chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Chicago FOP president says he’s heading to White House for President Trump’s GOP nomination acceptan

Chicago FOP president says he’s heading to White House for President Trump’s GOP nomination acceptance speech

“ Absolutely — I wouldn ’ t miss it for the world — even if it was Obama , ” @ @ @ @ @ and Trump supporter , said referring to former Democratic President Barack Obama .
Simply put @ @ @ @ @ the office of president and an invitation to the White House is not something to @ @ @

Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara, speaks in support of Chicago police and President Donald Trump during a rally near the Columbus statue site in Grant Park on July 25, 2020. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago’s police union boss says he will be on the White House South Lawn Thursday when President Donald Trump formally accepts the Republican Party’s nomination for reelection.
John Catanzara, president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, said he landed an invitation from the White House, calling it an honor and privilege.
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“Absolutely — I wouldn’t miss it for the world — even if it was Obama,” Catanzara, an avowed Republican and Trump supporter, said referring to former Democratic President Barack Obama. Simply put, Catanzara said he respects the office of president and an invitation to the White House is not something to turn down.
Catanzara said he has never met Trump in person.
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But his victory in a hard-fought union race this spring prompted a congratulatory tweet from Trump, who has billed himself as a staunch supporter of law enforcement.
Congratulations to Officer John Catanzara for being elected President of the Chicago Police Union. He always “Gets the Job Done”. #MAGA @foxandfriends — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 10, 2020
“I’m tied to President Trump — he’s indirectly responsible for me being in the position I’m in,” Catanzara said.
He said Trump inspired him to sound off at public meetings against his bosses and crusade against what he’s perceived as unfair punishment of rank-and-file cops. From protesting about police security at Mayor Lightfoot’s home to charging decisions by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office.
During his more than two decades as a Chicago cop, Catanzara has had at least 35 complaints filed against him through mid-2017, many for personnel violations, and he’s been suspended several times, the Tribune has reported. Past police superintendents have twice tried firing him.
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“The effect and notoriety I gained from doing that — that was publicity I couldn’t buy,” he said. “In a sense I owe him a thank you” for showing the power behind a “shoot from the hip and speaking from the heart” style.
Asked whether he’ll get to meet with the president, Catanzara said he’s waiting to find out.
Asked what he would tell the president, Catanzara said he might be at a loss for words.
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“You know, I’m not going to lie, I’ll probably be a little awestruck, I’m a simple guy from the Southwest Side of Chicago. It’s very humbling ... but if I do get a chance to speak to him, I’d want to thank him for speaking up and supporting the (law enforcement) profession unlike anyone before.”
Lisa Donovan is the host of The Spin, the Tribune’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.
ldonovan@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @byldonovan


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Column: Time to stop planning and start building: It’s crunch time for Lightfoot’s drive to revive S

Column: Time to stop planning and start building: It’s crunch time for Lightfoot’s drive to revive South and West sides

What might such teams produce ?
Conceptual renderings produced for the city by top architectural firms picture transformations that wisely @ @ @ @ @ Rogers razzle-dazzle or wiping the slate clean , as the failed urban renewal projects of @ @ @ @ @ , they suggest that developers retain and renovate beloved pieces of architecture and use them @ @ @ @ @ areas around them .

The former Laramie State Bank of Chicago building, at Laramie and Chicago avenues in Chicago, is seen Aug. 25, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Urban planning isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to overcome naysayers and “not-in-my-backyard” types — the dreaded NIMBYs.
And woe to the city planner who paints a rosy picture of a shining tomorrow but fails to deliver. He doesn’t just flop — he breeds distrust among those who put faith in him.
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That’s the danger confronting Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s top planner, Maurice Cox, commissioner of the city’s Department of Planning and Development, as he tries to keep her promise to uplift sections of the South and West sides plagued by decades of disinvestment.
Is this much-ballyhooed effort the real deal or a public relations gesture?
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We’re about to find out.
As the Tribune’s Ryan Ori reported Monday, the city is requesting proposals from developers for three of the 10 areas (Auburn Gresham, Austin and Englewood) covered by Lightfoot’s $750 million Invest South/West program. The endeavor seeks to spark mixed-use developments backed by private investors. Proposals are due Nov. 24.
Developers are to be selected by early next year and construction in the three areas is to be completed in late 2022, according to a timetable Cox showed at a recent public forum.
In a move sure to further raise expectations, the nonprofit Chicago Architecture Center this week is expected to announce the winners of a juried competition that winnowed nearly 200 architects down to 32 design teams that developers could hire for Invest South/West projects. The teams, which are 44% minority-owned, include architects responsible for such Chicago icons as the wavy Aqua Tower (Studio Gang) and the vibrant downtown Riverwalk (Ross Barney Architects).
What might such teams produce? Conceptual renderings produced for the city by top architectural firms picture transformations that wisely do not indulge in Buck Rogers razzle-dazzle or wiping the slate clean, as the failed urban renewal projects of the 1960s did. Rather, they suggest that developers retain and renovate beloved pieces of architecture and use them as anchors for rebuilding the areas around them.
One rendering, by Perkins and Will, shows a long-vacant and crumbling Art Deco gem, the Laramie State Bank at 5200 W. Chicago Ave., beautifully restored. Buildings fill vacant lots now next to the bank, whose multicolored terra cotta decoration includes representations of American eagles astride the globe. The new construction adds density and street-level vitality to neighborhoods, but without the physical isolation and overwhelming scale of Chicago’s notorious now-destroyed high-rise public housing projects.
The RFP seeks a mixed-use rehabilitation of the former bank building at Laramie and Chicago avenues, as well as new construction on five land parcels next to the vacant Chicago landmark. Of the initial RFPs, the West Side site is the only one not already owned by the city. (Perkins+Will)
The idea, Cox said during a recent forum hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, is to create vibrant centers of urban commerce and activity, like those in Chicago’s pre-COVID-19downtown.
Will it work? Why would some real estate developers risk their precious capital on crime-ridden, violence-plagued areas they’ve neglected in the past? Will big developers, like Sterling Bay, Related Midwest and Magellan, join the smaller for-profit and nonprofit firms already working on the South and West sides?
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There are reasons for guarded optimism. For starters, the city will take steps to minimize developers’ economic risk. It will subsidize the projects, using tax-increment financing funds, the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund and federal tax breaks within opportunity zones.
In addition, by virtue of its high profile, Invest South/West may lead some developers to look anew at neighborhoods they’d written off, particularly if they want to curry favor with a mayor who has made redevelopment of such areas a top priority.
“There are so many commercial developers that just don’t know their way around these neighborhoods,” said Richard Sciortino, founding principal of Northbrook-based Brinshore, which has developed a wide range of housing, including affordable units, in Chicago and the suburbs.
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“I’ve always been a big believer in getting all these commercial developers just engaged in these neighborhoods. They can be an investor. They can be a mentor. ... They don’t have to jump in with both feet. Just get a toe in the water,” Sciortino said.
A recent example: Brinshore co-developed 4400 Grove, a four-story, two-building, mixed-income apartment and retail project in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. It was backed by a mix of public and private funding similar to what’s expected to support Invest South/West projects.
Several of the project’s ground-floor retail spaces were intentionally left small to accommodate tenants who might not be able to affordable bigger shops. None of the shops are occupied yet, but the future tenants include a pizzeria, a wine bar, a healing salon and a Negro Leagues baseball store.
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If Invest South/West can replicate such success stories at large scale and at rapid speed while still maintaining design quality — never an easy balance to strike — it may yet turn out to be something greater and more enduring than a public relations gesture emanating from City Hall.
Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.
bkamin@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @BlairKamin


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Jobless workers could get an extra $300 a week in benefits. Pritzker says Illinois is applying for T

Jobless workers could get an extra $300 a week in benefits. Pritzker says Illinois is applying for Trump’s benefits program.

On Aug. 8 , President Trump authorized the federal supplement , which is being doled out to states by the @ @ @ @ @ as a temporary fix to replace the extra $ 600-a-week in federal benefits that expired @ @ @ @ @ at a standstill on negotiations for an additional coronavirus relief package , which could restore @ @ @ @ @ , of those benefits .

