chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Column: Looters, ‘the man’ is coming for you. And he will catch you.

“ The man ” doesn ’ t know you either , though he groomed you to become the young men @ @ @ @ @ .
Even before you were born , he decided that you were worthless and would @ @ @ @ @ So he turned his back on you and let you shrivel from high unemployment , @ @ @ @ @

A store in the Loop is looted on May 30, 2020, after a rally and march to remember the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Dear African American looters,
You have spent several days breaking into stores, stealing sneakers, Louis Vuitton handbags and big screen TVs. But when it is all over, you will have nothing.
Advertisement
Sure, there is a certain amount of excitement in snatching things that you could never afford to purchase for yourselves. But the adrenaline rush of getting back at “the man” will be fleeting.
You have never met “the man” — that metaphorical figure who heads the establishment. Yet you know he is always out there, waiting for a chance to bring you down.
Advertisement
“The man” doesn’t know you either, though he groomed you to become the young men and women you are today. Even before you were born, he decided that you were worthless and would never amount to anything. So he turned his back on you and let you shrivel from high unemployment, poverty and poor education.
Still, you foolishly believed that “the man” would understand your hunger for material things that people in affluent areas take for granted. You thought that with the overflowing empathy for George Floyd’s death, you would easily blend in with the peaceful protesters who are demonstrating against police brutality.
You are incredibly naïve. “The man” is coming for you with all his force. And he will catch you.
“The man” has a partner now. Donald Trump heard about you breaking into stores on Michigan Avenue and was intrigued. If you had limited the looting to your own neighborhoods on the South and West sides, neither “the man” nor Trump would have cared. But you ventured north into theirs.
That made you the perfect poster child to promote the tough law-and-order image Trump needs for reelection. You have the frightening characteristics of a Willie Horton — the black convicted felon whom George H.W. Bush used to scare voters into electing him president in 1988.
After his release from a Massachusetts prison through a furlough program, Horton raped a white woman and stabbed her boyfriend. Bush seized the opportunity to run a law-and-order ad campaign using racial stereotypes to generate fear.
Images of young black men like you terrorizing the Gold Coast are just what Trump needed. He told America on Tuesday that he would deploy the military, if necessary, to restore law and order across the country. It doesn’t matter that he can’t legally do it. He just needed to say it.
“The man” has no intention of allowing you to continue creating havoc. He is not interested in the story of your complicated life or that young white people are looting too. He will shoot you down if he has to.
Advertisement
Even if you survive, your future will be dire. You will spend the rest of your life paying for the brief moment of pleasure you got holding five pairs of Nikes in your arms as you fled to a waiting car.
Everyone in the neighborhood where you live will pay a price.
If you thought you could teach “the man” a lesson by destroying his expensive property, you were sadly mistaken. He will be triumphant — as he always is.
The colorful flowers along Michigan Avenue will return next spring in full bloom. Once the glass is swept from the sidewalks downtown, businesses will rebuild and reopen. Soon there will be no hint of your week of vandalism that threatened to turn “the man’s” beautiful city into an empty shell.
But regardless of what politicians say, your communities will suffer much longer because of your callous behavior.
Years from now, when you are older, your children and grandchildren will look around their crumbling neighborhoods on the South and West sides and see swaths of vacant buildings. There will be no grass, flowers or luscious walking paths, only despair.
Advertisement
And there will be no hope — just as there was none for you growing up.
You have stolen some of the few places your elders could go to have a prescription filled. People have to drive for miles right now to buy a quart of milk or a carton of eggs. Your despicable acts have shamed them and made you outcasts in your community.
In the past, when outsiders called you hoodlums and thugs, the elders argued that you were misunderstood youths, disadvantaged for no reason of your own. Now, it is easier for them to just lower their heads and nod in agreement.
Generations of children will grow up wondering what awful thing you must have done to make “the man” so angry. They won’t understand how “the man” could be so vengeful as to deprive their neighborhood of economic development as if it weren’t part of the city.
As a child, you wondered the same thing as you played on substandard playgrounds on the West Side, built in the shadows of boarded-up buildings left over from riots more than a half-century ago.
One day, you will look these children in the eye and say that it is not your fault. But that will not be entirely true. You have set your people back further than they were before the civil unrest.
Advertisement
Many of the businesses you have destroyed will not return. Economic revitalization will come much slower now, if at all, as other neighborhoods move swiftly to recovery.
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Someday while sitting in a cramped room, in front of a stolen TV that covers the span of a wall, you might wonder if any of this was worth it. You will look at those worn-out Nikes that have been tossed in a corner and realize the truth.
You were merely a pawn in a high-stakes political game that you had no idea was being played. But more importantly, you were a selfish opportunist.
The price you paid for that TV was way too high. In the end you will have nothing, but payments to “the man” will still be due.
Sincerely,
A Chicagoan who grieves for you as well as her city
Advertisement
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Cicero tells residents to stay indoors and let police do their job after looters clash with officers

Cicero tells residents to stay indoors and let police do their job after looters clash with officers as well as vigilantes armed with clubs and guns

Solis , who works at El Patron , said he was at the corner of Cermak Road and 50th Avenue @ @ @ @ @ with other armed men around 6 p.m. , when one of the two fatal shootings @ @ @ @ @ had been put up , blocking eastbound traffic on Cermak Road , when he and @ @ @ @ @ passing slowly northbound on 50th Avenue .

Two men emerge from a backroom inside El Patron Liquor Store in Cicero after looters broke in on June 1, 2020. Police arrested them. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Cicero officials urged people Tuesday to stay indoors and let the police to do their job after two men were shot dead, stores were vandalized and 60 people were arrested as looters clashed with officers and residents armed with clubs and guns.
Three men have been arrested for a fatal shooting just off Cermak Road in the western suburb, and the investigation continues into the second homicide. Charges have not been filed in either case.
Advertisement
Town President Larry Dominick said he welcomed peaceful protesters to Cicero but added that law enforcement would “stand up” to those bent on criminal acts.
“When they come here to riot, break windows, fight, shoot, we are not going to tolerate it,” he said at an afternoon news conference. “We are going to stand up to them … and I know in the end we are going to win.
Advertisement
“If the protesters come, that’s fine, but we do not allow criminals,” he said.
Dominick urged residents not to take the law into their own hands. On Monday afternoon, witnesses said, dozens of residents — including business owners and some alleged gang members — took up positions along Cermak Road armed with bats, pipes, wooden clubs and guns.
Cicero Town President Larry Dominick talks with protesters as they rally in support of Black Lives Matter and for equality for all minorities outside the Cicero City Hall complex in Cicero on June 2, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
“I hope residents stay out of the Cicero police business because the police can handle it,” he said.
Cicero police Superintendent Jerry Chlada Jr. denied police had cooperated with the vigilantes, but at least one witness claimed police vehicles drove by as he and other armed men stood guard in front of Cicero Town Hall.
“Everybody had sticks and bats,” said Rudy Solis, who was armed with a crowbar. “They destroy their neighborhood and now they want to destroy our neighborhood. It’s not right.”
Solis and others admitted the violence and looting had a racial undertone, pitting African Americans against the largely Hispanic residents of Cicero.
About 30 protesters — many of them African Americans — stood outside Cicero Town Hall on Tuesday to express their indignation over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Black protesters who live in Cicero said they were also targeted by the vigilantes.
Rudy Solis, employee at El Patron Bar and Liquor Store in Cicero, discusses the civil unrest and robbery of the business on June 2, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Following his news conference, Dominick went out and spoke to them.
Advertisement
“Several of the protesters who were African Americans said that not enough was done to protect them,” said town spokesman Ray Hanania. “Dominick told them they needed to call 911 whenever that happens.”
The looting began Sunday and escalated Monday afternoon when someone threw a paver stone through the front window of El Patron Liquor Store and dozens of people rushed in, grabbing whatever they could.
Sandip Patel, the owner, said he had closed the store an hour or so earlier because he had seen looting taking place at the mall across the street. Police arrived within minutes, but by then Patel said he had lost more than $40,000 in merchandise.
“They ransacked everything,” said Patel, who has owned the store for a decade. “I don’t know why they are doing it.”
Solis, who works at El Patron, said he was at the corner of Cermak Road and 50th Avenue with his crowbar, standing with other armed men around 6 p.m., when one of the two fatal shootings took place. Orange cones had been put up, blocking eastbound traffic on Cermak Road, when he and others spotted a blue Nissan passing slowly northbound on 50th Avenue.
People were yelling at them to get out of Cicero. “They were scared,” he said of the people in the car. “They were intimidated. All the streets were blocked. We didn’t want them here.”
Advertisement
A man approached the car, yelled something and was shot dead. “He dropped straight to the ground,” Solis said.
Police arrested three men. Cicero officials identified the victim as a 29-year-old Chicago resident, but authorities have not released his name because family members have not been notified.
The second homicide took place minutes earlier outside the Super Espiga Grocery at 4920 W. 14th St. Victor Cazares, a 27-year-old Cicero resident, was shot dead; a second person was injured. No one was in custody.
By Tuesday afternoon, a small memorial had been set up for Cazares on the sidewalk outside the store, with red roses and other flowers, candles and two bottles of unopened Miller beer. The bouquets of flowers were held to a stop sign pole by yellow police tape.
A manager of the store said the windows had been smashed but there had been no looting. He declined to give his name.
Despite the violence, Cicero was bustling Tuesday with supermarkets and other stores packed, even as many businesses — including Super Espiga — boarded up their shattered windows with plywood.
Advertisement
Residents were hoping for the best but bracing for more violence.
“I’m a little uneasy,” said Mario Reyes, manager of Trans-O-Mex auto repair shop on Cermak Road, just across the street from one of the shootings. “We may have to close up early if we see things are going to happen.”


