their intent to break through the police lines, a lawful order to disperse was given by police command,” the news release said. Read more here. —Erin Hegarty
4:02 p.m.: More than a half-century after MLK’s rally in Winnetka, thousands of North Shore residents gather to denounce racism
Fifty-five years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped up to decry segregated housing during a historic visit to the Winnetka Village Green, more than 4,000 North Shore residents gathered Saturday at the same site for a peaceful protest to denounce racism and demand change.
“Stop procrastinating and put action to words,” Alzario Palmer, 20, said in a speech to the crowd. “Let’s do it today, tomorrow and forever."
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A student at Arrupe College at Loyola University Chicago, and a 2018 graduate of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Palmer, who is African American, said, “I haven’t felt safe for the 20 years I’ve been on this earth.”
The passionate crowd of students, young families and senior citizens began their march through the affluent, lakeshore community at New Trier High School’s Winnetka campus, pausing briefly at Dwyer Park in the village’s downtown business district before concluding their procession with a rally at the Village Green. There they took a knee to pay homage to George Floyd, the African American man whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked nationwide outrage. Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
3:31 p.m.: March and rally ends on Near North Side
The march and concluding rally at a grassy area on the Near North Side ended just after 3 p.m. after performances by several young poets, and continued denunciations by speakers and organizers of systemic racism and what they described as “genocide” by police against African Americans.
Dom Brown, one of the March organizers, told the crowd that the demonstration was just the start and that participants need to redouble their efforts going forward to fight for a just and equitable society for all. He urged people to vote, and specifically called out white participants to confront racism wherever and whenever they may witness it.
“The work starts today,” he told the crowd. “This is our country and we have to take it back.” —Gary Marx
3:23 p.m.: In wake of looting, Chicago to spend $1.2 million on private security firms to help protect businesses
The city of Chicago will spend up to $1.2 million to hire three private security firms to help prevent a repeat of last weekend’s chaotic civil unrest and looting that erupted amid protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said.
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The city has hired Illinois Security Professionals, AGB Investigative Services and Monterrey Security “to supply more than 100 private security guards to protect the local retail shops, grocery stores and pharmacies that community members rely on every single day.”
“The new guards are unarmed and solely in place to monitor activity on commercial corridors and notify the Chicago Police Department if any illegal activity occurs,” Lightfoot’s office said in a statement. “None of the security guards have policing powers, but are another set of eyes and ears to support efforts to deter looters. All security officers will wear visible identification.” Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
1:42 p.m.: Police estimate the crowd of marchers at about 20,000
Police estimate the crowd of marchers at about 20,000, stretching at least 7 blocks as it moves east on Division.
Police say so far there have been no arrests or disturbances.
Police are lining the protest route, walking on the sidewalks as marchers continue to chant anti-police slogans and demand justice for George Floyd. At one point marchers stopped, took a knee and raised a clenched fist to protest police killings of African Americans.
Volunteers handed out water and snacks and even provided hand sanitizer for marchers. Onlookers applauded, or shouted “black lives matter” as the marchers passed.
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Outside the East Village Dental Center on Ashland four dental assistants in blue uniforms took photographs of the marchers.
“We support them,” said Andrea Hernandez. “They are fighting for the right things.” —Gary Marx
11:56 a.m.: Union Park peaceful and even celebratory as protestors hold signs demanding the defunding of police
The crowd in Union Park, numbering in the thousands, listened to activists, poets and others demanding police accountability and the dismantling of systemic racism.
The crowd, spread out deep over a grassy area, was peaceful and even celebratory as protestors held signs demanding the defunding of police and the end of what they called the immunity for bad cops. "Fund schools, not police,” read on placard. “No peace, No Justice,” read another.
“I want to end indiscriminate police brutality,” said Isaac Narayan, a law student and protester. “It disproportionately affects black and brown communities.”
Among the other demands of the organizers is the immediate release of all protesters in custody, criminal prosecution for all police who abuse protesters, and a lifting of the citywide curfew.
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“Power!,” an organizer shouted from the stage. “Power to the people!” the crowd responded.
From the stage, organizers urged the crowd to be peaceful. In addition to speeches, organizers were registering new voters. There was no visible police presence in the park. —Gary Marx
10:55 a.m.: Protesters gather at Union Park
Protesters early Saturday to gather on a sunny and cool day at Union Park for what is being called the “Chicago March of Justice.”
Organizers who identified themselves as Dom Brown and Kay Buzz said they are expecting several thousand people to take part in the demonstration, which will includes speeches by activists and others before a three-mile long march into the Loop.
