Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is vowing to &#8220;aggressively&#8221; hold embattled former &#8220;Empire&#8221; star Jussie Smollett &#8220;accountable&#8221; for the &#8220;total hoax&#8221; police say he orchestrated last year.
&#8220;He needs to face the charges,&#8221; said Lightfoot on Sunday, as reported <a href="https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/02/23/mayor-lightfoot-says-jussie-smollett-needs-to-be-held-accountable/">CBS Chicago</a>. &#8220;He committed a crime, and he needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and we are going to continue to aggressively make him accountable for the wasted police resources that went into investigating what turned out to be a total hoax.&#8221;
Lightfoot has maintained, like her predecessor former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, that Smollett is guilty of having orchestrated a hoax hate crime last January, as concluded by the Chicago Police Department after a high-profile investigation that followed initial sympathetic coverage of Smollett&#8217;s claims by mainstream media outlets.
Smollett was slapped with 16 charges related to the alleged hate crime hoax, but was infamously let off the hook just over a month later — without so much as an admission of guilt or a fine — by Cook County State&#8217;s Attorney Kim Foxx.
Amid outrage over Foxx&#8217;s widely criticized decision to abruptly drop all of the charges, a special prosecutor has been appointed and a special grand jury has since indicted Smollett on six counts of disorderly conduct related to allegedly filing bogus police reports on the &#8220;hate crime.&#8221;
In a Cook County courtroom on Monday morning, the day after Mayor Lightfoot promised &#8220;accountability,&#8221; Smollett pleaded not guilty to all six counts in front of Judge James B. Linn.
Smollett&#8217;s lawyers attempted to get the case tossed out, filing a motion claiming the new charges amounted to &#8220;double jeopardy,&#8221; but, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jussie-smollett-pleads-not-guilty-to-six-new-charges-of-lying-to-chicago-cops">The Daily Wire</a> reported, Linn rejected the argument on Monday.
“The circumstances surrounding the initial case in 2019 did not reach the legal level warranting the appointment of a special prosecutor,” the attorneys&#8217; motion stated. “Under the terms of the law, in order to appoint a special prosecutor, the office [of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx] had to file a former recusal with the court . . . and that didn’t occur here.&#8221;
Judge Linn denied the motion, maintaining that case does not qualify for “double jeopardy” protection since Foxx refused to prosecute him the first time. Linn released Smollett on a $20,000 &#8220;personal recognizance bond,&#8221; allowing him to walk free without having to put money down, but the actor is scheduled to return to the court on March 18.
In January 2019, Smollett claimed that two white Trump supporters attacked him, dousing him with an unknown liquid, putting a rope around his neck, and yelling &#8220;Welcome to MAGA country!&#8221; as they fled the scene. But Chicago police concluded after a multi-week investigation that the actor had orchestrated the attack himself with the help of two Nigerian-American brothers, who detailed their role in the scheme to investigators.
He was charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for the allegedly false claims, but Foxx abruptly dropped the charges just over a month later, sparking strong criticism, including from the Chicago Police Department and other state&#8217;s attorneys, who said Foxx&#8217;s actions were indefensible.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chicago-prosecutor-responds-to-new-jussie-smollett-charges-blames-donald-trump">Chicago Prosecutor Responds To New Jussie Smollett Charges, Blames Donald Trump</a>

Lori Lightfoot

Chicago Mayor On Jussie Smollett: We Will ‘Aggressively Make Him Accountable’ For ‘Total Hoax’

Chicago

Hate Crime

Hoax

Jussie Smollett

Four Evangelical Christian students from Wheaton College outside Chicago were prevented from engaging in open air evangelizing and dissemination of religious literature at Millennium Park, a beloved public park and major tourist attraction for the city of Chicago, by the park’s security team. They filed suit against the city in September 2019, and last week a judge <a href="https://www.frcaction.org/updatearticle/20200224/intolerance-park">ruled in their favor</a>, stating that they had a First Amendment right to evangelize.
Matt Swart, Jeremy Chong, Gabriel Emerson, and Caeden Hood sued the city of Chicago, arguing the city’s restrictions violated their First Amendment rights to evangelize and disseminate religious literature, which they had done every Friday.
The <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/millennium-park-ruling.pdf">document with the judge’s decision</a> states, “The City views the Park as a unique space— one that showcases world-class art, music, architecture, and landscape design. Accordingly, the City enacted restrictions it claims protects the Park’s aesthetic integrity.”
According to the court, Scott Stewart, Executive Director of the Millennium Park Foundation stated that the park consisted not of a single, undifferentiated space, but rather of several subspaces (or “rooms”) differentiated by, among other things, lines of trees or other foliage, changes in topography, and changes in the color of walking surfaces.
The court delineated how the students had been harassed:
<blockquote>In December 2018, Swart, Hood, and other members of the Chicago Evangelism Team gathered at the Park to engage in open air evangelism and distribute religious literature. Park security approached Plaintiffs and informed them they were prohibited from disseminating literature. The students ceased distributing their literature, and then Hood began to evangelize.
After a few minutes, Park security again approached Plaintiffs and informed them they had to stop evangelizing. At that point, Swart informed security staff that because they were on a public sidewalk, they had the right to continue speaking. A security guard insisted he was “just doing his job,” and informed the students they could speak to his supervisor. Based on the guard’s intervention, these students then ceased their evangelism activities.
About ten minutes later, Chong arrived at the Park, and the students informed him what had just transpired. Chong nonetheless began evangelizing. Park security then approached Chong and directed him to stop. Chong asked to speak with a supervisor. Soon thereafter, two Park supervisors arrived and informed the students that they were in violation of a Chicago ordinance prohibiting solicitation on the sidewalk between Randolph and Roosevelt Streets. Members of the Chicago Evangelism Team returned to the Park in the subsequent weeks; they again attempted to evangelize but Park security guards prohibited them from doing so.
On one occasion, Park employees prohibited them from evangelizing near the Bean. On another occasion, a Park employee informed them they could not discuss religion in the Park and ordered them to leave the Park if they wished to speak about religion. On April 5, 2019, Chong again went to the Park to evangelize; at that time, Public Recreational Operations Manager Christopher Deans approached Chong and provided him with newly enacted rules governing the Park. Deans informed Chong that the rules restricted Chong’s activities.</blockquote>
The judge concluded, “In sum, the City may not by &#8216;its own ipse dixit&#8217; destroy the public forum status of parks. Although the City insists a curated design divests the Park of its traditional public nature, this Court cannot accept this characterization based upon the facts here. Indeed, if a &#8216;curated design&#8217; were enough to transform the nature of the forum, any park with a statue could lose its First Amendment protections. The law precludes this absurd result.”
After the ruling had been issued, Chong stated, &#8220;[This is about] getting the gospel to people because we love them. If somebody believes that the Willis Tower is going to collapse in an hour, it doesn&#8217;t matter what they believe,” adding that it was a calling to &#8220;run into the building and warn people that it&#8217;s going to collapse.&#8221;
&nbsp;

Chicago Cityscapes and City Views

Christian Students Sue City Of Chicago After They’re Stopped From Preaching. Chicago Loses.

evangelical

Former &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor Jussie Smollett appeared in a Chicago, Illinois, courtroom Monday morning, where he pleaded not guilty to six new charges of disorderly conduct and lying to police officers, leveled by a special prosecutor after months of investigation.
Smollett looked &#8220;somber&#8221; as he appeared in front of Judge James B. Linn in Cook County Monday morning, <a href="https://wgntv.com/2020/02/24/jussie-smollett-pleads-not-guilty-new-charges-chicago/">according to WGN News</a>, and wore sunglasses on his way into and out of the courtroom.
Smollett appeared in a similar courtroom almost exaclty one year ago, when he pleaded not guilty to sixteen charges of obstructing justice, stemming from a &#8220;racist&#8221; and &#8220;homophobic&#8221; incident Smollett said took place in the early hours of a January morning, outside of his apartment building in Chicago&#8217;s tony Streeterville neighborhood. Smollett claimed that two masked assailants wearing &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; hats accosted him outside of his building, threw him to the ground, tossed a noose over his neck, doused him in a liquid thought to be bleach, and left him for dead.
Although Smollett did not give many specific details to officers during his first sit-down interview the night of the attack, he later told police that the attackers were white, and that they&#8217;d yelled, &#8220;welcome to MAGA country!&#8221; as they fled from the scene.
After two weeks investigating, Chicago police officers allegedly discovered that Smollett had planned the attack himself, collaborating with two Nigerian-American brothers whom he&#8217;d met on the set of &#8220;Empire.&#8221; The two brothers purchased the rope and hat, per police records, and, reportedly, orchestrated the series of events with Smollett&#8217;s help.
Smollett was charged, initially, with a single count of lying to police. A number of other counts were added later, after police completed their investigation. Although the case against Smollett looked rough, he was ultimately able to ink a &#8220;plea deal&#8221; with Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx&#8217;s office, which saw the charges dropped. In return, Smollett forefeited $10,000 of his bond and did 16 hours of community service.
Smollett denies all of the allegations and maintains that he was the victim of a hate crime.
Just two weeks ago, a special prosecutor, looking into how Foxx&#8217;s office handled the Smollett case, resurrected six of the charges, much to Foxx&#8217;s chagrin. The Cook County States Attorney is facing an uphill re-election bid and is already under fire for her permissive bail policies, particularly with gun offenders.
Foxx&#8217;s office is not involved in this new prosecution.
Smollett&#8217;s attorney&#8217;s tried, Monday, to stall the case pending an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court claiming that Smollett cannot be put into &#8220;double jeopardy&#8221; for the same crime, and that the appointment of a special prosecutor was &#8220;flawed,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2020/2/24/21150668/jussie-smollett-case-motion-dismiss-indictment-dan-webb">Chicago Sun Times</a>.
“The circumstances surrounding the initial case in 2019 did not reach the legal level warranting the appointment of a special prosecutor,” the complaint alleges. “Under the terms of the law, in order to appoint a special prosecutor, the office (of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx) had to file a former recusal with the court . . . and that didn’t occur here.&#8221;
Judge Linn denied their motion and &#8220;set a $20,000 personal recognizance bond,&#8221; which allows Smollett to walk free without putting money down. He will return to court on March 18. He added that Smollett does not qualify for protection against &#8220;double jeopardy&#8221; because he was not prosecuted the first time.
“He&#8217;s obviously frustrated to be dragged through this process again,” Smollett&#8217;s lawyers told media gathered outside the courthouse Monday. &#8220;He’s strong, he’s resilient, he’ll get through this, but he’s frustrated.&#8221;
&nbsp;