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Illinois is applying for the $300 weekly unemployment benefits supplement President Trump ordered earlier this month to provide financial assistance to jobless workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Aug. 8, President Trump authorized the federal supplement, which is being doled out to states by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as a temporary fix to replace the extra $600-a-week in federal benefits that expired last month. Congress remains at a standstill on negotiations for an additional coronavirus relief package, which could restore some, if not all, of those benefits.
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[ Extra $300 in unemployment: Here’s what you need to know about the jobless benefits boost ]
At a news conference Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked to respond to President Trump’s comment that Illinois is one of the states that has not applied for the benefits.
Pritzker said “We have begun that process, indeed. It takes a lot of setup on an internal basis for us to move forward with that and so that’s what we’ve been doing.”
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More than 30 states have received approval for the benefits program as of Tuesday, according to FEMA. The agency, which typically handles disaster relief, will provide up to $44 billion from the Disaster Relief Fund for lost wage payments, and states will administer the funds retroactive to Aug. 1.
Individuals who qualify for at least $100 in weekly unemployment benefits, either through state programs or the federal pandemic assistance program, which Congress created to include gig workers, are eligible for the extra $300-a-week in federal benefits, according to FEMA.
States including Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and New Mexico were among the first to receive funding. Arizona became the first state to start paying the benefits Aug. 17. No state that has applied for benefits has been rejected, FEMA said.
It’s unclear when jobless workers will receive payments as states set up a new program while providing existing benefits. Earlier this month, Illinois extended state jobless benefits by 20 weeks.
Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the governor, said in an email that the state is working through the process and will provide additional information once it becomes available.
Jamie Munks contributed.
abjimenez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @abdel1019


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Feds charge 2 in burglaries of Northwest Side pharmacies during May unrest

According to the complaint , Lorenz and Bermudez broke into three Walgreens stores in the Logan Square , Humboldt Park @ @ @ @ @ the evening of May 31 , when looting and vandalism broke out during protests over @ @ @ @ @ Floyd in Minneapolis .

Surveillance footage from a Walgreens at 4001 W. Irving Park Rd. allegedly shows William Lorenz and Ivan Bermudez attempting to access a pharmacy locker containing prescription narcotics on May 31, 2020. (U.S. Attorney's Office)
Two Chicago men have been hit with federal charges alleging they conspired to burglarize three Walgreens pharmacies on the Northwest Side during the looting and unrest that ripped through the city in May.
William Lorenz, 40, and Ivan Bermudez, 42, were charged in a criminal complaint made public Wednesday with one count each of conspiracy to commit burglary involving a controlled substance.
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Bermudez was arrested Tuesday and is scheduled to make an initial court appearance by telephone Wednesday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, court records show. Lorenz was arrested Monday and was ordered released on a recognizance bond.
According to the complaint, Lorenz and Bermudez broke into three Walgreens stores in the Logan Square, Humboldt Park and Irving Park neighborhoods on the evening of May 31, when looting and vandalism broke out during protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
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Ivan Bermudez, 42, of Chicago, was charged in a federal criminal complaint with breaking into three Northwest Side Walgreens stores during the civil unrest on May 31, 2020. (U.S. Attorney's Office/HANDOUT)
The complaint accuses Lorenz and Bermudez of entering the stores — at 1627 N. Pulaski Road, 3110 W. Armitage Ave. and 4001 W. Irving Park Road — and attempting to remove drugs from the shelves in the pharmacy. Each of the stores was closed at the time of the break-ins.
Surveillance footage from the Irving Park store showed Lorenz and Bermudez enter the store about 9:30 p.m. and walk to the pharmacy area wearing hoodies and ski masks, the charges alleged. Lorenz then attempted to access a pharmacy locker that contained prescription narcotics, but he was unable to gain access, the complaint stated.
Chicago police responding to a call of the burglary saw that the front window of the Walgreens had been broken. After spotting a man running from the back door, an officer gave chase and arrested Lorenz about a block away, the complaint stated.
A search of Lorenz’s Honda Civic, parked in the alley behind the store, as well as a bag found near the rear door turned up plastic containers of liquid codeine as well as 150 pills believed to be hydrocodone, according to the charges.
Lorenz allegedly told police the drugs “weren’t from the Walgreens, they were from a friend that I was with.”
“He had them in the bag when I picked him up,” Lorenz told investigators, identifying the friend as Bermudez, according to the complaint. “All of those things are his.”
In announcing the charges Wednesday, U.S. Attorney John Lausch said federal law enforcement would continue to work with Chicago police “to hold looters accountable in federal court, whenever appropriate.”
The charges were among a handful of federal cases stemming from the unrest in the city after Floyd’s video-recorded death at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25.
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One man was charged with arson after authorities say he lit a Chicago police vehicle on fire during downtown demonstrations. Three others were charged with gun offenses after they were allegedly caught near protest or looting scenes with illegal weapons.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Chicago Gourmet 2020 pivots during coronavirus pandemic to most accessible version ever

The month kicks off , as Chicago Gourmet typically does , with the Hamburger Hop , a friendly gourmet-burger competition @ @ @ @ @ ’ s event , sponsored by DoorDash , is dubbed Can ’ t Stop the @ @ @ @ @ about 100 chef competitors/participants offering burgers for dine-in , carryout or delivery from Sept. 1-13 @ @ @ @ @ to hop around and sample as many as they can , voting on their favorite @ @ @ @ @ , announced the week of week of Sept. 14 , will receive the usual winning @ @ @ @ @ Josh Cellars wine , a Yeti cooler filled with meat and seafood from sponsor Buckhead @ @ @ @ @ of course , bragging rights .
( Don ’ t discount the bragging rights ; @ @ @ @ @ from previous competitions remain on their respective restaurants ’ menus . )

There will be a Chicago Gourmet this year, though not in the format we’ve come to expect.
There will be tastings, in the form of in-person, multicourse dinners held in 10 restaurants over two weeks. And there will be cooking demonstrations, though you’ll need a browser and a purchased login to watch them.
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And there will be a Hamburger Hop, though instead of hopping from booth to booth in one venue, you’ll be able to “hop” from one venue to another, with dozens to choose among.
Chicago Gourmet at Millennium Park in 2019 drew a large crowd despite drizzly weather. This year's event will be spread out over the month of September and reimagined for safe distancing. (Youngrae Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Welcome to the 13th annual Chicago Gourmet, which, while unlike its dozen predecessors, might be the most accessible Chicago Gourmet of them all.
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Instead of an all-you-can sample, weekend-long event, for which guests typically pay about $200 per day, Chicago Gourmet will stretch across the month of September, offering scores of individually priced experiences from which to choose.
This year’s event also introduces the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, which will provide one-time cash relief to qualified restaurant workers facing hardship as a result of the coronavirus. Proceeds from the Chicago Gourmet events will benefit the fund.
The month kicks off, as Chicago Gourmet typically does, with the Hamburger Hop, a friendly gourmet-burger competition among chefs. This year’s event, sponsored by DoorDash, is dubbed Can’t Stop the Hop, and consists of about 100 chef competitors/participants offering burgers for dine-in, carryout or delivery from Sept. 1-13. The public is encouraged to hop around and sample as many as they can, voting on their favorite at chicagogourmet.org; the champion, announced the week of week of Sept. 14, will receive the usual winning swag — a magnum of Josh Cellars wine, a Yeti cooler filled with meat and seafood from sponsor Buckhead Meat of Chicago and, of course, bragging rights. (Don’t discount the bragging rights; some of the winning burgers from previous competitions remain on their respective restaurants’ menus.)
Among the many participants (more are being added): Bar Sotano, Bistronomic, BLVD Steakhouse, Brindille, Cooper’s Hawk Winery, Crosby’s Kitchen, Duck Inn, Dusek’s Board & Beer, Ella Elli, Fulton Market Kitchen, Funkenhausen, The Gage, Gemini Chicago, Gibsons (four locations), Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap, Kuma’s Corner, The Loyalist, Luella’s Southern Kitchen, Macello, Maillard Tavern, Mi Tocaya Antojeria, Murray Bros. Caddyshack Restaurant, PB&J, Pints Elmhurst, Publican Quality Meats, Quality Crab & Oyster Bah, River Roast, RL Chicago, Saint Lou’s Assembly, The Smith, Smoke Daddy (two locations), Sophia Steak, Steingold’s, Sweetwater Tavern & Grille, TAO, Tavern on Rush, III Forks Steakhouse, Tortoise Supper Club, Travelle Kitchen + Bar, Utopian Tailgate and Vermilion.
$1 of every burger sold benefits the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund; see the full list at chicagogourmet.org.
The Go Gourmet Dinner Series, starting Sept. 14 and running through Sept. 30, consists of in-person and virtual dining events. The in-person events feature multicourse dinners, including wine and spirit pairings, at prices ranging from $50 to $175. The restaurants are listed at chicagogourmet.org, but you’ll need to contact the restaurant directly for reservations, which are required.
Duck Inn: Family-style dinner of chef Kevin Hickey’s ethnic influences. Sept. 17; $135.
Gibsons Italia: Four-course dinner by chef Jose Sosa, served on the restaurant’s rooftop. Sept. 15; $150.
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Monteverde: Multicourse dinner by chef Sarah Grueneberg. Sept. 23; $110.
Norman’s Bistro: Four-course dinner by chef Norman Bolden. Sept. 21; $165.
Piccolo Sogno: Four-course dinner by chef Tony Priolo. Sept. 22; $110
River Roast: Four-course dinner by chef Cedric Harden and guest chef Carolina Diaz (Terzo Piano). Sept. 24; $120.
Sun Wah BBQ: Eight-course dinner by Laura, Kelly and Michael Cheng. Sept. 14, 16, 21 and 23; $50 (carryout option available).
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Tzuco: Multicourse Mexican Independence Day dinner with chef Carlos Gaytan and three guest chefs from Mexico. Sept. 16; $160.
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Virtue: Four-course dinner by chef Erick Williams honoring George Floyd; guests must dress in black. Sept. 20; $170.
Yugen: Five course menu by chef Mari Katsumura. Sept. 30; $175.
The Virtual series consists of live video cooking classes. The cost to view is $20, or, for $210, guests receive a meal kit with enough ingredients for four. (Those paying just to view will receive an email with recipes and a shopping list.) Suggested pairings will be provided by Campari and Justin Wine.
Featured chefs are Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill, Sept. 22; Thai Dang of HaiSous, Sept. 17; celebrity chef Lorena Garcia, Sept. 16; Stephanie Izard of Girl & the Goat, Sept. 27; Jeff Mauro, Sept. 29; Kwame Onwuachi of Kith & Kin in Washington, Sept. 20; Art Smith of Blue Door Kitchen & Garden, Sept. 14; Fabio Viviani of Siena Tavern, Sept. 18; and Jernard Wells, The Family Chef, Sept. 26.
An online auction goes live Sept. 14 and runs through Sept. 30; bidders can vie for wine, spirit and dinner experiences. The auction is underwritten by Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, so that 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Illinois Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation, which has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships over the years.
Tickets, reservations and other information available at chicagogourmet.org


