chicagotribune--2020-08-17--For Illinois delegates, a ‘totally bizarre’ Democratic convention from the couch

“ Latinos are very touchy-feely people and not being there together , in person with people who have something in @ @ @ @ @ for the future is almost distressing , ” said U.S. Rep. Jesús “ Chuy ” @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We value looking somebody in the eye , grabbing them by the shoulder @ @ @ @ @ cheer .
What about the balloons , the confetti ?
At the end of the @ @ @ @ @ supposed to open up a beer or two , and there is nobody to toast @ @ @ @ @ ’ s totally bizarre .
”

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic Party will hold a largely virtual convention this week. A more traditional convention had been planned at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, pictured here on Aug. 5, 2020. (Morry Gash/AP)
For Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee promised to be the experience of a lifetime — a chance to witness history, network with fellow Democrats from across the country and rub in some bragging rights.
The first-time delegate supported Joe Biden during the party’s historically large and diverse primary while her husband, West Side Ald. Jason Ervin, filed as a delegate to represent former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dropped out of the race before Illinois voted.
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But instead of sending her husband selfies from the convention floor and cheering along with thousands of the nation’s most loyal Democrats while he’s back in Chicago, the move to a largely virtual convention amid the COVID-19 pandemic will leave Conyears-Ervin stuck at home watching it with him on the couch.
“I tease him all the time, ‘See, dear, I know how to pick the right horse,‘” she said with a laugh. “I guess I’ll have to take selfies in front of the TV now instead. This is so weird.”
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Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin at her office inside City Hall on Nov. 21, 2019. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
When the Democrats’ convention gets underway Monday, no delegates will be traveling to Wisconsin for it, with the coronavirus pandemic still coursing through the country. Neither will any of the speakers. Not even Biden will accept the party’s nomination in the key swing state’s largest city.
Instead, virtually all of the convention will be held remotely — four nights of solely for-TV festivities, capped by Biden’s speech on Thursday night.
For the 182 Illinois delegates and 13 alternates, the social event will be attempted virtually by the state party on a nightly basis before the two-hour national prime-time festivities. There will be no raucous nightly parties, no lunches paid for by special interest groups and no morning breakfast rallies where guest speakers and surrogates from the national campaign aim to put the state’s delegates in a rallying mood.
“Latinos are very touchy-feely people and not being there together, in person with people who have something in common and share a vision for the future is almost distressing,” said U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, a Chicago Democrat. “We value looking somebody in the eye, grabbing them by the shoulder and having the ability to cheer. What about the balloons, the confetti? At the end of the night, I’m supposed to open up a beer or two, and there is nobody to toast to victory with? It’s totally bizarre.”
On Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, a sign advertises the 2020 Democratic National Convention at Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP)
Southeast Side Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza has been going to the political and labor conventions for most of her life. As the daughter of union activist and leader Edward Sadlowski, she remembers going to a steel workers’ labor convention with her father, living in a Las Vegas efficiency apartment for two weeks in back of the now-defunct Westward Ho Hotel and Casino.
“There’s still people I know who were at that convention, and we still talk about it,” Sadlowski Garza said. “A convention brings a sense of solidarity, it brings you together, it makes you feel as one and that’s all gone. It’s just going to be a TV show. I’m going to be very honest, I’m not excited about it at all.”
The 10th Ward alderman is a Bernie Sanders delegate and was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Vermont senator, so much so that he came to Chicago to endorse Sadlowski Garza in her successful 2015 bid to unseat a close ally of then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. She said the only thing she’s excited about is “getting rid of Trump,” and she’ll do whatever it takes to do so, but expressed disappointment that the party once again has not fully embraced a more progressive agenda.
With much of the party platform already settled ahead of time, there won’t be much lobbying for the Sanders delegates to do either.
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“We’re trying to push Joe to the left as much as we can,” Sadlowski Garza said. “Being there in person, you can go back and forth, talk to people, argue your way in. In a Zoom meeting, someone can push a mute button at any time.”
Chicago Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 10th, speaks at a rally and fundraising event for presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders at Park West in Chicago on Aug. 17, 2015. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
Clem Balanoff, head of Our Revolution, a political action offshoot of the Sanders presidential bids, said one of the main things missing is the ability to network with people inside and outside the Illinois delegation. Balanoff recalled the convention four years ago when he and other Sanders delegates agreed to smuggle “nonapproved” signs onto the convention floor to “make a statement” opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement as benefiting corporations over workers.
But there’s no real convention floor this time around. And, unlike some of the acrimony four years ago between supporters of Sanders and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Balanoff said Donald Trump’s presidency “is a very serious unifying factor for Democrats.”
That’s how García is looking at the political landscape. He’s more willing to put off some progressive causes for the sake of a unified effort to oust Trump.
“I’m passionate and unabashed about my positions on immigration reform, ‘Medicare for All,‘ the Green New Deal, racial justice, increasing the minimum wage, but I also feel like the country has such a great need to get rid of these characters in the White House, that I’m willing to figure out ways to keep fighting for those things beyond the convention,” García said. “I’m really just focused on getting this ticket elected, winning the Senate and increasing our margin in the House.”
Conyears-Ervin said she very much looked forward to the short trip to Milwaukee and the ability to network with top officials from across the country. But she sees a silver lining in missing out — getting to watch with her 4-year-old daughter at home as California Sen. Kamala Harris accepts the nomination for vice president.
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“A young Black girl with her Black mom, and we’ll be watching history being made,” Conyears-Ervin said. “During a time such as this, where we’re seeing so much injustice and where we are fighting for equity on a daily basis, that Joe Biden saw fit to tap a Black woman on the shoulder to join him in leading this country is still an incredible moment.”
The nature of the virtual event also means fewer speakers onstage, likely costing some Illinois politicians their moment in the spotlight. Down-ballot Democrats either seeking reelection or challenging a Republican customarily would receive a five-minute spot at the podium to showcase them to other delegates before the prime time speakers.
That’s an opportunity two freshman U.S. representatives, Lauren Underwood of Naperville and Sean Casten of Downers Grove, won’t receive. The same goes for Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, who again is running for the central Illinois congressional seat of Republican Rodney Davis after a narrow loss two years ago.
It’s also possible with a larger slate of speakers that Mayor Lori Lightfoot might have received some main stage podium time, as Emanuel did in 2012. Instead, she was involved in a panel discussion Monday morning on protecting election integrity and was scheduled to take part in one with Biden and others about racial justice.
Illinois, however, will still have some representation. U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, one of Biden’s finalists for the VP slot, will give a speech on Thursday night.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth speaks to the media before faith leaders and politicians participate in the Juneteenth faith-led peaceful demonstration on Columbus Drive in Grant Park on June 19, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
While the conventions are national affairs, they also are a moment for the Illinois delegation to take stock of its key issues and rising stars.
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In 2004, state Sen. Barack Obama tried to downplay the hype over his national keynote speech as “a little overstated,” but it went down as one of the top convention speeches of all time and is widely regarded as the prelude to his presidency.
Four years later in Denver, then-Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. staged a tearful hug fest on a stage with his political enemies, including then-Mayor Richard Daley and then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich. In 2012, labor leaders did little to hide their anger with then-Gov. Pat Quinn, who would go to become the only Democratic governor in the nation to lose reelection.
And in 2016 in Philadelphia as Democrats pondered their challenger to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin took himself out of the running but Christopher Kennedy, a member of the iconic Massachusetts political family, delivered a speech harshly critical of Rauner. But afterward, Kennedy fled reporters and ran into an elevator, pleading, “Have some decency.” Kennedy, who eventually fled down a fire escape, ended up running but lost in the primary to current Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who was then a boldface name in gossip columns.
Perhaps no one is breathing a bigger sigh of relief that the convention will be a virtual one than embattled Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who undoubtedly would have been the focus of four days of intense media scrutiny.
Madigan, who also holds the role of state Democratic Party chairman, has been implicated in an alleged federal bribery and influence scheme involving ComEd. The state’s largest utility has agreed to pay $200 million in fines and cooperate with investigators for three years after prosecutors alleged it worked to gain Madigan’s favor for nearly a decade by providing jobs and contracts to Madigan allies.
Madigan has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has denied making any legislative decision with improper motives.
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Despite the power he has displayed as the nation’s longest-serving statehouse speaker, a post he has held for 36 of the past 38 years, Madigan’s control has been shaken by the ComEd issue and a growing list of Democratic elected officials, including some lawmakers in the chamber he runs, has called for him to step down from his government role, his party position or both.
It is the right atmosphere for Illinois delegates at an in-person convention to organize around, said Carol Ronen, a former North Side state senator and one of three members of the 36-member Democratic State Central Committee to call on Madigan to exit his various state and party roles.
“There’d be little groups forming together. More people agreeing with me then are coming forward,” Ronen, a longtime convention delegate, said in picturing what discussions about Madigan would look like.
“We obviously have a very critical election coming up, the election of our lifetime. We have to make sure that Joe Biden wins,” she said. “(Madigan) strikes the discordant tone. He’s a distraction from what we’re trying to accomplish going forward.”
bruthhart@chicagotribune.com
rap30@aol.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-17--Column: Reparations are about economic stability, not a looted pair of $120 Nikes

Having lived in a neighborhood where police tensions always have been high , these residents were forced to develop their @ @ @ @ @ the injustices they encounter regularly .
That includes walking a straight and narrow line that @ @ @ @ @ path of the police as well as the neighborhood troublemakers .

