chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Once again, Madison Street struggles to recover from unrest. ‘I am worried. Hell yeah, I’m worried.’

“ I don ’ t know which way we go from here , ” said Siri Hibbler , head of @ @ @ @ @ Commerce .
“ This is the shopping district of the West Side of Chicago .
@ @ @ @ @ that you can go into that has shopping and retail like Madison and Pulaski , @ @ @ @ @ Kostner .
So we really need some support over here .
”

Walid Mousa sits amid the mess at his looted store, African Food & Liquor, in the 4100 block of West Madison Street on June 4, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
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.
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“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?”
Ronelle Mustin, a resident and longtime community activist on the West Side, stands in the 4100 block of West Madison Street on June 4, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
A smashed cash register inside the mess at looted African Food & Liquor in the 4100 block of West Madison Street, June 4, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
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.
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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.
“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.”
‘You tore it down’
Two days before looting hit the West Side, Chicago police officers walked the Madison Street strip to warn business owners about reports that the area was being targeted.
“They walked the street,” said Bettie Johnson, who has owned a fast-food business, Taste Bud, for 30 years on Madison. “They told everybody they (are) expecting a riot on Madison Street this weekend.”
But that still did not prepare Johnson for what she saw Sunday as a caravan of cars pulled up around 12:30 p.m. and people began jumping out. One had a bullhorn and appeared to be directing people. The large crowd — which some say was drawn to the area by social media — had a flash mob feel to it but was dangerous and tense as bricks and debris were thrown at police, witnesses told the Tribune.
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A man was shot and killed in an alley nearby, though it was not clear if it was related to the looting.
"I never thought it was going to be like the ’68 riots,” Johnson said. “I thought they would be angry with the police. I didn’t think it would go that far. They was just trying to build the neighborhood up, and now you done tore it down."
Johnson and her two employees quickly pulled the shutters and she called her husband, who came to the store with a friend. They joined forces with three men from the shop next door to guard the businesses. One of them was armed, Johnson said.
Bettie Johnson's restaurant Taste Bud remains open in the 4100 block of West Madison Street on June 3, 2020, after it was spared from looting on the block. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
"I’ve been in the neighborhood a long time," she said. “We have a lot of respect in the neighborhood, but everybody don’t know you.
“You want to get your point across, that’s understandable,” Johnson added. “But don’t tear up the 'hood you’ve got now. There’s millions of people out of jobs already on unemployment, now you’ve got some more."
A little farther down at the Solid Gold Food Mart, Woody “Pops” Safforld, 58, saw a swell of people moving down the block. He decided to lock up and stand in front — armed only with the gift of “keen conversation."
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It worked, he said a few days later as he sold bottles of pop and water from the high counter inside. “I ain’t got a lot of stuff,” he recalled telling the passing crowds. “It wouldn’t be worth it. If you’re trying to come up financially, this is not the place to be.”
Woody “Pops” Safforld behind the counter of the convenience store Solid Gold Food Mart in the 4100 block of West Madison Street June 3, 2020. He said he protected the store from looting with "keen vocabulary." (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Around the corner on Pulaski, Reena Davis made it into Mr. B’s Old Fashioned Donuts around 2 p.m. She looked out the front windows to see young men from the neighborhood standing guard outside her store.
“We were very, very fortunate," said Davis, who took over the shop in January. “They didn’t touch nothing. I was literally looking out the window watching them tear them people’s places up. You could see the anger in the people”
Cheers from looters
Other spots were not so fortunate.
For hours, scores of people walked up and down Madison Sunday afternoon, coming and going through the broken windows of a liquor store, a beauty supply store and a Family Dollar store, among others. People carried off wine, beer, clothes with tags dangling. Some used carts.
A helicopter thrummed overhead and there was constant honking from cars. Scraps of paper, unopened bottles of RC and Squirt, mannequins, broken beer bottles and other debris littered the streets and sidewalks.
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A crowd surged around African Food & Liquor. A cheer went up, an apparent signal that someone had managed to break in.
Later that evening, around 6 p.m., the guts of the store spilled out onto the corner of Keeler and Madison, food wrappers and debris blanketing the sidewalk. Inside everything from pasta sauce and onions to bags of chips, bottles of pop, liquor and a cash register was scattered throughout the store.
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The next morning, Ihab Mousa stood outside the store as Mustin and others wandered up.
Mousa’s father opened the store three decades ago after emigrating from Ramallah in the West Bank, he said. Mousa and his brothers grew up in the store — and watched others in the neighborhood grow up too.
The ransacking left his father in shock. Mousa was still struggling to understand it too. “This is a neighborhood store,” he said. “And I am close to the people … All we can do is take it one step at a time."
Jeannette Tolliver, 70, stopped at the corner, tears welling in her eyes as she described her morning taking in the scenes on Madison.
“I left home at 8:30 a.m. to come up and see here what had happened," said the 45-year resident. “And I have cried twice. I went down (to the grocery) and I started crying. They’re closed. I started walking down here and I just started crying again. It’s just breaking my heart.”
The Rev. Marshall Hatch, whose New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church is down the street, said the looting was a result of "vast income inequality … This is what people do when they’re at the bottom.
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“They don’t see authority as legitimate. They’ve been screwed, and they’re quite clear on that," he said. "They’re at the bottom of the empire. It’s almost predictable that you’ve got all of this pent-up anxiety, anger, desire.”
‘Hell yeah, I’m worried’
By Wednesday, Madison Street was spotless as community members hit the streets with bags and brooms. City street sweeps were also in the neighborhood.
Hulking Streets & Sanitation trucks blocked the street from oncoming traffic between Keeler and Karlov avenues. The sound of buzz saws filled the air as the boarding up started.
Ald. Jason Ervin said he had no estimate of how many stores were hit and what the financial loss was. But the destruction stretched from Hamlin west to almost Kildare and south along Pulaski.
“I talked to some business owners who are over a couple hundred thousand, some are over a million,” said Ervin, who said rebuilding will take major resources from the city, state and federal governments. “I need a place for people to buy milk and bread. It’s all of us. Not just for the mayor, it’s something our state officials, our congressmen. … I am worried. Hell yeah, I’m worried.”
Hibbler, who grew up in the area, and her husband, Milton, walked down Madison, recalling how one abandoned building was once a movie theater, how another one, now surrounded by a vacant lot and overgrown weeds, was once a Burger King and a bank.
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Siri Hibbler bristled when she saw a Divvy bicycle station with a big hole in a partition. “Why’d they tear this up?” she asked incredulously. “Some of this stuff doesn’t make any sense.”
Hibbler said she had been working with Madison business owners and the city on a plan to beautify the area prior to the unrest. Standing outside African Food & Liquor, Hibbler said the businesses had already taken a financial hit, like others around the city, because of the stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The looting left Hibbler worried about the staying power of some of the businesses.
“Our business owners, property owners, have lost even more money,” Hibbler said. “So it’s going to be probably quite difficult for us to get them, after this traumatic incident, to invest and basically allow their taxes to be increased to beautify the area.”
Ash Hawa, manager at Khan's Dollar Station in the 4000 block of West Madison Street, surveys the damage June 3 done by looters who broke through the metal back door. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
At Khan Dollar Station, looters busted into the shop through the back door and ransacked the place, according to the store’s manager, Ash Hawa. On Wednesday, he and others were still cleaning up. Items from shelves littered the floor. Thousands of dollars were taken from a safe, Hawa said.
“Two, three weeks, I think,” he said, estimating how long it will take to rebuild. “There’s a lot of damage.”
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He said he’s been working in the area for about a decade because it’s a bustling business strip. “But after this," he said, standing amid the debris. “Maybe no one reopen.”
Mike Gluck, owner of Luigi’s Pizza down the stretch on Madison, was spared from looting. But still, he wonders if people will return after this. "What’s going to happen now? What’s it going to take to bring people back down here?”
‘I spent my life over there’
The owner of African Food & Liquor, Walid Mousa, 55, couldn’t bear to visit the store early in the week after viewing pictures on his son’s phone. He finally returned Thursday morning.
Chicago police officers gingerly stepped in and out of the store to complete an incident report. An appraiser stayed inside with Mousa to assess the damage.
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Known in the neighborhood as Wally, Mousa became so distressed at the carnage that a son came outside to get an inhaler from the car.
What happens next remains uncertain, Mousa said, standing amid the remains of his store. He is even considering a return to his homeland, which he left in the late 1980s.
“I don’t even know. Right now, what happened makes me upset. I am mixed up. I don’t know what I am standing at"’ he said, struggling for words. “It’s hard to make a decision. … I spent my life over there.”
Mustin, the activist, said he hasn’t given up hope that Madison will recover — or that society can resolve problems like economic injustice.
“We got to figure how to let people know that the future can be better,” Mustin said. "They have to figure out how we can pull together to make it better for everyone. Until you figure out how to solve all this income inequality, they ain’t gonna have nothing.”