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--3 shot, 1 fatally, outside Sauk Village home

Officers responded to the 2400 block of Talandis Drive at about 2:25 p.m. after several neighbors reported hearing gunshots and @ @ @ @ @ front of a home that was pocked with bullet holes , Chief Malcolm White said @ @ @ @

A 20-year-old man was killed and two others were wounded Tuesday in a shooting outside a Sauk Village home, police said.
Officers responded to the 2400 block of Talandis Drive at about 2:25 p.m. after several neighbors reported hearing gunshots and found three people shot in front of a home that was pocked with bullet holes, Chief Malcolm White said in a statement.
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One of the victims, identified as Lonnie P. Evans, of Sauk Village, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The two others were rushed to Franciscan Health in Dyer, Indiana, White said. Their conditions were not immediately available Wednesday morning.
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The offenders drove off before officers arrived, police said.
Sauk Village police and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force are investigating the shooting, but have not released any additional information.
zkoeske@tribpub.com
Twitter @ZakKoeske


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--‘There’s been an awful lot of partying’: Northwestern University asks Evanston residents to report s

‘There’s been an awful lot of partying’: Northwestern University asks Evanston residents to report students who ignore COVID-19 precautions in off-campus gatherings

Mona Dugo , interim dean of students , said NU is taking a stricter approach to policing off-campus behavior this @ @ @ @ @ to act on behalf of the most vulnerable members of their community .
NU plans @ @ @ @ @ online , remote and a small portion of face-to-face classes — but only to students @ @ @ @ @ .

Northwestern University’s campus in Evanston is going to feel less crowded this fall, with residence hall capacity reduced to about 70% and more than half of all employees still working from home, school officials said Tuesday.
But those estimates didn’t fully assuage concerns from residents that students will instead move into neighborhood apartments and throw raucous parties, potentially accelerating the spread of COVID-19 in a suburb that has so far avoided an uncontrollable outbreak.
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Residents raised the issue Tuesday evening during a 90-minute Zoom meeting, billed as a “community town hall,” to discuss NU’s plan for repopulating its suburban campus when classes begin next month.
As universities nationwide navigate reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, a large share of student infections have been traced to illicit off-campus gatherings, forcing some schools to abandon plans for in-person learning.
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Mona Dugo, interim dean of students, said NU is taking a stricter approach to policing off-campus behavior this year and will urge students to act on behalf of the most vulnerable members of their community. NU plans to offer a mix of online, remote and a small portion of face-to-face classes — but only to students who abide by the rules.
“We will be messaging the consequences if they don’t follow our guidelines,” Dugo said. “We will be talking about our conduct process and what we will be doing if students don’t adhere to the guidelines. Particularly what we’re focused on is large social gatherings.”
Dugo said that anyone who sees students failing to comply with public health precautions can report incidents to her office using an online form. Dugo said the forms should include specific details and even photo evidence so NU can follow up.
Students will receive more information about the disciplinary protocols this week, but information on the school website indicates the penalties. In order to register for classes, students were required to agree to school rules for hygiene, social activities and testing protocols, among other directives.
“Community members who violate these expectations may face disciplinary actions,” the website says. “For students, this could mean a range of responses from a reminder in cases of unintentionally not following guidance to separation from the university in severe cases of repeat offenses of intentionally disregarding expectations.”
Still, some Evanston residents questioned how effectively NU can respond to risky off-campus gatherings. Particularly troubling, some residents said, is that parties have continued unabated all summer.
One man who said he lives next to a house that’s rented to students commented, “It seems like there’s been an awful lot of partying going on in the last couple months.” Many students at the Evanston campus are undergraduates.
Others shared similar stories, complaining that NU has not worked well with landlords in the past and fails to crack down on parties involving sororities and fraternities.
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After several plugs for the online reporting form, one woman lamented that the onus should not fall on residents to constantly monitor students and potentially get them in trouble.
“I love where I live, and I have a great relationship with the students,” she said. “I don’t want to be the tattletale.”
Luke Figora, NU’s chief risk and compliance officer, said the school will be transparent about communicating COVID-19 cases identified on campus, pointing to a public dashboard that has compiled all known infections since March. Since the end of July, 11 students and two staff members have tested positive, according to the data.
Evanston has recorded 968 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, with 52 active cases and 71 deaths, according to city data.
Kimberly Richardson, interim assistant city manager, said Evanston is trying to fight “COVID fatigue” and working to ensure that positive cases stay low when students return.
“Looking at lessons learned with other schools, as well as municipalities with colleges, we really have been able to get ahead of this so that when the time comes for more students to arrive, there is a plan to manage it,” she said.
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All students returning to campus will be required to take a test at home and will get tested again upon arriving before completing a two-week modified quarantine, NU has said. The school says it will also conduct surveillance testing of the on campus population regularly. NU conducted about 400 tests in the last day and a half, Figora said.
echerney@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--2 dead, 1 injured as gunshots ring out in Kenosha during night protests over Jacob Blake police shoo

2 dead, 1 injured as gunshots ring out in Kenosha during night protests over Jacob Blake police shooting: cops

From widely circulated videos , that shooting appears to have been the first .
A man wearing jeans and an @ @ @ @ @ be running from a man when he fired a rifle .
He then retrieves his @ @ @ @ @ one defendersaid online meant he was calling 911 to get the man medical assistance .
@ @ @ @ @ to “ get him , ” the man starts to run away .
He soon @ @ @ @ @ Sheridan Road as he runs from at least a dozen witnesses .