The demonstration is one of several scheduled on Saturday in the city and suburbs, and the latest in more than a week of protests of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis
Protesters are demanding the dismantling what they describe as a system of racism that “does not allow people of color to thrive,” said Buzz.
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Among the other demands are the redirecting of funds now going to the police department to education and other programs aimed at improving the lives of African Americans and other people of color. They also want civilian oversight of police misconduct hearings.
“We want justice for every black life brutally taken by police,” said Brown. Brown said that organizers have not secured a permit for the protest, nor have they coordinated with Chicago police. But they have been in touch with the local alderman’s office and expect no trouble.
“We have the First Amendment right to gather peacefully in protest,” Brown said. —Gary Marx
9:23 a.m.: Hundreds peacefully march on Friday evening to call for defunding the Chicago Police Department
Four friends in a silver Jeep with large speakers in the back and the top off drove along side streets and alleys on Friday, following the route of a protest march calling for the Chicago Police Department to be defunded.
They blasted house music, hung the flag of Puerto Rico off the side of their vehicle and held hand made signs reading “Peace Love Unity” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Protesters on foot danced and cheered as they passed the Jeep.
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“We love music so we wanted to give it to the people. Give them something to march to, to keep them going,” said one of the Jeep’s occupants Naitsirhc Gnarly, 22, of Gage Park.
“We wanted to spread a good message of love.”
The protest started around 6 p.m. in Union Park on the Near West Side. It was organized by several organizations including Black Lives Matter Chicago, Chicago AfroSocialist + Socialists of Color Caucus and Right to Recovery Coalition. It began with speakers who stood on the top of metal bleachers, leaned over the railing and spoke into a microphone.
“I need you all to know that it does not stop here. We came here with demands. We didn’t just come here to march. We didn’t just come here to say ‘Black Lives Matter.' We came here to get a change," said a speaker with Black Lives Matter Chicago.
Hundreds listened and cheered in response as vehicles on Ashland Avenue honked.
The protest was one of many in Chicago and nationwide over the last couple weeks sparked by the death of George Floyd while under arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was captured on video with his knee into Floyd’s neck despite Floyd’s protestations that he was unable to breathe. Read more here. —Paige Fry
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5 a.m.: Once again, Madison Street struggles to recover from unrest. ‘I am worried. Hell yeah, I’m worried.’
Ronelle Mustin walked up to African Food & Liquor on West Madison Street, nodded hello to the owner’s son and peered through a window grate that had been bent back into an angry snarl by looters the day before.
The vandals had yanked out the corner shop’s shelves and left the floor carpeted with food boxes and bottles. Electronic equipment was tipped over and destroyed.
“It feels like rage,” said Mustin, 72, a longtime political and social justice advocate known as the “Cake Man" because he delivers snacks to this stretch of Madison. “A misplaced rage. I think a lot of it is, when you lose hope, nothing matters. You know what I mean?”
It reminded Mustin and others on the strip of the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 that struck a heavy blow on Madison Street in Garfield Park, a stretch that had bustled with movie palaces, hotels and a Goldblatt’s department store.
They are gone but Madison is still “the main vein” of the West Side despite chronic lack of economic investment. It’s a busy strip of destination clothing and shoe shops and hardworking business owners who are now facing a new challenge.
This time it's from the unrest after a white police officer in Minnesota placed a knee on George Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes during an arrest, killing him.
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“I don’t know which way we go from here,” said Siri Hibbler, head of the Garfield Park Chamber of Commerce. “This is the shopping district of the West Side of Chicago. There is no other area that you can go into that has shopping and retail like Madison and Pulaski, all the way down to Kostner. So we really need some support over here.”
That comeback may not include African Food & Liquor, which has been on the block for 30 years.
“Honestly, we are still thinking about what’s going on," said 24-year-old Ihab Mousa, son of the owner. "We don’t even know what to do.” Read more here. —Jeremy Gorner and Annie Sweeney
9:53 p.m. Friday: Cupich: Chicago-area Catholic schools to include George Floyd death, fallout in fall curriculum
As Chicago and the country grapple with the fallout from George Floyd’s killing, Cardinal Blase Cupich said he plans to use this pivotal moment as a teaching tool for the Archdiocese of Chicago’s students in the fall.
In an in-person interview at the rectory at Holy Name Cathedral, Cupich said the archdiocese’s goal is to have all Catholic school students participate in a discussion about Floyd’s killing and its aftermath.
“I think we need an educational piece in our parishes, in our schools, in our religious education," Cupich said. "And we’re looking to put that together for this fall because racism is taught. Nobody is born with it.” Read more here. —Javonte Anderson