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Cupich: Chicago-area Catholic schools to include George Floyd death, fallout in fall curriculum

Churches have to be certified by the archdiocese before they can reopen .
The archdiocese established a team to ensure @ @ @ @ @ guidelines , including online training , having personal protective equipment , and having markers inside @ @ @ @ @ distance guidelines , before they are allowed to reopen .
Churches can not reopen unless @ @ @ @ @ by the archdiocese ’ s safety team .

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.
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“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.”
Cupich said the core of what the students would be learning is “a simple message.”
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“This is not rocket science,” he said. “This is the Gospel. So, it’s bringing the Gospel to this issue.”
The curriculum hasn’t yet been decided, but Cupich said it will center around the Bible.
“I think we have to talk about what the Gospel says about this,” he said. “But I think we also have to note some of the history around this.”
Cupich also called for everyone to unite during these turbulent times.
“Rather than Republican and Democrat, rather than people who are different races, whether or not you’re a politician or a policeman, we all have to come together. There’s a dysfunction in the human family, and we’ve got to deal with it.”
Cupich gave his in-person interview as parishes throughout the archdiocese are gearing up for their first Masses with congregations since the imposition of the state’s stay-at-home order.
Churches have to be certified by the archdiocese before they can reopen. The archdiocese established a team to ensure each parish meets the safety guidelines, including online training, having personal protective equipment, and having markers inside the churches signifying 6-foot social distance guidelines, before they are allowed to reopen. Churches cannot reopen unless they’re first certified by the archdiocese’s safety team.
Cupich was unclear on the total number of churches that were reopening this weekend but estimated one-third of churches had been certified to reopen.


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Madison Street future uncertain after unrest

Treja Kelley had been hesitant to come forward after witnessing the murder of her 17-year-old cousin .
But she found @ @ @ @ @ stand last year and helped secure a guilty verdict .
Her testimony , though , @ @ @ @ @ head , prosecutors said .
Just a few months after testifying , Kelley was shot @ @ @ @ @ not far from where her cousin had been slain .
She was 18 and pregnant @

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chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Court-appointed monitor will investigate allegations of Chicago police abuse of protesters

She also did not comment on demands for the use of alternatives to arrest , “ particularly related to non-violent @ @ @ @ @ want cops generally to have to get a supervisor ’ s sign-off before arresting anyone @ @ @ @ @ assaulting or resisting an officer , disorderly conduct or a host of other offenses .
@ @ @ @ @ the city to rely less on arrests and more on directing people to social programs @ @ @ @ @ services .