Damaged windows at the Zara store following early morning looting in downtown Chicago on Aug. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The union between Black Lives Matter and mainstream America has been tenuous from the start. Last week, it may have been irreparably severed.
Hours after a horde of people descended on the Loop to pillage expensive handbags, jewelry, clothes and other items from mostly high-end stores, BLM Chicago held a solidarity rally outside the police station to support those who had been arrested.
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The small group of demonstrators, mostly African American and white young adults, carried a banner that said, “Our Futures Have Been Looted From Us … LOOT BACK.”
That was bad enough. Then Ariel Atkins, a BLM Chicago organizer, spoke.
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“I don’t care if somebody decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike store because that makes sure that person eats. That makes sure that person has clothes. That is reparations. Anything they want to take, take it because these businesses have insurance.”
It was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Some of those looters are going to end up with a criminal record that could follow them for the rest of their lives.
Atkins’ contention that looting is a form of reparations for African Americans who have suffered centuries of economic disparity is too radical for most people, even African Americans of Atkins’ parents’ and grandparents’ generations.
The argument for reparations must include comprehensive measures that allow sustained economic stability for the Black community, not merely a short-term financial gain from peddling a $120 pair of stolen Nike’s on the Red Line.
The BLM website is clear about the organization’s mission.
BLM is about eradicating white supremacy and building local power to intervene in violence on Black communities. It is about improving lives and empowering the African American vote. It is about inclusivity — embracing Black gay, lesbian, trans and other marginalized groups within the African American community.
“We intentionally build and nurture a beloved community that is bonded together through a beautiful struggle that is restorative, not depleting,” the website says.
The problem with the BLM organization is that it allows too many people to interpret its message. There’s nothing in its mission statement that says the organization supports criminal activity. But that’s what Atkins said.
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No one can make a legitimate argument that Black lives shouldn’t matter. Everyone knows, whether they admit it, that institutional racism has relegated Black people to the bottom of every socioeconomic index in America.
There is no risk in acknowledging an unfair system and supporting the effort to raise the status of Black people to that of white people. That’s why mainstream America got behind BLM during the unrest over the police killing of George Floyd.
It becomes complicated, though, when the group leading the effort starts advocating criminal activity as payback for the way America has mistreated Black people. That’s when most Americans, regardless of their race, might decide it’s time to walk away.
Atkins’ comments were counterproductive to the BLM goal to overturn the status quo and force America to move in a direction it has resisted for centuries.
Some young people in the BLM movement seem to think they can succeed at this ambitious task all by themselves. They cannot — as they found out on Tuesday.
When young demonstrators showed up in Englewood to protest the police shooting that injured 20-year-old Latrell Allen, a group of older Black residents met them on the street and demanded that they leave. It wasn’t a pleasant exchange.
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The confrontation points to a gaping disconnect between young people and their elders. Many older people in Englewood, a neighborhood besieged with violence, don’t want young people from the outside coming in without a serious plan of action and stirring things up.
They understand what many of these young people do not — that real change requires more than gathering in front of a police station and calling for justice. It requires seats at the table where decisions are made and voices speaking in unison.
The loosely organized protesters have no carefully constructed plan of action that would make residents of Englewood feel secure enough to risk standing with them.
Having lived in a neighborhood where police tensions always have been high, these residents were forced to develop their own system of dealing with the injustices they encounter regularly. That includes walking a straight and narrow line that keeps them out of the path of the police as well as the neighborhood troublemakers.
They aren’t interested in aligning with anyone who drops by when things are heated and then goes back to their own safe neighborhoods at the end of the day, leaving them to suffer from the fallout.
Young people might call them cowards. But they see themselves as survivors.
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It’s easy to understand why young people are impatient. They don’t want to wait until they are too old to enjoy the things that others their age take for granted.
The way they see it, activists like the Rev. Jesse Jackson failed to seal the civil rights deal. If they had, young people wouldn’t still be fighting for the things their elders fought for 60 years ago.
They are convinced they can get what they want without support from the white mainstream or the majority of African Americans. They are wrong.
When you don’t have the support of your own people, the entire premise of Black Lives Matter falls flat. If Black people aren’t convinced that the BLM group is working for the good of Black people, white people are going to be right behind them out the door.
Rep. John Lewis, who devoted his life to making sure Black lives mattered in this country, reminded us that all trouble isn’t good trouble. There simply is no reasonable way to equate felony burglary with social justice reform.
That’s not to say that looting isn’t sometimes the result of pent-up anger within marginalized communities. But there’s a big difference between going to jail for standing against police brutality and getting arrested for breaking into Macy’s and filling a shopping bag with makeup.
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Jackson tweeted that the looting was “humiliating, embarrassing & morally wrong. It must not be associated with our quest for social justice and equality.”
To that, Atkins responded:
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“Jesse Jackson has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter. Jesse Jackson was not there during the creation of Black Lives Matter. Jesse Jackson can keep his opinions to himself.”
Somebody needs to sit Atkins down and give her a Black history lesson. Jackson was fighting to make Black lives matter at a time when someone like her had to hold their pee all day rather than sit on a toilet that white people used.
The problem with millennials like Atkins is that they seem to think they are inventing a progressive wheel that their elders could never fathom. In fact, they are drowning in ignorance.
Black people don’t have to steal from high-end stores in order to prove to America that Black lives matter. Our value is greater than a $2,000 Gucci handbag.
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But people who don’t understand their history cannot possibly know their worth.
dglanton@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @dahleeng


chicagotribune--2020-08-17--Accusations fly between police and protesters one day after violent clash injured dozens

“ So what happened yesterday was really over very fairly quickly because our Police Department is resolved to make sure @ @ @ @ @ .
But we are absolutely not going to tolerate people who come to these protests @ @ @ @ @ are intending to injure our police officers and injure innocent people who just come to @ @ @ @ @ First Amendment rights , ” she said .