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Demonstrations continue throughout weekend in Chicago

Thousands of protesters gather in Union Park on June 6 , 2020 , and listen to activists , poets and @ @ @ @ @ the dismantling of systemic racism before embarking on a planned march downtown .
On June @ @ @ @ @ the city with a peace walk on East 79th Street , a protest in support @ @ @ @ @ Beverly and a demonstration outside Nini 's Deli following controversial comments by its owner .

Bevelyn, right, and her friend Edmee, third from right, argue with Chicago police officers outside Nini's Deli in Chicago during a demonstration on June 7, 2020, in response to recent controversial comments by the restaurant's owner, Juan Elias-Riesco. Bevelyn and Edmee went to the boarded-up restaurant in support of Elias-Riesco. (Raquel Zaldivar/Chicago Tribune)


chicagotribune--2020-06-09--Case closed in Evanston school employee accused of assaulting student; no charges, police say

The Pioneer Press is not naming the Haven employee because he has not been charged with a crime , nor @ @ @ @ @ ’ s father , who has filed the lawsuit , to protect her identity .

Evanston police said they have closed the investigation into a Haven Middle School employee accused of sexually assaulting a 7th grade girl last fall and will not recommend that charges be filed.
“We’ve closed the case. There’s going to be no arrest,” said Evanston Police Commander Brian Henry on Monday. “Investigators determined there was not enough evidence to establish probable cause to screen the case with the state’s attorney’s office.”
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Meanwhile, Andrew Stroth, an attorney for the girl’s family, said her father has filed a lawsuit Monday against both the Haven employee and Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in Cook County District Court.
The Pioneer Press is not naming the Haven employee because he has not been charged with a crime, nor is it naming the girl’s father, who has filed the lawsuit, to protect her identity.
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According to the lawsuit, on Oct. 4, 2019, the girl was sexually assaulted when she “left her seventh-grade classroom in the Haven building to go to the girls’ washroom.”
The lawsuit comes after the father filed legal documents in May seeking the school employee’s name while Evanston police continued to investigate the incident.
The school employee was placed on leave after the allegations surfaced last fall, district officials said at the time. Both Evanston police and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services were notified when the allegations were made.
In October, school district officials said they conduct fingerprint-based criminal background checks for every hire and cross-reference names with state and national sexual and violent offender registries before hiring.
All schools also have video-monitoring systems, officials said at the time, and they were looking at “any other best practices to strengthen the safety in our schools at all times.”
gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-09--George Floyd response: Public defenders march in solidarity around Cook County Jail; Pritzker sugges

George Floyd response: Public defenders march in solidarity around Cook County Jail; Pritzker suggests call to ‘defund the police’ is obstacle to reform

“ Early last week , after listening to the voices of the artists , staff and others in the artistic @ @ @ @ @ growing outrage with decisions by the Board after Chay Yew resigned , I had decided @ @ @ @ @ role , '' Daniels said in a prepared statement .
`` Unfortunately , the vitriol @ @ @ @ @ days , which included many hurtful and personal accusations and misstatements about me .
I @ @ @ @ @ Gardens and its mission to let this continue , and therefore I have decided to @ @ @ @ @ have always been committed to the mission and values of Victory Gardens and leave here @ @ @ @ @ work that Chay and I did together.
” Read more here .
— Chris Jones