The court-appointed monitor overseeing broad reforms to the troubled Chicago Police Department said Friday that she will investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters.
Former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey said that “to promote transparency,” she would get information from community members, police and other city departments. Hickey said she would then prepare a report on officers’ handling of the widespread street demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
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The comments came during a Friday conference call hearing that followed a letter sent to Hickey by lawyers for activist groups including Black Lives Matter: Chicago demanding an investigation. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and representatives of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul voiced support for the inquiry by Hickey, who is overseeing the city’s progress toward fulfilling a wide-ranging court order aimed at changing the way cops treat people.
People call to defund the Chicago Police Department in a march along Ashland Avenue near Lake Street on June 5, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
City Hall’s halting progress toward fulfilling that order also came up at the hearing, as a lawyer for Raoul’s office blasted the city for missing 37 of its 50 deadlines during the first six months under the consent decree. Raoul followed up with a statement calling for the city to move more urgently.
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“The city owes the community it serves meaningful reform, not lip service, not Band-Aids, and not politics,” Raoul wrote.
Asked to respond, Lightfoot’s office pointed to mayoral tweets, including one saying, “Our work towards reform has never been more important than it is today, and we look forward to working with the independent monitor to build on the progress we’ve made over the last several years.”
At Friday’s hearing, Hickey did not specifically address activists’ complaints of protesters detained without being able to contact lawyers. The groups had asked that Hickey set up a process for attorneys to communicate with arrested clients.
She also did not comment on demands for the use of alternatives to arrest, “particularly related to non-violent protest-related charges.” The groups want cops generally to have to get a supervisor’s sign-off before arresting anyone on charges of obstructing, assaulting or resisting an officer, disorderly conduct or a host of other offenses. The activists have called for the city to rely less on arrests and more on directing people to social programs, such as mental health services.
As it stands, the consent decree encourages the Police Department to explore “alternatives to arrest” and says the city is committed to them.
“If the independent monitoring team fails to take decisive, urgent action at this moment, the consent decree will be a historic failure," the activists’ letter stated.
There was an influx of complaints to Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability in the wake of widespread local protests and separate property destruction. The police disciplinary agency took in 82 complaints from the morning of May 29 through the afternoon of June 1 , compared with 34 over Memorial Day weekend, according to COPA spokesman Ephraim Eaddy. He noted that the totals included complaints over all matters, but added that agency officials believed that more than half of the recent batch were “related to protests.”
Lightfoot said in a Tweet Friday that the city "will continue to vigorously investigate all reports of excessive force arising from this week.”
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Activists have spent days in the streets calling for fundamental changes in the way the police operate. For example, they have demanded that the city pull cops out of schools and reduce funding for law enforcement to route money toward other services. Lightfoot dismissed the latter idea as “irresponsible.”
In contrast to protesters’ ambitions, change has come slowly to the Police Department over the course of decades. The police union has pushed back, and politicians have disagreed on the need for significant change. Overhauling the nation’s second-largest police force is a task of daunting scope.
Now, the coronavirus pandemic stands to slow reforms further. U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr., who is overseeing implementation of the consent decree, responded to COVID-19 by granting city lawyers a delay of all deadlines for as long as Illinois remained under a stay-at-home order, which lasted more than two months.
The consent decree is one of the most significant consequences of the controversy sparked in November 2015 by the release of video showing white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.
The footage led to a wide-ranging U.S. Department of Justice investigation that found Chicago police to be badly trained, loosely supervised and prone to excessive force, particularly against minorities. After then-Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued the administration of then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to force court oversight of reforms, city officials signed a consent decree that calls for changes to training, discipline and supervision, among other measures.
It mandates various shifts in the use of force, including banning officers from deploying Taser electric shock devices on people who are simply running away, something that had not been specifically prohibited. More broadly, the decree repeatedly urges officers to respect “the sanctity of life.”
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Beyond the court order, Lightfoot gave a televised speech Tuesday night and promised her own changes within 90 days. She talked about officer wellness programs, education for officers on neighborhood history and community relations, and training on procedural justice and handling people in crisis.
Both procedural justice and crisis intervention training already are required by the consent decree, and it was unclear from her speech how her new initiatives would differ.
dhinkel@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--George Floyd fallout: Chicago Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at protest; c

George Floyd fallout: Chicago Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at protest; city will shut down stretch of Lake Shore Drive this weekend; Lightfoot calls for firing of cop who flipped off protesters

“ I ’ ve said this before , and I ’ ll say it every day , we will not @ @ @ @ @ line .
We will not tolerate excessive force .
We will not tolerate profanity and @ @ @ @ @ badge , demean the honor of being a Chicago police officer and demean the value @ @ @ @ @ Chicagoans , ” Lightfoot said at a news conference .
“ We will not tolerate @ @ @ @ @ to do those things , or to tape over their badges or to turn off @ @ @ @ @ things that violate very clear directives of the Chicago Police Department .
”