Police use pepper spray on protesters at the corner of Randolph and Dearborn streets in downtown Chicago on Aug. 15, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Violent clashes Saturday between protesters and Chicago police were followed on Sunday by news conferences, the circulation of numerous videos from the scene and a barrage of social media posts blaming the opposing side.
The city’s top cop blamed “agitators” for “hijacking” a demonstration and protesters blamed officers for violating their rights and blocking their march, hitting them with batons. Mayor Lori Lightfoot seemed to align herself with the Police Department, while other politicians signed a statement saying they stood with protesters, alleging officers “kettled, pepper sprayed, and beat demonstrators — some of them as young as 17.”
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Hundreds of protesters had gathered in Millennium Park about 4 p.m. Saturday in what began as a call to defund Chicago police and divert the money to the South and West sides — issues that have dominated demonstrations in Chicago and across the country since the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. The demonstration was organized by GoodKids MadCity, Blck Rising, Chicago Freedom School, Fuerte, March For Our Lives Chicago and Increase the Peace.
But what happened next varies depending on whom you ask.
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Protesters clash with police officers Aug. 15, 2020, in downtown Chicago. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Authorities said protesters charged toward officers. At least 17 officers were injured, including a cop repeatedly hit in the head with a skateboard and another officer who may have suffered a broken hand, according to Chicago police Superintendent David Brown, who briefed reporters at CPD headquarters Saturday night.
“To protect the peaceful protesters as well as their fellow officers, our officers responded proportionally to get the situation under control,” Brown said.
Chicago police released video footage Sunday that they say shows “the initial incident that sparked yesterday’s violence and arrests, as well as the aggravated battery against a CPD officer with a skateboard.” In the annotated video, some protesters can be seen opening umbrellas, and then the group advances on the police line.
Protesters had a vastly different account from police of the events, described at news conferences held Sunday by at least two groups that had organized the Saturday protest, GoodKids MadCity and Increase the Peace.
Organizers for GoodKids MadCity tagged Lightfoot on Sunday in a post on Twitter, saying, “We want @chicagosmayor to know your fascist police beat us, unconstitutionally arrested us violating our first amendment rights, & we won’t stop until we #DefundCPD!”
Taylore Norwood of GoodKids MadCity is emotional as she speaks Aug. 16, 2020, outside the Wentworth District police station about the treatment of young Black women by the city. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago police officers are lined up outside the Wentworth District station Aug. 16, 2020, during a news conference held by activists in response to violence clashes between police officers and protesters downtown. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Berto Aguayo, executive director of Increase the Peace, a community activist who worked on Lightfoot’s mayoral campaign and has in the past been a supporter, was among those who said officers were the aggressors.
He said he has been organizing his whole life and had never been met with so much violence.
“We would like to see an apology from the mayor’s office and the Chicago Police Department ... for the violence they used to attack Chicago residents,” he said. “Before anything else happens, that’s the prerequisite.”
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Neither Brown nor Fire Department officials discussed injuries among the protesters, but a Tribune reporter witnessed dozens of demonstrators being treated for cuts and exposure to pepper spray.
About two dozen people were arrested as the confrontation stretched into the night, and four were charged with felonies, including aggravated battery to a police officer, officials said.
On Sunday, as opposing videos and information spread online, Lightfoot appeared on national television echoing Brown. Yet even before Lightfoot’s appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” a group of lawmakers put out a joint statement denouncing the actions by police and Lightfoot’s seeming support.
The letter, posted online by United Working Families, a quasi-political party that often criticizes the mayor, said Chicagoans are told it takes spending 40% of the city budget on police to prevent violence, yet after more shootings occurred this weekend in other parts of town, Lightfoot and Brown “stationed thousands of officers downtown.”
Police surround two protesters on the ground in downtown Chicago on Aug. 15, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
“We once again condemn Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown for their use of police force against these demonstrators Saturday night, and for the continued escalation of surveillance, violence, and detention of protesters. We question the logic of spending police dollars on social media surveillance, pepper spray, and riot gear to beat teenagers while the directives of the federal consent decree go unmet and the murder clearance rate remains abysmally low,” the letter said.
Among those who signed the open letter were state Sens. Robert Peters and Celina Villanueva; state Rep. Theresa Mah; Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez and Ald. Andre Vasquez; and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson. More names were added throughout the day.
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BREAKING: Elected officials condemn police crackdown on young protesters Saturday evening. Full statement ⬇ pic.twitter.com/X5ZmFq1Gh9 — United Working Families (@UWFIllinois) August 16, 2020
The following video footage shows the initial incident that sparked yesterday's violence and arrests, as well as the aggravated battery against a CPD officer with a skateboard. More video will be released throughout the day as it is received. pic.twitter.com/oW7Z3oGKSZ — Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) August 16, 2020
It was the second straight weekend during which there have been clashes downtown. On Aug. 9 and 10, hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and elsewhere downtown and looted stores. Around a dozen officers were injured and more than 100 people were arrested.
This weekend, police said they had taken precautions against further unrest by raising bridges over the Chicago River and deploying more officers. Brown declined to give an exact number of cops assigned to Saturday’s protests.
As about 250 protesters started marching north Saturday on Michigan Avenue, officers began pushing those at the back of the group who were still near Millennium Park, according to Andrea Cespedes, 15, one of the organizers of the protest. She joined other protesters at the Wentworth District station Sunday morning to demand the release of those who had been arrested.
Cespedes said the protest escalated again at Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue around 6 p.m. when the demonstrators were stopped by a raised bridge, preventing them from crossing the Chicago River. Officers then prevented them from turning onto Wacker Drive toward Lake Shore Drive.
“We started to chant, ‘Let us through,’ but that didn’t work,” said Cespedes, of Chicago Lawn. “A few police officers came up from behind us and began pushing a bunch of the protesters. ... They started beating our protesters with batons. … They started pepper-spraying them and trying to arrest people.”
Things just got really violent really quick when police rushed the protester line. #ChicagoScanner #ChicagoProtests pic.twitter.com/YVKLm5Bmc4 — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 16, 2020
Protesters soon began retreating south on Michigan Avenue as officers advanced toward them. “Y’all gotta not be brave!” one protester shouted, encouraging them to back up and get behind the protesters’ line of bikes.
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Dozens of officers wearing helmets with face shields, and carrying batons and shields, walked along a line south on Michigan, pushing the protesters toward Randolph Street.
The cops shouted, “Move back!” as protesters yelled back, “Our streets!”
Protesters stopped at Michigan and Randolph, and police forced them west on Randolph. The two sides kept their distance for some time until police suddenly rushed the protesters, knocking at least one to the ground, arresting him and using pepper spray on others.
One officer is filming all the protesters who are walking through this checkpoint. #ChicagoScanner #ChicagoProtests pic.twitter.com/Dcz2ZMZFkr — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 16, 2020
Police chased protesters toward LaSalle and Adams streets.
A line of officers trapped a group of protesters and media at the intersection. Some of the protesters were allowed through the police line after opening their bags for inspection. One officer was seen recording the protesters with a portable camera as they left.
“Our intentions were simply to get our voices to be heard and to be peaceful,” Cespedes said. “We did not expect our protest to go this way.”
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Among those taken into custody was Jalen Kobayashi, a 19-year-old organizer with GoodKids MadCity. He said police were patting down his girlfriend, Alycia Kamil, when she complained about how she was being treated.
Both Kobayashi and Kamil were taken to the Wentworth District station, where they were released Sunday morning. Kobayashi said he was charged with disorderly conduct. “They weren’t working with us,” Kobayashi said. “Absolutely despicable behavior I saw tonight.”
Brown called the clashes “a very, very difficult and tenuous event” but said he was proud of the officers’ actions.
Some protesters were seen changing their appearances by concealing themselves with black umbrellas, Brown said. It was a tactic used by some demonstrators in July when they clashed with police in Grant Park while demanding the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue.
Brown said an officer filmed the entire protest and it would be used “to support any of the investigations that might come out of the actions of protesters or officers.”
From about 4 a.m. this morning:
Alycia Kamil, with @GKMC18, was released. Her boyfriend, Jalen Kobayashi, who was released earlier after being detained, embraces her. pic.twitter.com/sp53vNmIiU — Paige Fry (@paigexfry) August 16, 2020
During Lightfoot’s appearance on “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan asked the mayor about various issues, including the violent clashes as well as the federal government response to the pandemic.
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Brennan began her questions by noting Lightfoot put out a message ahead of the protest Saturday saying she hoped it would remain peaceful, “and that you wouldn’t see a repeat of what happened last Sunday. You called that, last Sunday, a planned attack. Is that what happened this time?”
“No, look, unfortunately, what we’ve seen in cities all across the country, not just Chicago, is a continuing wave of protests. The vast majority of these have been peaceful. But what we’ve also seen is people who have embedded themselves in these seemingly peaceful protests and come for a fight,” Lightfoot began.
“So what happened yesterday was really over very fairly quickly because our Police Department is resolved to make sure that we protect peaceful protests. But we are absolutely not going to tolerate people who come to these protests looking for a fight and are intending to injure our police officers and injure innocent people who just come to be able to express their First Amendment rights,” she said.
.@chicagosmayor on #ChicagoProtests:
"What we've seen is people who have embedded themselves in these seemingly peaceful protests and have come for a fight."
On Saturday, 17 officers were injured and 24 arrested after protests turned violent in Mayor Lightfoot's city pic.twitter.com/1Zw1mcyiHS — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 16, 2020
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-08-17--Software engineer and DePaul student charged following Millennium Park protest

The judge later heard from prosecutors how Chamorro had allegedly grabbed the right arm of a Chicago deputy police chief @ @ @ @ @ way along a path of protesters , prosecutors said .
The chief shoved Chamorro twice @ @ @ @ @ back off , according to Assistant State ’ s Attorney Katherine Hegarty .
The high-ranking @ @ @ @ @ with a crowd , and officers at the scene arrested her .
Chamorro was charged @ @ @ @ @ police officer and misdemeanor mob action .

Police use pepper spray on protesters at the corner of Randolph and Dearborn streets in downtown Chicago on Aug. 15, 2020. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Two women went before a Cook County judge on Sunday just a day after a protest turned into a violent clash between demonstrators and police officers, roiling downtown for a second consecutive weekend.
Chicago police arrested about 24 people after skirmishes between police in helmets and protesters on Michigan Avenue. Hundreds of protesters had gathered in Millennium Park about 4 p.m. Saturday in what began as a call to defund Chicago police and divert the money to social service programs aimed at helping the poor and mentally ill.
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By Sunday morning, both sides were accusing the other of dirty tactics and violent treatment.
Nicoline Arlet. (Chicago Police Department)
Elena Chamorro. (Chicago Police Department)
During separate appearances broadcast on YouTube, a judge released the women, Nicoline Arlet, 24, and Elena Chamorro, 18, on $5,000 bail, meaning they’d each need to post $500 for release.
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Authorities allege that Arlet, who was charged with felony theft, picked up a police officer’s body-worn camera that had been yanked from his uniform during the protest and tossed to the ground. In court, prosecutors said city video captured Arlet, who was wearing a pink gas mask, putting the $640 device into a backpack and walking five blocks from the scene.
Police located her on camera while searching for her distinctive mask and arrested her, prosecutors said. Her attorney said Arlet has only lived in Chicago for a year and worked as a software engineer for an area bank.
The judge later heard from prosecutors how Chamorro had allegedly grabbed the right arm of a Chicago deputy police chief twice as he made his way along a path of protesters, prosecutors said. The chief shoved Chamorro twice after ordering her twice to back off, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Kathleen Hagerty . The high-ranking officer later saw Chamorro walking with a crowd, and officers at the scene arrested her. Chamorro was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer and misdemeanor mob action.
Video of the incident had gone viral online. Chamorro’s attorney, John Brayman, said there were different angles of video that might be more favorable to his client. He also said Chamorro was a DePaul honors student on a film scholarship who worked at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
A spokeswoman for Lurie Children’s on Monday said Chamorro had previously participated in a hospital fundraiser, but otherwise had no connection to Lurie Children’s and was never employed there.
Also on Sunday, police announced felony aggravated battery charges against Jeremey Johnson, 25, who allegedly struck a police officer in the head with a skateboard.
Johnson, of the 1400 block of West Barry Avenue, was expected to appear in court Monday.
Last week’s looting in downtown and connected neighborhood shopping areas prompted Mayor Lori Lightfoot to press the Cook County state’s attorney and judges to hold lawbreakers accountable.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the prosecutor in the Chamorro case. It is Kathleen Hagerty.


chicagotribune--2020-08-17--Ahead of national convention, Illinois Democrats push aside internal strife, call for united front t

Ahead of national convention, Illinois Democrats push aside internal strife, call for united front to oust Trump