Actor Jussie Smollett

Jussie Smollett Pleads Not Guilty To Six New Charges Of Lying To Chicago Cops

The coronavirus — which has killed more than 80 people in China so far and has resulted in more than 50 million Chinese citizens now effectively quarantined in the country — has reached the United States, with four states thus far confirming cases, including two new cases on Sunday in California and Arizona.
&#8220;The U.S. has five confirmed cases of the new virus from China, all among people who traveled to the city at the center of the outbreak, health officials said Sunday,&#8221; the <a href="https://apnews.com/c482d489c4e3cca2f5b549386f666e3a">Associated Press</a> reports. &#8220;Two new cases were reported Sunday — one in Los Angeles County in California and the other in Maricopa County, Arizona.&#8221;
The newly confirmed case in Arizona, AP notes, involves someone connected to Arizona State University, located in Tempe, &#8220;who did not live in school housing and had a history of travel to Wuhan, China,&#8221; according to state health officials. The patient, officials said, is not severely ill and is currently at home but isolated in order to prevent further spreading of the virus.
&#8220;The department said it would not release potentially identifying information on the person, including the gender and age, and declined to say whether the person was a student or faculty member,&#8221; AP reports.
The newly confirmed case in Los Angeles — the second in California — involves a patient who reported feeling ill upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, at which point the patient was taken immediately to the hospital. Officials are likewise withholding identifying information about the individual, though they have revealed that the patient traveled from Wuhan.
In a press conference Sunday, L.A. County Department of Public Health&#8217;s Dr. Sharon Balter addressed the new case. “Everything worked as it should,” said Balter, as reported by AP. “The patient presented for care, the patient was immediately transported to a hospital, the patient has remained in the hospital.”
The two new cases makes a total of five confirmed cases thus far in the U.S.: one in Orange County, California, another in Washington state (reportedly a male in his 30s), and another in Chicago (reportedly a woman in her 60s).
On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html">statement</a> confirming the five cases, all involving individuals who had traveled to the States from Wuhan:
<blockquote>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Chinese authorities identified the new coronavirus, which has resulted in more than a thousand confirmed cases in China, including cases outside Wuhan City. Additional cases have been identified in a growing number of other international locations, including the United States, where 5 cases in travelers from Wuhan have been confirmed in four states (AZ, CA, IL, WA) as of January 26, 2020. There are ongoing investigations to learn more.</blockquote>
As reported by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/world/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-china-hubei.html">The New York Times</a> Sunday, the communist Chinese government has expanded its quarantine to include around 56 million people.
“A top Chinese health official warned on Sunday that the spread of the dangerous new coronavirus, already extraordinarily rapid, is accelerating further, deepening global fears about an illness that has sickened more than 2,700 people worldwide and killed at least 80 people in China,” the Times reported. “The grim diagnosis came amid concerns that China’s efforts to contain the spread of the disease, despite a lockdown of unprecedented scope affecting 56 million people, may not only have come too late but could even make the situation worse, including by exacerbating shortages of medical supplies.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-quarantines-56-million-cities-cancel-work-for-weeks-deaths-infections-skyrocket">China Quarantines 56 Million, Cities Cancel Work For Weeks. Deaths, Infections Skyrocket.</a>

Coronavirus

Coronavirus Hits U.S.: More Cases Reported In Multiple States

Arizona

California

China

Illinois

Los Angeles

There was a mass shooting that took place in Chicago, Illinois, over the weekend that left at least 13 people injured but networks like CNN, which often break into regularly scheduled programming to cover mass shootings wall-to-wall, appeared to cover the Chicago incident only as an element of regular news.
Despite the 13 casualties, the network does not appear to have labeled the incident a &#8220;mass shooting,&#8221; either.
At least thirteen people were shot &#8212; and two left in serious condition &#8212; during a wake for yet another shooting victim that took place early Sunday morning in one of the city&#8217;s high crime neighborhoods, <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/man-to-appear-in-court-on-gun-charge-after-13-shot-in-englewood-/5779912/">ABC News Chicago reports</a>.
&#8220;Investigators said there was a dispute around 1 a.m. Sunday during a house party,&#8221; the outlet said. &#8220;Moments later, someone opened fire inside of the house.&#8221;
&#8220;This incident stemmed from a dispute within that party,&#8221; Chicago Police Bureau of Patrol told media during a press conference on Sunday. &#8220;This party was given in the memory of a subject that was slain in April. We&#8217;re still developing details as far as that goes.&#8221;
The scene was chaotic, with the gunman firing not just inside the home, but at panicked partygoers trying desperately to leave: &#8220;When people started running outside, video surveillance from a city police camera captured images of at least two people shooting at a home and at a vehicle.&#8221;
The incident was likely gang-related. The party was thrown in honor of a man who was shot and killed by the driver of a vehicle he was trying to carjack. A 37-year-old man was taken into custody on gun charges relating to the incident but police have refused to say whether he is the shooter.
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/22/us/chicago-shooting-sunday/index.html">CNN had only one story</a> on the incident as of Monday morning, recounting details of the shooting and comments made by the Chicago Police Bureau of Patrol. The only mention of a possible &#8220;mass shooting&#8221; in the story is in a quote from Chicago&#8217;s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, who labeled the incident a &#8220;mass shooting&#8221; in her own remarks to press.
Technically speaking, there is no definitive definition for a &#8220;mass shooting&#8221; &#8212; a fact often repeated by critics of gun control organizations, who often artificially inflate the number of mass shootings and school shootings by including multiple victim incidents and shootings that take place within a certain distance of school grounds.
The group &#8220;The Gun Violence Archive,&#8221; which purports to keep track of mass shootings as a way of pressing for more stringent gun control laws, defines &#8220;mass shooting&#8221; &#8220;as when four or more victims are shot or killed &#8211; not including the shooter,&#8221; <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/there-have-already-been-251-mass-shootings-in-america-this-year-092029490.html?guccounter=1">according to Yahoo News </a>&#8212; a definition which allows the group to make outrageous claims, like that there were more than 250 mass shootings in the first six months of 2019.
Oddly enough, the Chicago incident would qualify under many groups&#8217; definition of mass shooting, but isn&#8217;t prompting the same kind of coverage as shootings with fewer victims, perhaps because Chicago has strict gun control laws that prohibit most individuals from owning guns, outlaw the sale of guns within the city limits, and allows for the confiscation of weapons obtained and owned illegally.
Chicago&#8217;s problems belie plenty of issues with the gun control agenda, but perhaps none more important than this: Chicago may have strict gun control, but Chicago has trouble enforcing its own edicts. Law enforcement officials find enforcing gun laws difficult, and prosecutors, like current Cook County State&#8217;s Attorney Kim Foxx, often simply let gun offenders go without serving the lengthy jail sentences prescribed by law.