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Watch live: Mayor Lori Lightfoot delivers televised address amid unrest in Chicago

Amid ongoing civil unrest , Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will give a televised address at 6:30 p.m. that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ public to stay calm .
Get the latest updates here .

This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--The Spin: Mayor Lightfoot to plead for calm in 6:30 p.m. TV address tonight | Despite unrest, Chicag

The Spin: Mayor Lightfoot to plead for calm in 6:30 p.m. TV address tonight | Despite unrest, Chicago 'will reopen tomorrow,’ mayor says | Sen. Duckworth blasts President Trump ‘draft dodging wannabe tin-pot dictator’

“ As he was walking there , he was followed — behind him — by the chairman of the Joint @ @ @ @ @ fatigues and the secretary of defense , walking along like lap dogs behind a draft @ @ @ @ @ ” she said in Washington , D.C. , today where she and a group of @ @ @ @ @ reform legislation aimed at ongoing national outrage over Floyd ’ s death .
You can @ @ @ @ @ at about the 36-minute mark here .

Mayor Lori Lightfoot presides over the City Council meeting as Jeff Levine (cq), attorney with the City's law department, left, and Mark Flessner, right, Corporation Counsel, look on at the start of a virtual meeting of the City Council from her office at City Hall in Chicago on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. COVID-19, coronavirus (JosÃ© M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot gave a televised address last night in which she asked residents to “stand for peace” amid unrest - some of it violent - here and in other cities in the aftermath of a white Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, an unarmed African American man.
Despite the mix of peaceful protests and looting across Chicago, the mayor said earlier in the day that she’s sticking to her plan to lift some of the coronavirus restrictions starting Wednesday. That means you can get a haircut and dine at a restaurant with an outdoor area, among other things.
Advertisement
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth blasted President Donald Trump this afternoon as a “draft dodging wannabe tin-pot dictator,” one day after he declared in a televised news conference that he was the “president of law and order,” and threatened to send the military into states where unrest continues over the Minneapolis police officer killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African American man.
And Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a former co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, apologized over comments he made during a meeting with African American pastors and community leaders over unrest in Omaha. In a video that’s gone viral, an Omaha pastor said he walked out of the meeting after “Gov. Ricketts said ‘the problem I have with you people.’ ... He called black pastors and black leaders in Omaha ‘you people.’”
Advertisement
Welcome to The Spin.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wears a mask as she prepares to speak about coronavirus recently at the Historic Water Tower in Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt: “Despite widespread looting and heightened public health concerns brought on by thousands of people protesting in tight groups across the city, Chicago will move ahead with looser coronavirus restrictions as planned on Wednesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced.”
Lightfoot previously said restaurants, hotels and many more businesses would get to start opening June 3 with reduced capacities and tight rules in place designed to stop COVID-19 cases from spiking. That timeline seemed imperiled in recent days as fallout from the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd led to nationwide protests and civil unrest, but Lightfoot said the city will move forward with its plan as scheduled.
In making the decision, Lightfoot said she relied on local chambers of commerce and business owners she met while touring sites of destruction over the past several says who told her the city needs to return to some sense of normalcy to give people hope.
A new kind of service charge as more Chicago businesses reopen Wednesday: Fees to offset costs for COVID-19 protection: The Tribune’s Ryan Ori has the details here.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth speaks at a news conference Jan. 7, 2019, at O'Hare International Airport. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Army combat veteran, has long blasted President Trump in the past, calling him a draft dodger after he received five deferments for military service during the Vietnam War.
But her suggestion on Tuesday that he’s a “dictator” raised the level of rhetoric. She points to what news outlets, including The Associated Press, called a “split screen moment” yesterday: As he was declaring in front of cameras that he is the “president of law and order” in a Rose Garden address before reporters and cameras, law enforcement officers were aggressively shutting down a peaceful protest in a nearby park, firing tear gas and deploying flash-bangs to disperse the crowd.
Duckworth, of Hoffman Estates, said all of it was for a “photo op” that allowed the president to exit the news conference and walk to the St. John’s Episcopal Church, near the White House as TV cameras were rolling and reporters were looking on.
Advertisement
“As he was walking there, he was followed — behind him — by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in military fatigues and the secretary of defense, walking along like lap dogs behind a draft dodging wannabe tin-pot dictator,” she said in Washington, D.C., today where she and a group of Senate Democrats were pushing police reform legislation aimed at ongoing national outrage over Floyd’s death. You can listen to her full remarks at about the 36-minute mark here.
Duckworth is working with other Democrats to advance the legislation that among other things would set aside federal money for anti-bias and use-of-force training and authorize the U.S. attorney general to award grants that would allow states to tap an independent investigator — and, if warranted, a prosecutor — in police excessive force cases. Whether Republicans will support the proposal remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, the plan comes as Chicago police are under federal court oversight mandating changes to training, supervision and discipline.
This isn’t the first time Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost both legs when the helicopter she was piloting was shot down, has accused Trump of being a draft dodger. In 2018, Duckworth referred to Trump as “Cadet Bone Spurs” because he received a deferment during the Vietnam War because of bone spurs in his heels. He received four college deferments as well.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement: “The senator should check the facts instead of spread lies in an attempt to smear the President. These so-called peaceful protestors were throwing projectiles, climbing onto a historic building, and intelligence had showed they were prepared to escalate. Responding law enforcement followed appropriate procedure to clear the area in preparation for the 7 p.m. curfew and expand the perimeter away from one of our nation’s most historic churches, which crowds attempted to burn the night before.
“As President Trump has said, we cannot allow the voices of peaceful protestors to be drowned out by angry mobs, which is why the President will continue to take decisive action to stop the violence and restore the security of all Americans.”
Advertisement
Mayor Lightfoot says she’ll see Trump in court if he tries to send in military: ‘This is a man who likes to bluster’ — Late yesterday, President Donald Trump held a Rose Garden news conference and threatened to mobilize the U.S. military to end “riots and lawlessness” that have erupted in cities across the U.S. since the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Gregory Pratt has the full story here.
About Lightfoot’s TV address tonight: The mayor has spent the past several days pleading for peace as protesters marched and traveling mobs of citizens pillaged stores in the neighborhoods. The city has blocked off downtown roads to keep nonresidents out — a decision that’s been criticized as prioritizing the Loop over neighborhoods, though Lightfoot defended the decision by saying it allowed officials to put police in neighborhoods. — Gregory Pratt
Pritzker, Preckwinkle turn to religious and community leaders in urging protesters to channel anger toward criminal justice reform, economic development: The Tribune’s Dan Petrella has the details here.
Feds charge 2 more people allegedly tied to weekend looting in Chicago: The Tribune’s Sophie Sherry has the details here.
Joliet mayor says he was acting in self-defense when he grabbed and shoved a protester during George Floyd-related unrest; skirmish caught on video: Alicia Fabbre has the details here.
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Advertisement
A group of protesters confronts police in front of the 1st District at 17th and State Streets as they march from Harold Washington Cultural Center to the City Hall in Chicago on Monday, June 1, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune) (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
“Though protests and unrest have flared in cities across the country,” including here over the killing of George Floyd, “Chicago’s position is unusual in that the city already is in the middle of a court-overseen effort to overhaul the Chicago Police Department,” the Tribune’s Dan Hinkel reminds us in a new piece. “That push was sparked by public fury over the November 2015 release of video of white Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.”
Hinkel goes on to write: "The shooting led to a second-degree murder conviction and a wide-ranging report by the U.S. Department of Justice that portrayed the city’s police as poorly trained and loosely supervised, with little reason to fear discipline. The Justice Department’s findings echoed long-standing complaints about flawed investigations into shootings and the disproportionate use of force against minorities, among a host of other issues.
“Following that report, the city signed a consent decree that mandates changes to training, supervision and discipline.”
But progress has been slow: Late last year, the first periodic report from the independent monitoring team hired to guide the department’s progress found the city had missed 37 of its 50 deadlines during the first six months of implementing the court order."
Siblings Pete Ricketts, from left, Todd Ricketts, Laura Ricketts and Tom Ricketts beside the Cubs dugout at Wrigley Field on Oct. 13, 2009. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
My Tribune colleague Paul Sullivan writes: "Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a former co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, apologized for referring to black people as “you people” during a meeting with community leaders in Omaha.
“Ricketts’ comment was relayed in a video posted on Facebook by Pastor Jarrod Parker of St. Mark Baptist Church, who called Ricketts a “racist” and asked for the comment to go viral.
Advertisement
Parker met Monday with Ricketts, the Omaha police chief and other black leaders in the community about the shooting of a 22-year-old black man by a white bar owner during protests of the George Floyd killing. After the video appeared, Ricketts issued a statement saying, “I chose my words poorly, and apologized when it became apparent that I had caused offense.”
Ricketts called in to an Omaha radio show Tuesday hosted by black radio personality William King, and said: “My heart is with working with the communities of North and South Omaha to improve the lives of people there,” Ricketts said. “In the heat of the moment, I said things that were trigger words.”
Ricketts also said he’s “learning the culture” of the African American community and “I made a mistake … I’m sorry.” Read Sullivan’s full story here.
The issue was trending on social media this morning, the same day as protesters marched in Wrigleyville. The Cubs posted a statement on social media that read in part: “The Chicago Cubs condemn racism in all its forms and decry violence against members of the Black community. Bias and discrimination have no place in our society.”
It is not the first time a member of the politically split family has faced criticism over racially insensitive comments. Last year family patriarch Joe Ricketts apologized after a series of emails obtained and published by Splinter News showed him endorsing racist jokes and conspiracy theories.
Joe Ricketts and his Nebraska governor son are both high-profile Republicans, as is Todd Ricketts, one of the Cubs-owning siblings who is finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and the Trump Victory Committee. Pete and Todd Ricketts’ sister Laura Ricketts is a big backer of Democratic candidates and causes.
Advertisement
A statement from the Chicago Cubs. pic.twitter.com/11FWFWR1bE — Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 2, 2020
WGN anchor Joe Donlon on set Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Robert Channick: “Competing with established cable news networks such as CNN and Fox, “News Nation” is seeking to carve out a niche with a mission of delivering “unbiased” straight news. The newscasts will broadcast nightly from 7 to 10 p.m. from studios being built at WGN’s facilities in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood."
“We’re going to tell you what happens, we’re not going to tell you what to think about it,” said Jennifer Lyons, 52, the longtime news director at WGN-TV in Chicago who is now overseeing the new national cable news broadcast.
Channick notes: "Cable news has been must-see TV in recent weeks as efforts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and fallout from the videotaped death of an African American man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis police have gripped viewers nationwide. Lyons said the need for information “brings to light” the importance of cable news.
"However, Lyons said “News Nation” intends to shift the focus away from an increasingly partisan Washington D.C., and spend more time covering stories from the center of the country — both geographically and politically.” Read more here.
Thanks for reading The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. Have a tip? Email host Lisa Donovan at ldonovan@chicagotribune.com.
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Feds charge man with setting fire to Chicago police vehicle, 3 others face gun charges in connection