“ We have put more resources into every facet of our communities , but we know that even though Chicago @ @ @ @ @ extremes , all the hard work we have done over this last year-plus will not @ @ @ @ @ t have leadership and partnership in Washington , D.C. , ” Lightfoot said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ We need an administration who are our allies , not our adversaries .
”

Signs for the Democratic National Convention at the Miller High Life Theater in Milwaukee on Aug. 15, 2020. The Democratic convention starts Aug. 17, but it is being held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times)
The harmony of Illinois Democrats has been broken in recent weeks in disagreements over whether embattled House Speaker Michael Madigan should continue to lead the party and over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s response to looting in Chicago’s Loop.
But in a 90-minute virtual welcoming party Sunday evening, the Illinois delegation to the Democratic National Convention was urged to pursue unity in defeating Republican President Donald Trump in November.
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The computer-screen videos of various party leaders rallying for the ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were a precursor to a convention that gets underway Monday and will be unlike any other due to the pandemic, with delegates attending from home and lacking the ability to directly network from what had been scheduled to be their event home at a suburban Milwaukee hotel in Waukesha.
Madigan, the state Democratic Party chairman implicated in an alleged federal bribery and influence scandal involving Commonwealth Edison, spent a scant 15 seconds on screen to welcome delegates. “We look forward to a successful convention, a successful election in November,” Madigan said before turning over the proceedings to Mary Morrissey, the state party’s executive director.
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ComEd has agreed to pay a $200 million fine and cooperate with federal prosecutors for three years over what investigators allege was a near decadelong effort to gain influence with Madigan through the use of jobs and contracts to his allies. Madigan has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has denied he ever made a legislative decision “with improper motives.”
But there have been increasing calls within the party for Madigan to give up his chairmanship of the party and his position as House speaker, which he has held since 1983 with the exception of two years when Republicans controlled the chamber in the mid-1990s. He has said he won’t resign either.
None of Sunday’s opening slate of speakers alluded to the controversy, but Madigan’s Capitol counterpart, Illinois Senate President Don Harmon of Oak Park, urged Democrats to look at a bigger picture of electing a new president, reelecting current Democratic officeholders and approving Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s ballot measure to change the state constitution to impose a graduated-rate income tax.
“As Democrats, we’ve long known that our diversity is the source of our greatest strength. To that end, every day until Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in, we must be stronger than we have ever been,” Harmon said. Trump, he said, “may be trying to break us, but we will not let him.”
Pritzker echoed the call for unity and urged Democrats to avoid complacency.
“We have a real fight on our hands. Do not take for granted any of these polls. We‘ve seen this movie before, haven’t we? Take nothing for granted,” Pritzker said of surveys that have shown Biden with a sizable lead over Trump nationally and in key swing states. “If you got involved in politics to make a difference, this is our moment. If we fight hard and stand together, we will win.”
Lightfoot also gave a virtual address. The first-term mayor has faced criticism within the City Council and from some Democratic state lawmakers over her handling of the Chicago Police Department’s response to recent outbreaks of violent looting in the heart of the city’s downtown shopping district.
Lightfoot did not directly address her response to the unrest, which has included a heavy police presence and restricted access to downtown overnight. Instead, she focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic had “revealed the fundamental inequities in our society” and defended her leadership of the city, including her efforts to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods long stricken by violent crime and high levels of poverty.
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“We have put more resources into every facet of our communities, but we know that even though Chicago is a city of sharp extremes, all the hard work we have done over this last year-plus will not survive if we don’t have leadership and partnership in Washington, D.C.,” Lightfoot said. “We need a president. We need an administration who are our allies, not our adversaries.”
The mayor then pivoted to a call for unity.
“If we are united, if we are determined, if we move forward and follow directions of our leaders all across the state, we will be successful in delivering a victory for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that will resound across the country,” she said. “Coming together, that’s what Chicago needs, that’s what Illinois needs and that’s what our nation needs.”
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline, who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, expressed sympathy to Lightfoot for Trump’s repeated attacks on Chicago and the city’s struggles to tamp down violent crime.
“I’m nauseated, literally nauseated, by Trump’s constant lies, his relentless attacks on our press, his verbal assaults on Chicago. Mayor Lightfoot, I feel for you every day in the kind of assaults you have to take from this president. Everyone wants to feel safe in their communities. We know that,” Bustos said.
“And we know that all of us want to make sure that our kids get a good education. And we know that all of our families want to make sure that they’re paid fairly,” Bustos continued. “This is what keeps us together as Democrats, and we need to continue to fight for that.”
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In a series of short speeches, various Illinois politicians sought to turn the party’s focus externally onto Trump, particularly over the president’s handling of the pandemic that kept delegates away from Milwaukee.
“Donald Trump is utterly and completely incompetent. And that’s put the health of our people in danger, the economy will remain in recession longer than it should and the security of our nation is in peril,” Pritzker said. “Over 168,000 Americans are dead because of his failure to lead.”
Sen. Tammy Duckworth told fellow delegates the fact that they couldn’t gather was “a reflection of just how poorly Donald Trump and his administration have managed — no, mismanaged — this pandemic.”
Fellow Sen. Dick Durbin accused Trump of trying to corrupt the Postal Service and said Democratic lawmakers would be returning to Washington to hold hearings on cuts that have hampered mail service across the country that could prevent the processing of vote-by-mail ballots in November.
“This whole notion that he is going to jeopardize, some way through the Postal Service, mail-in ballots — that to me is as close as it gets to undermining the fundamentals of our democracy,” Durbin said. “We’re going to take this seriously.”
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Former presidential candidate and Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar wrapped up the proceedings by mocking Trump’s penchant for using the phrase “people are saying” when floating ideas such as adding his likeness to Mount Rushmore or suggesting the economy is performing well. In doing so, Klobuchar encouraged Illinois Democrats to drive home the real-life consequences of Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
“Well, he must be talking to different people than we are, because I can tell you what people are saying. People are saying they don’t know what they’re going to do with their kids in the fall. People are saying they can’t even go see their grandma,” Klobuchar said. “Senior people are saying, ‘Why am I, in my last year that I want to be with my grandkids, why am I isolated like this?’ People are saying, ‘How am I going to get a job when I’ve worked my whole life and I don’t know if my job is coming back?’ That’s what people are saying.”
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chicagotribune--2020-08-16--Long Grove’s historic covered bridge, damaged by a truck in 2018, finally reopened. Then a school bu

Long Grove’s historic covered bridge, damaged by a truck in 2018, finally reopened. Then a school bus ran into it.

The Robert Parker Coffin Road Bridge was constructed by the Joliet Bridge and Iron Company in 1906 and is one @ @ @ @ @ of its kind in the Chicago area .
June 11 , 2018 was the date @ @ @ @ @ listed on the National Register of Historic Places .

The Robert Parker Coffin Road Bridge in Long Grove was damaged Aug. 15, 2020 when a chartered school bus struck the historic structure. (Bill Jacob)
Within 24 hours of reopening, Long Grove’s Robert Parker Coffin Road Bridge was damaged when a yellow school bus struck the historic structure, officials said Saturday.
The bridge, which was seriously damaged in 2018 when an overweight box truck plowed into the structure, reopened Friday to fanfare and celebration.
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Around noon Saturday, a bus driver turned from Route 53 on to eastbound Robert Parker Coffin Road and disregarded an alert to stay off the bridge, said Sgt. Christopher Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
“Her GPS warned her she should not proceed with the type of vehicle she was driving,” Covelli said via email. “The occupants on the bus convinced her to proceed, which she did, and subsequently struck the bridge.”
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The bus was rented for hire. Charges are pending against the driver, a 44-year-old from Chicago, Covelli said via email Saturday.
A tow truck removes a school bus that became stuck and caused damage to the the Long Grove covered bridge Saturday. (Karie Angell Luc/Lake County News-Sun) (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
No injuries were reported, and motorists were still able to drive through the damaged bridge on Saturday.
Damage was visible on bridge roof rims. The school bus tires had to be deflated for removal. A tow truck hauled the bus away several hours later.
“There were some folks taking bets on when the first person was going to hit it, but no one thought it would happen that quick, right?” said Long Grove Village President Bill Jacob.
Jacob said the school bus was chartered for a golf outing, transporting golfers.
“Unbelievable. I got a text at 12:30 (p.m.), I was cutting my grass and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, you’ve got to come down here, there’s a school bus stuck underneath the bridge.’
“The good news is though that the steel structure we put in place, there’s really limited damage to the bridge.”
Jacob, who took a photo on arrival, said boards are going to have to be replaced.
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“The structure that we put in there to reinforce it protected the bridge,” Jacob said.
“It’s going to get repaired and we’re going to take some other measures to try to prevent it,” he said about future possible accidents.
Country House of Long Grove business owner John Kopecky drives passengers across the bridge during the first ceremonial crossing on Aug. 14, 2020 in Long Grove. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
The moss green bridge was officially revealed in its new state on a Friday blue sky afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Neighbors, elected officials and members of community organizations attended, with many taking part in a ceremonial first crossing of the bridge by walking on it, or riding on a vintage tractor.
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“I think this is like one of those total win, win situations,” Jacob said Friday.
The Robert Parker Coffin Road Bridge was constructed by the Joliet Bridge and Iron Company in 1906 and is one of the two remaining bridges of its kind in the Chicago area. June 11, 2018 was the date the covered bridge was formally listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
During an Old McHenry Road reconstruction project, an overweight limit box truck plowed into the structure on June 27, 2018, requiring its immediate closure. Restoration and improvements to the bridge included new steel frame along with a timber cover.
The bridge reopened without its timber cover in the winter of 2018 before the holiday shopping season and was closed in the summer of 2019 for Robert Parker Coffin Road reconstruction.
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“It’s taken a long while to get here,” Jacob said.
The Village of Long Grove invested nearly $600,000 in the bridge restoration project.
Annis and Ron Guenther of Long Grove emerge from under the covered bridge, holding hands during the first ceremonial crossing of the bridge as a village and community. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
In burgundy shirt, Long Grove Village President Bill Jacob welcomes attendees before leading the group of event attendees across the covered bridge during the ceremonial and first crossing of the bridge as a village and community. Images from the Robert Parker Coffin Road Bridge reopening on Aug. 14, 2020 in Long Grove. (Karie Angell Luc/Lake County News-Sun) (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
That, along with a state grant, insurance proceeds from the truck driver’s insurance company and $53,000 raised by the Historic Downtown Long Grove Business Association (HDLGBA) and the Long Grove Historical Society, combined support funds, “have made this entire project possible,” Jacob said.
The grant from the state totaled $250,000, and the truck driver’s insurance company paid $200,000 toward renovation costs.
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On Friday, Jacob offered a few remarks and then invited attendees to walk with him across the bridge as a ceremonial crossing.
Emerging from the shade of the bridge into the downtown business district were two Long Grove residents holding hands. They are Annis and Ron Guenther of Long Grove.
Annis Guenther said she followed the progress of the bridge construction.
“I watched them put the roof on, I watched them put the siding on, I walk and I see it every morning,” she said. “I love it.”
“It’s absolutely great,” Ron Guenther said.
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Riding on a tractor driven by Country House of Long Grove business owner John Kopecky of unincorporated Lake Villa, raised in Long Grove, are, from left, passengers Amy Gayton of Long Grove, Long Grove village clerk and John Kuhlmann of Wrigleyville. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
After people walked across the bridge, the tractor crossed as the first ceremonial vehicle to traverse the structure.
The tractor was driven by Country House of Long Grove business owner John Kopecky of unincorporated Lake Villa, raised in Long Grove.
“I am ecstatic,” Kopecky said on Friday. “Now we’ve got to plan for something else that’s cool.
“I believe this is a very good omen for things to come.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelance reporter.