Chicago police

Mass Shooting On Chicago’s South Side Leaves At Least Thirteen Injured

Gun Control

Evanston, Illinois, a wealthy suburb of Chicago and home to Northwestern University, recently voted to allow legal cannabis dispensaries to open within the city limits, but instead of collecting on the profits, Evanston will put the money cannabis dispensaries eventually pay the city into a fund that will disperse reparations to the city&#8217;s black residents.
<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/evanston/ct-evr-evanston-reparations-marijuana-tax-tl-1205-20191126-g3ifwaikrjfmrillfv6ytvwgii-story.html">The Chicago Tribune reports</a> that Evanston is hoping the measure will halt gentrification and keep the city &#8220;diverse,&#8221; though the city council did not go so far as to admit that the program could, essentially, pay minority residents to stay within the city limits. Instead, the city council claims that it merely wants to rectify past wrongs using a new, controversial source of city revenue.
&#8220;Evanston leaders say they see the dispensaries as an opportunity to pay for a local reparations program that would address the lingering institutional effects of slavery and discrimination,&#8221; the Tribune says.
&#8220;The tax on marijuana will &#8216;be invested in the community it unfairly policed and damaged,'&#8221; according to one supporter of the measure. &#8220;The plan stems from the idea that African Americans should disproportionately benefit from the sale of cannabis &#8230; because they have been disproportionately affected by the policing of marijuana — both nationally and locally.&#8221;
Evanston is no exception. The Tribune says that &#8220;three-quarters&#8221; of marijuana-related arrests in Evanston were of minorities.
The city, which has a reputation as a haven for so-called &#8220;limousine liberals,&#8221; isn&#8217;t new to the idea of reparations, though, just this particular program.
<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/evanston/ct-evr-evanston-local-reperations-study-tl-0919-20190913-tojzvl4idndjlarufzyaxiqwmi-story.html">The Tribune reported last year that Evanston convened a committee</a> to investigate the possibility of starting a reparations program after the city&#8217;s black population dropped, partly due to ongoing gentrification efforts and an ever-expanding Big Ten university in the city&#8217;s center. The Equity and Empowerment Commission came up with the plan to issue reparations before they came up with a source of funding for the program. Luckily for them, Illinois legalized recreational marijuana last summer; the two puzzle pieces fit neatly.
It&#8217;s especially convenient because the issue of dispensaries is deeply dividing suburban Chicagoans who were supportive of legalization but who have not been quite so supportive of cannabis dispensaries in their midst. Several suburbs have already voted to ban dispensaries within city limits and it&#8217;s possible Evanston would have been among them if not for the added detail of reparations.
But while they may know what they want to do with the money, Evanston officials don&#8217;t yet know how to make a reparations program happen. Evanston won&#8217;t be simply sending checks to the city&#8217;s black residents because, it seems, they&#8217;re concerned with what individuals might do with the money. In a paternalistic move, Evanston will instead &#8220;provide reparations in the form of assistance&#8221; by shuttling the money into a &#8220;fund&#8221; that they will use to support various &#8220;community programs&#8221; designed to help minorities, even if that&#8217;s not exactly what minorities who live in Evanston need.
&#8220;A committee of residents is currently examining ways to spend the money and how to best support the black community through housing, education and economic incentives. The fund will be capped at $10 million, according to city of Evanston staff reports. City estimates project the marijuana tax could generate $500,000 to $750,000 per year,&#8221; according to the Tribune.
There&#8217;s one big problem with Evanston&#8217;s plan, though: it&#8217;s not clear that the Constitution allows for money, gathered through taxation, to be put to use benefitting only a single race.

Cannabis Shop

Chicago Suburb Votes To Use Profits From Legal Pot Sales To Fund Reparations For Slavery

Marijuana

Reparations

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who had already tendered his resignation but was staying through the Chicago Police Department&#8217;s transition of authority, was booted from office Monday by Chicago&#8217;s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, after being fired for what she called a series of &#8220;ethical lapses&#8221; stemming from an incident that occured earlier this year.
Johnson had planned to retire at year&#8217;s end, but the firing is effective immediately, according to Lightfoot, who made the announcement Monday morning in a statement issued to local press. Lightfoot cited &#8220;ethical lapses&#8221; and a series of &#8220;intentionally dishonest&#8221; statements made by Johnson in the course of an investigation, but gave no specific examples.
On October 17th of this year, Johnson was found slumped behind the wheel of his car at a stop sign near his home on the city&#8217;s southwest side. Johnson reportedly told the officers &#8212; and later the mayor &#8212; that he had just started a new prescription and wasn&#8217;t aware that the medicine would make him drowsy. He later admitted to Lightfoot that he may have had &#8220;a couple of drinks with dinner&#8221; before he got behind the wheel of his car.
The incident led to an Inspector General&#8217;s investigation, but Johnson decided to submit his resignation voluntarily before that investigation concluded, and Lightfoot bid Johnson a fond farewell at a press conference last month, praising him for his contributions to the city, and lauding his efforts at reducing crime &#8212; and particularly gun crime &#8212; in Chicago.
Monday, Lightfoot told a different story.
Upon a thorough review of the materials of the Inspector General’s ongoing investigation, it has become clear that Mr. Johnson engaged in a series of ethical lapses that are intolerable,&#8221; the mayor said in her statement. &#8220;Mr. Johnson was intentionally dishonest with me and communicated a narrative replete with false statements regarding material aspects of the incident that happened in the early morning hours of October 17.&#8221;
&#8220;Had I known all the facts at the time, I would have relieved him of his duties as superintendent then and there,&#8221; Lightfoot added. She went on to say that Johnson &#8220;misled&#8221; the people of Chicago with his official story.
Lightfoot refused to give details about Johnson&#8217;s ethical failings, out of deference to Johnson&#8217;s family, but it does not appear the mayor&#8217;s office will stand in the way of the Inspector General if it chooses to make its report public.
Johnson was remarkably successful at lowering the incidents of gun crime in the city, and gun-related violence dropped around 10% two years in a row under his leadership. He was also instrumental in pursuing the case against former &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor Jussie Smollett, who Chicago officials say lied about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in the city&#8217;s tony Streeterville neighborhood back in January.
But Johnson has also been a favorite target of President Donald Trump, particularly after he refused an invitation to join Trump at a recent police chiefs conference that took place in Chicago. Trump, who gave the keynote speech at the event, poked fun at Johnson from the podium and criticized Johnson&#8217;s inability to put a real lid on the city&#8217;s crime, comparing Chicago unfavorably to war zones in the Middle East.
Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck was supposed to take over as interim police superintendent once Johnson retired. He started as Johnson&#8217;s official replacement Monday morning.
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<div class="m"><picture><source srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/11/1470/828/eddie-johnson.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x" media="(max-width: 767px)" /><source srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/11/1862/1048/eddie-johnson.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x" media="(min-width: 767px)" /></picture></div>
</div>

Eddie Johnson

Chicago Police Superintendent Who Refused Trump Invite Fired For ‘Ethical Lapses’

Tragedy struck the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) this week. Ruth George, a talented and thriving student studying physical therapy, was murdered and sexually assaulted by a mentally ill homeless man after she left a professional fraternity event Saturday night.
George was walking alone to her car in a parking garage when she passed a Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line stop on campus. Twenty-six-year-old Donald Thurman saw George and tried to talk to her. George ignored him, since he was a stranger, and continued walking to her car. Thurman followed her, still trying to talk to her and “catcalling” her, according to prosecutors. George continued to ignore him, which made Thurman angry, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said at a bond hearing last week, The Chicago Tribune <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-ruth-george-uic-student-dead-20191126-ukju2tlhl5eqjoapljjodkirba-story.html">reported</a>.
Prosecutors allege that Thurman followed 19-year-old George to her car, where he then choked her from behind, dragged her into the back seat of her car, and sexually assaulted her. He then fled the scene.
George’s sisters became concerned when she didn’t return home and called the police. Her friends, family, and the police tracked her cell phone to her car, and found George cold to the touch, unresponsive, and partially nude. It was clear she had been involved in a struggle.
CPR was performed, but George was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators tracked Thurman and charged him with first-degree murder and criminal sexual assault.
Thurman already had a criminal past, having been sentenced in August 2016 to six years in prison for stealing a woman’s iPhone and fleeing in a stolen vehicle. He was paroled in December 2018. Though police found the jacket he wore when he allegedly murdered George at a home, Thurman was considered homeless, “bouncing from place to place,” his court-appointed attorney, Assistant Public Defender Valerie Panozzo, said, according to the Tribune. Panozzo also said Thurman had a history of mental health problems.
George’s death is a tragedy.
The media, however, have framed this tragedy in a way that attempts to paint women as being in danger anytime a man speaks to her.
Thurman was not a member of the fraternity that held the event George attended the evening she died. He was not a student of UIC and was not affiliated with the university at all, but many media outlets – <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/27/us/university-of-illinois-chicago-ruth-george/index.html">CNN, for example</a> – didn’t report Thurman’s history of mental illness or the fact that he was not affiliated with UIC. The Washington Post waited until the end of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/11/27/woman-ignored-mans-catcalls-so-he-chased-her-down-killed-her-prosecutors-say/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_studentkilled-320am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans&amp;tid=sm_tw">its story</a> to mention these facts.
A death like this is an absolute tragedy, and the media shouldn’t try to frame these stories to push a narrative that women are constant victims and that even ignoring a man’s catcalls can get them killed. The George case was not about catcalling, it was about a mentally ill man who stalked and murdered an innocent woman. Yet the media continues to try and insist that women &#8212; especially college women &#8212; are in constant danger at the hands of men.