Feds charge man with setting fire to Chicago police vehicle, 3 others face gun charges in connection to weekend looting in Chicago

Around the same time , officers approached Peltzer sitting in a car in front of a bar at 16th Street @ @ @ @ @ the glass front door of the business was shattered , according to the complaint .
@ @ @ @ @ toward the front seat , where a loaded handgun was laying , authorities said .

Federal authorities say Timothy O'Donnell set fire to a Chicago police vehicle during the unrest on May 30, 2020. He appears to have a neck tattoo that reads "PRETTY." (Federal court documents)
A South Side man was hit with federal arson charges Tuesday alleging he set fire to a Chicago police SUV in the Loop while wearing a “Joker” clown mask during the weekend unrest.
Timothy O’Donnell, 31, was seen on video taken by a bystander on Saturday approaching the police vehicle parked in the 200 block of North State Street and placing a lit object into the car’s gas tank, according to an eight-page criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
Advertisement
After the squad car burst into flames, O’Donnell was captured in a photograph provided by a different witness posing in front of the blaze.
Though his face was obscured by the grinning mask, O’Donnell’s distinctive neck tattoo reading “PRETTY” could clearly be seen in the photo, according to the complaint.
Advertisement
Federal authorities say this photo shows Timothy O'Donnell near a burning Chicago police vehicle on May 30, 2020, in the 200 block of North State Street. He appears to have a neck tattoo that reads "PRETTY." (Federal court documents)
Federal authorities say this photo shows Timothy O'Donnell near a burning Chicago police vehicle on May 30, 2020, in the 200 block of North State Street. (Federal court document photo)
That image — as well as several others — were included in the charging document.
Police found the mask in O’Donnell’s bedroom when they searched his apartment in the 700 block of West 19th Street, according to the complaint.
O’Donnell later admitted in an interview with law enforcement that he was the one seen in the mask igniting the blaze, the charges alleged.
An initial appearance for O’Donnell will likely take place at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Wednesday.
O’Donnell was one of five people now charged with committing federal crimes in Chicago amid the chaos and looting that struck the city after the police-involved homicide of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
On Monday, charges were brought in U.S. District Court in Minnesota against Matthew Rupert, 28, of Galesburg, accusing him of driving to Minneapolis and Chicago to loot and riot.
Federal authorities have also lodged gun charges against three convicted felons — Brandon Pegues, Amber Peltzer and Kevin Tunstall — alleging they were caught near protest or looting scenes with illegal weapons.
Pegues, 28, of Riverdale, was arrested around 12:40 a.m. Sunday after Chicago police officers responded to crowds near 801 South Financial Place, according to the charges. The officers saw four men running south, some carrying hammers.
Advertisement
Pegues looked at the police, adjusted the right side of his waistband and fled south, according to the complaint. As officers chased him, he fell and a loaded 9 mm pistol dropped on the ground. Pegues pushed it under a car, where police recovered it, the complaint said.
Around the same time, officers approached Peltzer sitting in a car in front of a bar at 16th Street and Michigan Avenue after noticing the glass front door of the business was shattered, according to the complaint. An officer saw Peltzer reach toward the front seat, where a loaded handgun was laying, authorities said.
The charges against Tunstall alleged that Chicago police heard gunshots near State and Harrison streets about 1:30 a.m. Saturday and saw a group of people standing around a black Jeep.
When officers approached, several people ran, but Tunstall got into the Jeep’s back seat. When an officer opened the door of the Jeep, a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol fell to the ground, according to the complaint.
Tunstall, of Oak Forest, was sentenced in Cook County in 2016 to four years in prison for a conviction of harassing a witness or family member, according to the charges.
Peltzer, of Lansing, was convicted of aggravated robbery in Will County in 2014 and sentenced to five years in prison, according to the charges.
Advertisement
Pegues, meanwhile, has a 2010 felony conviction for residential burglary in Cook County. On those charges, he was sentenced to 30 months’ probation.
U.S. Attorney John Lausch said in a statement Tuesday that his office was working with Chicago police and "using every available federal law enforcement tool to arrest and prosecute anyone involved in violence and destruction in Chicago."
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
ssherry@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Record heat hits Chicago area as thunderstorms expected Tuesday night, Wednesday

The rest of the week was expected to see highs about 10 degrees above the normal high of 76 , @ @ @ @ @ , with highs between 80 and 88 Wednesday , in the mid-80s Thursday and Friday @ @ @ @ @ to be about 10 degrees lower near the lake .