chicagotribune--2020-08-18--The Spin: Illinois’ DNC delegation to cheer Biden from home | Lightfoot says Trump’s mounting ‘full-

The Spin: Illinois’ DNC delegation to cheer Biden from home | Lightfoot says Trump’s mounting ‘full-out assault’ on Postal Service, election, democracy

Disgraced former Illinois Gov .
Rod Blagojevich , who owes his freedom to President Trump , will headline a Republican @ @ @ @ @ party ” next week when the president accepts the party ’ s nomination at the @ @ @ @ @ viewing party is also a fundraiser for a GOP state Senate candidate , and will @ @ @ @ @ The state Republican Party , however , decried the move : “ To be clear @ @ @ @ @ do with this event and we don ’ t condone it .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ in Illinois are for cleaning up Democrat corruption that has plagued us for too long @ @ @ @ @ its most insidious characters .
# twill ” Read the tweet here .

A fence surrounds the Wisconsin Center before the start of the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Milwaukee. (Morry Gash/AP)
Today’s the first day of the virtual Democratic National Convention, and fireworks were already going off over the U.S. Postal Service controversy.
In a virtual panel earlier today, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, was quick to criticize Republican President Donald Trump over the matter. Lightfoot said Trump is mounting a “full-out assault” on the Postal Service, the November election’s integrity and democracy.
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Trump, who campaigned today in key states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin, riffed on crime in Chicago and other major cities led by Democratic mayors such as New York. Trump’s visit to Wisconsin comes as most Democrats because of the coronavirus pandemic are not visiting that state’s largest city, Milwaukee, where the convention was supposed to be taking place this week.
With roughly 80 days before Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx faces voters in her bid for reelection, special prosecutor Dan Webb’s office announced it had concluded an investigation of her office’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case. The bottom line? The problematic way Foxx’s office addressed the case revealed “substantial abuses of discretion,” but didn’t rise to the level of a crime, Webb’s office said in a news release.
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And, Illinois on Friday night lost former Gov. Jim Thompson, the state’s longest-serving governor.
Welcome to The Spin.
The Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee appears Aug. 5, 2020. Joe Biden is poised to unveil his vision for the modern-day Democratic Party in the first presidential nominating convention of the coronavirus era. The all-virtual affair will test the former vice president’s ability to overcome unprecedented logistical challenges. (Morry Gash/AP)
From the Tribune’s Bill Ruthhart and Rick Pearson: “For Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee promised to be the experience of a lifetime — a chance to witness history, network with fellow Democrats from across the country and rub in some bragging rights.
“The first-time delegate supported Joe Biden during the party’s historically large and diverse primary while her husband, West Side Ald. Jason Ervin, filed as a delegate to represent former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dropped out of the race before Illinois voted.
“But instead of sending her husband selfies from the convention floor and cheering along with thousands of the nation’s most loyal Democrats while he’s back in Chicago, the move to a largely virtual convention amid the COVID-19 pandemic will leave Conyears-Ervin stuck at home watching it with him on the couch.”
“When the Democrats’ convention gets underway Monday, no delegates will be traveling to Wisconsin for it, with the coronavirus pandemic still coursing through the country. Neither will any of the speakers. Not even Biden will accept the party’s nomination in the key swing state’s largest city.
“Instead, virtually all of the convention will be held remotely — four nights of solely for-TV festivities, capped by Biden’s speech on Thursday night.” Find the rest of the story here.
From The Associated Press: Where can you watch the Democratic, Republican conventions?
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot, along with CPS CEO Dr. Janice Jackson, announces that Chicago Public Schools will start the 2020-21 school year with all remote learning in the fall. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)
Also from Ruthhart and Pearson: “Mayor Lori Lightfoot cast President Donald Trump and Republicans as ‘enemies of democracy’ who are mounting a ‘full-out assault’ on the integrity of the November election by undermining the U.S. Postal Service and making it more difficult for people to vote by mail amid a pandemic.
“Lightfoot made the comments Monday morning during a virtual roundtable discussion at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee focused on protecting the right to vote this fall.
“‘Every day the importance of this fall’s election grows and grows, and every day, unfortunately, we see increasing evidence that this administration is mounting a full-out assault on every pillar of our democracy, including the integrity of our elections,’ Lightfoot said. ‘This is real, folks. It’s not an exaggeration. It’s not a conspiracy theory.‘
“The former federal prosecutor then went on to hammer the Trump administration and Republicans for draconian cuts at the Postal Service that have disrupted the delivery of mail in recent days. Trump has acknowledged opposing funding for the Postal Service as an effort to undercut vote-by-mail efforts, which he has insisted would lead to corruption while offering no evidence and voting by mail himself in Florida.” Read more here.
* Also from Pearson: Postal Service warns last-minute Illinois ballot requests may not be turned around fast enough to be counted
Former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb speaks to the media following a status hearing concerning actor Jussie Smollett at the Leighton Criminal Court building Aug. 23, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Megan Crepeau and Jason Meisner: Cook County prosecutors gave actor Jussie Smollett an inexplicable and unprecedented deal — and then misled the public about it — when they dropped disorderly conduct charges against him last year, but there was no evidence that they were swayed by outside clout or committed any crimes, a team of special prosecutors has concluded.
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A news release Monday summarizing an investigation led by special prosecutor Dan Webb indicated that while no criminal charges were warranted against anyone in State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office, his team would be reporting potential violations of legal ethics over the handling of the Smollett investigation to Illinois’ attorney disciplinary board. Some false statements in the Smollett matter were made by Foxx herself, Webb found. Read more here.
Remember, Smollett, an actor on Fox’s “Empire,” initially reported he was a victim of a hate crime on a downtown Chicago street only to be charged with orchestrating it, followed by an abrupt decision by Foxx’s office to drop the case. Precisely why the charges were dismissed still remains a mystery.
More problems ahead? Webb’s team did strongly indicate they would be reporting other potential ethical violations to the state disciplinary committee, particularly regarding alleged false statements by Foxx and her top deputy, Joseph Magats.
Foxx responds: In a statement today, Foxx’s office hailed the Webb report for clearing them of criminal wrongdoing and insider deals, but rejected accusations that they abused their discretion, and said “any implication that statements made by the CCSAO were deliberately inaccurate is untrue.”
Republican challenger calls on Foxx to resign: Foxx’s GOP challenger, former Cook County Judge Pat O’Brien, said in a statement, “This report makes it crystal clear that Kim Foxx engaged in a substantial abuse of discretion by making false statements to the public about this case, breaching the State’s Attorney’s ethical obligations of honesty and transparency. In light of this report and so many other ethical lapses, Kim Foxx should resign from office.”
Already the first Black woman to be elected to the Senate, Carol Moseley Braun pursued the presidency in 2004. Moseley Braun dropped out of the race shortly before the crucial Iowa caucuses. (Manny Ceneta/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS)
Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, the nation’s first Black woman elected to the chamber and the second African American to serve in it since Reconstruction, will deliver the Illinois delegation’s roll call to nominate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at the virtual Democratic National Convention.
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Sources said Moseley Braun, who later went on to serve as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, taped her convention address on Monday in Springfield at the Old State Capitol. The roll call of the states to formally nominate the Democratic ticket is scheduled for Tuesday.
Moseley Braun, who served from 1993 to 1999, will be delivering a roll call for a ticket that includes Harris, a California senator who became the second Black woman elected to the chamber. She was an early endorser of Biden in Illinois, when he lost early states and trailed badly in the polls.
The taping at the Old State Capitol is filled with symbolism.
It was the home of Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech where the state Republican convention made him the state’s ultimately unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate against pro-slavery incumbent Democrat Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. Lincoln went on to defeat Douglas en route to the presidency two years later.
In February 2007, in 13-degree weather, then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama used the site for an outdoor announcement of his ultimately successful campaign for the presidency. And in August 2008, Obama returned to the site to unveil Biden, then a U.S. senator, as his vice presidential running mate. — Rick Pearson
* Blagojevich to headline GOP watch party
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Disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who owes his freedom to President Trump, will headline a Republican fundraiser and in-person “watch party” next week when the president accepts the party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention. The viewing party is also a fundraiser for a GOP state Senate candidate, and will be in St. Charles. The state Republican Party, however, decried the move: “To be clear: we have nothing to do with this event and we don’t condone it. It’s a bad idea. Republicans in Illinois are for cleaning up Democrat corruption that has plagued us for too long - not celebrating one of its most insidious characters. #twill” Read the tweet here.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker steps up to speak during the announcement of the U.S. Department of Energy's blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum internet infrastructure at a news conference at the University of Chicago July 23, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
From the Tribune’s Jamie Munks: “The Metro East region outside St. Louis on Tuesday becomes the first in Illinois to be put back under stricter rules meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 after surpassing a state positivity rate threshold.
“The step backward in reopening in the Metro East comes as the state on Monday reported 1,773 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 12 deaths of people with COVID-19.” Read the rest here.
Former Gov. Jim Thompson in his office at the law firm of Winston & Strawn. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune)
“As Illinois’ longest-serving governor, ‘Big Jim’ Thompson was a larger-than-life figure in state history, his 6-foot-6 frame dominating the political landscape for 14 years as he guided the state through recession, became a builder and left a legacy that includes restoring Navy Pier, keeping the White Sox with a new stadium and opening a controversial downtown office building that bears his name.
“James Robert Thompson, who rode his success as a federal prosecutor to the Illinois statehouse and was governor from 1977 to 1991, died Friday night after suffering from heart problems. He was 84.” Read more from the Tribune’s Rick Pearson and Rosemary Sobol here.
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chicagotribune--2020-08-18--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,773 new known COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths reported as state