Bill Ruthhart, John Keilman, Dan Hinkel, Genevieve Bookwalter, Kaitlin Edquist

Madison Taft and Black Lives Matter activists march through a Kenosha neighborhood Jan. 5, 2021, after news that no charges will be issued against the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
KENOSHA, Wis. — Two people are dead and one was seriously injured in Kenosha after gunfire broke out in the middle of a crowd of protesters during the third night of demonstrations in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, according to the Kenosha Police Department.
Authorities have instituted a nightly curfew of 8 p.m. yet late Tuesday protesters clashed with police officers and members of the Wisconsin National Guard for several hours outside a downtown courthouse surrounded by metal fencing and protected by armored vehicles. After repeatedly warning demonstrators they were in violation of curfew, officers cleared a crowd of several hundred people from Civic Center Park across from the courthouse by firing rubber bullets and letting off canisters of tear gas.
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As the crowd dispersed, some made their way south on Sheridan Road, where at least a dozen vehicles in a used car lot had been set ablaze during the two previous nights of violent demonstrations, looting and fires that burned at least 30 businesses in the city of 100,000 people. Across the street from the burned-out auto lot, men with guns protected the boarded-up Ultimate Gas Station, and videos posted to social media showed a confrontation between demonstrators and the armed men.
At 11:48 p.m., shots rang out near the gas station. Police quickly cordoned off a one-block stretch of Sheridan Road. An officer used a megaphone to urge people to clear the area: “We have multiple people down. Clear the area. We don’t want any more people shot. We have multiple shooters out here. Clear the area!”
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[ Updates: Another night of unrest in Kenosha leaves 2 dead and 1 injured, as Wisconsin authorities search for a possible vigilante ]
Officials with the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department confirmed they were investigating shootings near the gas station stemming from a confrontation with protesters. Kenosha police wrote in a statement that the victims have not yet been identified. Neither department would say early Wednesday if anyone had been taken into custody.
Videos on Twitter appeared to show at least three victims. One graphic video from The Daily Caller show people attending to a man shot in the parking lot of the gas station. The video shows a man removing his shirt to apply pressure to a victim’s head wound with two other people assisting nearby.
From widely circulated videos, that shooting appears to have been the first. A man wearing jeans and an Army green shirt appeared to be running from a man when he fired a rifle. He then retrieves his phone, which at least one defendersaid online meant he was calling 911 to get the man medical assistance. But when someone nearby yells to “get him,” the man starts to run away. He soon stumbles in the middle of Sheridan Road as he runs from at least a dozen witnesses.
That’s the scene that another graphic video shows, as a man with a rifle is run down by those who gave chase. He soon begins shooting from the ground at those who charge him, likely in an attempt to disarm or detain him for authorities. It appears he uses a pistol rather than the long gun as he shoots two others at close range.
Devin Scott said he witnessed the gunfire in the street.
“We were all chanting ‘Black lives matter’ at the gas station and then we heard, boom, boom, and I told my friend, that’s not fireworks,” said Scott, 19, who lives in the Round Lake area. “And then this guy with this huge gun runs by us in the middle of the street and people are yelling, ‘He shot someone! He shot someone! And everyone is trying to fight the guy, chasing him and then he started shooting again.”
Scott said he hit the ground as the next round of shots went off and a man nearby was shot in the middle of the street.
“I was cradling him in my arms. I was trying to keep this kid alive and he wasn’t moving or nothing. He was just laying there,” a visibly shaken Scott said shortly after midnight. “I didn’t know what to do and then this woman starts performing CPR. There was no pulse. I don’t think he made it.”
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Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth spoke to the New York Times about the presence of counterprotesters and has commented on militia groups that he referred to as “vigilante groups.”
“I’ve had people saying, ‘Why don’t you deputize citizens?’” Beth said to the Times. “This is why you don’t deputize citizens with guns to protect Kenosha.”
The shootings took place after police and National Guard members dispersed protesters in the hours following an 8 p.m. curfew.
Protesters gathered by a newly installed fence surrounding the county courthouse and almost succeeded in tipping it over before police in riot gear streamed from the building. Some in the crowd fired heavy duty fireworks at the officers, who responded with high pitched blasts from a sound cannon.
At about 9:30 p.m., military-style heavy trucks pulled in front of the courthouse and released clouds of tear gas. The crowd, which included several men carrying long rifles and others bearing clubs or sticks, retreated slightly, but stayed put.
Protesters have begun to try to push over a fence in front of the courthouse in Kenosha. Sheriff’s deputies in riot gear have emerged from the courthouse. Some are throwing projectiles at the officers. pic.twitter.com/mkRMuUx3TK — Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) August 26, 2020
The scene outside the courthouse in Kenosha where officers have issued a “final order” for the crowd of several hundred to disperse. Most are holding their ground and a handful continue to shoot fireworks at the police and National Guard. pic.twitter.com/jf5j4mM0OJ — Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) August 26, 2020
Law enforcement had given an order to disperse and warned of arrests. As gas hung in the air in front of the courthouse, some members of the crowd attended to protesters suffering from its effects, pouring water in their faces.
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Police officers and National Guard members moved into the park, appearing to shoot canisters. The crowd cleared out of the park. With the park clear, there was a smaller standoff on Sheridan Road, a main north-south route through town. Some protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks, while police responded with tear gas and flash bangs.
A little more than 100 demonstrators shouted “Black lives matter” as officers ordered them off of the street and onto the sidewalk. As some in the crowd fled, they rolled dumpsters at armored vehicles.
The nighttime protest and chaos unfolded after Blake family attorney Benjamin Crump said at an afternoon news conference that it would take a “miracle” for the 29-year-old to walk again after a Kenosha police officer’s bullet severed Blake’s spinal cord. The family renewed calls for peaceful protests, while asking for the officer who shot him to be criminally charged.
Authorities have said little about the circumstances of the Sunday shooting in the city just over the Wisconsin border, but footage circulated widely online appears to show an officer firing several shots as Blake, who is Black, was facing away from the cop.
Family attorney Benjamin Crump demonstrates the shooting action of the police during a news conference Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Crump and other lawyers indicated they plan to file a lawsuit, saying that Blake will need extensive, costly medical care. The attorneys asked for a transparent investigation. Along with demanding charges against the cop who shot Blake, Crump said all the officers at the scene should be fired.
The attorneys and family members met a media throng in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse, which has been a focal point for protests over the shooting. As Crump spoke, a worker power-washed graffiti from the stone facade. A quintet of heavy trucks blocked nearby streets.
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One of Blake’s sisters, Letetra Wideman, listed the names of Black people killed by police in recent years.
“This is nothing new. I’m not sad. I’m not sorry. I’m angry, and I’m tired,” she said. “I don’t want your pity. I want change.”
People clashed with police and destroyed property both Sunday and Monday nights, and Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, said the destruction she saw “doesn’t reflect my son or my family.” Jackson and the lawyers said Blake has been medicated and has little awareness of recent events.
“If Jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased, so I’m really asking and encouraging everyone in Wisconsin and abroad to take a moment and examine your heart,” she said.
[ Jacob Blake, shot by police officer in Kenosha, part of Evanston family long associated with community activism ]
Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Sr., wept bitterly during the news conference and at one point was led away from the group.
“They shot my son seven times,” he said through tears. “Like he didn’t matter. But my son matters. He’s a human being and he matters.”
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Attorney Patrick Salvi II said the shooting inflicted damage to Blake’s spinal cord, kidney, liver, colon and other internal organs, as well as his arm.
The news conference came on the second straight day that residents of Kenosha — a town of 100,000 about 60 miles north of Chicago — woke up to smoking wreckage from the night before.
In this September 2019 photo taken in Evanston, Adria-Joi Watkins poses with her second cousin Jacob Blake. (Adria-Joi Watkins/AP)
On Monday night, the crowd facing down Kenosha County sheriff’s officers at the courthouse grew confrontational, heaving a barrage of water bottles, fireworks and other objects at the officers.
Authorities had prepared for unrest Monday night. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers had summoned 125 National Guard members to monitor the city.
Shortly after an 8 p.m. curfew, police announced over a loudspeaker that the gathering was an unlawful assembly. Some officers fired rounds of tear gas into the crowd, which retreated to the park across the street but did not disperse.
Footage on social media and in news accounts indicated that people smashed cars and torched buildings, including a furniture store and a state probation and parole office. A city block was cordoned off Tuesday so officials could survey damage and firefighters could put out smoldering fires. Several storefronts were badly damaged, including a computer store that had windows broken. It appeared merchandise was removed from the shelves. Smoke filled the air and visibility was low as firefighters used water cannons on the buildings.
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Evers decried the destruction in tweets Tuesday and said his administration will be “increasing the presence of the Wisconsin National Guard.”
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian and County Executive Jim Kreuser issued a joint statement blaming outside agitators for the destruction, though they offered no evidence to back up the allegation.
“It is clear to us that this is no longer just a demonstration in reaction to Sunday’s tragic events,” Kreuser said in the statement. “We absolutely want to know the truth about what happened with Jacob Blake, but we have to let the investigatory process work. Destroying our city will not make that process go any faster.”
Kenosha County authorities announced the 8 p.m. curfew would be in effect again Tuesday.
Some were preparing for more destruction Tuesday evening. Downtown Kenosha, just east of the courthouse, was almost entirely boarded up. The words “kids live upstairs” were spray-painted on the wood covering a restaurant’s windows.
Court Burrell, owner of the Gold Standard Social Club tattoo parlor, said he slept in his shop the past two nights. He said friends had kept vandals away so far by telling them Burrell’s shop is a Black-owned business, but he wasn’t counting on his luck to hold.
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“The thing is, I might have a Black building, but someone else might not,” he said. “They’ll set a fire there, and fires don’t care about color. Fire can jump from building to building.”
Sunday’s shooting was the latest to galvanize outraged demonstrators, who have spilled into the streets repeatedly in the three months since George Floyd died beneath the knee of a Minneapolis cop. Like other controversial uses of force, this one was captured on a harrowing video shared online.
The confrontation unfolded as police responded to a call of a domestic incident about 5 p.m. Sunday.
In the footage shared online, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of an SUV to the driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns pointed. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and appears to open fire while Blake has his back turned.
Seven shots can be heard, though it isn’t clear how many struck Blake or how many of the officers fired. During the shooting, a woman can be seen jumping up and down in the street as she screams.
The three officers at the scene were placed on administrative leave, standard practice in shootings by police, while the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigates. Authorities did not disclose the identities of the officers involved or say whether they believed Blake was armed.
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There will not be body camera footage to clarify what happened because Kenosha police don’t have the devices. They’re not expected to get body cameras until 2022, Antaramian said Monday.
[ Kenosha unanimously approved body cameras for police in 2017. Years later, no one is wearing them. ]
Crump — who represents the families of several Black people killed by police in high-profile confrontations — appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” a few hours before his news conference and alleged that Kenosha police had been the aggressors before Blake’s shooting. He said no witnesses had suggested Blake was armed.
“The video shows what happened. He was walking away. He wasn’t posing a threat to them or anything like that,” Crump said.
Crump has said three of Blake’s sons — ages 3, 5 and 8 — were in the SUV when police shot their father. The shooting happened at a birthday party for one of the sons, he said.
“You can only imagine the psychological problems that these babies are gonna have for the rest of their life,” Crump said.
Blake’s family has deep roots in Evanston, and hundreds of people rallied there Tuesday night near a housing development named for his late grandfather, also named Jacob Blake. The elder Blake was a pastor at Ebenezer AME Church in Evanston and a local leader in the civil rights movement.
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William Eason, friend of Blake’s father, said, “What we’re trying to do is show the family that we support them and their message.”
Bobby Burns, one of the rally’s organizers, said, “We are under constant suspicion. Why can we not walk peacefully in our own neighborhoods?”
Kaitlin Edquist is a reporter for Pioneer Press. Chicago Tribune reporters Paige Fry and Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas and the Associated Press contributed.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story erroneously said Jacob Blake died from his injuries.