Donald Thurman

Media Report Woman Murdered For Ignoring Man’s Catcalls. Here’s The Full Story.

Media Bias

Sexual Assault

Another American has been charged for allegedly attempting to provide material support to the terrorist organization known as ISIS.
Jason Brown, who goes by the name Abdul Ja’Me, allegedly made three payments of $500 to an individual, believing the money would go to help ISIS in Syria. Brown has been charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organizations, according to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/suburban-chicago-man-charged-attempting-provide-material-support-isis">Department of Justice</a> (DOJ). Brown allegedly believed the money would go to an ISIS soldier actively fighting in Syria.
“Unbeknownst to Brown, the individual to whom he provided the money was confidentially working with law enforcement, and the purported ISIS fighter was actually an undercover law enforcement officer,” the DOJ said in a press release.
Brown is also alleged to be the leader of the Chicago-area street gang known as AHK. The gang is based in the suburb of Bellwood and appears to be “comprised of former members of other gangs, including the Black P Stones, Gangster Disciples, and Four Corner Hustlers,” the DOJ said.
The AHK street gang has been accused of trafficking narcotics throughout the Chicago area, including fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. The DOJ says the affidavit for Brown’s arrest alleges the gang bragged about their crimes on social media.
In addition to Brown’s charges for his alleged support of ISIS, seven members of the AHK gang were also arrested for gang-related activity. From the DOJ:
<blockquote>Also Thursday, several AHK members or associates were arrested on federal drug charges.  As part of the investigation, law enforcement shut down the gang’s operation of two illicit drug markets on the West Side of Chicago and executed search warrants at numerous locations.
Seven AHK members or associates are charged in criminal complaints filed in federal court.  Charged with conspiracy to possess a fentanyl analogue, heroin, and cocaine with the intent to distribute are Tristan Clanton, 34, of Chicago, Randall Langston, 25, of Bellwood, Ill., his brother, Brandon Langston, 22, of Bellwood, Ill., Hezekiah Wyatt, 19, of Hillside, Ill., Lenolis Muhammad-Curtis, 24, of Bellwood, Ill., and Frank Thaxton, 19, of Chicago.  Charged with illegal distribution of the drug Xanax is Maurice Thomas, 30, of Chicago.  Judge Harjani set detention hearings for Wyatt and Brandon Langston for Nov. 18, 2019; Thomas and Muhammad-Curtis for Nov. 19, 2019; and Clanton for Nov. 20, 2019.  An arrest warrant has been issued for Randall Langston.
According to the charges, Clanton is an influential AHK member who leads a drug trafficking operation in Chicago and Bellwood.  The organization is responsible for trafficking more than a half kilogram of heroin, at least 474 grams of fentanyl analogue, and distribution quantities of cocaine and other drugs, the charges allege.  Clanton and his crew sold drugs near two intersections in the North Lawndale and Humboldt Park neighborhoods of Chicago.  Law enforcement shut down the crew’s operation of these markets as part of the federal probe.</blockquote>
Brown faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of providing material support to ISIS. He is also facing drug conspiracy charges, which could result in life in prison.
Earlier this year, the DOJ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/somalian-refugees-arrested-conspiring-provide-ashe-schow">arrested</a> two Somalian refugees for attempting to provide material support to ISIS as well.

ISIS

Chicago Man, Leader Of Area Street Gang, Charged With Providing Material Support To ISIS

Islamic State (ISIS)

Former &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor Jussie Smollett has filed a counterclaim against the city of Chicago in an ongoing lawsuit by the city seeking reinbursement for $130,000 in overtime spent by Chicago police investigating Smollett&#8217;s alleged hoax hate crime.
Smollett, in papers filed Wednesday, claims that he was targeted by the city for &#8220;malicious prosecution&#8221; and it caused him &#8220;humiliation and extreme distress,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-chicago-malicious-prosecution">per Fox News</a>.
&#8220;Smollett’s counterclaim targets the city, the Chicago Police Department, Detectives Michael Theis and Edward Wodnicki, Supt. Eddie Johnson and Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, along with other unnamed individuals,&#8221; adds <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2019/11/20/20973937/jussie-smollett-malicious-prosecution-counterclaim-chicago">the Chicago Sun-Times</a>.
Smollett, of course, became the subject of a criminal investigation after detectives with the Chicago Police Department determined, after weeks of investigation, that he likely fabricated his claim that he was accosted, beaten, and called homophobic and racist &#8220;slurs&#8221; while walking back to his downtown Chicago apartment from a local Subway sandwich shop.
Smollett told police, in two separate interviews, that he was assaulted by two white men wearing red &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; hats, early in the morning of January 29th. The two men identified Smollett by name, he said, then beat him, threw a &#8220;noose&#8221; around his neck, and splashed a chemical substance on his clothes before yelling, &#8220;This is MAGA country!&#8221; and disappearing into the night.
A subsequent investigation revealed that Smollett may have coordinated the attack with a pair of Nigerian-American brothers who he met when they were extras on his show, &#8220;Empire.&#8221; Witness testimony seemed to indicate that Smollett planned his own attack in order to raise his profile, after his bosses on &#8220;Empire&#8221; failed to take enough notice of hate mail &#8212; a death threat scrawled in red pencil accompanied by a &#8220;white substance&#8221; that turned out to be crushed Tylenol &#8212; sent to Smollett at the show&#8217;s Chicago soundstage.
Prosecutors initially charged Smollett with sixteen counts of lying to police, but Smollett was able to avoid criminal proceedings after striking an unofficial &#8220;plea deal&#8221; with Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx&#8217;s office, which wiped his record clean in return for a $10,000 bond check and a few hours of community service.
The city, seeking justice, then calculated the cost of police overtime hours accumulated during the departments investigation of the alleged hoax and issued Smollett $130,106 bill.
When he refused to pay, the city sued, and now Smollett says they don&#8217;t deserve his money.
Smollett&#8217;s lawyers claim that investigators believed “false, self-serving, and unreliable statements&#8221; made by the two Osundario brothers &#8220;in order to close the investigation into the attack on Mr. Smollett,&#8221; and that detectives did not properly investigate the real crime &#8212; the alleged hate attack.
The counterclaim also says that Smollett should avoid any further trouble with the city because his off-the-books plea deal resolved the case &#8220;in Mr. Smollett’s favor and in a manner which indicates his innocence because all 16 counts of the criminal indictment were dismissed two and a half weeks after the indictment was filed.”
Although the Cook County States Attorney inked the deal with Smollett, and he has insisted, in the wake of that resolution, that it demonstrates his innocence, representatives from the States Attorney have been clear: the bargain was to avoid the issue altogether and in no way does it demonstrate that Smollett is innocence of any charge of misleading or lying to police.
But in the event neither of those arguments work, Smollett also says the $10,000 he paid to the city as part of his agreement with prosecutors is enough to cover the cost. The $10,000, his lawyers say, can be considered “as payment in full in connection with the dismissal of the charges against him.”
Smollett and his attorneys have repeatedly asked the court to dismiss the case altogether, as well, but, recently, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall determined that the city&#8217;s case can go forward. The case is due to be heard early next year, and the two parties are currently trading motions.

Jussie Smollett Files Counterclaim Against City Of Chicago For ‘Malicious Prosecution’