A crowd gathered in the Pilsen neighborhood Monday evening outside Lincoln United Methodist Church to share in good food, beautiful weather, live music and a collective call for unity.
A throng of Cook County public defenders demonstrated outside Cook County’s main criminal courthouse on Monday in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and for many, it was personal. Some 200 people, including public defenders, their family members and some private defense attorneys, turned out for a rally outside the Leighton Criminal Court Building and a march around the massive county jail complex.
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Also on Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker called the rallying cry to defund the police “a poor use of words to describe what many people really want.”
The Democratic governor suggested a reframing of the concept to better connect with the public.
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After days of tensions and disturbances, Chicagoans saw a weekend of peaceful marches and greet the week with no more curfews and CTA buses and trains running through downtown again.
[ Tribune photographers capture the protests and unrest in Chicago ]
[ Who are the activists behind the protests? Meet the Faces of the Change ]
[ Get breaking news as it happens with email alerts from the Tribune ]
Here are the latest developments:
7:10 p.m. (Updated 8:39 p.m.) : Crowds rally for black, Latino unity and ‘the power of community’
A crowd gathered in the Pilsen neighborhood Monday evening outside Lincoln United Methodist Church to share in good food, beautiful weather, live music and a collective call for unity.
Attendees filled the intersection near South Damen Avenue and West 22nd Place for the Together We Rise Black & Brown Rally, hosted by activists Tanya Lozano and Bella Bahhs.
Some finished marking up their signs with messages like “Defund the Police” and “White Silence Is Violence” on patches of grass while volunteers walked around with snacks like roasted ham, lamb tacos and chocolate chip cookies.
A few artists added finishing touches to table-size tableaus along the fence as smoke billowed up from grills. What organizers called “music of resistance” started from a stage and continued as the crowd grew, stretching back toward West Cermak Road.
Speakers, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, and the Lozano family, urged unity in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. Read more here. — Morgan Greene
6:32 p.m.: Public defenders march around Cook County Jail in solidarity with colleagues, Black Lives Matter
A throng of Cook County public defenders demonstrated outside Cook County’s main criminal courthouse on Monday in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and for many, it was personal.
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“It is a different life being a black public defender, because these are our people every day who are ushered through those doors,” Assistant Public Defender Ashley Shambley told the assembled crowd.
"Those are our people ... you see the terrified and depressed looks on their faces when they enter that building, knowing they do not have a fair shake the moment they had those cuffs put upon them, for no other reason than the color of their skin.”
Some 200 people, including public defenders, their family members and some private defense attorneys, turned out for a rally outside the Leighton Criminal Court Building and a march around the massive county jail complex. Read more here. — Megan Crepeau
5:25 p.m.: Judge refuses to release man accused of torching Chicago cop car while wearing Joker mask, saying he’s skipped other cases
A man accused of setting fire to a Chicago police car while wearing a Joker mask will remain in federal custody, though the judge overseeing the case asked that prison officials continue physical and mental health treatment during the detention.
At a hearing Monday, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes approved prosecutors’ request to keep Timothy O’Donnell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center pending trial, based on a criminal record that includes nine instances of bond forfeiture and failure to appear in five states, including Illinois. Read more here. — William Lee
5:10 p.m.: Following protests, Erica Daniels to exit Victory Gardens Theater
Erica Daniels, the executive director of Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater, said Monday that she was leaving the theater, the site of protests in recent days over a decision to board up the theater during the fallout from the George Floyd killing and the choice not to hold a national search to replace the departing artistic director, Chay Yew. Daniels had been appointed to a combined job giving her both artistic and executive directorships.
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“Early last week, after listening to the voices of the artists, staff and others in the artistic community who expressed disagreement and growing outrage with decisions by the Board after Chay Yew resigned, I had decided to cede the Artistic Director role," Daniels said in a prepared statement. "Unfortunately, the vitriol has really escalated in recent days, which included many hurtful and personal accusations and misstatements about me. I care too much about Victory Gardens and its mission to let this continue, and therefore I have decided to leave the Theater. I have always been committed to the mission and values of Victory Gardens and leave here very proud of the outstanding work that Chay and I did together.” Read more here. — Chris Jones
5:09 p.m.: Gov. J.B. Pritzker suggests ‘defund the police’ is a messaging obstacle to get police reforms
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday called the rallying cry to defund the police “a poor use of words to describe what many people really want.”
President Donald Trump has seized on the phrase protesters are using in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. The Democratic governor suggested a reframing of the concept to better connect with the public.