Midsummer heat baked the Chicago area Tuesday, setting a record high for the day as forecasters warned of possible thunderstorms later in the evening, with a greater chance for storms Wednesday.
O’Hare International Airport hit 94 degrees Tuesday afternoon, besting the record high for June 2 of 92, set in 1895 and matched in 1944, according to the National Weather Service’s Chicago office.
Advertisement
The rest of the week was expected to see highs about 10 degrees above the normal high of 76, according to the weather service, with highs between 80 and 88 Wednesday, in the mid-80s Thursday and Friday, when temperatures were expected to be about 10 degrees lower near the lake.
Cyclists ride as several of the Chicago's bridges remain upright over the Chicago River, June 2, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Storms are expected tonight to our north over WI. Some of these storms could trend southward to near the IL state line overnight. More storms are likely to develop tomorrow afternoon, mainly south of I-80. High temps will remain in the 80s thru the week. #ilwx #inwx pic.twitter.com/LPN0nEKuuE — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) June 2, 2020
A round of thunderstorms was expected to develop Tuesday night in southern Wisconsin, with some storms possibly making their way into the far north suburbs overnight, according to the weather service.
Advertisement
“Should the thunderstorms maintain enough strength, there may be isolated instances of severe weather along and north of Interstates 88 and 290,” according to the weather service.
More storms were expected Wednesday afternoon, mainly south of Interstate 80, according to the weather service.
“A chance for some scattered thunderstorms remains in the forecast for Friday, but overall, drier conditions are expected as we head into the weekend.”
For more information, check the Tribune’s weather page.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--5-year-old boy dies after being hit by car in Glenview, police say

Police responded just before 1 p.m. to a report of a crash involving a northbound vehicle striking a child , @ @ @ @ @ was transported by the Glenview Fire Department to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge @ @ @ @ @ release .

A 5-year-old boy was fatally hit by a car in the 700 block of Waukegan Road early Tuesday afternoon, according to officials.
The medical examiner’s office identified the boy as Jacob Pikosky, of the 2700 block of Pauline Avenue.
Advertisement
Glenview police responded just before 1 p.m. to a report of a crash involving a northbound vehicle striking a child, police said. Pikosky was transported by the Glenview Fire Department to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to a news release.
Advanced life support was given to Pikosky, according to a fire department news release. He died a few hours later, police said.
Advertisement
Pikosky was with some form of a caretaker at the time of the accident, according to Glenview police spokesman Jim Foley. His parents were not present.
The man who was driving the vehicle is “cooperating fully with the investigation,” according to police. Investigators saw no indication of impairment, police said.
The driver was transported to Glenbrook Hospital, according to the release.
The crash remains under investigation by Glenview police and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force’s Major Crash Assistance Team.
Charges, if any, will be determined following further investigation, police said. None have been filed at this time.
kedquist@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @kaitlinedquist


Corrections and clarifications

Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune ’ s news responsibility and a value @ @ @ @ @ .
Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards .
Everyone in @ @ @ @ @ live up to this code of conduct .
Download the file .

· A photo caption on Page 1 on May 26 for a story about COVID-19 testing at the Cook County Jail incorrectly identified Victoria Furlow as a nurse. She is a paramedic.
· A headline in a graphic in Tuesday’s Business section about pending home sales incorrectly said home sales rose. The headline should have said: Pending home sales decline.
Advertisement
The Tribune regrets the errors.
Publishing information quickly and accurately is a central part of the Chicago Tribune’s news responsibility and a value shared in all our publications. Our editorial code of principles governs professional behavior and journalism standards. Everyone in our newsroom must agree to live up to this code of conduct. Download the file.
Advertisement
To report an error, fill out this form.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Glendale Heights arrest video

Glendale Heights arrest video

Warning : Graphic content .
An arrest caught on video appears to show a Glendale Heights police officer punching a @ @ @ @ @ bloodied her .


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Column: Cleaning up after the looting: ‘We’re investing in ourselves’

“ It makes you understand the anxiety people feel when they ’ re protesting and there are all these police @ @ @ @ @ .
`` Your innate feeling is ‘ you guys have come here to beat on @ @ @ @ @ harass me.
’ It may not be the case , but everybody is moving off @ @ @ @ @

Malcolm Cherry is seen on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago on June 2, 2020, a day after he went to the West Side of Chicago to help clean up after damage was done in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
On Monday morning, Malcolm Cherry put out a call on Facebook: Did anybody want to join him on the West Side to clean up after Sunday night’s looting?
Before long, he and two friends were on Madison Street, a little west of Pulaski Road, which was where I found them shortly after noon, in the stench outside a smoking building, just as a firetruck wailed up.
Advertisement
Up and down the street, people with brooms and rakes and garbage bags were sweeping up glass and litter. Passersby called out their thanks or stopped to offer more supplies.
“You’ve got to send a message to everybody that you’re not going to give up,” Cherry said, clutching a broom he’d brought from home, along with masks, gloves and garbage bags. “We don’t put in the effort, nobody else will. Nobody’s going to invest in a community where people don’t invest in themselves.”
Advertisement
“So we’re investing in ourselves,” said Asya Hill, one of his two cleaning recruits, who was carrying a rake.
Cherry is 27. He lives on the South Side and manages a North Side CVS. But he lived most of his life a few blocks from Madison and Pulaski, and as a teenager began to explore the neighborhood’s history, a history he held in his mind as he swept on Monday.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 89 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)
“I started to learn how the West Side of Chicago used to be one of the more affluent neighborhoods of the city,” he said. “When Pulaski was Crawford Avenue, and the Chicago Cubs used to be on the West Side.”
He learned about Madison Street’s prosperous businesses, many of them Jewish, and how the earlier residents had moved out as black people migrated in. Then came 1968, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the riots that became legend.
“Black people looted their own neighborhoods,” he said. “And due to the economic discrimination, but also due to the community lacking in financial literacy, Madison was never able to recover.”
He calls 1968 “the beginning of the destruction.” Now, he said, “we’re in 2020 and it may be the nail in the coffin.”
But not if he and his cleaning crew can help it.
Cherry and his friends — Hill and Jeffrey Otaka, all of whom met as students at Jones College Prep — began their cleaning outside a City Sports store. As they worked, looters arrived, undeterred by police nearby. Eventually, the crew took their cleaning tools farther down the street.
Advertisement
While they lament the damage, Cherry and his friends view the looters as “opportunists” in a territory short on opportunity.
“Everybody is the same,” Cherry said. “You see an opportunity, you take advantage of it. It doesn’t matter the skin color — black, white, Hispanic — you see somebody get away with something, you’re going to do it, too, if you can get away with it.”
I asked about the theory that a lot of the looting and related chaos is being sown by extremist outsiders.
“It’s too early to tell,” Otaka said, though they were inclined to think that on Madison Street the looters were local.
One thing they were sure of: The looters weren’t there in the name of George Floyd, the unarmed black man killed in Minnesota last week by a white police officer, and whose death has unleashed protests, some violent, all over the country.
As we talked, only a few police were visible along Madison at first, but as the afternoon wore on, the officers began massing at the corner, a swarm of blue helmets, batons and black bulletproof vests, apparently in anticipation of more trouble that night.
Advertisement
The sight left Cherry “uneasy.”
“It makes you understand the anxiety people feel when they’re protesting and there are all these police around," he said. "Your innate feeling is ‘you guys have come here to beat on me, jump me, harass me.’ It may not be the case, but everybody is moving off their emotions now.”
Chicago Tribune Opinion Weekdays Read the latest editorials and commentary curated by the Tribune Opinion team. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Cherry and his crew were about to head home when a car pulled up to the curb. Four young white women were inside. One hopped out.
She handed Cherry a flowering plant with a card that said, “Thank you.” They traded smiles, then she hopped back in and the car drove off.
I asked him what he made of the gesture.
“There is a little bit of sacrifice they may have to make to be openly a supporter of Black Lives Matter,” he said. “It may make them an enemy in their own community.”
Advertisement
He said he liked the symbolism: new flower, fresh start.
And in the gray afternoon, as police sirens whelped for no clear reason and the chance of another violent night loomed, he crouched down next to the Madison Street sidewalk and planted a small, yellow flower just beginning to bloom.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs ‘cocktails to go’ into law

“ This piece of legislation is really important for the bars .
Many of these businesses are dying on the @ @ @ @ @ Sara Feigenholtz , the Chicago Democrat who sponsored the legislation in the Senate .
“ @ @ @ @ @ opportunity to get something out of this closure , to safely reinvent themselves through delivery @ @ @ @