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Daywatch: Fatal gunfire in Kenosha, why Metra is losing millions and the 19th no-hitter in White Sox

Daywatch: Fatal gunfire in Kenosha, why Metra is losing millions and the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history

Two people are dead and one was seriously injured in Kenosha after gunfire broke out in the middle of a @ @ @ @ @ street during the third night of demonstrations following the police shooting death of Jacob Blake @ @ @ @ @ Police Department .

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Good morning, Chicago. On Tuesday, Illinois officials announced state health officials announced 1,680 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 29 additional deaths.
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Also, Chicago updated its quarantine order, so if you’re planning a trip away, there are a few changes you may want to keep in mind. South Dakota was added to the list, while Arizona and North Carolina were removed.
And as many parents grapple with decisions over the upcoming school year, some north suburban private schools with in-person classes are seeing a bump in enrollment.
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Here’s more coronavirus news and top stories you need to know to start your day.
Megan Belcher, the youngest sister of Jacob Blake, speaks at a news conference, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha. The family asked for peaceful protests, but violence and gunfire broke out overnight. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Two people are dead and one was seriously injured in Kenosha after gunfire broke out in the middle of a crowd of protesters on a street during the third night of demonstrations following the police shooting death of Jacob Blake, according to the Kenosha Police Department.
Jacob Blake’s family and attorneys said Tuesday that a Kenosha police officer’s bullet severed Blake’s spinal cord, and they renewed calls for peaceful protests while asking for the officer who shot him to be criminally charged.
Hostess Camille Webb, right, leads customer Michael Harris to the outdoor sitting at Ja' Grill Hyde Park restaurant on Aug. 25, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Bar and restaurant patrons across the state will be required to wear masks during “any interaction” with servers or other employees when they’re dining or drinking out, starting Wednesday.
The new statewide rule applies to both indoor and outdoor bars and restaurants, replacing a policy that’s been in place for months that required patrons to wear masks at restaurants and watering holes except when eating or drinking at a table or bar.
A Union Pacific Northwest line train arrives at the Barrington Metra Station on March 16, 2020, in Barrington. Fewer than a dozen commuters boarded. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Metra, which is struggling financially during the pandemic, said Union Pacific’s refusal to send conductors into the train cars is costing the commuter rail system $1 million a month in lost ticket revenue.
First lady Melania Trump speaks on the second day of the Republican National Convention from the Rose Garden of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
First lady Melania Trump portrayed her husband as an authentic, uncompromising leader in a Rose Garden address Tuesday night as President Donald Trump turned to family, farmers and the trappings of the presidency to boost his reelection chances on the second night of the scaled-down Republican National Convention.
Analysis: 6 key takeaways from night 2 of the RNC, including Trump leveraging full weight of presidency behind reelection effort
White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito's and his teammates celebrate his no-hitter in a 4-0 win over the Pirates. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Lucas Giolito had an early idea that Tuesday night might be special. The right-hander pitched the 19th no-hitter in Chicago White Sox history — and the first since 2012 — in a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Guaranteed Rate Field.


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Column: We die alone, we Zoom alone. But a Zoom memorial can bring the living together.

Eloise was the sixth of seven children , and all five of her surviving siblings were there , along with @ @ @ @ @ and Jasper .
So was her mother , Mimi , who is 97 .
Some @ @ @ @ @ .
There were in-laws and old friends , some from Chicago , where she and @ @ @ @ @ 30s .
Chicago was where she learned to love the Cubs , an obsession she @ @ @ @ @ ’ s also where she worked as a copy editor for the American Library Association @ @ @ @ @ .

One day this April, a week before her 63rd birthday, when the pandemic was still a fresh shock, my sister-in-law Eloise Kinney sent me an email.
“Mary,” it began. “Headlines of terror keep popping up, stating that so and so has died alone.”
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She inserted a link to one such newspaper story and then segued into a memory from the late 1970s, when she was in a choir that traveled to Mexico City from her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming. During a rehearsal of Verdi’s Requiem, she recounted, an earthquake hit. She remembered how the chandelier swayed and the choir director fled as the earthquake rippled toward the stage.
“I stood tall,” she wrote in her email, “until it was just me and the earthquake, and a bell of knowledge intoned: You Die Alone. The earthquake hit my side of the stage, and people behind me fell or jumped off the risers. I was, what — 20? Or 22? And I knew then that we all die alone. It wasn’t a sad or scary thought. It was a realization. We Die Alone.”
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While living in Chicago in the late 1980s, Eloise Kinney became obsessed with the Chicago Cubs, a passion she carried for the rest of her life. Her husband, Bill Schmich, a painter, commemorated her obsession in this portrait. (Schmich family)
Through the years, Eloise, who was married to my late brother Bill, often sent me column ideas, typed at her home desk in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her notions were often hilariously wacky, but in that April email she urged me to share her thought on dying.
“Maybe you can find a way to let your readers know this,” she concluded. “You can be surrounded by family or friends, or not; it doesn’t matter; you die alone. And it is OK.”
No one, except perhaps Eloise, imagined that three months later she’d be gone. In the past few years she’d suffered through various physical ailments, coupled with the sadness from Bill’s death in 2013, a grief that her iconoclastic wit, inquisitive mind and wide heart could never fully cure. Still, her death stunned us. She went into the hospital on a July Tuesday. On Wednesday, despite the COVID-19 restrictions, several relatives were allowed to visit, including her mother. The next morning, she died.
And that’s how it came to pass that this past Saturday, I participated in a ritual that has become all too familiar to people of our pandemic age, the Zoom memorial service.
There had been brief talk of an in-person memorial in Colorado, an idea that was wisely quashed. Too many of the mourners would have to get on an airplane or drive long distances through infected territory with treacherous bathrooms. Too many people would come together to laugh and cry and spread their potentially deadly droplets. The need to hug would overcome necessary caution.
So, instead, there we were, 50 or so mourners crowded into boxes on our screens, in dens and bedrooms and living rooms, in Florida and New York and the Rockies, trying to make peace with death.
Eloise was the sixth of seven children, and all five of her surviving siblings were there, along with her two sons, Ivan and Jasper. So was her mother, Mimi, who is 97. Some people left their video off. There were in-laws and old friends, some from Chicago, where she and Bill lived in their early 30s. Chicago was where she learned to love the Cubs, an obsession she kept through life. It’s also where she worked as a copy editor for the American Library Association’s publication, Booklist.
“Dare I say, probably the best one I ever had,” says her former boss, Ben Segedin, who joined the Zoom memorial. “We relied on Eloise as the keeper of the style, because no one knew our style better than Eloise. If it wasn’t for Eloise, Booklist would be a mess.”
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Across the miles and screens, people told Eloise stories. Of her dramatic flair, her memorable laugh, her belief in things unseen, the amusement she could take in shocking people with a taboo word or gesture. We talked of the ways she could be difficult, her penchant for jauntily emailing New York Times editors to correct errors and her love for the well-told tale.
“No, no, no,” my brother Andrew remembers her admonishing him if he was telling a story poorly. “Don’t just tell the facts. You need to embellish!”
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In the photos that traveled through Zoom, we saw Eloise, the mischievous toddler. Eloise, the bride at least 5 inches taller than her husband, a discrepancy that delighted them both. Eloise, the mother holding the sons she adored. We saw a life we wished had lasted longer.
Any memorial is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. In the attempt to reconstruct a life, each person brings a different set of memories, each one adding to a portrait that’s never quite complete.
And sometimes in the name of celebrating a life, it can be tempting to overlook the unsettling thoughts. But Eloise didn’t fear unsettling thoughts, and it was in that spirit that at the Zoom service, I shared her email about dying alone.
“Maybe you can find a way to let your readers know this,” she had written, and because in retrospect it sounds like a dying wish, I share it here today.
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In the chat box toward the end of the memorial, someone acknowledged Eloise’s thoughts on dying, but added: Yes, we die alone, but we come together to remember a life.
And if in the year 2020, we do our remembering and coming together on screens? It’s not perfect. But it’s OK.
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--1 seriously injured in Rogers Park apartment building fire

Michael Brieschke , who lives in the building , said the residents there are all tight and friendly .
He @ @ @ @ @ , which has about 35 units , for 15 years and does the gardening .
@ @ @ @ @ or at least wave hello .