“It’s change,” Pritzker said. “They want fundamental change in the way that police operate.”
The governor also said his office is “looking hard” at the possibility of state licensing for police officers, an idea that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul suggested in an interview last week with WBEZ-FM 91.5.
“You have to think about, what are the methods by which people can be disciplined if they’re not going to get disciplined by their own police departments, if the investigations are taking place by a police department that may not want to hold some of their officers accountable for the kind of behavior that I think we would all find reprehensible?” said Pritzker at a news conference to announce steps the Illinois Department of Insurance is taking to assist businesses filing claims over damaged sustained amid the fallout over Floyd’s death. Read more here. — Dan Petrella
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4:19 p.m.: Protest in Naperville draws 150-200 people as march stops at police station and continues throughout the city
A group of 150 to 200 protesters marched west on Aurora Avenue toward the Naperville police station from the city’s downtown area Monday afternoon.
“A large protest has formed and is currently marching on Aurora Avenue in downtown Naperville. Their final destination is not known at this time," a notification from the city said. “For the safety of all participants and motorists in and near the area, please use extreme caution was traveling near downtown during this time.”
There were no road closures in effect as of about 3 p.m., but protesters continued walking throughout the city and occasionally taking a knee in the roadways, Naperville police Cmdr. Mike Son said.
The Monday afternoon action follows more than a week of largely peaceful protests led mostly by younger people to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and to call for an end to racism and police brutality. One held June 1 in Naperville ended with violence, destruction and looting. Read more here. — Erin Hegarty
11:42 a.m.: Congressional Democrats unveil sweeping police reform legislation, take a knee at the Capitol for 8 minutes and 46 seconds
Democrats proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures Monday, an ambitious legislative response to the mass protests denouncing the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.
Before unveiling the package, House and Senate Democrats held a moment of silence at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, reading the names of George Floyd and others killed during police interactions. They knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — now a symbol of police brutality and violence — the length of time prosecutors say Floyd was pinned under a white police officer’s knee before he died.
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“We cannot settle for anything less than transformative structural change,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, drawing on the nation’s history of slavery. Read more here. —Associated Press
6:30 a.m.: The criminal charges that have emerged in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death have run the gamut
The situation in downtown Chicago was rapidly devolving last Saturday afternoon when a young man in a grinning “Joker” mask allegedly walked up to a police SUV, set it ablaze, then sat down on the curb to roll himself a cigarette.
Hours later, a downstate man was arrested in the Loop allegedly with homemade explosives in his car after police said he posted videos of himself on Facebook looting stores and saying he’d come to the city to riot.
On Monday, a 19-year-old father of two was captured running from a looted video game store on the city’s Southwest Side with a loaded .357 Magnum. He allegedly told police he was on his way to loot another store when he decided to hit up the GameStop and get some toys for his children.
The three were among hundreds arrested amid the citywide chaos that gripped Chicago for days, along with otherwise peaceful marches against police brutality sparked by George Floyd’s death in Minnesota. Read more here. —Jason Meisner, William Lee and Megan Crepeau
6:15 a.m.: Once again, Madison Street struggles to recover from unrest. ‘I am worried. Hell yeah, I’m worried.’
Ronelle Mustin walked up to African Food & Liquor on West Madison Street, nodded hello to the owner’s son and peered through a window grate that had been bent back into an angry snarl by looters the day before.
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The vandals had yanked out the corner shop’s shelves and left the floor carpeted with food boxes and bottles. Electronic equipment was tipped over and destroyed.
“It feels like rage,” said Mustin, 72, a longtime political and social justice advocate known as the “Cake Man" because he delivers snacks to this stretch of Madison. “A misplaced rage. I think a lot of it is, when you lose hope, nothing matters. You know what I mean?” Read more here. —Annie Sweeney and Jeremy Gorner
6 a.m.: Two black women denounce Black Lives Matter protests in unusual confrontation in West Town
The crowd outside Nini’s Deli was starting to thin Sunday afternoon as Justin Starns watched his friend add more spray paint to the plywood boarding up the restaurant: “BLM,” in all caps, in baby blue.
He was taken by surprise, he said, when a black woman walked up and demanded to know: “Oh, is that for me? Does my life matter?”
She and another woman “said I’m getting paid by (liberal hedge fund billionaire) George Soros, I’m a house Negro,” said Starns, who is black.
On a day when Mayor Lori Lightfoot lifted Chicago’s curfew and several peaceful protests were held, an unusual confrontation took place in West Town: Two black women, who only identified themselves as Bevelyn and Edmee, denounced the Black Lives Matter movement as demonic and fraudulent before a group of mostly white and Latino demonstrators. Read more here. —Megan Crepeau, William Lee and Kaitlin Edquist