Police officers guarding the Trump International Hotel & Tower hold back protesters in the Loop on May 30, 2020, during a rally and march to remember the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
For the latest updates, check out this weekend’s live blog here.
For Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman said Friday that officers hit him with batons last weekend as they clashed with protesters who marched on the South Side over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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In a statement Foreman issued Friday afternoon through the Police Board, he said he was not participating in the protest, but “coincidentally encountered the demonstration when it became confrontational.” In a brief interview, Foreman said he was struck five times in his legs with batons while going for a walk.
Meanwhile, the city will shut down a stretch of its iconic Lake Shore Drive through the weekend to help facilitate protesters, in hopes of preventing a repeat of last weekend’s chaotic civil unrest.
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Chicago will also enforce a 9 p.m. curfew and will contract with hundreds of security providers to protect neighborhoods on the South and West Sides, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. And to ensure protesters have space to demonstrate, Lightfoot said Grant Park and Union Park will be open.
Earlier on Friday, Lightfoot said she wanted a Chicago police officer who was photographed giving protesters the middle finger to be fired. Lightfoot also said she wants cops who are hiding their badge numbers to be fired.
“I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it every day, we will not tolerate people who cross the line,” the mayor said at a news conference later in the day.
[ Tribune photographers capture the protests and unrest in Chicago in response to the killing of George Floyd ]
[ Column: I tried to ignore the killings of Black men because it hurt too much. Then came the personal reckoning. ]
[ Get breaking news as it happens with email alerts from the Tribune ]
Here are the latest developments:
8:47 p.m.: Arrests following Aurora unrest: Racially diverse group includes reality TV personality, a married couple, several 20-somethings
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.
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 twentysomethings 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 each other 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. Read more here. —Megan Jones and Stacy St. Clair
8:35 p.m.: Attorneys for protesters in recorded skirmish with Joliet’s mayor say clients were demonstrating peacefully, disputing mayor’s self-defense claim
Attorneys for two protesters involved in an altercation with the mayor of Joliet that was captured in a viral video say their clients were demonstrating peacefully, disputing the mayor’s claims that he was acting in self-defense.
Fallout from the minutelong recording of the skirmish between the mayor — who is white — and two African American protesters continues to roil the southwest suburb of about 150,000, as the Chicago region and nation grapple with issues of racial justice and use of force in policing. Read more here. —Alicia Fabbre and Angie Leventis Lourgos
8:10 p.m.: Lightfoot rips police officers who ‘cross the line’: ‘Shame on you.’
While praising the “vast majority” of Chicago police officers who she said have done their job well, Mayor Lori Lightfoot ripped city cops who have “crossed the line” by cursing at protesters, using excessive force or hiding their badge numbers.
“I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it every day, we will not tolerate people who cross the line. We will not tolerate excessive force. We will not tolerate profanity and homophobic comments that demean the badge, demean the honor of being a Chicago police officer and demean the value of who we are as Chicagoans,” Lightfoot said at a news conference. “We will not tolerate that. Officers who choose to do those things, or to tape over their badges or to turn off their body-worn cameras, all things that violate very clear directives of the Chicago Police Department.”
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Aiming her comments at the officers who do those things, Lightfoot said the city will find them and strip them of their police powers.
“You are demeaning all of your colleagues who are working their tails off on 12-hour shifts to keep our city safe. Shame on you. Shame on you,” Lightfoot said. “We will not tolerate this and we will take decisive action and not only stripping you as appropriate you will be fired from the Chicago Police Department.”
Firing officers is a complicated process that may not work out as simply as the mayor suggests.
Drawing on her experience as a police reform expert, Lightfoot said the city has “a lot of work to do on the path and a journey towards police reform and accountability.”
“We will not be deterred from making that a reality and certainly not by elements within the police department who believe that they can do what they want when they want whenever they want,” Lightfoot said.
In her comments, Lightfoot also said the city will hold police bosses responsible for their subordinates’ conduct.
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“I want the supervisors out there to understand this is not going to be something that’s going to be borne solely by the line police officers. You have a responsibility as well,” Lightfoot said. “And every single time I see one of these cases, the question I ask is where was the supervision? And we will find out the answer to that question, and if you have failed, then we will take appropriate action.”
She added: “I understand all honest mistakes. But some of the things that we’ve seen aren’t honest mistakes. These are people who do not share our values I will not be part of the Chicago Police Department. I want that message to be loud and clear.”
Earlier in the day, Lightfoot said she wanted a police officer who stuck his middle finger out at a protester to be fired. —Gregory Pratt
6:25 p.m. (updated 7:50 p.m.): City will shut down stretch of Lake Shore Drive through weekend, open Grant Park and Union Park to accommodate protesters downtown
The city of Chicago will shut down a stretch of its 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.
Chicago will also enforce a 9 p.m. curfew and will contract with hundreds of security providers to protect neighborhoods on the South and West Sides, Lightfoot said.
More than 300 city trucks will also be used at more than 175 commercial corridors, particularly on the South and West sides, Lightfoot said.
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And to ensure protesters have space to demonstrate, Lightfoot said downtown’s Grant Park and the Near West Side’s Union Park will be open. Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
6:12 p.m.: Chicago’s black-owned businesses face uphill battle to rebuild, even with outpouring of support after George Floyd death
The death of George Floyd has prompted fresh calls to support the black community, but some of its business owners, hit hard by looting on the South and West sides, say the enthusiasm will not be enough to help them get ahead.
Some business owners plan to rebuild, and most support the protests that swept the country after the death of Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
But as they survey the damage, doubts emerge as they worry about their own livelihoods and their neighborhoods if the businesses fold.
M&R Prescription Center, in the South Shore neighborhood, was vandalized early last Sunday morning. Intruders broke the window with a rock, and stole drugs off the shelves, she said.
Owner Pamela Jones reopened the pharmacy and medical equipment company, albeit with boarded-up windows, but she’s considering turning down a $25,000 city grant she earlier was awarded to improve the store.
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“You want to be there for the community, but then when the community is not there for you, it’s just very disheartening,” Jones said. “You question yourself. ‘Why am I still here? What’s the purpose?’”
Jones’ concern is shared by many black-owned businesses on the South and West sides. Though community backing has bolstered some, many owners do not count on the increased support for black-owned businesses, or the $10 million Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised to help them rebuild.