Chicago&#8217;s controversial police superintendent, Eddie Johnson, announced his retirement Thursday, stepping down after just three years on the job.
Johnson held a press conference Thursday morning and, flanked by his family and Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, brought an end to his three-decade police career in the nation&#8217;s third largest city.
&#8220;I have given 31 years now to this city, and almost four as superintendent,&#8221; Johnson said earlier this week. &#8220;You know, but I recognize also that at some point it&#8217;s time to create another chapter in your life. And I will tell you all this: When my family and I went to London for the Bears game, that&#8217;s the first vacation like that that I&#8217;ve had since I became superintendent.&#8221;
&#8220;I looked at my family and it made me realize how much of a sacrifice you make for your family when you take on positions like this,&#8221; he continued
He echoed that sentiment in his remarks Thursday, adding that his job left little time for him to spend with his family, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-police-superintendent-eddie-johnson-20191107-uegoqlb4qfhl5mjltyhsn56spm-story.html">according to the Chicago Tribune</a>.
Johnson grew up in Chicago and joined the police department at a young age, rising through the ranks until he was selected to help bring an end to Chicago&#8217;s streak of gun violence during the tenure of former mayor Rahm Emanuel, and to help restructure and reform the Chicago Police Department following the police shooting death of teenager Laquan McDonald.
By all accounts, Johnson has done his job; the Tribune reports that homicides and shooting deaths have fallen by around 10% each year Johnson has been on the job, even though Chicago&#8217;s violence still makes headlines.
That violence made national news just last week, after Johnson publicly flouted an invitation to attend the International Association of Police Chiefs convention in Chicago because President Donald Trump, who regularly draws attention to Chicago&#8217;s gun problem, was the keynote speaker. The pair engaged in a war of words, with Trump calling out Johnson in his speech to the IAPC, and again on Twitter.
&#8220;Chicago will never stop its crime wave with the current Superintendent of Police. It just won&#8217;t happen!&#8221; Trump told the IAPC audience. &#8220;All over the world, they&#8217;re talking about Chicago – Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison.&#8221;
&#8220;Chicago will never stop its crime wave with the current Superintendent of Police,&#8221; Trump later tweeted. &#8220;It just won’t happen! Thank you to Kevin Graham and all of the GREAT Chicago Police Officers I just had the privilege to meet. Tremendous crime fighting potential if allowed to do your thing!&#8221;
Johnson might not have retired from his job so quickly were it not for an internal investigation, currently underway, into an incident that found Johnson slumped behind the wheel of a running car, stopped at a stop sign just blocks from his home in the Bridgeport neighborhood on Chicago&#8217;s south side.
Lightfoot addressed that issue earlier this week, saying Johnson told her that he was in the process of switching medication, and did not know his new prescription would leave him sleepy (Johnson had a liver transplant just a few years ago).
“I know what the superintendent told me, which is that he was … changing medication &#8230; He’d been out to dinner with some folks. He told me he was driving home,&#8221; Lightfoot told the Chicago Tribune on Monday. &#8220;He felt ill and pulled over to the side of the road, which he believed was the prudent thing to do.&#8221;
Johnson later admitted that he had a few drinks at dinner with friends before he got behind the wheel. CPD&#8217;s Internal Affairs department opened an inquiry into Johnson&#8217;s behavior this week.

Graduation Ceremony Held For Chicago Police Department Cadets

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson Retires Amid Internal Investigation

President Donald Trump may have launched his most scathing insult yet at Democrats during a speech he gave to the International Association of Police Chiefs on Monday in Chicago, comparing them to former &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor and alleged hate crime hoaxer, Jussie Smollett.
The President took aim at several characters in his Chicago speech, excorating the city&#8217;s major and police superintendent, Eddie Johnson, who skipped the conference to avoid Trump, as well as Congressional Democrats currently conducting an impeachment &#8220;inquiry&#8221; behind closed doors in Washington, D.C.
Smollett, of course, is now famous for being the victim of a &#8220;hate crime&#8221; last winter. Smollett claimed that two white men wearing &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; hats waited for him outside his apartment in Chicago&#8217;s tony Streeterville neighborhood, and accosted him when he returned home with a midnight snack in the wee hours of January 29th. The actor eventually told police that the two men assaulted him, beat him, tossed a &#8220;noose&#8221; over his neck, and then ran away, shouting a host of racial and homophobic slurs, capped off with the declaration, &#8220;This is MAGA country!&#8221;
An extensive police investigation appeared to reveal that Smollett had collaborated with two friends &#8212; both &#8220;Empire&#8221; extras and local personal trainers &#8212; to stage the attack. He was charged with sixteen counts of lying to police officers, but the charges were eventually dropped in a sweetheart deal with Chicago&#8217;s chief prosecutor.
Trump clearly hasn&#8217;t forgotten that he and his supporters were drawn into Smollett&#8217;s alleged hoax, and that, for days, celebrities and media figures assailed President Trump over the attack. And he certainly hasn&#8217;t forgotten that some of Smollett&#8217;s top defenders are now involved in establishing a case for his impeachment.
&#8220;You have the case of this wiseguy Jussie Smollett who beat up himself, and he said MAGA country did it. It’s a crime, a hate crime. That’s a scam, a real big scam just like the impeachment of your president is a scam,” Trump told the room full of police officers.
“And you look what’s going on, Smollett is still trying to get away with it. He would have been better off with his face on [a] $100,000 bill,&#8221; he continued.
The Trump Administration maintains that the President should not be the subject of an impeachment inquiry, but Democrats are pursuing one, regardless, under the theory that Trump made a quid-pro-quo deal with Ukrainian officials: international aid dollars in return for a Ukrainian investigation into whether former Vice President (and current candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination) Joe Biden used his office to pull strings for his son, Hunter, who was doing business in the country.
Trump followed up his criticism of Democrats with criticism of Chicago&#8217;s police.
“People like Johnson put criminals and illegal aliens before the citizens of Chicago,” Trump said, referencing Chicago&#8217;s &#8220;sanctuary city&#8221; policy and the city&#8217;s high murder rate. “Those are his values and, frankly, those values to me are a disgrace.”
&#8220;It&#8217;s embarrassing to us as a nation,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;All over the world they&#8217;re talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison.&#8221;
While Trump is generally correct about the Afghanistan numbers, Johnson has presided over a steep decline in violent crime in Chicago, according to the Chicago Police Department&#8217;s own numbers. Shootings &#8212; by far Chicago&#8217;s most public problem &#8212; are down more than 10% year over year, and Chicago has officially lost the title of &#8220;most violent city in America,&#8221; dropping to twenty-first after cities like Baltimore, Maryland, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/experience/america/2018/10/17/25-most-dangerous-cities-america/1669467002/">according to USA Today</a>.
Johnson is also, ironically, the chief motivating force behind an ongoing city of Chicago lawsuit against Jussie Smollett, seeking to recover $130,000 worth of overtime pay accrued by detectives investigating Smollett&#8217;s &#8220;hate crime.&#8221;
&nbsp;

Jussie Smollet

President Trump Compares Impeachment To Jussie Smollett ‘Scam’ In Chicago Speech

Donald Trump

The Chicago Teachers Union got a treat as their strike entered its second week: a &#8220;civil disobedience&#8221; training session from a Bernie Sanders staffer.
Monday marks day eight of the CTU strike, <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/24/20930111/chicago-teachers-strike-updates-cps-live-blog-day-8">according to the Chicago Sun-Times</a>, and neither the city of Chicago nor the teacher&#8217;s union seem poised to give in on contract negotiations. CTU is demanding not just a raise in pay and an increase in benefits, but jobs for nurses, social workers, and librarians, many of whom are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which sees the CTU negotiation as an opportunity to demand more union employees be hired into the Chicago public school system.
The city of Chicago and mayor Lori Lightfoot seem increasingly exasperated with the negotiations, suggesting Monday that CTU is not serious about reaching a deal &#8212; something CTU seemed more than willing to underline but <a href="https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/ctu-educators-invite-the-rev-jesse-jackson-to-mediate-cps-negotiations/">suggesting that Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jr.</a>, take over as mediator between the two parties.
Both sides called their Friday and Monday meetings, &#8220;good progress.&#8221;
Despite their optimistic public comments, school remains cancelled for the city&#8217;s 300,000 students for the foreseeable future, <a href="https://wgntv.com/2019/10/24/chicago-teachers-strike-hits-1-week-mark-as-contract-talks-continue/">according to WGN, </a>and, over the weekend, the teacher&#8217;s union sent a clear message to city officials that strike methods may become more extreme if negotiations drag on.
Last week, striking Chicago teachers received a day-long training on &#8220;civil disobedience,&#8221; <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/24/20931416/cps-strike-ctu-teachers-support-staff-civil-disobedience-training-arrests">according to the Sun-Times. </a>There, the educators learned how to grind buildins to a standstill, clog intersections, and draw the attention of law enforcement so that any eventual arrest becomes a visible reminder of the strike for city officials, and, hopefully, a national news story.
&#8220;During the presentation, led by an SEIU Healthcare official and a staffer for presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders’ political team, strikers were coached on blocking traffic and shutting down building lobbies,&#8221; the Sun-Times said. &#8220;Despite members agreeing that any protests would remain nonviolent, they were all prepped for being arrested as part of future demonstrations. They were told to avoid carrying anything that isn’t necessary and advised to use the restroom and bundle up in the case they’re locked up.&#8221;
Members of CTU were also advised to dress warmly since &#8220;jail cells can be cold.&#8221;
“We are probably under a consensus and agreement that what we want to do is what is going to advance our message as clearly as possible and put as much possible pressure on the mayor to settle this problem as quickly as possible,&#8221; the Sanders staffer who hosted the workshop told media.
The training, organizers said, was for those “who are ready to step it up a notch…We will learn from the tactics that ended Jim Crow and the Vietnam War&#8221; to end the contract impasse, though reasons for the scale up weren&#8217;t given.
As for when the more visible protests will begin, well, union officials suggested protesting President Donald Trump, who is in Chicago Monday for a fundraiser and to give a speech to the International Association of Chiefs of Police holding their annual convention on the city&#8217;s south side, would be a &#8220;productive&#8221; idea, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-cps-strike-chicago-teachers-union-updates-20191028-kapm3khjobhc5nxr5inuzcswfm-story.html">the Chicago Tribune reports</a>.
“After pickets Monday, the CTU has not planned any afternoon activity,” an email from union leaders to union members, sent Sunday night, read. “Feel free to rest or take part in any productive activity of your choosing. We have heard that President Donald Trump might be in town. If any members were inclined to show up outside his fundraiser in red, that would qualify as productive, in our view.”
Trump did not acknowledge the strike in his remarks to police chiefs Monday morning, focusing instead on immigration and the failures of Chicago&#8217;s police department. He&#8217;s also unlikely to see any protests; since McCormick Place, where Trump is speaking, is out of the way of downtown, and demonstrations there aren&#8217;t likely to draw attention or disrupt city business. Instead, protesters will gather outside Trump Tower.