A woman (name withheld upon request) holds her cat Jack while residents and neighbors watch members of the Chicago Fire Department work the scene of a fire on the 6800 block of North Wayne Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood Tuesday Aug. 25, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Natalie Harris was on her couch Tuesday night when she saw orange flashing outside her kitchen window. At first, she thought it was just bike lights.
She approached her top-floor window and could feel heat on her skin from flames outside. Harris thought to herself that she needed to “get the h--- out” and put her dog Annie on a leash and cat Frederick in a carrier and left down the front staircase.
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Her next-door neighbor, a retiree, was breaking open a fire extinguisher box in the second-floor hallway, she said. She continued down the stairs and later looked around for her neighbor, thinking he made it out behind her.
“I was looking for him out here,” Harris, 45, said. “Then, I saw him on a stretcher.”
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The Chicago Fire Department transported one adult in serious-to-critical condition to AMITA Health St. Francis Hospital in Evanston from the apartment building fire in the 6800 block of North Wayne Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side, said Chicago Fire Deputy District Chief Walter Schroeder. It’s unclear how the man was injured.
Chicago firefighters arrive on the scene of a fire on the 6800 block of N. Wayne Ave., in the Rogers Park neighborhood, Aug. 25, 2020. (Michael Brieschke) (Chicago Tribune Handout)
The back porch area of the four-story courtyard apartment building was on fire by 9:05 p.m., officials said.
The cause of the fire was not yet known, Schroeder said.
In addition to the one adult transported, EMS assessed another person at the scene, who refused treatment, Schroeder said. A number of how many people were displaced was not immediately available.
By 9:43 p.m., firefighters extinguished the fire, officials said.
Dozens of the building’s residents and neighbors stood outside and firetrucks lined the streets. Building residents had their pets and other belongings that they were able to grab before rushing outside.
Harris, who lived in the 3A apartment for at least eight years, watched as firefighters walked around her burned apartment, shining a flashlight and stepping on glass. She said she just wished she was able to grab some ashes from an old pet and photographs.
“This has always been one of my biggest fears,” she said.
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Members of the Chicago Fire Department work the scene of a fire on the 6800 block of North Wayne Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood Tuesday Aug. 25, 2020, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Neighbors offered bottle watered, masks, dog treats and granola bars. Some put out water bowls for pets and others offered people to use their bathrooms. Someone brought over a large pizza from nearby J.B. Alberto’s.
A fire official gathered residents whose units were damaged by the flames. He told them that he knew one cat didn’t make it and that they hadn’t yet found another cat that was missing.
Michael Brieschke, who lives in the building, said the residents there are all tight and friendly. He has lived in the building, which has about 35 units, for 15 years and does the gardening. People often stop to chat or at least wave hello.
Brieschke heard someone yelling “fire!” from the gangway when he walked into his kitchen to get iced tea, he said. He ran outside and saw the back of his building up in flames.
“I didn’t think it would be such a big fire,” Brieschke, 56, said. “I was astonished and feeling really overwhelmed. ... I don’t think my unit is going to be affected, but this is really heartbreaking.”
A firetruck arrived shortly after he went outside and firefighters ordered him to move back when electrical lines started sparking, he said. He wasn’t able to go back in to grab his two cats and lizard, but they should be okay.
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“I’m numb,” he said. “The building has lost so much tonight.”
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets to disperse protesters during 3rd night of unrest in Kenosha fo

Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets to disperse protesters during 3rd night of unrest in Kenosha following shooting of Jacob Blake

In the footage , Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door as @ @ @ @ @ guns drawn and shout at him .
As Blake opens the door and leans into @ @ @ @ @ grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire .
Seven shots can be heard , @ @ @ @ @ clear how many struck Blake or how many officers fired .

Madison Taft and Black Lives Matter activists march through a Kenosha neighborhood Jan. 5, 2021, after news that no charges will be issued against the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
KENOSHA, Wis. — Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters during a third night of unrest in this southeastern Wisconsin city following the shooting of a Black man whose attorney said he was paralyzed after being shot multiple times by police.
A group of protesters walked toward a fence that was put in place Tuesday around the courthouse and started shaking it. Police behind it moved toward protesters as some threw water bottles and fireworks over the fence. Armored vehicles then rolled in and tear gas was fired into the crowd.
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When police ordered protesters to disperse, the crowd responded by chanting “Black lives matter.” Police then fired rubber bullets.
Protesters have begun to try to push over a fence in front of the courthouse in Kenosha. Sheriff’s deputies in riot gear have emerged from the courthouse. Some are throwing projectiles at the officers. pic.twitter.com/mkRMuUx3TK — Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) August 26, 2020
The scene outside the courthouse in Kenosha where officers have issued a “final order” for the crowd of several hundred to disperse. Most are holding their ground and a handful continue to shoot fireworks at the police and National Guard. pic.twitter.com/jf5j4mM0OJ — Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) August 26, 2020
Jacob Blake, the man shot by police responding to a domestic disturbance on Sunday, is paralyzed, and it will “take a miracle” for him to walk again, his family’s attorney said Tuesday, while calling for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and others involved to lose their jobs.
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The shooting of Blake on Sunday in Kenosha — apparently in the back while three of his children looked on — was captured on cellphone video and ignited new protests over racial injustice in several cities, some of which have devolved into unrest. It came just three months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police touched off a wider reckoning on race.
“They shot my son seven times, seven times, like he didn’t matter,” said Blake’s father, who is also named Jacob Blake and who spoke to reporters alongside other family members and lawyers. “But my son matters. He’s a human being and he matters.”
The 29-year-old was in surgery, said attorney Ben Crump, adding that the bullets severed Blake’s spinal cord and shattered his vertebrae. Another attorney said there was also severe damage to organs.
“It’s going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again,” Crump said.
The legal team plans to file a civil lawsuit against the police department over the shooting. Police have said little about what happened, other than that they were responding to a domestic dispute. The officers involved have not been named. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating.
After a night during which protests devolved into unrest, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers had called for calm Tuesday, while also declaring a state of emergency under which he doubled the National Guard deployment in Kenosha from 125 to 250. The night before crowds destroyed dozens of buildings and set more than 30 fires in the city's downtown.
“We cannot allow the cycle of systemic racism and injustice to continue,” said Evers, who is facing mounting pressure from Republicans over his handling of the unrest. “We also cannot continue going down this path of damage and destruction.”
In this September 2019 selfie photo taken in Evanston, Ill., Adria-Joi Watkins poses with her second cousin Jacob Blake. He is recovering from being shot multiple times by Kenosha police on Aug. 23. (Courtesy Adria-Joi Watkins via AP) (Adria-Joi Watkins/AP)
Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, said the damage in Kenosha does not reflect what her family wants and that, if her son could see it, he would be “very unpleased.”
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She said that the first thing her son said to her when she saw him was he was sorry.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to be a burden on you guys,’” Jackson said. “‘I want to be with my children, and I don’t think I’ll walk again.‘”
Three of the younger Blake's sons — aged 3, 5 and 8 — were in the car at the time of the shooting, Crump said. It was the 8-year-old's birthday, he added.
The man who said he made the cellphone video of the shooting, 22-year-old Raysean White, said he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.
In the footage, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns drawn and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire. Seven shots can be heard, though it isn’t clear how many struck Blake or how many officers fired.
Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times earlier in the day that his son has “eight holes” in his body. The elder Blake said he didn’t know if his son’s paralysis was permanent. Blake’s uncle told the Tribune demonstrators should protest peacefully: “Try not to be so destructive, be calm. ... Protest, but protest peacefully.”
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Volunteers clean up department of corrections building Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. The building was burned during protests sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) (Morry Gash/AP)
Anger over the shooting has spilled into the streets of Kenosha and other cities, including Los Angeles, Wisconsin's capital of Madison and in Minneapolis, the epicenter of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer following Floyd's death.
Hundreds of protesters defied an 8 p.m. curfew Monday night, massing in downtown Kenosha, where they were met by a wall of law enforcement officers, including members of the Wisconsin National Guard.
Some clashed with officers and vandalized businesses. There were 34 fires associated with the unrest, with 30 businesses destroyed or damaged along with an unknown number of residences, Kenosha Fire Chief Charles Leipzig told the Kenosha News.
A city block was cordoned off Tuesday so officials could survey damage. Smoke filled the air and visibility was low as firefighters used water cannons on still smoldering buildings.
“Nobody deserves this,” said Pat Oertle, owner of Computer Adventure. Computers were stolen, and the store was “destroyed,” she said.
“This accomplishes nothing,” Oertle said. “This is not justice that they’re looking for.”
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U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, both Republicans, called on the governor to do more to quell the unrest. Steil said he would request federal assistance if necessary.
Evers continued to call for protesters to be peaceful.
“Please do not allow the actions of a few distract us from the work we must do together to demand justice, equity, and accountability,” he said.
In Madison, about 500 protesters marched to the state Capitol on Monday night, and some broke windows, stole from stores and sprayed graffiti along the way. Police used tear gas and pepper spray on the crowds and six people were arrested, according to Madison police.
In Minneapolis, 11 were arrested after breaking windows at the county jail on Monday night. One police officer suffered a broken hand in an altercation with demonstrators, the sheriff's department said.
“I really ask you and encourage everyone in Wisconsin and abroad to take a moment and examine your hearts,” Blake’s mother said. “Do Jacob justice on this level and examine your hearts. ... As I pray for my son’s healing physically, emotionally and spiritually, I also have been praying even before this for the healing of our country.”
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Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press reporters Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis, Aaron Morrison in New York, and Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Rally held in Evanston as show of support for Jacob Blake and family: ‘We cry together’

At one point , My ’ le Dargan , 6 , wearing pink pants and a purple shirt with a @ @ @ @ @ the crowd in chants of “ No justice , no peace ” as they marched @ @ @ @ @ finished with a round of “ Black Lives Matter ” chants as the crowd made @ @ @ @ @ rally spot at the end of the march .
Applause broke out and the young @ @ @ @ @ so many people were taking pictures of her .