“It’s not just that we’re a black-owned business. We’re a business in a black community, and those businesses are scarce,” Jones said. “Each time you destroy one, when and how will your needs be met?” Read more here. —Ally Marotti and Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
6:06 p.m.: Chicago Police Board president says officers hit him with batons at weekend protest: ‘I walked in the middle of an uprising’
Chicago Police Board President Ghian Foreman said Friday that officers hit him with batons last weekend as they clashed with protesters who marched on the South Side over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In a statement Foreman issued Friday afternoon through the police board, he said he was not participating in the protest over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, but “coincidentally encountered the demonstration when it became confrontational.”
In a brief interview Friday afternoon, Foreman said he was struck five times in his legs with batons while going for a walk.
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“I walked in the middle of an uprising,” said Foreman, who lives near the site of the protest.
“It was chaos. It was a no-win situation on both sides,” Foreman said of the protesters and police.
In his statement, Foreman said the public’s interest with the incident may stem from his position working toward police accountability “and that it seems ironic that someone in a public-facing position could also become a victim of police aggression.”
“This is the duality I live with as a Black man in America, even one who is privileged to be part of systems of power,” he said in his statement. “I am not exempt from what any other Black man faces on the streets.”
Foreman, appointed to the police board in 2010 by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, declined to get into specifics about the incident, which is being investigated by the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability. But he said it’s important to focus on how aggressive confrontations such as this could be avoided. His statement on Friday comes hours after former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey, the court-appointed monitor overseeing broad CPD reforms, said she will investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters over the last week.
“There is important work to be done,” Foreman said about Chicago police reform in his statement. “If we are to improve police officer training, better educate them on de-escalation techniques and develop a peer support program in the next 90 days as we have been asked to do, we cannot afford to lose focus now.”
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“We cannot allow the momentum of the uprisings to be lost by focusing on micro-incidents, but rather use that energy to demand accountability that we can see and feel,” Foreman continued in the statement. “I encourage my fellow Chicagoans to stay involved — vote, advocate for solutions, demonstrate peacefully, support local businesses, and donate resources.”
Foreman acknowledged that Chicago activist Malcolm London was at the same protest, where London’s lawyers have said he also also assaulted by police and arrested.
Chicago police said Superintendent David Brown and one of his top deputies spoke with Foreman about the matter, according to a statement.
“Since the onset of this week’s events, Superintendent Brown has been clear that misconduct by any officer will not be tolerated,” according to the CPD statement. “If any Officer is found to have participated in excessive force, they will be held accountable.”
Foreman’s allegations are among 344 complaints made against Chicago police officers from May 28 to 7 a.m. Friday, many of them stemming from the protests.
“We’ve seen in roughly a week what we normally would see in a month,” COPA spokesman Ephraim Eaddy said of the volume of complaints the agency has fielded.
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Foreman served as the police board’s vice president under now-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who served as its president prior to her run for office. Foreman has been the police board president since 2018. —Jeremy Gorner
5:55 p.m. (updated at 7 p.m.): 2 Chicago cops involved in Brickyard Mall incident relieved of police powers
Two Chicago cops have been relieved of their police powers after a woman said officers pulled her from a car by her hair and placed a knee on her neck last weekend.
The action by police Superintendent David Brown came a day after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability recommended the action as it investigates the alleged incident at the Brickyard Mall at 2600 N. Narragansett Ave. on Sunday.
Mia Wright, 25, said she had gone to the mall with family and friends not realizing it had been closed because of looting. While in the parking lot, she said officers surrounded her car, broke the windows with clubs and pulled her to the ground. —Chicago Tribune staff
5:25 p.m.: Second City owner Andrew Alexander to exit after accusations of institutionalized racism
Following a social-media tumult sparked by a series of institutionally accusatory tweets from a former performer and employee, Second City’s owner, Andrew Alexander, told staffers on Friday that he was apologizing for his “many failures as a steward of an important cultural institution” and stepping away from one of Chicago’s most famous and internationally influential theaters.
The exit of Alexander, 76, the accomplished producer of SCTV, a longtime kingmaker and an iconic figure in sketch comedy, came after accusations of institutionalized racism were leveled on Twitter by DeWayne Perkins. In particular, Perkins criticized Second City prior’s reluctance to fundraise for the Black Lives Matter movement without also financially supporting police-related causes. Commenters amplified Perkins’ remarks and extended them to other improv theaters in Chicago. Read more here. —Chris Jones
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3:45 p.m.: Protesters mark what would have been Breonna Taylor’s 27 th birthday with North Side march
Undeterred by the sweltering heat, hundreds of protesters gathered Friday afternoon in front of the Riviera Theatre in the Uptown neighborhood to focus on the importance of Black women, and to call attention to the death of Breonna Taylor.
Taylor was killed on March 13 when Louisville police, executing a search warrant, burst into her apartment, and after a skirmish, shot her at least eight times.
The protest was set for Friday to mark what would have been Taylor’s 27th birthday.
“This day is to let everyone know that she mattered, she still matters and will always matter,” said Ashabi Owagboriaye, the organizer of the protest said.
Around 2:45 p.m., the wave of protesters marched south on Broadway to Irving Park Road, where they held a moment of silence and knelt for eight minutes, symbolizing the number of times Taylor was believed to be shot.
They repeatedly chanted Taylor’s name as they marched through the streets.
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“Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” they yelled.
Dordie Hester, who was one of many carrying a sign commemorating the life of Taylor, said she came to stand up against the “injustices” that black people have endured. —Javonte Anderson
1:51 p.m.: Gov. J.B. Pritzker raises his national profile with rebuke of President Donald Trump over George Floyd fallout
When Gov. J.B. Pritzker sharply denounced President Donald Trump’s rhetoric in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death during a call of the nation’s governors, it not only laid bare the animosity between the two men, it also quickly elevated Pritzker’s stature among national Democrats.
Pritzker’s criticism of the president drew widespread attention and led to appearances by the governor on cable news shows. Since his comments came in an ostensibly closed setting, a White House conference call, questions were raised about Pritzker’s political motivation for speaking up.
What the governor clearly showed is that unlike most of his counterparts, he isn’t afraid to challenge a president known for not letting any slight go unavenged, said David Yepsen, a former director at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
“When I heard him take on Trump like that, I thought first of all that some of these governors are intimidated by Trump,” said Yepsen, former longtime political columnist at the Des Moines Register. “Trump holds purse strings for money that they need. They don’t want to alienate him. But Pritzker came off to me as a guy who gets inside Trump’s head.” Read more here. —Rick Pearson