U.S.-CHICAGO-TEACHERS-STRIKE RALLY

Striking Chicago Teachers Get ‘Civil Disobedience’ Training From Bernie Sanders Staffers, Plan To Disrupt Trump Visit

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, running for the 2020 Democratic nomination, is desperate to craft a public image that includes her time spent as a public school teacher, even if it was undeniably short. To that end, she&#8217;s spent time in Chicago this week, appearing with striking members of the Chicago Teachers Union.
On Monday, Warren released a video of herself calling striking teachers, offering words of support as a &#8220;former public school teacher.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m calling to say thank you for contributing to my campaign multiple times and second, be strong in the Chicago teachers&#8217; strike. I know that this has gotta be a hard time for the teachers and I know that no one involved does this lightly, but that you&#8217;re out there fighting for the future of our children,&#8221; she said in the video, posted to social media.
Warren has been pushing her one year of experience as an unlicensed special education teacher hard over the last month, perhaps in the hopes it distracts from the rest of her biography, which includes high-paid stints as a law professor, house flipper, and, eventually, as a career public servant. She&#8217;s already faced criticism for the focus on her public education career, after she tried to claim she was fired from her job for becoming pregnant, rather than for failing to get a required accreditation.
On Wednesday, Warren headlined a CTU rally, where she choked up a bit talking to a massive union rally in downtown Chicago, while around 300,000 students went without classes for a fourth day.
&#8220;Everyone in America should support you in this strike,&#8221; Warren told the crowd. &#8220;The reason is because when you go out and fight, you don&#8217;t just fight for yourselves. You fight for their children of this city, and the children of this country. I believe in public education. I believe it is time in America to make a new investment in public education.&#8221;
&#8220;I got a plan for that,&#8221; she continued.
She certainly does: an $800 billion plan that would &#8220;quadruple Title I funding for poor students to $450 billion over 10 years, increase funding for students with disabilities by $20 billion, invest $100 billion in so-called &#8220;excellence grants&#8221; for schools to invest in programs and resources they think are the most important for their students and provide $50 billion in infrastructure spending,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2019-10-22/elizabeth-warren-joins-teachers-strike-in-chicago">U.S. News and World Report</a>. It also calls for replacing the Secretary of Education (something that&#8217;s the prerogative of a new president, regardless), and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2019-10-21/elizabeth-warren-k-12-plan-would-end-federal-funds-for-charter-schools-quadruple-title-i-funding">cracking down on charter and private schools</a>.
S<a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bethbaumann/2019/10/21/fauxahontas-clings-to-chicago-teachers-strike-to-play-up-her-public-school-teac-n2555129">he outlined her plan on Twitter on Tuesday</a>, right before she made her call to striking Chicago teachers. There&#8217;s little it doesn&#8217;t include, and most of the elements are a direct handout to powerful teachers unions, who are backing Warren, and will likely provide millions in funding and thousands of hours of labor for her presidential campaign, if she wins the nomination.
&#8220;The unions are how we have a voice. The unions are how we have power,&#8221; Warren said during her speech in Chicago. &#8220;The unions are how we make sure that the needs of every single one of our children are heard loud and clear. So today, I&#8217;m here because the eyes of this nation are upon you. They have turned to Chicago for you to lead the way, for you to show how the power of standing together is the power of making real change in this country.&#8221;
Like the unions in Chicago, though, Warren is tight-lipped on how anyone plans to pay for her massive education spending increase.
Striking teachers in Chicago are calling for pay and benefits hikes, smaller class sizes, and hundreds more employees for the school system, including nurses and social workers (who also happen to be represented by unions affliated with CTU), but Chicago&#8217;s mayor, Lori Lightfoot has made clear that there&#8217;s no money for such a massive hiring binge &#8212; because there&#8217;s no money for, well, anything.
&#8220;There is a finite pot of money. We don&#8217;t have unlimited cash to keep funding the things that are aspirational and maybe things that, on values that we share,&#8221; Lightfoot said in a press conference Tuesday, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/us/chicago-teachers-strike-tuesday/index.html">according to CNN</a>. &#8220;We have to live within our means. That&#8217;s what the taxpayers expect of us, and that&#8217;s what we&#8217;re going to do.&#8221;
Striking teachers, no doubt, would like Lightfoot to hike Chicago property taxes, but even that money is spoken for.
Warren is expected to outline how she plans to pay for her huge education package later this week, but she already appears to be at a loss over how to fund the other huge spending programs she&#8217;s proposing, including a student loan bailout, a &#8220;green new deal,&#8221; and a Medicare for All universal health care plan.

Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren Butts In On Chicago Teachers’ Strike To Boost Education Plan

Education

Former &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor Jussie Smollett and his attorneys lost their bid, Tuesday, to toss out a civil case, filed by the city of Chicago seeking to recoup around $130,000 spent investigating Smollett&#8217;s alleged hoax hate crime.
A Federal judge told Smollett&#8217;s attorneys that the case can move forward into discovery and the court set a loose timeline for trial, tabling litigation until early 2020.
The city of Chicago filed the civil suit against Smollett after he failed to pay a $130,000 bill, levied by the city&#8217;s Finance Department, to recoup dozens of overtime hours accrued by Chicago Police Department detectives while the chased down two racist, homophobic individuals who, Smollett said, attacked him outside of his apartment in the city&#8217;s tony Streeterville neighborhood in the wee hours of January 19th.
Smollett claimed that two white attackers wearing &#8220;Make America Great Again Hats&#8221; accosted him as he made his way back home from a nearby Subway sandwich shop. According to Smollett, the two men assaulted him, punched him in the face, tossed a noose around his neck, and doused him with a chemical before yelling, &#8220;This is MAGA country!&#8221; and taking off, leaving him lying in the street.
Smollett filed two police reports, one almost immediately after the incident and a second one later in the day after being released from the hospital, where he&#8217;d gone for treatment for minor injuries.
It later emerged, following an intense, multi-week investigation by Chicago Police Department detectives, that Smollett may have orchestrated his own hate crime, paying two former &#8220;Empire&#8221; extras &#8212; a pair of Nigerian-American brothers who also served as Smollett&#8217;s sometimes-personal trainers &#8212; to stage the attack in order to elevate his profile (which he thought could earn him more on &#8220;Empire&#8221;).
Following these revelations, which came alongside surveillance footage, further police interviews, and sworn testimony from the two brothers, Smollett was charged with 16 counts of filing a false police report &#8212; one count for each crime he alleged.
Smollett was eventually let off the hook, inking a de facto plea deal with the Cook County States Attorney, who dropped all charges against Smollett in return for two dozen hours of community service, which Smollett had previously completed, and Smollett&#8217;s $10,000 bond deposit. Smollett was not &#8220;cleared&#8221; of the charges, but the deal effectively ended the city of Chicago&#8217;s involvement in the case. An FBI and United States Postal Service investigation, into allegations that Smollett sent himself a noxious substance through the mail, has yet to conclude.
The city of Chicago then filed their suit seeking reimbursement.
Smollett&#8217;s attorneys argued Tuesday, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2019/10/22/jussie-smollett-chicago-lawsuit-actor-still-facing-130-k-civil-suit/4000512002/">USA Today reports</a>, that Smollett should not be forced to pay because &#8220;Smollett himself did not direct Chicago police to spend weeks investigating his claim and could not have known how much time and money would be spent.&#8221;
The judge did not agree, noting that &#8220;if someone was going to falsely claim a racist and homophobic attack, it isn’t unreasonable to think the Chicago Police wouldn’t spend the hours necessary to investigate it,&#8221; according to local <a href="https://twitter.com/RaferWeigel/status/1186658483896229892">Chicago reporter Rafer Weigel</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Judge Kendall denies <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JussieSmollett?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JussieSmollett</a> lawyers request to dismiss the case. Saying, if someone was going to falsely claim a racist and homophobic attack, it isn’t unreasonable to think the <a href="https://twitter.com/Chicago_Police?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Chicago_Police</a> wouldn’t spend the hours necessary to investigate it. Moving to discovery. <a href="https://t.co/Qv6t9GwioL">https://t.co/Qv6t9GwioL</a>
&mdash; Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaferWeigel/status/1186646829263400960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When asked why Smollett wanted to pursue the case, despite the likelihood that his legal fees will total more than the original $130,000 fine, <a href="https://twitter.com/RaferWeigel/status/1186658483896229892">his attorney told Weigel</a> that “my client has maintained his innocence and he believes you don’t put a price tag on that. He’s willing to spend what it takes to prove his innocence because, unfortunately, he has been proven guilty in the media more than proven innocent.&#8221;
His attorney later added, “(Jussie) has always maintained his innocence and is happy to have this decided on the facts and when the facts come out they will show his innocence.”
The judge opened the case up to discovery and pre-trial motions. A trial on the merits of the case is likely to wait until summer of 2020.