People decrying the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha march on Emerson Street in Evanston on Aug. 25, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
A few hundred people gathered for a rally and march in Evanston Tuesday evening in what organizers said was a show of solidarity for Jacob Blake and his family.
Blake, who lived in Evanston for years and attended school at Evanston Township High School, was shot by a police officer in Kenosha Sunday night. Authorities in Wisconsin have said little about the circumstances around the shooting, but cellphone footage shared online appears to show an officer firing several shots at Blake, who is Black, while he was facing away from the officer.
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The Evanston rally was held across from Jacob Blake Manor, an affordable senior living facility that was named in honor of Blake’s late grandfather, who shares his name. The elder Blake was a pastor at the historic Ebenezer AME Church in Evanston and was active in the civil rights movement and a push for affordable housing in town.
William Eason, who said he is a friend of Blake’s father, who is also named Jacob Blake, said the family is having difficulty grieving Blake’s condition due to the ongoing investigation and the intense national media spotlight.
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“What we’re trying to do is show the family that we support them and their message,” Eason said.
An attorney for the family, Benjamin Crump, said at a Tuesday news conference that it would take a “miracle” for Blake to walk again.
Blake’s father wept during the news conference and at one point was led away from the group.
“They shot my son seven times,” he said through tears. “Like he didn’t matter. But my son matters. He’s a human being and he matters.”
Michelle Lee of Evanston is among several hundred people gathered on Emerson Street in Evanston Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, to decry the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Attendees at the Evanston event held signs in support of the Blake family and the Black Lives Matter Movement. One read, “the world is watching. Change must happen. Jacob Blake matters.”
Lonnie Wilson, another friend of the family, said the Blake family is well known in town and has done positive work for decades in Evanston.
“We live together, we die together, we laugh together, we cry together,” he said of the community.
Bobby Burns, a rally organizer involved with Evanston Collective, led the group in chanting Blake’s name 10 times.
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“We are under constant suspicion,” Burns said. “Why can we not walk peacefully in our own neighborhoods?”
Rally speaker Jasmine Edwards said she moved to Evanston in eighth grade and Jacob was her first boyfriend. She said seeing the national attention put on police shooting Black men and women has been an intense experience, and now it has reached someone she knows. She hopes justice is served for Blake.
After the rally, the crowd began a peaceful march. Some onlookers waved from their porch, clapping as the crowd made its way passed their homes.
At one point, My’le Dargan, 6, wearing pink pants and a purple shirt with a cat on it, led the crowd in chants of “No justice, no peace” as they marched around the block. She finished with a round of “Black Lives Matter” chants as the crowd made its way back to the rally spot at the end of the march. Applause broke out and the young girl asked her mom why so many people were taking pictures of her.
My’le’s mother, Michel’le Harris of Evanston, is an activist who started Conversation in the Park, a series of talks organized after recent incidents of violence in Evanston. Harris said the family has been attending other protests aimed at defunding the police. She said her kids like chanting because it breaks the language down into something they understand, and keeps them engaged in what’s happening.
“Explaining everything that’s going on isn’t always the easiest thing,” Harris said. “They know it’s because of race, but they don’t really understand it.”
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She added that as an activist it would be hypocritical not to attend protests, especially about something so local.
“I’m not the type of person who complains about stuff if I’m not going to do something about it,” Harris said.
Pastor Allison Bengfort of St. John's Lutheran Church in Wilmette leads a prayer at a rally in support of Jacob Blake in Evanston on Aug. 25, 2020. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
At the end of the march, a faith leader led a prayer for Jacob Blake’s recovery before the crowd dispersed.
Jana Bailey, an Evanston resident who lingered afterward, said the rally showed that the town is a tight-knit and passionate community. Her daughters know Blake, who is a distant cousin. After they told her what happened, she felt like she couldn’t sleep because she needed to do something and felt bad for the family.
“It’s sad and it was almost unbelievable to see something of that magnitude happen to someone,” Bailey said.
She also had a talk with her daughters, ages 17 and 23, after hearing the news, reminding them what to do if they are stopped or pulled over by police.
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“It’s important that they know that,” Bailey said. “Not just males but females, especially African American females, need to know what to do.”
John Keilman, Dan Hinkel and Genevieve Bookwalter contributed.
kedquist@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Key facts about the city of Kenosha, long known as a shipping port and, now, the scene of the latest

Key facts about the city of Kenosha, long known as a shipping port and, now, the scene of the latest unrest after a police shooting

Despite recent growth , Kenosha ’ s economy has fallen below the national rate .
The city ’ s median @ @ @ @ @ about $ 53,000 , according to the U.S. Census Bureau .
That was $ 10,000 @ @ @ @ @ about $ 63,000 in 2018 .
About 18 % of Kenosha residents were listed in @ @ @ @ @ in poverty in 2019 .

Kenosha, the latest scene of a police shooting, is a city of roughly 100,000 people in southeastern Wisconsin, about 60 miles from Chicago. Here are some key facts about the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin and the fourth-largest city on Lake Michigan.
Population and demographics
Native Americans originally named the area Kenozia, or “place of the Pike.” In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau recorded that the overwhelming majority of residents, 66.7%, identified themselves as white, 17.6% Hispanic or Latino and 11.5% Black or African American. The median age in Kenosha County is about 39.
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The city was an important shipping port on the Great Lakes and has been growing in recent years.
Economy
Kenosha’s biggest industries are in manufacturing and health care, though the city is also known for tourism and transportation, given its location on Lake Michigan and proximity to Chicago and Milwaukee. Warehousing became big after Amazon built some of its facilities in the area.
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The city recently led the state in private sector employment growth and houses the headquarters of a few global companies, including Snap-on Tools; Jockey International, which sells underwear, sleepwear and sportswear; and Uline, which provides shipping and business supplies.
Despite recent growth, Kenosha’s economy has fallen below the national rate. The city’s median household income from 2014-18 was about $53,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That was $10,000 below the national rate of about $63,000 in 2018. About 18% of Kenosha residents were listed in the U.S. Census as living in poverty in 2019.
Politics
Kenosha County is represented in Congress by Bryan Steil, a Republican elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. The city has long been led by Mayor John Antaramian, a Democrat first elected in 1992.
True to Wisconsin’s status as a battleground state, Kenosha County has seen tight elections between Democrats and Republicans in recent years. In 2016, Donald Trump narrowly won the county by .33%, or 255 votes, over Democratic contender Hillary Clinton. That was the first time a Republican had won the county since 1972.
The city of Kenosha still leans Democratic. In 2016, Hillary Clinton garnered about 56% of the vote while Trump received about 39%. For the primary that spring, about 59% of city voters identified as Democratic, 41% Republican.
Notable people
Kenosha was or is home for a number of notable people, including Mark Ruffalo, who played the Hulk in “Avengers”; Kendra Scott, a fashion industry giant; Melvin Gordon, running back for the Denver Broncos; Reince Priebus, the former White House chief of staff under Trump.
kelsmith@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @KelliSmithNews


chicagotribune--2020-08-26--Illinois GOP looks for outreach to Hispanic, Black communities

“ Once we start doing that , once we start being more actively involved in these communities and not afraid @ @ @ @ @ communities across the state , then we can start changing that narrative that Republicans are @ @ @ @ @ bunch of white racists , whatever — which is not the case , ” said @ @ @ @ @ Hispanic GOP Organization .