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 1,773 new known COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths reported as state orders tighter restrictions in area outside St. Louis

The Ohio High School Athletic Association ’ s plan for high school football calls for a modified schedule — six @ @ @ @ @ the playoffs .
Every player has his own water bottle and they can spread out @ @ @ @ @ from the 15-yard line .
Practices have less physical contact .
And games essentially have @ @ @ @ @ s a two-minute mini-break built in , the idea being linemen should not breathe on @ @ @ @ @ periods .

We have lifted the paywall on this story. To support essential reporting, please consider becoming a subscriber .
Paca Kujtim of Arlington Heights self-administers a COVID-19 test in his car at the Arlington International Racecourse on March 31, 2021 in Arlington Heights. Kujtim was getting testing as a precaution for upcoming travel. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The Metro East region outside St. Louis on Tuesday becomes the first in Illinois to be put back under stricter rules meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 after surpassing a state positivity rate threshold.
The step backward in reopening in the Metro East comes as the state on Monday reported 1,773 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 12 deaths of people with COVID-19. The state has now logged 207,854 cases overall, and has reported 7,756 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic
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Meanwhile, five Chicago restaurants and bars were closed down over the weekend after investigators from the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection found them to be in violation of reopening requirements. All of the businesses were closed for one night.
Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
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8:55 p.m.: Schools begin a new year, many with remote learning and a different feel due to impact of coronavirus
Arya Jennens was looking forward to meeting other students on her first day of high school Monday. That became impossible when Evanston Township High School canceled in-person classes in favor of remote learning due to the coronavirus.
School officials tried to make the best of it by holding breakout Zoom meetings for small groups to introduce themselves. Arya described herself as a cross-country runner, with two turtles and a dog, whose favorite color is purple.
“It’s a little awkward to try to get to know your classmates, so freshman year it’s going to be a lot more difficult than if we were in person,” she said. “People just aren’t very comfortable talking on camera.”
Thousands of school kids across Illinois have begun sharing the experience of returning to school remotely, though some are attending in person. Not all Illinois public school students were back in class by Monday. Most Chicago-area schools will be starting in the days ahead — and in the case of Chicago Public Schools, on Sept. 8.
Read more here. —Robert McCoppin, Kelli Smith and Karen Ann Cullotta
7:25 p.m.: Bears announce they currently are not planning to have fans at games at Soldier Field this season
The Chicago Bears are not planning to have fans at games at Soldier Field this season because of concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the team announced Monday.
After discussing a plan with Chicago health officials, the Bears and the city agreed that health data showed it is not safe to host fans at games as of now. The Bears will put a plan in place “once it is deemed safe and appropriate,” according to the statement.
The Bears open their season on the road against the Detroit Lions on Sept. 13, and their home opener is scheduled for Sept. 20 at noon.
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Read more here. —Colleen Kane
6:48 p.m.: Multiple COVID-19 cases reported at Chicago fire academy
The Chicago Fire Department has temporarily suspended training at the Quinn Fire Academy after multiple cases of coronavirus were reported, according to the department. It did not specify the number of people who tested positive.
“The health and safety of Chicago’s firefighters, paramedics and recruits are our utmost priority,” Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said in a statement. The department plans to clean and disinfect the facility, including all work areas and equipment used.
The current class of recruits will continue to train via remote learning, Langford added. Those who tested positive for COVID-19 will remain in isolation and close contacts of those affected will quarantine.
No individuals who have tested positive have required hospitalization, according to the Fire Department.
—Jessica Villagomez
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6 p.m.: Postal Service warns last-minute Illinois ballot requests may not be turned around fast enough to be counted
The U.S. Postal Service has warned Illinois state election officials that there’s a “significant risk” voters who make late requests for mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election won’t get them in time to be counted.
Election authorities said the timing issue is not new and that voters who want a mail-in ballot have always been urged not to wait until the final days before an election to make their request.
But some privately expressed concerns that the Postal Service notice of “delivery standards” and recommendations could be an attempt by the agency to inoculate itself from criticism if ballots are late arriving and can’t be counted.
The Postal Service’s warnings to states, along with concerns about equipment changes, cuts to overtime and the speed of mail delivery, prompted U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call the chamber into session this week to consider legislation to return postal operations to the status quo.
Read more here. —Rick Pearson
5:50 p.m.: Wilmette boys nurture garden, and friendship, with 81-year-old neighbor during COVID-19 pandemic: ‘You’ve got to let stuff grow’
When Wilmette resident Barbara Offenberg gifted a few hosta plants to a neighbor earlier this summer, the conversation between the 81-year-old master gardener and the young mother who lives across the street was overheard by two curious 11-year-old boys.
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With the COVID-19 pandemic scuttling their summer youth baseball team, and now with plenty of free time on their hands, rising sixth graders Evan Rick and Jensen Knox wandered over to Offenberg’s house later that afternoon and politely inquired, “How can we start a garden?”
Two months later, Evan and Jensen are nurturing a flourishing perennial garden along with a growing friendship with their octogenarian neighbor, who they call Barb.
“I was very much surprised, because at their age, most boys are interested in video games, not starting a garden,” said Offenberg, a retired church office manager.
“When they asked me for help in starting a garden, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh ... these boys are so polite!’ There just couldn’t be anything better than this,” Offenberg said.
Before long, Evan, Jensen, and Evan’s 7-year-old brother, Owen, trundled over to Offenberg’s backyard, pulling a red wagon loaded with gardening tools, and anxious to start digging.
Read more here. —Karen Ann Cullotta
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4:15 p.m.: Illinois orders stricter rules for bars in Metro East area outside St. Louis in effort to slow surge in COVID-19 positivity rate
The Metro East region outside St. Louis on Tuesday becomes the first in Illinois to be put back under stricter rules meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 after surpassing a state positivity rate threshold.
The step backwards in reopening in the Metro East comes as the state on Monday reported 1,773 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 12 deaths of people with COVID-19.
The statewide totals now stand at 207,854 known cases and 7,756 deaths throughout the course of the pandemic.
The restrictions that take effect in the Metro East region on Tuesday include an 11 p.m. closing time for bars, capping gathering sizes at the lesser of 25 people or 25% of a room’s capacity and a requirement for no seating or congregating at a bar.
Read more here. —Jamie Munks
4:13 p.m.: Chicago closes 5 more restaurants and bars for COVID-19 guideline violations
Five businesses were closed down over the weekend after investigators from the City of Chicago’s department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection found them to be in violation of reopening requirements.
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Barba Yianni (4761 N. Lincoln Ave.) was closed and issued two citations for having more than 80 people inside, operating after midnight, and violating social distancing and face covering guidelines
Juanita’s Restaurant #2 (6539-6541 W. 63rd St.) was closed and issued two citations for having more than 70 people inside, operating after midnight, and violating social distancing and masking guidelines
Retro Cafe and Restaurant (3246 N. Central Ave.) was closed and issued two citations for operating after midnight and violating social distancing and masking guidelines
La Estrella Blanca Nightclub (3049 N. Cicero Ave.) was closed and issued two citations for allowing guests to drink alcohol inside without a retail food license and for violating masking guidelines
Second Time Around (8303 W. Irving Park Road) was closed and issued two citations for operating after midnight
All of the businesses were closed for one night.
Read more here. —Grace Wong
3:47 p.m.: What you need to know about heading back to school, from pre-K to college
Much like everything else, back-to-school has a very different feeling in 2020. The excitement about starting a new school year has been overshadowed by changes and restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. From remote learning to gap years and everything in between, our 2020 back-to-school guide will help you navigate this unprecedented return to school.
—Chicago Tribune staff
1:52 p.m.: Little Beans Cafe closes Chicago location in hopes of keeping Evanston play space afloat. ‘We need this to work.’
With more and more schools starting the year with virtual learning, working parent-friendly child care has never been more in demand.
That should be good news for Little Beans Cafe, which Shannon Valko launched a decade ago after making the rounds of kids’ play spaces with her oldest child and failing to find one that didn’t make parents feel like an afterthought — especially working parents.
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But now, restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have limited their business so much that Valko said she and her brother Rob Spengler, Little Beans Cafe’s co-owner, have no choice but to close the North Side play space where Little Beans Cafe began in hopes of keeping their second site, in Evanston, afloat.
“We want to get to the other side of this because it’s so important for families,” said Valko, who has never been more worried for kid-oriented businesses like hers — even competitors.