Jussie Smollett Loses Bid To Boot Civil Suit From Chicago Finance Department

Police in Chicago were warned not to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on issues of immigration.
The Chicago Police Department (CPD)sent a memo, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-police-dont-cooperate-dhs-immigration">obtained by Fox News</a>, to officers in late September telling them to wait for a supervisor to arrive before assisting DHS. Upon arrival, the supervisor will direct CPD officers to leave the scene, “if the request is to assist with an immigration arrest or detention. Fox News confirmed the authenticity of the memo but could not determine whether Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was behind the directive.
Several sources within the CPD told Fox that the new policy puts both departments at risk.
“See what happens when that happens and a DHS agent is injured because of a lack of response by CPD. Sickening what’s happening here,” one source told the outlet.
“You’ll not find a single real police officer that would refuse to assist another agency,” said another.
Chicago is one of at least 36 sanctuary cities in the United States that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an agency within DHS. In addition to dozens of cities, whole counties and states are also considered to be sanctuaries for illegal immigrants.
A DHS spokesperson told Fox that the memo to Chicago police officers was dangerous.
“The Department of Homeland Security is deeply concerned with the dangerous anti-law enforcement direction given by the leadership of the Chicago Police Department. The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line every day to protect the citizens of this country from dangerous criminals,” the spokesperson told the outlet. “Failing to support fellow law enforcement officers upon request for assistance not only places our heroic police officers in greater danger but keeps criminals on the streets and makes all of our communities less safe, specifically the great City of Chicago.”
The CPD told the outlet that law enforcement would assist a federal agent who is in danger but would not assist in the arrest. Instead, they will “advise and leave the scene.”
The new policy for CPD came around the same time that a Virginia police officer was suspended <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-officer-suspended-after-cooperating-with-ice">for cooperating with ICE</a>.
The officer was suspended after responding to a vehicle crash. During routine license checks, the officer discovered that one of the drivers had a warrant out for his arrest for failing to appear for a deportation hearing. The officer notified the ICE contact listed on the notification of the warrant, who was nearby. The officer then arrested the driver and turned them over to the ICE agent.
Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr. said in <a href="https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2019/10/01/chief-roesslers-statement-on-officers-custodial-detention-and-ice-notification/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social">a statement</a> that officer violated a department order requiring them to ignore such a notification unless the person in question is “being taken into custody for any other violation of law.” Roessler emphasized in his statement that officers are extensively trained on this distinction and that the suspended officer “deprived a person of their freedom, which is unacceptable.”
The arrested driver spent three hours in custody and was released.

Police

Chicago Police Officers Told Not To Cooperate With DHS On Immigration Issues: Memo

Department of Homeland Security

Illegal Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Speculation about whether “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett may yet be charged for orchestrating a hate crime hoax intensified after the two brothers who say the actor hired them to attack him met with the special prosecutor working on the case.
Abel and Ola Osundairo said earlier this year that Smollett hired them to attack him while he was out in Chicago one early, frigid morning so that he could negotiate a higher salary on “Empire.” TMZ <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/10/05/jussie-smollett-osundairo-brothers-meeting-special-prosecutor/">reported</a> this weekend that the brothers met with Special Prosecutor Dan Webb, who was assigned to look into the deal that allowed Smollett to get off the hook for faking the attack by paying $10,000 and performing 16 hours of community service.
“Sources close to the case tell TMZ &#8230; Abel and Ola met with Dan Webb&#8217;s team this week because the special prosecutor wanted to hear their full story &#8212; their version of Jussie&#8217;s alleged attack,” TMZ reported. “Our sources say the brothers each spent a couple hours with the special prosecutor&#8217;s team.”
Smollett was original indicted on 16 felony accounts for allegedly making up the attack. Smollett had claimed in late January that he went to a Subway sandwich restaurant at two in the morning during a polar vortex. As he was returning home, he claimed, two white men wearing pro-Trump hats attacked him, poured bleach on him, tied a noose around his neck, and shouted racial and homophobic slurs. This account required people to believe there are Trump supporters in Deep Blue Chicago who spend their nights trawling for someone to attack – and that these same people watch “Empire” and knew who Smollett was.
The charges against Smollett were dismissed by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said she had recused herself from the case due to a conflict of interest yet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chicago-prosecutor-kim-foxx-deputies-subpoenaed-emily-zanotti">her influence was still seen</a> in the plea deal. Then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the office’s decision to drop the charges a “whitewash of justice.”
A special prosecutor was appointed to look into how the case unraveled. The City of Chicago is also still looking into ways to force Smollett to repay them for the time and resources spent on investigating the alleged hoax.
TMZ also reported that Webb has his own conflict-of-interest issues, but a Chicago judge ruled Friday that it does not appear as though Webb is biased. Webb had donated $1,000 to Foxx’s campaign and hosted a fundraiser for her.
Page Six <a href="https://pagesix.com/2019/10/05/special-prosecutor-meets-with-nigerian-brothers-in-jussie-smollett-probe/">reported</a> that Webb has the power to reinstate charges against Smollett.
Last week, Smollett <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jussie-smollett-lashes-out-after-being-compared-to-girl-who-faked-hate-crime-i-havent-lied-about-a-thing">lashed out</a> at a self-help guru who compared him to 12-year-old Amari Allen, who had claimed white boys at her school held her down, cut her dreads, and hurled racial slurs at her. After the media incredulously reported her crimes, Allen admitted she made up the story and her grandparents apologized on her behalf.
Smollett claimed he was nothing like Allen despite the similar stories:
<blockquote>With all due respect brother, y’all can clown me all you want but my story has actually never changed and I haven’t lied about a thing. Y’all can continue to be misinformed, internalized sheep, who believe what actual proven liars feed you or you can read the actual docs. Either way, I’mma be alright. I know me and what happened. You don’t. So carry on. All love.</blockquote>

Jussie Smollet May Still Be Charged Over Hate Crime Hoax

A suburban Chicago man who drove his black SUV through Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, is facing terrorism charges, according to the Cook County state&#8217;s attorney&#8217;s office.
<a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-09-29/terrorism-charge-suv-chicago-mall">The Los Angeles Times reports</a> that local police announced the charges, leveled against 22-year-old Palatine, Illinois resident, Javier Garcia on Sunday. Garcia was also charged with &#8220;felony criminal damage to property.&#8221;
The terrorism charge is local. The Federal government hasn&#8217;t yet announced if they will seek charges. They were on the scene, a week ago Friday, when Garcia plowed his Chevy Trailblazer through an entrance to the Sears department store, turned a hard right into the mall itself, and drove past several stores, plowing into kiosks, destroying a window display at Forever 21, and eventually hitting a pole near the mall&#8217;s center court.
For Illinois, though, the terrorism charge isn&#8217;t necessarily related to Garcia&#8217;s motive (though a motive has yet to be specified).
<a href="https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/09/29/terrorism-charge-woodfield-mall/?fbclid=IwAR2nEpVMTANV6yxq0A9YnQpv5vnegsRA-NZ-EEoKqqlKZh4Rs8erlcgB8TM">Local news reports</a> that Cook County authorities can charge someone with &#8220;terrorism&#8221; if they cause more than $100,000 worth of damage to certain structures. The law itself specifies that &#8220;terrorism&#8221; includes “any act that causes substantial damage to any building containing (5) or more businesses of any type. Substantial damage means monetary damage greater than $100,000.”
Initially, police indicated that they believed Garcia was suffering from a &#8220;medical condition,&#8221; and Garcia&#8217;s father reported to media that his son was on medication for an unspecified illness and that family members have been trying to get Garcia into treatment. Garcia&#8217;s lawyer told media that he believes his client suffers from &#8220;bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and paranoia.&#8221;
After being arrested, Garcia was taken to a behavioral health facility but has since been released into police custody. He was denied bond in a hearing over the weekend.
The incident, which saw Garcia bypass security barriers and go far into the mall before crashing and being apprehended (by an off duty police officer and several mall patrons, not mall security or law enforcement) was bizarre in its own right, and police were initially reticent to ascribe a motive to Garcia. But further investigation seems to indicate that Garcia planned some sort of attack.
Chicago&#8217;s CBS affiliate &#8220;learned Garcia searched &#8216;Woodfield Mall&#8217; 124 times, including aerial views of the mall and stores including Sears. Included in the total searches, &#8216;Sears,&#8217; specifically, was searched 35 times.&#8221; He also spent time inside Sears the day of the attack. He was caught on security camera wandering around the store. He eventually left without buying anything, returned to his car, and then drove his car back to &#8212; and through &#8212; the Sears entrance.
Three people received minor injuries in the attack, none from the attacker himself or his car. Authorities say Garcia did come close to doing major bodily harm to several children, however; the SUV narrowly missed a children&#8217;s train ride that operates in the open space directly outside the Sears mall entrance.
Authorities aren&#8217;t sure what Garcia was trying to do, though, even if he had planned the attack ahead of time.
“Police have no reason to believe Garcia was targeting any specific person and/or store within Sears or Woodfield Mall,” a spokesperson told local media Sunday.
Garcia&#8217;s attorney maintains that his client is not a &#8220;terrorist&#8221; and that he finds the charges surprising.