Illinois Republicans, facing the tug of appealing to their base and the pull of trying to grow, acknowledged the need to reach out to Hispanics and Blacks on Tuesday as part of their second-day events tied to the Republican National Convention.
But a conversation on GOP outreach hosted on Facebook by the Illinois Republican Party turned introspective with the admission that the party needs to do more to encourage support among minority communities.
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“Republicans in a lot of ways have not gone to these communities. Republicans have not addressed the Hispanic community or marginalized communities,” said Catalina Lauf, an unsuccessful northwest suburban congressional candidate featured during prime time on the convention’s opening night broadcast.
Jesus Solorio, who faces an uphill challenge to Democratic U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in the West and Southwest side 4th Congressional District, said Republicans “have to start having honest conversations and be willing to go into these communities.”
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“Once we start doing that, once we start being more actively involved in these communities and not afraid to talk (to) communities across the state, then we can start changing that narrative that Republicans are, you know, a bunch of white racists, whatever — which is not the case,” said Solorio, who heads the Hispanic GOP Organization.
The comments by Lauf and Solorio represent some of the internal philosophical divides of a party that finds its base largely among older whites as the nation’s demographics shift, particularly in suburban areas that were once Republican strongholds.
Catalina Lauf spoke on the first night of the Republican National Convention. (Campaign photo)
Lauf, 27, the daughter of a Guatemalan mother, was one of seven Republicans who vied for the GOP nomination to take on first-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood in the west and northwest suburban and exurban 14th Congressional District.
While she gained some national attention as a potential Republican counter to Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, her campaign was largely bereft of specifics, and at a League of Women Voters forum in Batavia she asked a moderator what the acronym ERA stood for, indicating she was unfamiliar with the proposed and long-debated Equal Rights Amendment.
She finished third in losing the nomination to state Sen. Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove, who has long faced controversy over his views contending the nation is being overrun by illegal immigration.
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Lauf, of Woodstock, who worked for a year as a political appointee in the Department of Commerce in President Donald Trump’s administration, has backed the president’s hard line on illegal immigration, including building a border wall, and has said she supports legal immigration.
On Tuesday, the president’s campaign issued a statement under the Latinos for Trump banner saying, “Biden and the Democrat Party want Hispanics to feel like victims in order to control us. The worst part is that they cynically do this while promoting failed policies that impoverish families, deprive children of better schools, increase crime in our neighborhoods, and make us more dependent on the government.”
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Both took aim at Democratic leadership in the state and in Chicago and looked to use the issues of recent civil unrest and looting in the city as something that is moving toward the suburbs.
Lauf appeared with her sister Madeline, a small-business owner, during the convention’s Monday prime-time slot to promote Trump’s efforts on business development while offering herself as an example of a new, younger conservative movement in the Republican Party. The two also were featured again on Tuesday night in a video montage of people praising Trump’s efforts to promote jobs and lessen business regulations.
“We aren’t the stereotypical conservative. I mean we come from Hispanic descent and we’re millennial women, and that’s not what the media wants,” Lauf said.
The state GOP later held a roundtable on African American outreach featuring Will County GOP Chairman George Pearson, Bremen Township GOP Committeeman Kevin Suggs and Diante Johnson, president of the Black Conservative Federation.
“Yes, we are coming to your communities but we’re not leaving. We’re setting up. We’re staying. We’re here to take the barbs as well as the good, but we want real conversations with everyday folks so we can figure out exactly how we change our condition, and I do mean ‘our,’ because we’re all in this together,” Pearson said.
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chicagotribune--2020-08-28--Fledgling militia group put out call to arms in Kenosha and 5,000 people responded.  Now it’s banned

Fledgling militia group put out call to arms in Kenosha and 5,000 people responded.  Now it’s banned from Facebook after fatal shootings during protests.

That ’ s not how Facebook sees it .
The social media giant has taken down the Kenosha Guard ’ @ @ @ @ @ “ dangerous organizations policy.
” Rittenhouse , who is facing murder charges in connection with @ @ @ @ @ had his Facebook and Instagram accounts taken down and the company will temporarily prohibit anyone @ @ @ @ @ in his name .

A man carrying a rifle stands at the perimeter of protesters as they march through downtown Kenosha on Aug. 24, 2020. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
After two straight nights of violent unrest, former alderman Kevin Mathewson posted a call to arms on the Facebook page of his fledgling militia group Kenosha Guard.
Formed in the days after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, the page boasted only 87 likes. But Mathewson got a wide response with his Tuesday post asking for “patriots willing to take up arms and defend (Kenosha) from the evil thugs.”
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Within about four hours, some 1,000 people responded they were “going” to the Kenosha event. Another 4,000 said they were “interested.”
Later in the day, Mathewson, an assault-style rifle visibly strapped around his chest, posted a 15-second clip of civilians gathered near the courthouse. That night, police say a civilian with an assault-style weapon shot and killed two men and wounded another as armed vigilantes patrolled the streets during yet another violent night of protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
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There’s no evidence that a 17-year-old suspect taken into custody was led to Kenosha by the Facebook post. Mathewson said he does not know the suspect, Kyle Rittenhouse of Antioch, and knows of no communication with his group.
But city and law enforcement officials have blamed the armed vigilantes who showed up Tuesday night for worsening tensions and sparking unnecessary confrontations. Mathewson says he was only trying to protect his city.
“In my view, when the government can’t protect us, that’s when we rely on the Second Amendment, which is in place just for these circumstances,” he said Thursday. “Our city was under siege, we were under attack and the government could not ensure our safety.”
That’s not how Facebook sees it. The social media giant has taken down the Kenosha Guard’s page for violating its “dangerous organizations policy.” Rittenhouse, who is facing murder charges in connection with the Tuesday night shootings, had his Facebook and Instagram accounts taken down and the company will temporarily prohibit anyone from starting a new account in his name.
Brian Fishman, who oversees Facebook’s dangerous organizations department, also posted a thread to Twitter about the situation, saying: “None of the shooter’s accounts were reported by users prior to the shooting.”
Mathewson’s personal account was also removed without notice and he was effectively banned from Facebook for life in connection with the policy, which prohibits organizations or individuals that declare a violent mission or are engaged in violence.
“He will not have been warned and (we) will not allow people who are banned under our dangerous orgs policy to have a profile,” a spokeswoman for Facebook said in an email.
Facebook also looked into any obvious links between Mathewson’s post and the arrival of Rittenhouse in Kenosha.
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“At this time, we have not found evidence on Facebook that suggests the (suspect) followed the Kenosha Guard page or that he was invited on the Event Page they organized,” the Facebook spokeswoman said. “However, the Kenosha Guard Page and their Event Page violated our new policy addressing militia organizations and have been removed on that basis.”
The policy was announced Aug. 19 and comes after a summer of vigilante clashes during protests following Floyd’s killing at the end of May.
I have a brief thread on the tragic shootings in Kenosha, based on findings from FB’s initial internal investigation. 1/n — Brian Fishman (@brianfishman) August 27, 2020
“We’ve had too many tragedies like those in Kenosha. Companies like Facebook owe it to everyone to closely examine the influence of online content on such violence--and to take action to stop it,” Fishman wrote.
Militia-style groups patrolled the streets of Minneapolis in the weeks after Floyd died. In Albuquerque, a person was shot and seriously wounded in June during a clash between protesters and a group called the New Mexico Civil Guard.
After the shootings in Kenosha, hundreds of people made clear they would like to see Mathewson face a much harsher punishment than losing his Facebook page. A petition circulating online demanding that Mathewson be charged as an accessory to murder had 1,650 signatures as of 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Mathewson, a private investigator, said he has also been the target of death threats.
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In an interview Thursday, Mathewson said he wouldn’t go so far as saying he regretted that so many people came from outside his community to guard it, saying it wasn’t his intention for the response to grow so large.
He said the posting was written up by the alt-right website Infowars run by Alex Jones, known for his conspiracy theories. Mathewson, in turn, said he promoted the Infowars article on the Kenosha Guard page, as a way to note the “event” was getting national media attention.
Soon, he started getting hundreds of messages of support from all over the world, as far away as Australia and New Zealand.
On Thursday, Mathewson said promoting the Infowars article was a mistake. “It certainly wasn’t my intention to attract people from outside the community, let alone the state,” he said.
He also acknowledged that the Infowars site is “not very credible.”
Mathewson said he made the post an “event” on Facebook but he hadn’t planned logistics for something so large. He said he didn’t have walkie-talkies or issue assignments or coordinate the turnout, other than suggesting people “go to the courthouse.”
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Before returning to his neighborhood, where he spent much of the night posted at a subdivision entrance with a small group, Mathewson himself was there, standing with other openly armed men in a park as curfew neared. At the time, Mathewson told a reporter he was there to “lend support to the good guys.”
Kenosha Police Chief Dan Miskinis appeared to agree, saying Mathewson and the others were out to protect property and “exercise their constitutional right.”
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian disagreed, saying such groups only make the situation worse. “No, I don’t need more guns on the street in the community,” he said at a news conference the day after the shootings.
But Mathewson responded that the mayor had failed to protect the city. “If I was an officer getting Molotov cocktails and rocks thrown at me, I would be scared out of my mind,” he said. “For them to say, ’We can handle it,’ is disingenuous and reckless. It’s putting politics ahead of safety and common sense, in my opinion.
“Here in Kenosha, I can smell burning rubber and I can see the building in front of me, the probation and parole building in a big pile of ash and debris,” he continued. “We’re at war, we’re being invaded.”