“It would be a shame to see us all leave,” she said. “If everything fun for kids ends, why raise kids in the city?”
At Little Beans Cafe, kids can take classes or explore a child-size village with a grocery store and firehouse, or play with blocks, puzzles and ride-on cars. Parents can join in or get work done in the cafe.
In March, when Little Beans Cafe decided to close for two weeks as a precaution, staff members cracked open Coronas and told each other it would be a well-deserved break. Valko had no idea it would be the last time she saw kids playing in the Chicago location she considers Little Beans Cafe’s “heart and soul.”
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
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1:15 p.m.: Staff, instructors at City Colleges of Chicago vote no confidence
An overwhelming majority of unionized instructors, clerical workers and adjunct faculty at the City Colleges of Chicago have issued a vote of no confidence in the school’s administration, contending its plan to keep some facilities open during the coronavirus pandemic is misguided.
Tony Johnston, president of the Cook County College Teachers Union, said Monday that 96 percent of his members and those of Local 1708, which represents clerical and technical employees, said they had no confidence in the leadership of Chancellor Juan Salgado.
Though largely symbolic, the vote marked the first time since 2015 that faculty members sent this forceful of a message to leaders of the city’s seven-campus community college network. Among many issues, the unions object to the need for some college advisors and support staff to work in person at campus buildings, which began Aug. 3.
"We are here again today to urge the City Colleges administration to return to full remote student support immediately, and more importantly, halt the reopening of the City Colleges to our students and our communities," Johnston said.
A spokeswoman for City Colleges said only a limited number of in-person services are being offered during the peak enrollment period and the school’s operational plan has been approved by public health experts. Classes, about 80 percent of which are virtual, begin Aug. 24.
“This is an unprecedented time, and we share our unions’ concerns for the health and safety of our staff, faculty, students, and community,” spokeswoman Katheryn Hayes said in an emailed statement.
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After Aug. 21, when the busiest enrollment period has ended, all student services will revert to remote delivery, though computer labs and some in-person tutoring will remain available, according to CCC. College buildings will also be open as study spaces and for technology and Internet needs.
But right now, Local 1708 President Delores Withers said the network’s safety precautions are inadequate. Withers said the installment of plexiglass barriers is sporadic and the administration has denied requests to purchase face shields for staff interacting with students.
About 96 percent of adjunct faculty and adult education instructors also voted for no confidence in Salgado, according to their unions.
—Elyssa Cherney
12:50 p.m.: At virtual Democratic convention, Lightfoot says Trump is mounting ‘full-out assault’ on Postal Service, election and democracy
Mayor Lori Lightfoot cast President Donald Trump and Republicans as “enemies of democracy” who are mounting a “full-out assault” on the integrity of the November election by undermining the U.S. Postal Service and making it more difficult for people to vote by mail amid a pandemic.
Lightfoot made the comments Monday morning during a virtual round table discussion at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee focused on protecting the right to vote this fall.
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“Every day the importance of this fall’s election grows and grows, and every day unfortunately, we see increasing evidence that this administration is mounting a full out assault on every pillar of our democracy, including the integrity of our elections,” Lightfoot said. “This is real folks. It’s not an exaggeration. It’s not a conspiracy theory.”
The former federal prosecutor then went on to hammer the Trump administration and Republicans for draconian cuts at the Postal Service that have disrupted the delivery of mail in recent days.
Read more here. —Bill Ruthhart
12:45 p.m.: Why is it deemed safe to play high school football in Ohio — but not in the Big Ten?
The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s plan for high school football calls for a modified schedule — six games with every team making the playoffs. Every player has his own water bottle and they can spread out on the sidelines by watching from the 15-yard line. Practices have less physical contact. And games essentially have eight quarters because there’s a two-minute mini-break built in, the idea being linemen should not breathe on each other for such extended periods.
Are all the players being tested for COVID-19? Nope. That is deemed too expensive.
Contrast all that with the Big Ten Conference, a financial behemoth where Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin combined to produce $427 million in football revenues in 2018-19.
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Wait, which is the group that’s not playing in 2020?
And sticking with college football, how come Iowa State has not canceled football but Iowa has? Why is Notre Dame practicing but not Purdue?
It’s no wonder parents are seeking answers, and many players want the Big Ten’s decision to be overturned.
Read more here. —Teddy Greenstein
9:30 a.m.: Edie’s Cafe opens today, bringing a new working space and cafe to River North, a rarity these days
During a time when public gathering areas are at a premium, a new restaurant is trying to restore at least one such space in the Wells Street corridor.
Edie’s All Day Cafe and Bar opens Monday in the former Limitless Coffee space on Wells Street in River North. The project comes in part from Limitless founder Matt Matros, who approached co-founder Arturo Gomez about helping Matros convert one of his existing storefront locations to something different.
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The result is an all-day cafe that follows COVID-19 safety protocols. Edie’s boasts a 55-seat outdoor patio, plus indoor seating for up to 30 socially dstanced patrons. The space boasts a flexible daytime menu featuring brunch and snacks, plus a beverage program that includes beer, wine and cocktails, plus Matros’ coffee.
Read more here. —Adam Lukach
6:40 a.m.: For Illinois delegates, a ‘totally bizarre’ Democratic convention from the couch
When the 2020 Democratic National Convention gets underway Monday, no delegates will be traveling to Milwaukee Wisconsin for it, with the coronavirus pandemic still coursing through the country. Neither will any of the speakers. Not even Joe Biden will accept the party’s nomination in the key swing state’s largest city.
Instead, virtually all of the convention will be held remotely — four nights of solely -for-TV festivities, capped by Biden’s speech on Thursday night.
For the 182 Illinois delegates and 13 alternates, the social event will be attempted virtually by the state party on a nightly basis before the two-hour national prime-time festivities. There will be no raucous nightly parties, no lunches paid for by special interest groups and no morning breakfast rallies where guest speakers and surrogates from the national campaign aim to put the state’s delegates in a rallying mood.
Read more here. —Bill Ruthhart, Rick Pearson
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6:30 a.m.: Coronavirus brings unlikely classroom: A 56-story apartment tower in Streeterville
A 56-story apartment tower in the Streeterville neighborhood plans to convert some of its office space to small classrooms, betting that frazzled families will seek space outside the home to conduct remote learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 490-unit Optima Signature, a skyscraper at 220 E. Illinois St. known for its bright red lower levels, is no ordinary schoolhouse.
Yet with many parents working from home since March amid COVID-19, and with many schools planning to conduct classes virtually this fall, the building’s owner believes there will be a demand for learning pods. So-called “pandemic pods” and “micro-schools” allow small groups of kids from close-knit families to study together in person with a teacher, tutor or parent.
Widespread closures of schools and day cares has left Chicago-area workers and employers scrambling for solutions.
Glencoe-based architecture and development firm Optima, which completed the Streeterville high-rise in 2017, last week began marketing four of its 25 office suites for educational purposes.
Read more here. —Ryan Ori
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6:15 a.m.: Can little kids really social distance? Lessons from child care centers that have stayed open during the pandemic, and why it might not work in schools
Earlier this summer, when Chicago Public Schools still planned to reopen in September, Chicago’s top public health official said even elementary-age children are capable of following measures to fight the spread of COVID-19, such as social distancing and wearing face masks.
“I have nieces and nephews this age, and when you model this behavior for children and set it as an expectation, they actually do very well with it in my experience,” Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the city’s Public Health Department, said at a July news conference.
Some parents and teachers — otherwise the biggest believers in their kids and students — were less optimistic. They said social distancing goes against the very nature of very young children.
Although CPS has since reverted to all remote learning at least until November, the decision will undoubtedly send more Chicago children into day care or other group settings, and many private and suburban schools still intend to open their doors. CPS leaders have also said it’s likely schools will reopen before a vaccine is developed and completely rolled out.
So the question still remains: Even if kids sometimes slip up in following public health guidelines, how can we keep them safe?
Read more here. —Claire Hao
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Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
Here are three stories from the weekend about COVID-19.
Facing a no-visitor hospital policy due to coronavirus, a Lakeview woman begs to see her terminally ill husband.
House Democrats summoned USPS leaders to testify this month about mail delays across the country.
Illinois puts 14 counties on COVID-19 warning list, blames local officials for failing to enforce social distancing and isolation orders.


chicagotribune--2020-08-17--Multiple COVID-19 cases reported at Chicago fire academy

The Chicago Fire Department has temporarily suspended training at the Quinn Fire Academy after multiple cases of coronavirus were reported @ @ @ @ @ .
It did not specify the number of people who tested positive .