Woodfield Mall

Man Who Drove SUV Through Chicago Mall Charged With Terrorism

Terrorism

Last week, Chicago&#8217;s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, engaged in a Twitter war with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over the city&#8217;s ongoing gun violence problem. Monday, she published an op-ed in the Washington Post blaming pro-gun Republicans like Cruz for the city&#8217;s sky-high murder rate, claiming the lenient GOP could save Chicago by instituting more stringent federal gun measures.
The social media interaction between Lightfoot and Cruz didn&#8217;t go well for Lightfoot, who stepped in after the Texas Republican claimed Chicago&#8217;s persistent gun problem was a perfect example of why more gun control laws don&#8217;t necessarily mean less crime. Lightfoot responded by telling Cruz that 60% of illegal firearms in Chicago come from outside the state of Illinois, and warned Cruz and &#8220;coward Republicans&#8221; to &#8220;Keep our name out of your mouth.&#8221;
Cruz fired back, pointing out that Chicago&#8217;s prosecutors are lenient on gun offenders and that Chicago&#8217;s policy to allow weapons law violators to return to the streets after posting as little as $1,000 bail leaves Chicago residents exposed to violence.
Lightfoot appeared to back off — until Monday, when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-ted-cruz-really-cares-about-chicago-shootings-he-should-go-there-and-prove-it/2019/09/08/cdd356da-d17a-11e9-8c1c-7c8ee785b855_story.html?noredirect=on">she published an op-ed in the Washington Post</a>, accusing the gun law-shy GOP of making Chicago a haven for gun violence.
The article, titled &#8220;Ted Cruz and others should stop using Chicago as a punching bag,&#8221; essentially claims that lax federal gun laws allow bad guys in Chicago to buy guns without a background check, reiterates that most of the guns used in Chicago shootings come from out of state, and blames Republicans in Congress for failing to enact universal background checks and to close the &#8220;gun show loophole.&#8221;
&#8220;Sixty percent of firearms owned or used illegally recovered in Chicago come from outside Illinois,&#8221; she writes. &#8220;These guns don’t recognize state lines or city boundaries. Cruz said the five U.S. cities with the highest murder rates &#8216;have had Democratic mayors for decades and aggressive gun control policies — none seems to be working.&#8221; He’s making my case for me: As long as people can drive from Illinois to Indiana and purchase a personal arsenal without a background check, Chicago’s gun laws will always be as weak as those of the closest permissive state.&#8221;
That state, Lightfoot says, is Indiana. But there are a few problems with her argument. For starters, trafficking guns over state lines is already illegal, as are straw purchases. Although Democrats in Chicago like to claim that offenders often buy their guns at gun shows in Indiana, where they can simply purchase weapons from other private individuals, most gun show sellers are also gun retailers who have to pass inspection and be licensed by the federal government.
And if 60% of guns come from out of state, that still means 40% of guns are coming from Illinois. And Indiana still has state-mandated background checks, and gun retailers must obey federal guidelines for all legal gun purchases. Illegal gun purchases would likely remain illegal even if the laws changed.
Lightfoot tries to use the example of a man arrested for the murder of a child in Chicago, whose weapons were purchased illegally and shipped to him from New Mexico, as an example of how the federal laws &#8220;allow&#8221; violence in Chicago to continue, but the man actually obtained his weapons illegally — he violated existing state and federal law.
The mayor goes on to invite Cruz out to Chicago to speak to people on the street — especially on the city&#8217;s south and west sides — about how gun violence has impacted their communities. Oddly enough, Lightfoot didn&#8217;t encourage Cruz to speak to Chicago&#8217;s police, but they may hold the actual key to Chicago&#8217;s ongoing violence problem.
Gun offenders in Chicago are routinely released with little or no bail, only a day or two after they&#8217;re arrested. Although the guns are often confiscated, gang members and other violent individuals are quickly returned to the streets where they usually offend again. The problem has gotten so bad, <a href="https://www.cwbchicago.com/2019/08/monday-gunday-police-website-to-detail.html">local blog CWB Chicago reports</a>, that Chicago police are launching a website to track arrested gun offenders, how long they spend in jail, and how little they&#8217;re required to post for bond.
Cruz has not yet responded to Lightfoot&#8217;s request.

Chicago&#8217;s Mayor Claims REPUBLICANS Are Responsible For City&#8217;s Violence

Chicago’s Mayor Claims REPUBLICANS Are Responsible For City’s Violence

Gun Laws

Republican Party

In a last-ditch effort to get a $130,000 lawsuit filed by the City of Chicago dismissed, the lawyers of Jussie Smollett filed a motion Tuesday night that tries to make the case that even if a suspect files a false police report, as authorities say Smollett has done, that person can&#8217;t be held liable for the bill of a &#8220;sprawling&#8221; investigation.
Despite significant evidence indicating that he staged a fake hate crime against himself with the help of two of his acquaintances, who confessed as much to authorities, Smollett and his lawyers have adamantly maintained that he is innocent of all charges and that &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51162/jussie-smollett-pr-team-every-iota-hate-crime-paul-bois">every iota</a>&#8221; of his claim to police is true. Smollett told authorities he was attacked by Trump-supporting racists who doused him with bleach, assaulted him, and put a rope around his neck, a story he also told the public and his former &#8220;Empire&#8221; co-stars.
In a 12-page court filing Tuesday night, his legal representatives declared his &#8220;innocence&#8221; again and accused the city of engaging in a &#8220;vindictive&#8221; lawsuit. But they also added a new argument.
&#8220;This unprecedented civil case was filed simply because former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel disagreed with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s decision to dismiss the false police report charges against Mr. Smollett,&#8221; Smollett&#8217;s lawyer William Quinlan said in the motion, as reported by <a href="https://pagesix.com/2019/09/04/jussie-smolletts-lawyer-calls-chicagos-130k-lawsuit-vindictive/">Page Six</a>.
&#8220;Mr. Smollett has always maintained and continues to maintain his innocence,&#8221; the filing asserts. &#8220;Yet the City’s claims and purported damages are a vindictive effort to prosecute charges that the State’s Attorney pursued and then chose to drop.&#8221;
While their adamant insistence on his innocence is nothing new, Smollett&#8217;s team added a new wrinkle on Tuesday, as pointed out by <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2019/9/4/20848715/jussie-smollett-chicago-police-probe-lawsuit-gay-homophobic-attack">The Chicago Sun-Times</a>&#8216; Michael Sneed. &#8220;[T]he latest court filing contends even if Smollett did make a false report, there is no way the city can assert he would have known the city would investigate — and investigate it to the extent cops did,&#8221; Sneed notes.
&#8220;The mere fact somebody filed a police report doesn’t presume the investigation will be done and certainly not to the extent of what the city is claiming,&#8221; Quinlan argues in the filing. &#8220;Smollett has no control over that.&#8221;
&#8220;The filing of a police report, in and of itself, does not necessitate a sprawling investigation nor does it, as a practical matter, usually result in an investigation as extensive as the one the CPD chose to undertake in this case,&#8221; reads the motion, as highlighted by Sneed, adding: &#8220;The City has failed to allege that Mr. Smollett was similarly &#8216;well aware&#8217; that his statements to police would result in 1,836 hours of police overtime, or any other reasons why he should have known this would have been the case.&#8221;
Quinlan makes sure to maintain a sense of optimism about the case, declaring that it&#8217;s &#8220;going to be very difficult for the city to prevail in making a case my client should pay for overtime for a case ultimately dismissed by the state’s attorney,&#8221; and that it&#8217;s &#8220;ridiculous and a stretch to require him to do so.&#8221;
The city, which has made clear its determination to follow through on the case abruptly dropped by Cook County State&#8217;s Attorney Kim Foxx, apparently feels otherwise. As for Foxx, two weeks ago, Cook County Judge Michael Toomin appointed a special prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, to lead the investigation into how Foxx&#8217;s office handled Smollett&#8217;s case.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50967/breaking-special-prosecutor-appointed-jussie-ryan-saavedra">Special Prosecutor Appointed In Jussie Smollett Investigation</a>

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