Not yet ready to leave home but craving a libation from your favorite bar? Now you can get your mixed drinks delivered.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a new “cocktails to go” measure Tuesday that allows bars and restaurants with liquor licenses to sell adult beverages for delivery and pickup. The measure is aimed at helping bars and restaurants that for more than two months were ordered shut down to dine-in service to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Advertisement
“This piece of legislation is really important for the bars. Many of these businesses are dying on the vine,” said Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, the Chicago Democrat who sponsored the legislation in the Senate. “This will give them an opportunity to get something out of this closure, to safely reinvent themselves through delivery and takeout.”
The city of Chicago would need to make a change to its municipal code to allow for the new measure to take effect there, and city officials have said they are working on amending the code to allow for cocktails to go.
Advertisement
The legislation, which earned the cheeky moniker “Booznibus” during the Illinois General Assembly’s special pandemic-driven session last month, takes effect immediately.
Under the new law, bars and restaurants can offer delivery and pickup of cocktails in sealed and labeled containers with tamper-proof seals or caps. The drinks cannot be delivered via third-party delivery services such as DoorDash, Grubhub or Postmates.
The law also delays late fees and license fees for liquor licenses, establishes automatic license renewal approval and extensions for license holders who have seen their business suspended as a result of COVID-19-related closure orders.
Pritzker in a statement Tuesday called the measure for bars and restaurants a “critical tool to bring in additional income until they can safely and fully reopen their doors once more.”
Pritzker ordered bars and restaurants closed to dine-in service in mid-March. Takeout and delivery food has been allowed to continue while sweeping business restrictions have been in place, but businesses have faced major challenges and significant revenue drop-offs.
Chicago will follow the rest of the state in advancing to its next phase of reopening on Wednesday, which includes outdoor dining at restaurants with tight rules in place aimed at preventing the potential spread of COVID-19.
Any employees making cocktail deliveries must be older than 21, and they are required to verify the age and level of intoxication of the customer.
The measure passed unanimously in the Senate and in an overwhelming, bipartisan vote in the House last month.
Advertisement
jmunks@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Divvy bikes suspended in wake of mass looting; activists decry cutbacks to public transit

Metra has been out of service since Monday morning , and both CTA and Pace suburban bus service shut down @ @ @ @ @ nights .
CTA has limited service during the day to avoid wide areas of the @ @ @ @ @ Pace also has not been coming into downtown Chicago , though it plans to resume @ @ @ @ @

A protester has his face mostly covered while riding a Divvy bicycle in the Loop on May 29, 2020, during a march to bring attention to the May 25 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
After days of road closures and reduced transit service because of incidents of looting and violence, access to downtown Chicago will start to reopen today, , in time for loosened restrictions on businesses.
Metra, which has been out of service since Monday morning, resumed a modified schedule today on most lines. The CTA restarted bus and rail service to downtown at 5 a.m., though some train stops located within or near downtown will remain closed, according to the city.
Advertisement
Pace suburban bus service also resumed normal service, including I-55 express service and ADA paratransit service to downtown Chicago. Both CTA and Pace had canceled overnight service on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Divvy bikes, out of service since Sunday afternoon, reopened at 6 a.m, and will be available until 8 p.m., the city said.
Advertisement
Lake Shore Drive reopened, but with exits at Michigan, Chicago and Grand avenues, Lower Wacker Drive and Randolph Street remain closed. Also reopened are entrance and exit ramps on Interstate 290 and I-90/94, the city said.
Bridges in the central business district, which had been raised to discourage looting and vandalism, were lowered over the Chicago River on Clark, Dearborn, Lake, Randolph, Wells and Washington streets, the city said.
The citywide curfew for all residents and visitors, effective from until 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. remains in effect until further notice.
A limited number of businesses will reopen today, after months of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The transit and road shutdown was in response to fallout from protests against racial injustice and the killing of an African American man, George Floyd, while he was in police custody in Minneapolis.
The closures caused some residents problems getting to and from work.
On Tuesday the Active Transportation Alliance, a local advocacy group for biking and transit, launched a petition to bring back Divvy and transit service. Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded that both the CTA and Divvy bikes have been used to commit crimes, and she could not turn a “blind eye” to the issue.
“We’ve seen people trying to commandeer buses, threatening bus drivers,” Lightfoot said during a news conference Tuesday. She said city officials also saw people committing criminal acts while riding around on Divvy bikes.
Advertisement
Metra spokeswoman Meg Thomas-Reile said there will be no service on the SouthWest Service, Heritage Corridor or North Central Service lines, and Metra could adjust schedules daily depending on circumstances. Due to curfews throughout the region, the last inbound and outbound trains in the late evening will not run.
Thomas-Reile said that the modified schedule will run through Sunday, and that riders should check metrarail.com for the latest updates.
CTA riders are encouraged to check the agency’s website for updates.
mwisniewski@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--So many were killed by gunfire in Chicago Sunday, the medical examiner brought in extra pathologists

So many were killed by gunfire in Chicago Sunday, the medical examiner brought in extra pathologists for the autopsies

Of the more than 20 killed by gunfire across the city over the weekend , 15 died on Sunday , @ @ @ @ @ medical examiner ’ s office said it had to bring in additional pathologists to handle @ @ @

Paramedics tend to one of two gunshot victims in an incident in the 2700 block of West Haddon in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on June 1, 2020. Over 80 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Last Sunday was the most violent day of one of the most violent weekends in Chicago in recent memory.
Of the more than 20 killed by gunfire across the city over the weekend, 15 died on Sunday, so many the Cook County medical examiner’s office said it had to bring in additional pathologists to handle the autopsies.
Advertisement
“This is an unprecedented amount of homicides in one day for our office,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar. “The most I can recall in one day since I started here in 2003 is 10.”
In all, more than 80 people were shot over the weekend in Chicago amid widespread looting in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Advertisement
Most of Sunday’s homicides — 11 — occurred in Chicago. One happened in North Riverside and three at unknown locations, the office said.
Ages of the victims range between 18 and 39. Thirteen are men, and two are women. Twelve are black, two Latino and one is identified by the office as “other.”
The office said so many autopsies were scheduled for Sunday that three additional forensic pathologists were called in. There are usually five pathologists scheduled each day.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--As some Chicago restaurants gear up to open outdoor dining Wednesday, others take a more reserved ap

As some Chicago restaurants gear up to open outdoor dining Wednesday, others take a more reserved approach

“ Our No .
1 is keeping our employees safe and the public safe , ” he said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ the pivoting phase and figuring out what to do .
The information is coming out @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re not going to throw anything out of the playbook right now .
@ @ @ @ @ see where things are going .
...
It ’ s the Wild West right now @ @ @ @ @ lot of other things on their hands right now .
”