Candidates train at the Chicago Fire Department's Quinn Fire Academy in Chicago on July 7, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Fire Department has temporarily suspended training at the Quinn Fire Academy after multiple cases of coronavirus were reported, according to the department. It did not specify the number of people who tested positive.
“The health and safety of Chicago’s firefighters, paramedics and recruits are our utmost priority,” Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said in a statement. The department plans to clean and disinfect the facility, including all work areas and equipment used.
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The current class of recruits will continue to train via remote learning, Langford added. Those who tested positive for COVID-19 will remain in isolation and close contacts of those affected will quarantine.
No individuals who have tested positive have required hospitalization, according to the Fire Department.
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Twitter @JessicaVillag


chicagotribune--2020-08-17--Report finds ‘abuses of discretion’ but no criminal wrongdoing in Kim Foxx handling of Jussie Smolle

Report finds ‘abuses of discretion’ but no criminal wrongdoing in Kim Foxx handling of Jussie Smollett case

Despite telling the public that thousands of previous cases had ended similarly , all those cases involved formal diversion programs @ @ @ @ @ to meet specific criteria for a period of time before the charges are dropped .
@ @ @ @ @ by contrast , was an outright dismissal .
And county prosecutors could not identify any @ @ @ @ @ from Webb ’ s team , the report stated .

Actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Cook County Jail on March 16, 2022, after he was ordered to be released pending appeal of his conviction and 150-day sentence. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Cook County prosecutors gave actor Jussie Smollett an inexplicable and unprecedented deal — and then misled the public about it — when they dropped disorderly conduct charges against him last year, but there was no evidence that they were swayed by outside clout or committed any crimes, a team of special prosecutors has concluded.
A news release Monday summarizing an investigation led by special prosecutor Dan Webb indicated that while no criminal charges were warranted against anyone in State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office, his team would be reporting potential violations of legal ethics over the handling of the Smollett investigation to Illinois’ attorney disciplinary board. Some false statements in the Smollett matter were made by Foxx herself, Webb found.
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There was little new information in Monday’s statement for anyone paying close attention to Smollett’s twisting legal saga, which drew international scrutiny after he was charged in February 2019 with staging a phony hate crime on himself. The media firestorm only escalated after prosecutors abruptly dropped all 16 felony counts in a last-minute hearing about a month after he was charged.
In fact, despite conducting dozens of interviews and seating a special grand jury to subpoena records and hear evidence, Webb apparently could not shine any light on a question that has gone unanswered for more than a year: How, exactly, did prosecutors reach the deal to drop Smollett’s first case?
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Webb’s full report was not made public Monday because it contains grand jury materials that cannot be released without a court order. Webb stated in the news release that his team will be asking Cook County Judge Michael Toomin for permission to release the 60-page final report in full.
Smollett’s lead attorney, celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, blasted the summary as politically motivated and timed to undermine Foxx, who is running for reelection.
“It’s a blatant attempt to take down a Black, progressive, female prosecutor who does not fit within the white power structure,” he wrote, saying Smollett maintains his innocence and is being “used as a pawn.”
According to the summary, Webb’s investigators essentially alleged that in dropping the case, Foxx’s office operated in a gray area — committing “substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures” that were compounded by their subsequent false and contradictory public statements.
Even in interviews with his team, Webb noted, Foxx’s prosecutors gave “significantly and meaningfully divergent explanations for how the resolution was reached.” They gave conflicting answers about who negotiated the terms, how the terms were constructed and whether Smollett was offered a chance to participate in a formal deferred prosecution program, according to the report.
Current and former prosecutors — including Foxx herself — uniformly told Webb’s investigators that they were “surprised” or “shocked” by “at least some facet of the dismissal terms,” according to the report.
In a statement Monday, Foxx’s office hailed the Webb report for clearing them of criminal wrongdoing and insider deals, but rejected accusations that they abused their discretion, and said “any implication that statements made by the CCSAO were deliberately inaccurate is untrue.”
While the report stops short of accusing Foxx or her employees of lying, Webb’s team repeatedly stated that she and her office “breached (their) obligations of honesty and transparency.”
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Special prosecutor Dan Webb, center, looks on as Jussie Smollett, right, appears for a hearing where his case was assigned to a judge Feb. 24, 2020, at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)
Smollett’s charges were dropped in exchange for the forfeiting of his $10,000 bail and the performing of 15 hours of community service “that had no relationship to the charged conduct,” Webb stated in Monday’s news release.
There was no requirement that he plead or admit guilt. And at the hearing, which was scheduled at the last minute without notice to the public, Assistant State’s Attorney Risa Lanier read a statement that had been drafted in conjunction with Smollett’s attorneys, the report notes.
Prosecutors did not learn of any new evidence that would have weakened the case between Smollett’s indictment and their dismissal of charges, according to Webb’s team.
And in the media blitz that followed the dismissal, Webb found, Cook County prosecutors repeatedly misled reporters and gave false statements about the circumstances of the dismissal.
Despite telling the public that thousands of previous cases had ended similarly, all those cases involved formal diversion programs, in which defendants need to meet specific criteria for a period of time before the charges are dropped. Smollett’s case, by contrast, was an outright dismissal. And county prosecutors could not identify any specific similar cases upon questioning from Webb’s team, the report stated.
In addition, Foxx herself made other false statements, according to Webb: that $10,000 was the biggest penalty Smollett could have paid by law, and that he had no criminal background. Smollett has a minor criminal record from California, where in 2007 he was convicted of misdemeanor DUI, making false statements to police and driving without a license.
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And after prosecutors told reporters repeatedly that they had a strong case against Smollett, Foxx wrote a Tribune op-ed in which she “falsely represented” that prosecutors thought the likelihood of conviction was uncertain.
The murkiness around Foxx’s recusal from the case opened up more confusion and false statements, according to Webb’s team. She withdrew from overseeing the prosecution in its early stages, revealing she’d had contact with a member of Smollett’s family early in the investigation at the request of Tina Tchen, Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff.
Webb’s news release identifies the family member as actress Jurnee Smollett, Smollett’s sister.
Foxx previously stated that she stopped communicating with Smollett after it became clear Jussie Smollett was a suspect, and not simply a victim. But according to Webb’s report, she continued texting and calling Smollett’s sister for at least five days after she knew Smollett had become a suspect, according to the report.
And after Foxx withdrew from the case and put First Assistant Joseph Magats in charge, it became clear that the recusal was “legally defective in a major way,” according to the Webb team.
The Tribune has previously reported that the day after Foxx’s recusal was made public, an assistant state’s attorney wrote a legal memo outlining why her actions were against legal precedent, and she could not just name her successor.
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But “instead of implementing the proper legal course … the CCSAO and State’s Attorney Foxx made the decision to ignore this major legal defect seemingly because they did not want to admit they had made such a major mistake in judgment,” Webb found.
And Foxx went on to make false statements that she did not know about the legal flaws in her recusal, the report states.
A spokesman for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission would not confirm or deny any investigations, since such proceedings are confidential. Any allegations before the commission would only be made public if ARDC administrators choose to file disciplinary charges when an investigation is complete.
While Webb concluded that significant errors were made, his report absolved Foxx’s office of perhaps the most sensational allegations lobbed in the case: That Foxx had been swayed by conversations with members of Smollett’s family and a politically connected lawyer.
The investigation focused on three figures: Smollett; NAACP Legal Defense President Sherrilyn Ifill; and Tchen.
Foxx said she recused herself after revealing she had contact with Tchen, who requested that she contact Smollett about concerns about leaks in the Smollett investigation.
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Webb found no evidence indicating that Foxx’s talks with those three women influenced the way Smollett’s charges were handled; and Foxx did not have any “substantive” communications with them after Smollett was charged, the news release states.
Webb said he also found that while there had been leaks to the media about the police’s initial investigation of the Smollett manner, they could not determine who may have leaked the information and could not find any evidence to support criminal charges or wrongdoing by the Chicago Police Department in their response to the leaks.
Foxx’s recusal was at the center of Webb’s appointment as special prosecutor. Judge Toomin wrote last year that Foxx botched the decision by handing the reins to her top deputy. Because the recusal was invalid, the entire process played out without a real prosecutor at the helm, he wrote. The decision opened the door for a special prosecutor to investigate the conduct of officials who handled the case the first time around, and determine whether Smollett should be prosecuted a second time.
After Webb’s appointment last year, his special Cook County grand jury indicted Smollett in February on six counts of disorderly conduct.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com