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1:09 p.m.: Amid coronavirus and ‘recent horrific events,’ DePaul University is giving students a break
Citing the stress and anxiety caused by recent events as well as the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago’s DePaul University has announced it’s providing coursework relief to students.
That includes asking faculty to allow final exams to be optional, to forgo final coursework or allow students to drop classes as late as the last day of classes. Read more here. —Robert McCoppin
12:53 p.m.: Court-appointed monitor will investigate allegations of Chicago police abuse of protesters
The court-appointed monitor overseeing broad reforms to the troubled Chicago Police Department said Friday that she will investigate and report on allegations that officers abused protesters.
Former federal prosecutor Maggie Hickey said that “to promote transparency,” she would get information from community members, police and other city departments. Hickey said she would then prepare a report on officers’ handling of the widespread street demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The comments came during a Friday conference call hearing and followed a letter sent to Hickey by activist groups including Black Lives Matter: Chicago that demanded an investigation. Both Mayor Lori Lightfoot and representatives of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul voiced support for the inquiry by Hickey, who is overseeing the city’s progress toward fulfilling a wide-ranging court order aimed at changing the way cops treat people.
Hickey did not specifically address activist complaints of protesters being detained without contact with lawyers. The groups had asked her to set up a process for attorneys to communicate with arrested clients. Read more here. —Dan Hinkel
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12:24 p.m.: Minneapolis to ban police chokeholds in wake of George Floyd’s death
Negotiators for the city of Minneapolis have agreed with the state to ban the use of chokeholds by police and to require police to report and intervene anytime they see an unauthorized use of force by another officer.
The moves are part of a stipulation between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which launched a civil rights investigation this week in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody. The City Council is expected to approve the agreement Friday. Read more here. —Associated Press
11:45 a.m.: City workers and activists paint Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House
City workers and activists painted the words Black Lives Matter in enormous bright yellow letters on the street leading to the White House, a highly visible sign of the District of Columbia’s embrace of a protest movement that has put it at odds with President Donald Trump.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted aerial video of the mural shortly after it was completed Friday. The letters and an image of the city's flag stretch across 16th Street for two blocks, ending just before the church where Trump staged a photo-op after federal officers forcibly cleared a peaceful demonstration to make way for the president and his entourage.
“The section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza,’” Bowser tweeted. A black and white sign was put up to mark the change.
The White House had no comment. Read more here. —Associated Press
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11:26 a.m.: Lightfoot calls for firing of Chicago cop who flipped off protesters, those who hide badge numbers
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wants a Chicago Police officer who was photographed giving protesters the middle finger to be fired, she said at a Friday news conference.
Lightfoot also said she wants police officers who are hiding their badge numbers to be fired.
“It won’t be tolerated,” Lightfoot said. “We’re actively at work identifying the officers responsible for that.”
While acknowledging it’ll ultimately be up to Chicago police Superintendent David Brown, Lightfoot said, “In my view, they forfeited their right to be Chicago police officers.”
Lightfoot made the comment in response to questions about a photo published by Block Club Chicago of an officer raising both of his middle fingers to protesters in Lincoln Park and reports that some officers are hiding their badges.
“I’ve seen the photograph of the officer in uniform giving people the finger. We’ll find that person and, in my view, that person needs to be immediately stripped of their police powers and start the process for firing him,” Lightfoot said. "We will not tolerate that kind of abusive, offensive conduct on the part of police officers. Period.” Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
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11:18 a.m.: President Trump invokes George Floyd’s name in trumpeting jobs report: ‘This is a great day for him. It’s a great day for everybody’
President Donald Trump took a victory lap Friday morning after the government reported surprising job gains for last month, seizing on the data to predict that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic disruption was in the rear-view mirror.
The unemployment rate dropped to a better-than-expected 13.3%, but that is still on par with what the nation witnessed during the Great Depression.
With the country in upheaval over the death of George Floyd, Trump said that an economic rebound was his answer to racial inequality, saying it “is the greatest thing that can happen for race relations.”
Trump spoke from the Rose Garden hours after the Labor Department said that U.S. employers added 2.5 million workers to their payrolls last month. Economists had been expecting them instead to slash another 8 million jobs amid the ongoing fallout from the response to the pandemic. Read more here. —Associated Press
9:56 a.m.: Lightfoot announces $1 million donation from Jewel-Osco to help damaged businesses
Jewel-Osco will donate $1 million to the city of Chicago’s emergency fund to help businesses that were looted and damaged amid fallout from the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
The grocery store’s officials joined Mayor Lori Lightfoot to make the announcement at a Jewel-Osco on the South Side near 60th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
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Lightfoot first announced a $10 million recovery grant fund in a televised speech Tuesday aimed at calming a city rocked by widespread looting. Jewel is the first major donor to be disclosed, and its $1 million is in addition to the city’s $10 million. Read more here. —Gregory Pratt
5:15 a.m.: Man describes being stabbed while trying to stop looting in Naperville. ‘I really don’t like where this world is going to. It’s going to a dark, evil place.’
Jai Taylor held his hand over his gut as he sprinted in search of any police officer who might help save his life.
"I ran down the street to Starbucks with my intestines in my hand,” Taylor said.
The 21-year-old Oswego resident said he was stabbed in the abdomen after yelling at people to stop the vandalism and protecting a teenager who was being goaded to join the melee Monday night in downtown Naperville. Read more here. -- Suzanne Baker
5:15 a.m.: River Forest man facing felony hate crime, assault charges after altercation at grocery store
Felony charges have been filed against a River Forest man accused of racially insulting a young African-American woman, then grabbing and hitting her.
Rob Palley, 61, of River Forest, was charged with a hate crime and aggravated battery, according to prosecutors. Police say the attack occurred around 10 a.m. Wednesday at a Jewel-Osco store at 7525 Lake Street in the west suburb. Read more here. -- Steve Schering
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5 a.m.: Kanye West appears to join march on South Side
It appeared that Kanye West showed up shortly before 8 p.m. to join marchers as they prepared to head down South State Street.
The South Side rapper, with his face mostly covered, emerged after a series of speeches from students and activists. He did not address the crowd and appeared to have left a half hour later as marchers continued north on State.
The Tribune asked organizers for confirmation of West’s appearance, but they just pointed to the surrounding security.
According to CNN, West has made a $2 million donation to support the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor
As the sun set, marchers cheered: “CPD, KKK, how many kids did you kill today?” —Morgan Greene