Kyle Kowalski replanes the wood planks of tables so they can be refinished in the rooftop space of West Town Bakery in Chicago on June 2, 2020. The business will reopen for outdoor dining Wednesday. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
After waiting more than a week since Gov. J. B. Pritzker announced the reopening of outdoor dining in Illinois, restaurants in the city of Chicago finally have the green light to do the same Wednesday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday morning that Chicago would move ahead to phase three of her reopening plan, allowing some industries to resume business, including restaurants’ outdoor dining spaces. While some Chicago restaurants eagerly prepare to reopen Wednesday, others are taking a more reserved approach, some citing the civil unrest that has shaken the nation over the past few days.
Advertisement
Restaurants are required to have a permit or license to operate outdoors, whether they plan on setting up a sidewalk cafe or outdoor patio. Lightfoot also launched the Expanded Outdoor Dining Permit last week, which allows for temporary outdoor operations in the street or on private property, like in a parking lot.
Greg Mohr, co-owner of the Fifty/50 Restaurant Group, which includes Roots Handmade Pizza in West Town and Lincoln Square and Utopian Tailgate in Old Town, said he’s excited to get back to serving people again. To add even more outdoor space, the Roots and West Town Bakery patios will be open for normal hours. But Fifty/50 has decided not to open another restaurant, Homestead on the Roof, reversing the plan it announced Tuesday.
Advertisement
Between delivery, takeout and the charity food bank the restaurant group has run, the biggest kitchens have remained fully operational during the pandemic, so he expects the transition to go smoothly.
[ Outdoor dining guide: A running list of Chicago and suburban rooftops and patio reopenings ]
“A lot of the work was already done,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with how it’s coming together.”
While Utopian Tailgate, the irreverent, nostalgic bar and restaurant atop Piper’s Alley, is getting rid of its lawn games, customers can still play tabletop games — the games will be sanitized between each use. Patrons also will find QR codes to access the menu, and if they want a paper one, it’ll be disposed of after it’s used. When dining at Roots, customers will be encouraged to use an app to order and pay.
“We’ll continue to pivot as we find better ways to do things,” Mohr said. “I’m very excited. It’s been a very long journey and we’re all pretty worn out and stressed out. We don’t know how it’s going to go. ... But I’m excited to work again and serve people again and seeing people smiling and eating and drinking and all the things.”
Eric Fritzsche, general manager of Utopian Tailgate restaurant in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, is seen on the rooftop space on June 2, 2020. The popular bar will reopen Wednesday. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
It’s no secret that the restaurant industry has taken a clobbering during the pandemic. And now, with the fallout in Chicago and across the nation over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officer, some restaurants are even more wary about opening too soon.
Dave Nalezny, co-owner of Park & Field in Logan Square, had been set to reopen the restaurant on Thursday. But Tuesday afternoon, he contacted a reporter to say they would wait. He did not offer a new opening date, saying management would decide after an all-staff meeting Wednesday over the Zoom teleconferencing app.
Nalezny had spent Tuesday removing the boards he had put up to protect the restaurant against looters and rioters who wreaked havoc Sunday on other businesses on his block of West Fullerton Avenue. “It’s been a whirlwind,” he said.
Advertisement
Many of his employees have expressed concern about traveling to and from work with the CTA closures, so he hopes public demonstrations will remain peaceful to assuage their fears.
Advertisement
In Hyde Park, restaurateur Rico Nance hopes to put out a few chairs and tables in the weeks to come, but not right now.
“The turmoil of the nation dealing with George Floyd and everything else that has been going on, I’m not sure how smart it is to put someone outside right now with looters running past, snatching purses,” said Nance, who owns Litehouse Whole Food Grill, Mikkey’s Retro Grill and The Soul Shack, all in Hyde Park. “But once the climate calms down, it might be the only thing to keep us in business.”
Although an ATM was stolen from the back of Litehouse, Nance said his restaurants have remained relatively unscathed because of their relationship with the community.
Some restaurants, however, are waiting even longer to reopen. While Birrieria Zaragoza, the popular Mexican restaurant in Archer Heights, has toyed with the idea of converting its parking lot into dining space, owner Jonathan Zaragoza said his team is currently focused on curbside pickup and exploring the idea of meal kits.
“Our No. 1 is keeping our employees safe and the public safe,” he said. “Honestly, everyone is in the pivoting phase and figuring out what to do. The information is coming out by the hour, so we’re not going to throw anything out of the playbook right now. We’re going to see where things are going. ... It’s the Wild West right now and the city has a lot of other things on their hands right now.”
Advertisement
For Mike Simmons, chef and co-owner of Cafe Marie-Jeanne in Humboldt Park, the fact that there’s no treatment or prevention of COVID-19 is reason enough not to open the restaurant for dine-in customers. With delivery drivers servicing multiple restaurants who have employees that come into contact with diners, Simmons described the network as a mycelium that would contribute to the spread of the virus.
“As far as I can tell, the only thing that has happened is a lot of people got sick and died and it’s starting to maybe slow down, whatever that means, and the economy fell apart,” he said. “We haven’t gotten anywhere with the disease. On top of that, there’s massive civil unrest because our government hates black people. So getting six people on a plexiglass patio is such a low priority for us right now.”
He has kept two people on payroll and has been trying to break even with takeout orders. The rest of his money he’s been giving to the Chicago Community Bond Fund, Reclaim the Block in Minneapolis, and “some other organization that needs money more than people need smoked chicken and french fries.” And for the people who need smoked chicken and french fries, they can order through his website and do contactless pick-up.
During the pandemic, Simmons’ ordering system requires guests to order a day in advance. He’s exploring same-day pickup with a new menu this weekend. To fully open, he said he needs to feel like the health care system is both equipped to prevent the spread of the disease and treat the disease once people contract it.
“Right now, it does not feel like that,” Simmons said. “Just opening up does not make the disease go away. Money does not make the disease go away. The economy was booming when the disease came. Our economic health is being watched out for rather than actual human health.”
This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Homestead on the Roof will not open for another two weeks.
Advertisement
gwong@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer .

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 5,525 deaths, 122,848 confirmed cases, 934,704 tests,  12% positivity

Tracking Illinois coronavirus: 5,525 deaths, 122,848 confirmed cases, 934,704 tests,  12% positivity rate for Northeast region

As the coronavirus spreads and local , state and national governments work to contain and mitigate the outbreak , the @ @ @ @ @ .

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Pritzker, Preckwinkle turn to religious and community leaders in urging protesters to channel anger

Pritzker, Preckwinkle turn to religious and community leaders in urging protesters to channel anger toward criminal justice reform, economic development

“ A lot of this rage has been locked up for a while , ” he said .
“ And @ @ @ @ @ now is that you don ’ t destroy your own communities , that you learn @ @ @ @ @ .
And then let ’ s do the things we need to do politically and @ @ @ @ @ of our community .
”

After four days of civil unrest in Chicago and its suburbs, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Tuesday turned to religious and community leaders to urge protesters to channel anger over the death of George Floyd toward efforts for criminal justice reform and economic development in minority communities.
“What’s very important to me is that we establish an agenda — an agenda that’s led, in part, by the very peaceful protesters that are out on the streets, that were there protesting last night, the night before and the night before, the folks who were there with legitimate grievance,” Pritzker said.
Advertisement
Preckwinkle encouraged those angered by the “racist, preventable death” of Floyd, who was African American, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis to “seize this moment and try to bring freedom and justice to every American.”
“We cannot do this by destroying our communities,” said Preckwinkle, a Hyde Park resident. “We cannot do this by decimating what makes our black and brown communities so strong, so close-knit, even in the face of decades, generations of racist government policies and disinvestment.”
Advertisement
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Joining Pritzker and Preckwinkle at Kleo Art Residences, an affordable housing development in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side, were religious leaders including Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and Apostle Carl White of Victory Christian International Ministries, who recalled when businesses along Roosevelt Road were set aflame in riots of 1968.
“Many of those places have never been rebuilt because the money was not put back in our community,” White said.
“A lot of this rage has been locked up for a while,” he said. “And what we’re asking now is that you don’t destroy your own communities, that you learn how to do it peacefully. And then let’s do the things we need to do politically and socially to change the dynamics of our community.”
Jahmal Cole of the organization My Block, My Hood, My City encouraged young people to look for ways to help in their own neighborhoods, including cleaning up the damage left behind by looters. They should ask themselves, “What’s something simple I can do that will have a positive impact on my block?” Cole said.
“If you start with the simple things, you can develop the muscle it takes to take on bigger challenges,” he said.
Earlier this year, Pritzker unveiled a criminal justice reform agenda — including an eventual end to cash bail — that he hoped to begin advancing in the General Assembly’s spring legislative session before it was subsumed by the coronavirus pandemic. Preckwinkle has been a proponent of similar efforts at the county level.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Naperville woman killed in St. Charles crash

Simpson was pronounced dead at the scene .
The driver and passenger in the other car involved were transported to @ @ @ @ @ , police said .
The driver of the truck was treated by paramedics and released @ @ @ @

Police investigate a fatal crash in St. Charles Tuesday that killed a woman from Naperville. (Mark Black / The Beacon-News)
A Naperville woman was killed Tuesday morning after the vehicle she was driving hit a semi-truck head-on in St. Charles, police said.
According to police, Moira Simpson, 60, was driving northbound around 7:50 a.m. in the 400 block of South Kirk Road in St. Charles when her vehicle crossed over into the southbound lanes near Kirk Road and Ohio Avenue.
Advertisement
Her car hit a southbound car and then struck a southbound truck head-on, according to police.
Simpson was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and passenger in the other car involved were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The driver of the truck was treated by paramedics and released at the scene.
Advertisement
The crash remains under investigation, police said.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she’ll see Trump in court if he tries to send in military: ‘This i

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she’ll see Trump in court if he tries to send in military: ‘This is a man who likes to bluster’

“ He wants to show failures on the part of Democratic local leaders , to throw red meat to his @ @ @ @ @ Friday .
“ His goal is to polarize , to destabilize local government and inflame @ @ @ @ @ absolutely not let him prevail .
And I will code what I really want to @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s two words .
It begins with F and it ends with U @ @

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks alongside Gov. J.B. Pritzker at the Thompson Center on May 31, 2020, the day after protests led to widespread damage downtown. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot dismissed President Donald Trump’s threat to send the military into city streets across the country to quell protests as “bluster,” but promised to fight such a move in court if tries it in Chicago.
“That’s not gonna happen,” Lightfoot said Tuesday. “I will see him in court.”
Advertisement
Referring to a 2017 incident where Trump tweeted, “Send in the feds!” about city violence, Lightfoot said, "Keep in mind, this is a man who likes to bluster. Let’s not overreact.”
Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
Advertisement
Late Monday, Trump held a Rose Garden news conference to threaten he would mobilize the U.S. military to end “riots and lawlessness” in states that have erupted since the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. It was unclear what form such an action might take.
Trump then walked across Pennsylvania Avenue to St. John’s Church, where he held a Bible for a photo-op, after federal officers had used tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets to clear peaceful protesters to make way for the president. Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared on CNN as the scene unfolded and condemned Trump’s actions.
Lightfoot’s comments Tuesday marked the latest exchange between Chicago’s mayor and Trump. Lightfoot last week responded to Trump tweeting a message that included, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts” in reply to rioting in Minneapolis and elsewhere following Floyd’s death. Lightfoot said the president cannot be allowed to divide and destabilize the country.
“He wants to show failures on the part of Democratic local leaders, to throw red meat to his base,” Lightfoot said Friday. “His goal is to polarize, to destabilize local government and inflame racist urges. We can absolutely not let him prevail. And I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It’s two words. It begins with F and it ends with U.”
She has also ripped Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who are both White House advisers.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Glendale Heights hires security firm to review arrest caught on videos that appear to show officer p