chicagotribune--2020-06-09--The International Manufacturing Technology Show, expected to bring more than 129,000 attendees to Ch

The International Manufacturing Technology Show, expected to bring more than 129,000 attendees to Chicago, canceled over coronavirus uncertainty

Organizers announced Monday they pulled the plug because ofuncertainty surrounding when conventions can resume in Illinois under Gov .
J.B. @ @ @ @ @ plan .
Currently , the state is in the beginning of phase three , but @ @ @ @ @ 50 people wouldn ’ t be able to resume until phase five .

The International Manufacturing Technology Show, the city’s largest trade show at McCormick Place drawing tens of thousands of attendees, has been canceled amid the coronavirus health crisis.
The show, which was scheduled to take place at McCormick Place Sept. 14-19, had more than 129,000 people signed up to attend, and was expected to account for more than 99,300 hotel room nights, McCormick Place spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty said.
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The nearly 100 events scheduled for McCormick Place that have now been scrapped were expected to generate more than $1.4 billion, including spending at hotels, restaurants, entertainment and transportation, McCafferty said.
The Association for Manufacturing Technology, a McLean, Virginia, trade group, owns and manages the show, which has been held every even-numbered year in Chicago since 1947. The event, known as IMTS, draws attendees from more than 100 countries to showcase industrial machinery and technology. In 2014, engineers built a car using a 3-D printer.
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Organizers announced Monday they pulled the plug because ofuncertainty surrounding when conventions can resume in Illinois under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s five-phase reopening plan. Currently, the state is in the beginning of phase three, but large gatherings of more than 50 people wouldn’t be able to resume until phase five.
In order to reach that phase, a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, needs to be available or there needs to be a highly effective treatment in place.
Peter Eelman, vice president of exhibitions and chief experience officer for the association, said it was unlikely that would happen before the show was slated to begin in September. Also, the size of the event made it particularly challenging, he said.
“Without any trades show having started yet, we are a pretty big lift,” Eelman said in an interview.
The association plans to return in September 2022. “We are going to continue to support Chicago as it brings trade shows back to the city,” Eelman said.
Eelman said the show’s organizers are working to create two digital programs, called IMTS Network and IMTS Spark, to connect exhibitors and the manufacturing community. IMTS Spark will provide educational and networking opportunities, he said.
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Visitors who registered for the event also have the options to receive a refund or transfer their registration fee to a tax-deductible donation to Miles For Manufacturing, a 5k run raising funds for programs that prepare students for careers in manufacturing technology.
More than 96 events scheduled for McCormick Place, drawing more than 844,000 attendees and occupying some 850,000 hotel room nights, have canceled since March due to health concerns associated with the coronavirus pandemic, according to McCafferty.
McCormick Place had its first event cancellation related to the COVID-19 pandemic March 2 after Rosemont-based International Housewares Association called off their trade-only event, The Inspired Home Show, which was scheduled for mid-March.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
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Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-06-08--Horse racing without spectators begins at Hawthorne, but Arlington International Racecourse is stuck

Horse racing without spectators begins at Hawthorne, but Arlington International Racecourse is stuck at the gate

Arlington is proposing a truncated 30-day race schedule , down from the original 68 races approved by the board .
@ @ @ @ @ s proposal until Monday , with hopes the track could resolve an ongoing contract dispute @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Association .
After a weekend of negotiations , however , the racetrack and @ @ @ @ @ at an impasse that could jeopardize Arlington ’ s entire schedule this summer .