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

Arrests following Aurora unrest: Racially diverse group includes 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--2020-06-06--Attorneys for protesters in recorded skirmish with Joliet’s mayor say clients were demonstrating pea

Attorneys for protesters in recorded skirmish with Joliet’s mayor say clients were demonstrating peacefully, disputing mayor’s self-defense claim

“ If the mayor was out there with uniformed police officers and something happened , you have to question why @ @ @ @ @ the police handle things , ” said John DeCarlo , a criminal justice professor at @ @ @ @ @ and a former police chief .
“ Was the mayor of Joliet there to calm @ @ @ @ @ there in a confrontational manner ?
”

Bishop Steven Evans, center, is joined by other pastors and community leaders on June 3, 2020, as the group calls for Joliet Mayor Bob O Dekirk to resign. (Alicia Fabbre/for the Chicago Tribune)
Attorneys for two protesters involved in an altercation with the mayor of Joliet that was captured in a viral video say their clients were demonstrating peacefully, disputing the mayor’s claims that he was acting in self-defense.
Fallout from the minutelong recording of the skirmish between the mayor — who is white — and two African American protesters continues to roil the southwest suburb of about 150,000, as the Chicago region and nation grapple with issues of racial justice and use of force in policing.
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The recording appears to depict Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk grabbing 23-year-old Victor Williams Jr. of Lockport by the collar and forcibly walking him backward to a police vehicle at a chaotic public demonstration on May 31, one of many protests across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Williams’ brother, Jamal Smith, 28, of Crest Hill, then appears to jump on the mayor from behind, and the three of them are quickly surrounded by police.
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Attorney Michael E. Baker, who represents Williams and Smith, called the video “disturbing," saying his clients are “shaken, they are scared.”
“(The mayor) grabbed our client (Williams) by his clothing and then took him to the ground," said Lawrence X. O’Reilly, another lawyer representing the brothers. "In doing so he didn’t unify the community; he instead caused more division in the community.”
The attorneys claim the two protesters were victims of an “unprovoked attack,” challenging the mayor’s statements that he was the one attacked and then acted in self-defense.
The mayor previously served as a Joliet police officer and has referenced that former role in explaining his actions at the protest, saying he used “standard police tactics to immobilize the attacker," separating him from the crowd.
Several local pastors have called for the mayor to step down, citing disciplinary action against him during his police career. Records reviewed by the Tribune indicate O’Dekirk had been suspended on seven occasions between 1995 and 2002, totaling about four dozen days. O’Dekirk resigned from the police department in 2003 and became an attorney.
The records do not indicate the reason for the suspensions. O’Dekirk said he couldn’t recall the reasons, but they might have involved minor infractions and never use of force. The mayor called his record as a police officer “outstanding,” referencing an award and multiple nominations for officer of the year.
Will County board member Rachel Ventura of Joliet said she has filed a complaint against O’Dekirk with the FBI, adding that the mayor "did act aggressively and he should not have been out there.”
An attorney for the two protesters said they have not filed any lawsuits yet, but are “actively investigating filing causes of action against the mayor, the city and possibly other entities."
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The altercation has deeply divided the Joliet area. Thousands of individuals have signed dueling online petitions, one supporting O’Dekirk and others demanding his resignation.
Joliet resident Mady Perez said she was at the scene and believes the mayor was attacked.
“This man approached the mayor and pushed the mayor with his hands and body,” she said. "He was disrespectful; it was an assault.”
The police union that represents Joliet patrol officers has praised the mayor’s conduct.
“He saw firsthand the difficulties that we faced as the violence rapidly escalated while we attempted to protect the protesters and their First Amendment Rights,” the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council local president said.
Williams and Smith were hospitalized for injuries that night but have since been released, according to their attorneys. Both were arrested for aggravated assault and mob action, according to Joliet police.
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Their attorneys said the two brothers were engaged in peaceful protests, and neither was aware at the time that O’Dekirk was the mayor.
“They were honoring the solemn occasion that it was, which was to honor the memory of George Floyd, who died tragically," O’Reilly said.
The Joliet city manager on Friday said an outside firm has been retained to conduct an internal investigation. Members of the city council have called for an Illinois State Police investigation.
The Joliet police chief has said he wasn’t notified of the mayor’s plans to be with law enforcement officers during the protests until O’Dekirk arrived at the scene. The chief also said O’Dekirk was wearing a “Joliet police” cap that night.
The brothers attended another demonstration in Joliet on Friday where some people among a large crowd decried the actions of the mayor. Both men declined to comment.
Several law enforcement experts who reviewed the video for the Tribune found aspects of the scene problematic.
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“If the mayor was out there with uniformed police officers and something happened, you have to question why he didn’t let the police handle things,” said John DeCarlo, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven and a former police chief. “Was the mayor of Joliet there to calm things, or was he there in a confrontational manner?”
He added that "grabbing someone by the scruff of the neck is not a police tactic, or it shouldn’t be.”
Miltonette Craig, assistant professor in the criminal justice sciences department at Illinois State University, said the mayor appears to inappropriately blur boundaries.
“Once he was elected mayor, he should have promptly detached himself from the role of an officer, because failure to do so makes it appear as though the mayor’s office and the role of police are one and the same,” she said. “You’re not an officer so you shouldn’t be using ‘standard police tactics.’"
While it’s unclear to tell what happened before the recording, Craig noted that “the optics don’t look good.”
“These optics do matter,” she said. "We want to be able to trust officers, trust the entire department and trust elected officials. We know this legitimacy issue is impacting many, many police departments in many, many different cities.”
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Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter.
eleventis@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--City will shut down stretch of Lake Shore Drive through the weekend, open Grant Park, Union Park to

City will shut down stretch of Lake Shore Drive through the weekend, open Grant Park, Union Park to accommodate protesters downtown

Traffic this weekend will be restricted on Division Street from Halsted Street to Lake Shore Drive , and also on @ @ @ @ @ Avenue .
Milwaukee will be restricted from Division to Kinzie Street .
Kinzie will be @ @ @ @ @ Street .
Canal will be restricted from Kinzie to Cermak Road .
Cermak will be @ @ @ @ @ Luther King Jr. Drive .