Glendale Heights hires security firm to review arrest caught on videos that appear to show officer punching woman

“ The video of the arrest that is circulating on social media is shocking and distressing to see , ” @ @ @ @ @ to Village President Linda Jackson posted on the town ’ s website .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ our community by being as transparent as possible .
”

Glendale Heights in the western suburbs has hired a security risk management firm to review an arrest caught on videos that appear to show an officer punching a woman during a struggle that bloodied her.
The videos of the Monday morning arrest, shared through social media, helped fuel a protest at the Village Hall later that day that the town’s police department described as peaceful.
Advertisement
“The video of the arrest that is circulating on social media is shocking and distressing to see,” according to a letter attributed to Village President Linda Jackson posted on the town’s website. “We must preserve the trust of our community by being as transparent as possible.”
Warning: Graphic content. An arrest caught on video appears to show a Glendale Heights police officer punching a woman during a struggle that bloodied her. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
Advertisement
Authorities identified the woman as Tyler Russell, 23. She was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer, a felony, after prosecutors alleged in a charging document that she bit the police officer, “causing a severe wound."
Both she and the officer were sent to the hospital, police said. She was transferred to DuPage County’s jail, with online jail records indicating Tuesday evening she had not yet posted $3,500 bond to be released.
The officer was identified in court documents by his first initial and last name, M. Guerrero. While not naming the officer in her statement, Jackson said the officer involved in the altercation was placed on administrative leave.
The department, in an earlier statement posted on Twitter, said police were called to an apartment complex in the 500 block of Gregory Avenue for a disturbance around 9:35 a.m. Monday and determined a woman had been driving drunk. The woman “became combative” as they arrested her.
A male officer was bit in the arm and head-butted, according to the police statement.
A video of the initial part of the encounter was shot from a nearby balcony by resident Kiara Brown, who said she didn’t see the woman head-butt or bite the officer.
Brown said she saw the officer punch the woman as police struggled to move her away from a car near a sidewalk, then wrestled her to the ground. Her video shows the officer’s right arm swinging at the handcuffed woman.
“After he punched her, everybody came outside, instantly,” she said. “And from there, it just went downhill. She was hysterical, crying, scared. So she was just screaming.”
Advertisement
A video shot from another angle shows the woman lying facedown on a sidewalk in a pool of blood, still handcuffed, before officers pull her to sit up as onlookers scream at the officers.
The village president’s statement said the village hired the firm Hillard Heintze to review the case and asked any witnesses to call police because “significant portions of the video are missing from the publicly available posts.”
Brown, pulling up her phone for reference, said one officer called her to get her statement before 10:30 a.m. Monday, for five minutes, and Brown said she called back about 1:30 p.m. to make a formal complaint with a sergeant, leaving a voicemail.
She said Tuesday morning that she hadn’t heard back from the sergeant.
Village spokeswoman Lissa Druss said Tuesday evening that additional witnesses have come forward, and the department is continuing its own internal investigation.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Naperville cleans up after night of looting

Protests were held throughout the country over the death of George Floyd , a black man who died after being @ @ @ @ @ on May 25 .
Get the latest here .

This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. By remaining on this website, you indicate your consent.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus

As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward , the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have @ @ @ @ @ Chicago area or who have connections to our region .
These are some of those @ @

They were mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. Many were proud grandparents. Two were sisters from a tight-knit South Side family. All were loved, relatives say, and will be forever missed.
As the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 ticks upward, the Tribune is working to chronicle those who have lost their lives in the Chicago area or who have connections to our region. These are some of those victims.
If you know of someone or would like to offer a remembrance of someone please share your information here. To file a death notice, go here.
Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune: Our mission is to deliver trusted and meaningful local news. Your support allows us to continue providing the award-winning, watchdog and in-depth journalism our community deserves. Subscribe here.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--A new kind of service charge as more Chicago businesses reopen Wednesday: Fees to offset costs for C

A new kind of service charge as more Chicago businesses reopen Wednesday: Fees to offset costs for COVID-19 protection

“ Businesses may increase their prices a reasonable amount due to COVID-19 , ” Reichman said in an emailed statement @ @ @ @ @ price increase must be disclosed prior to purchase , and businesses can not claim that @ @ @ @ @ .
Furthermore , the Department of Finance has indicated that any surcharge customers are required @ @ @ @ @ beverages is considered taxable and should be included in the basis upon which restaurant tax @ @ @ @

Gilberto Castro, a co-owner of Cosmos The Salon on West 18th Street in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, on May 7, 2020. Castro says the salon is absorbing increased costs or cutting other costs to avoid surcharges for their customers. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
A long-awaited return to the dentist or hair salon may come with an unwelcome surprise — and it’s not a cavity or more gray hairs to cover than the last visit.
COVID-19 surcharges are popping up on bills for those services and on bills at other long-shuttered businesses, including restaurants, as the economy reopens from stay-at-home orders that were put in place to slow the rate of infection. On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the city will move ahead with looser coronavirus restrictions as planned on Wednesday.
Advertisement
The coronavirus pandemic has created a juggling act for businesses, which look to offset costly new safety measures such as masks, face shields and gloves without alienating customers.
“It is dipping into our costs of running a business,” said George Long, owner of George Charles Salon in the Gold Coast, which is adding a $3.50 surcharge for each appointment.
Advertisement
The Oak Street salon, set to open this week when Chicago restrictions are lifted, is taking precautions such as adding an employee at the door to help with social distancing, and leaving 15 minutes between appointments for thorough cleanings of each station, Long said.
The salon also acquired a handheld device for no-contact temperature checks as customers arrive, Long said.
One of hair salons’ biggest costs, hair dye, will be in greater use after clients have gone months between appointments, further driving up business expenses, Long said.
Long said the surcharge will offset some, but not all, of the added expenses.
“It’s a nominal cost, but it goes toward running our business,” Long said of the surcharge. “Talking with clients over the phone, they are OK with it and they understand.”
“They’re saying, ‘We just want to get our hair done,’” Long said.
Some businesses in Chicago and other cities, particularly restaurants, have been criticized for tacking on extra fees.
A Harold’s Chicken shop in Lakeview quickly pulled back its 26% surcharge in mid-May after it created an uproar on social media.
Advertisement
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, which has 85 restaurants throughout the Chicago area, is among other local restaurants that have added surcharges. The Chicago company, whose restaurants include R.J. Grunts, RPM Steak, Mon Ami Gabi and Shaw’s Crab House, in May added a 4% surcharge to delivery and carryout orders.
Dentists in Illinois were allowed to fully reopen in May, with extra precautions required. Some Chicago-area practices are adding surcharges in the $10 to $20 range to cover beefed-up cleaning and safety measures.
At least one backed off after announcing plans for a surcharge.
The Drs. Kushner, Becker and Associates Dental Group, which has offices on North Michigan Avenue and in Elk Grove Village, in May informed patients via email that it was adding a $10 surcharge to pay for new safety protocols.
Five days later the dentists, Jordan Kushner and Richard Becker, sent a follow-up email to say the surcharge was being rescinded for customers, but the office still would submit the added cost to insurance carriers.
“After careful consideration we have decided to eliminate this fee,” the email said. “We understand these are difficult and even challenging times for all of us."
Advertisement
The American Dental Association “strongly encourages dental offices to disclose any additional fees upfront to patients and to document these charges in the patient record,” the organization said in an emailed statement.
The ADA said it has recommended dental benefit carriers either adjust maximum allowable fees to cover costs for personal protective equipment or allow an additional standard fee per patient.
The city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection has received six complaints regarding coronavirus-related surcharges, resulting in one warning to a business that made a surcharge appear to be a tax, spokesman Isaac Reichman said.
“Businesses may increase their prices a reasonable amount due to COVID-19,” Reichman said in an emailed statement. “However, this price increase must be disclosed prior to purchase, and businesses cannot claim that this surcharge is a tax. Furthermore, the Department of Finance has indicated that any surcharge customers are required to pay for food or beverages is considered taxable and should be included in the basis upon which restaurant tax is calculated.”
The Mario Tricoci hair salon chain, which has 13 Chicago-area locations, is charging a $3 fee for a wide range of safety measures that will include no-contact temperature checks. Safety measures also will include placing Med-Call Healthcare Staffing nurses at some sites to screen employees and guests for COVID-19, the salon company said in an email.
Zano Salon & Spa, which has two locations in Naperville and one each in Lisle and Batavia, is charging a $5 personal protective equipment fee as well as an additional $30 surcharge for customers getting their hair colored, according to the company’s website.
Advertisement
Some businesses are absorbing increased costs or cutting other costs to avoid surcharges.
Among them is Cosmos The Salon in Chicago.
“We’re all going through this struggle at so many different levels, and we don’t think charging a surcharge is going to improve our business,” said co-owner Erandi Tovar. “I don’t find it necessary.”
The Pilsen salon is affiliated with the Paul Mitchell salon network, which gave Cosmos $400 to help pay for safety kits for customers, Tovar said. The salon’s distributor is offering products such as disposable masks and gloves at a low cost, and it is offering up to 50% off many of its hair dyes, she said.
Chicago salons are set to reopen Wednesday, and Cosmos already is booked into August, Tovar said.
“Our clientele is used to working by appointment and we can have a predictable flow,” Tovar said. “With restaurants, it’s more unpredictable when somebody is going to come through the door. With the high demand for hair, we think we can get through this.”
Advertisement
rori@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @Ryan_Ori