Frizell Thomas runs trains Fox Valley Jason on the track at Hawthorne Race Course on March 26, 2020 in Cicero. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Bulls may be done for the season, but the horses are back.
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Harness racing — without spectators — has resumed at Hawthorne Race Course after the Illinois Racing Board granted approval Friday. Fans aren’t able to attend the suburban Stickney facility, but they can watch the races and place wagers at Chicago-area off track betting parlors.
Arlington International Racecourse, which is looking to resume thoroughbred racing this summer, also without spectators, has been left at the starting gate — at least temporarily.
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Arlington is proposing a truncated 30-day race schedule, down from the original 68 races approved by the board. The board continued Arlington’s proposal until Monday, with hopes the track could resolve an ongoing contract dispute with the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. After a weekend of negotiations, however, the racetrack and the horsemen appear to be at an impasse that could jeopardize Arlington’s entire schedule this summer.
“We’re just not there,” racing board commissioner Thomas McCauley said during Monday’s hearing.
At issue are the overnight purse levels Arlington would guarantee for non-stakes races over the next two years.
Arlington offers $1.6 million for two stakes races each summer — the Arlington Million and the Beverly D. — which draw top horses from outside of Illinois. Those races will not be held this year.
On Friday, Tony Petrillo, Arlington’s president, said he was “distraught” over the delay in a racing season already cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“Delaying the decision today pushes us back another two days,” Petrillo said. “It’s not as easy as turning on and off a switch.”
Florent Geroux, center, celebrates as he rides The Pizza Man to first place at the finish line at Arlington International Racecourse in 2015. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)
Arlington was supposed to begin its 2020 racing schedule in April, but that was derailed by the state’s stay-at-home order in mid-March amid the coronavirus outbreak. The schedule is set to run through September.
Petrillo said Arlington needs to rehire employees that provide track and facility maintenance to get up to speed before racing can begin.
Holding sporting events without fans is gaining traction as the country emerges from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA on Thursday approved a plan to resume the season on July 31 in Orlando, with 22 teams playing in front of empty stands at one sports complex.
The Bulls didn’t make the cut of teams for the novel format, which is looking to crown a champion by October.
Getting horse racing started in Illinois is following the same playbook, at least for the summer.
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“Everybody in the industry was very happy to know that we found a solution to race without spectators,” Petrillo said.
Louisville, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs bought Arlington International Racecourse in 2000. The historic racetrack in northwest suburban Arlington Heights opened in 1927. It was destroyed by fire in 1985 and rebuilt at a cost of $200 million.
Arlington had more than 2,300 full-, part-time and seasonal employees in 2019, Petrillo told the racing board last year.
The racing board will revisit the proposed Arlington schedule June 18. If the track and the horsemen’s association have not reached an agreement by then, it is likely the entire racing season will be scratched.
“It won’t go beyond June 18 in my mind,” racing board commissioner McCauley said. “It can’t possibly go farther than that — there won’t be any horses left.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-08--Public defenders march around Cook County Jail in solidarity with colleagues, Black Lives Matter

`` Those are our people ... you see the terrified and depressed looks on their faces when they enter that @ @ @ @ @ not have a fair shake the moment they had those cuffs put upon them , @ @ @ @ @ the color of their skin .
”

Assistant Public Defender Camille Durham, center, and her allies rally at the Cook County Jail in Chicago on June 8, 2020, to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
A throng of Cook County public defenders demonstrated outside Cook County’s main criminal courthouse on Monday in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and for many, it was personal.
“It is a different life being a black public defender, because these are our people every day who are ushered through those doors,” Assistant Public Defender Ashley Shambley told the assembled crowd.
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"Those are our people ... you see the terrified and depressed looks on their faces when they enter that building, knowing they do not have a fair shake the moment they had those cuffs put upon them, for no other reason than the color of their skin.”
Some 200 people, including public defenders, their family members and some private defense attorneys, turned out for a rally outside the Leighton Criminal Court Building and a march around the massive county jail complex.
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The gathering at Chicago’s main courthouse was part of a national demonstration of solidarity. Dozens of other public defenders’ offices across the country participated in similar coordinated marches Monday.
Public defenders and their allies begin to march around the Cook County Jail in Chicago on June 8, 2020, to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Chicagoans have been protesting around the city for a week and a half in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis when a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Video of the incident sparked outrage and protests nationwide.
Several participants in Monday’s rally carried signs with a distinctly defense-lawyer bent:
“No video = Not Guilty”
“If you think the cops are racist, you should see the judge”
“I watch your BWC (body-worn cameras), your mom would not be proud”
Cook County staffers were instructed to take personal or vacation time if they wanted to participate, said Public Defender Amy Campanelli, who attended the rally in a face mask reading, “I can’t breathe.”
The fight for police accountability aligns with her office’s mission, she told the Tribune ahead of the protest.
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“No one knows it better than public defenders, who read police reports that don’t match evidence … who have seen violence perpetrated on our clients by police for decades," she said.
Some of the black public defenders who took part shared with the crowd their own experiences with police and racism.
“There is no difference between me and the people in that jail other than I wear a suit to work. When I take that jacket off, they don’t see anything but a black woman,” Takenya Nixon said.
“(Police) thrive off of fear, they terrorize my black neighborhood,” she said. “Nobody says anything because they cover for each other. There are no good cops. In my mind, there are no good cops.”
And they made repeated calls for more engagement in the justice system — voting for or against judges, acting as witnesses, and not dodging jury service.
“I am saying to my black people right now, you have to come for jury duty,” Shambley said. “You have to sit and you have to be here because they need to know ... you have to be present in that room and tell others who have nothing but positive encounters with police officers this is not all there is.”
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mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com