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivers a televised message to the public on June 2, 2020, about events arising from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
The city of Chicago will shut down a stretch of its 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.
Chicago will also enforce a 9 p.m. curfew and will contract with hundreds of security providers to protect neighborhoods on the South and West sides, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
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More than 300 city trucks will also be used at more than 175 commercial corridors, particularly on the South and West sides, Lightfoot said.
And to ensure protesters have space to demonstrate, Lightfoot said downtown’s Grant Park and the Near West Side’s Union Park will be open.
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Protests spread throughout every state in the country after video emerged of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he said, “I can’t breathe.” In Chicago, peaceful protests erupted into violence last weekend as individuals began looting stores throughout downtown.
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Lightfoot ordered bridges into the Loop lifted on Saturday, imposed a 9 p.m. curfew and cut off most access to downtown with law enforcement and city vehicles, but looting spread to the city’s South and West sides — overshadowing peaceful protests.
In the days since, Chicago protests have been calm, and Lightfoot moved ahead with a phased reopening of city businesses on Wednesday. Still, officials are eager to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s nightmare, which caused immense harm to business owners across the city and embarrassed the city.
Traffic this weekend will be restricted within the Loop and Chicago’s central business district and limited to pedestrians and bicyclists, according to the release. Residents and essential workers, however, will be able to drive in by showing ID or proof of residence or employment according to the release. The restricted area is marked by Division Street, from Halsted Street to Lake Shore Drive; Halsted, from Division to Milwaukee Avenue; Milwaukee, from Division to Kinzie Street; Kinzie, from Milwaukee to Canal Street; Canal, from Kinzie to Cermak Road; and Cermak, from Canal to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to the release.
Several downtown bridges also will be closed, including the ones on Michigan, Wabash, State, Franklin, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Madison, Randolph, Van Buren and Kinzie streets.
Lightfoot will also shut down Lake Shore Drive from Fullerton Avenue to 31st Street for vehicles. Interstate 90/94 will be closed on all exit ramps from Fullerton to 18th Street, Interstate 290 will be closed at Ida B. Wells Drive downtown, and all traffic from Interstate 55 will be diverted onto I-90/94, the city said in a news release.
Some CTA stops downtown will also be closed, the city said.
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The closures begin Friday at midnight and will stay in place through the weekend, the mayor’s office said.
Lightfoot was asked specifically at her news conference whether Lake Shore Drive would close for the weekend and did not directly answer. Her office later noted at the bottom of a news release that it would be closed, along with other streets.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Coronavirus at Illinois long-term care facilities, more than 18,000 confirmed cases and 3,053 deaths

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois .
The @ @ @ @ @ at 554 long-term care facilities in 41 counties .
Of those , 525 facilities have @ @ @ @ @ , defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days .
In all @ @ @ @ @ be tied to long-term care facilities , with 3,053 deaths , as of June 5 @

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois. The data shows outbreaks have occurred at long-term care facilities in 94 counties. Of those, 1,003 facilities have an “active” outbreak, defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days. In all, 71,103 confirmed cases can be tied to long-term care facilities, with 9,263 deaths, as of Jan. 22.


chicagotribune--2020-06-06--Column: Something’s happening here. And it gives us reason to hope.

Of course there ’ s no single “ we ” in all of this .
None of us is living @ @ @ @ @ the same way .
How old you are , where you live , the color @ @ @ @ @ money you make or don ’ t , your political persuasion .
Many things affect @ @ @ @ @ each of us .

Approximately 200 men march in silence on June 4, 2020, from St. Sabina Church to 79th Street and Racine Avenue to protest police violence. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave,
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But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
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Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
Those words by the legendary Irish poet Seamus Heaney floated through my Twitter feed the other day, like a cool breeze on a scorching day. They came via The Irish Literary Times, a sign that the rebellion rumbling through our country is shaking up the world.
We don’t call this moment in the spring of 2020 “history” yet, but one day we will. Even without the clarity of retrospect, we sense we’re living through something that will shape the future in remarkable ways.
First came the pandemic, followed by economic upheaval that has changed how business works and people survive. Then came the killing of an unarmed black man — George Floyd — by a white Minneapolis police officer, which roused massive protests all over the country.
Protests. A pandemic. Plus a president who rules with an autocrat’s taste for threat and insult. It’s history in the making — exhausting, confusing, scary and full of promise.
Of course there’s no single “we” in all of this. None of us is living through this time in exactly the same way. How old you are, where you live, the color of your skin, the money you make or don’t, your political persuasion. Many things affect how this moment feels to each of us.
And how it feels can change from day to day.
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“How are you doing in this strange time?” I ask everyone I talk to. If we’re on a video call or talking from a distance, I often see them make a roller coaster motion with a hand. Up and down. Down and up. Day to day, hour by hour.
“I cry a lot,” a couple have said.
But however it feels, there’s no escaping, in the words of the famous Buffalo Springfield song: Something’s happening here.
It’s happening in big cities like Chicago, where in the past week, in neighborhoods of every racial and economic makeup, protesters have marched to protest George Floyd’s killing and, more broadly, the police practices that have led to so many other unjust deaths.
It’s happening in small towns like Taylorville, Illinois, which is overwhelmingly white, where several hundred community members marched around the town square, many carrying “Black Lives Matter” signs, before lying down outside the courthouse.
It’s happening in places like the wealthy, white Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, where a big crowd gathered for a vigil, listening to testaments from the area’s black residents, one of whom said, “I am asking you to walk into the discomfort and not look away.”
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Something’s happening here.
It’s true that for every hopeful story about this moment, there’s an ugly counterpoint.
White people with bats playing vigilante in the Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport. Looters, many of them black, stealing from stores in black neighborhoods that already struggle. People of different kinds smashing windows and looting Chicago’s downtown.
For every story that speaks to hope and possibility, it’s easy to find one that speaks to the worst in us.
You can be uplifted one minute by thousands of peaceful protesters outside the White House singing “Lean on Me,” and horrified the next moment by police officers in Buffalo, N.Y., shoving a 75-year-old protester.
You can appreciate the many police officers who maintain their composure in the face of crowds loudly denouncing them, then be appalled by the Chicago cop who flips two middle fingers at a protester.
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But the contrasts shouldn’t be surprising. Protest is always messy. Progress is not a straight line. It happens in fits and starts, further complicated by arguments among people who share the same basic goals.
And it happens while the rest of life goes on, while a friend gets ill or has a baby or gets married, while we worry about our jobs and families, or admire the spring flowers or curse at the broken washing machine.
But something’s happening here.
It’s an extraordinary moment that could change our country for good — in both senses of the word “good,” meaning in ways that will endure and ways that will make this land more equitable for more people.
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In my lifetime, the world has become better in many ways — far from perfect, far from fair, full of setbacks, but overall better — and one reason is that enough people have believed it could and fought to make it happen.
In Seamus Heaney’s words:
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So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that further shore
Is reachable from here.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com