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--2 shot dead and 60 arrested in Cicero, town blames ‘outside agitators’

“ We have seen employees at several retail stores standing outside their stores holding clubs and other weapons , protecting @ @ @ @ @ told the station .
“ We have urged them to let us do our work @ @ @ @ @ lives in jeopardy .
”

Two men emerge from a backroom inside El Patron Liquor Store in Cicero after looters broke in on June 1, 2020. Police arrested them. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Police in riot gear patrolled the streets of Cicero on Monday night after two people were shot dead and two others were wounded following a day of unrest that the western suburb blamed on “outside agitators.”
Police arrest two men who were hiding in a back storeroom after looters broke into El Patron liquor store near the intersection of South Cicero Avenue and West Cermak Road on June 1, 2020, in Cicero. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
At least 60 people were arrested as the town deployed more than 100 officers in addition to more than 100 sheriff’s officers and state troopers.
Advertisement
“Outside agitators shot at least two people near 50th Street and Cermak Road,” Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania said. “But police apprehended the three suspects involved in the shooting. These were outside agitators who were driving through Cicero seeking to cause trouble.”
A man with a shovel stands near the intersection of West Cermak Road and South 50th Avenue after an altercation between groups of people on June 1, 2020, in Cicero. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Hanania released few other details of the shootings, which occurred as a crowd was “looting and vandalizing several businesses.”
Advertisement
Earlier Monday, armed men wearing face coverings were seen standing at the ready on the roof of a local family-owned Dollar Busters liquor store, according to WGN-TV.
“We have seen employees at several retail stores standing outside their stores holding clubs and other weapons, protecting their businesses,” Hanania told the station. “We have urged them to let us do our work and not to put their lives in jeopardy.”


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Police release video of fatal shooting at North Riverside mall

The 12-second clip shows a gunman in pursuit of another man , who falls to the sidewalk behind an Olive @ @ @ @ @ Park Mall .
The gunman , with both hands gripping a weapon , fires multiple @ @ @ @ @ the fallen man ’ s body .
The gunman turns , runs and gets into @ @ @ @ @ drives off .

North Riverside police have released video of a fatal shooting during Sunday’s looting outside the town’s mall.
The 12-second clip shows a gunman in pursuit of another man, who falls to the sidewalk behind an Olive Garden restaurant at North Riverside Park Mall. The gunman, with both hands gripping a weapon, fires multiple times at close range into the fallen man’s body. The gunman turns, runs and gets into a waiting car that then drives off.
Advertisement
Warning: Graphic content. North Riverside police have released video of the fatal shooting of Myqwon Blanchard during looting May 31, 2020, at the town's mall. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
The homicide victim was identified Myqwon Blanchard, 22, of Chicago, according to a statement from police Chief Carlos Garcia. Garcia said Blanchard was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Blanchard was shot during Sunday's chaos as people smashed windows and looted the mall and nearby business, police said.
Advertisement
Garcia asks that anyone with information about the shooting or about the suspect call the police tip hotline at (708) 762-5410. Police provided no further description of the suspect or the getaway car.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Video released in North Riverside fatal shooting

Warning : Graphic content .
North Riverside Police have released video of the fatal shooting of Myqwon Blanchard during Sunday @ @ @ @ @ 's mall .


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--Crown Point man shot by state trooper following pursuit from Munster to East Chicago

A state trooper then pulled his cruiser next to the sedan , exited it and tried to take Douglas into @ @ @ @ @ Douglas moved the sedan forward , striking the trooper and wedging him between the sedan @ @ @ @

A car driven by a Crown Point man is shown, left, next to an Indiana State Police Trooper's car in East Chicago early Tuesday. (Indiana State Police / HANDOUT)
A Crown Point man was shot and wounded by a state trooper early Tuesday after he allegedly wedged the officer between his vehicle and the officer’s cruiser following a vehicle pursuit, police said.
Eric R. Douglas and the trooper were both treated for non-life-threatening injuries following the incident, police said. Douglas, 30, was being held at the Lake County jail for probable cause in the police pursuit and active warrants in Porter and Marion counties.
Advertisement
Indiana State Police said Munster police began pursuing a Nissan sedan about 12:30 a.m. following reports that it had been involved in suspicious activity at a Munster residence.
The driver, later identified as Douglas, fled police at a high rate of speed while driving without the vehicle's headlights activated before he allegedly tried to ram a Munster police car, police said.
Advertisement
State police then joined the pursuit, which continued onto Interstate 80 and then northbound on Cline Avenue until the suspect’s vehicle exited at the Columbus Drive westbound. Police said Douglas crashed at an East Chicago roundabout, drove a short distance and stopped.
A state trooper then pulled his cruiser next to the sedan, exited it and tried to take Douglas into custody, but police said Douglas moved the sedan forward, striking the trooper and wedging him between the sedan and the cruiser.
The trooper, still trapped between the vehicles, then shot at the driver through the sedan's windshield, striking Douglas. Police said three passengers in the sedan were not injured.
Police said the trooper’s name would be released Thursday.


chicagotribune--2020-06-02--4 police officers shot in St. Louis during long night of violence and destruction

At 7 a.m. Tuesday , the faint smell of tear gas still hung in the air near where the officers @ @ @ @ @ Boulevard , where businesses were looted , shell casings and bullets still littered the ground @ @ @ @ @ the street where trash containers and other debris had been set ablaze .
People were @ @ @ @ @ to begin another long day of cleanup .

RACHEL RICE, JESSE BOGAN AND ROBERT PATRICK, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

St. Louis firefighters are protected by police officers as they put out a fire at at looted 7-Eleven convenience store on June 1, 2020, in St. Louis. (Robert Cohen / St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
ST. LOUIS — Four police officers were shot in downtown St. Louis early Tuesday, as a day of peaceful protests turned into a violent and destructive night in the city.
Early in the day, hundreds of people gathered across the St. Louis region again Monday to protest the Memorial Day death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd was killed when a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes while Floyd was detained.
Advertisement
But tensions rose after the sun fell in downtown St. Louis.
Just after midnight, four officers, all men, were shot near 16th and Olive streets. All four are conscious, and their injuries are considered non-life-threatening.
Advertisement
“I believe some coward randomly shot at the police line,” said St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden.
Hayden held a news conference at about 1:45 a.m., where he said two officers were shot in the leg, one was shot in the foot, and one more was shot in the arm.
An exasperated Hayden said he was trying to make sense of the night’s “mayhem.”
“I don’t know what else to say,” Hayden said. “This is horrible.”
At 7 a.m. Tuesday, the faint smell of tear gas still hung in the air near where the officers where shot. On Tucker Boulevard, where businesses were looted, shell casings and bullets still littered the ground and piles of ash dotted the street where trash containers and other debris had been set ablaze. People were just beginning to come outside to begin another long day of cleanup.
Several other downtown businesses were damaged, including the 7-Eleven at 201 N. 17th St., which was looted and set afire at about 9:30 p.m.
St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said firefighters were slowed by protesters in responding to the fire at 7-Eleven.
“We had people lying down in the street,” Jenkerson said, adding that trash cans were rolled into the street that became obstacles for fire trucks to maneuver around.
Advertisement
The Campbell House, at 1508 Campbell St., also had a small fire in the back of the building.
Several stores on Tucker Boulevard and Washington Avenue were burglarized and vandalized, including Fresh Image, a frozen yogurt store and Sprint and Boost stores.
“We tried to be peaceful already, and that didn’t work,” said Dustin Johnson, a 20-year-old downtown resident who remained downtown close to midnight.
Photographers David Carson, Robert Cohen and Colter Peterson of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.