Attorney General Lisa Madigan today requested the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to initiate an investigation to determine whether practices by the Chicago Police Department violate the Constitution and federal law.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Madigan asked for an investigation into the Chicago Police Department’s use of force, including deadly force; the adequacy of its review and investigation of officers’ use of force and investigation of allegations of misconduct; its provision of training, equipment and supervision of officers to allow them to do their job safely and effectively; and whether there exists a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing.
Madigan said an investigation by the U.S. DOJ Civil Rights Division is necessary and appropriate, given its experience investigating the practices of police departments across the country and based on its experience prosecuting former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. An investigation by the DOJ Civil Rights Division also ensures there is an outside, independent review of CPD practices.
Madigan issued the following statement regarding her letter:
“The shocking death of Laquan McDonald is the latest tragedy in our city that highlights serious questions about the use of unlawful and excessive force by Chicago police officers and the lack of accountability for such abuse. Trust in the Chicago Police Department is broken. Chicago cannot move ahead and rebuild trust between the police and the community without an outside, independent investigation into its police department to improve policing practices. I know the vast majority of officers in the Chicago Police Department serve with bravery, honor and integrity. The children in all of Chicago’s communities deserve to grow up in a city in which they are protected and served by the police.”
The mother of a man shot and killed by Chicago police last year said she has rejected the city’s proposed settlement and wants it to release dashcam footage of the slaying because it shows her son was unarmed when he was killed.
The mother of Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson, Dorothy Holmes, told reporters during a press conference Tuesday that she has declined a proposed settlement by the city of Chicago in her federal civil lawsuit over her son’s death. Holmes said she will not take hush money from a city that has been doling it out in the millions to cover-up questionable police shootings, like the $5 million paid to Laquan McDonald’s family this past summer. […]
Her son was running through Washington Park on Oct. 12, 2014, on Chicago’s South Side when Officer George Hernandez shot him to death. Then, a familiar story was told to the press.
Johnson had a gun, Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden told the media. (Camden is the same de facto cop spokesman who claimed McDonald “lunged” at police with a knife, causing them to open fire.) Hernandez was not in uniform and driving an unmarked car when he responded to a call of shots fired. Johnson became an automatic suspect because he was running. Camden said Johnson was carrying a gun when at one point he turned toward Hernandez, causing the officer to shoot.
Holmes and her attorney said they’ve seen the dashcam video and it shows police are lying.
Johnson is seen sprinting through the park with nothing in his hands, they said.
“He’s running with palms up,” said William Calloway, an activist who speaks on behalf of Johnson’s family. “The video’s not blurry. It’s not grainy. It is clear as day.”
“They killed him and he was unarmed,” he told The Daily Beast.
Even worse, according to a stunning and volatile allegation by Holmes’s attorney, is that police framed Johnson after they killed him by planting a gun on his person.
Democrats across the city are running for the position of Republican ward committeeman in Chicago in an apparent bid to extend their influence within the party.
In the 23rd ward, which is within Mike Madigan’s state representative district, Robert Handzik has filed as a Republican. Handzik was among those who circulated petitions for Madigan’s fake Republican opponent two years ago. He does not attend county Republican meetings and does not respond to calls or inquiries from the Republican Party.
In the other ward within Madigan’s district, the 13th, an unknown candidate named “Gabriel Trejo” has filed. According to Board of Elections records, Mr. or Ms. Trejo has voted in the Democratic primary in the last four elections and has never voted in a Republican primary.
Of the 25 candidates who have filed as of 12:35 pm, 15 have Democratic voting histories. Nine have voted exclusively in Democratic primaries.
Even among those with recent Republican voting histories, a prior history of Democratic voting is evident.
The reason for this burst of activity is twofold.
First, as one of Pat Quinn’s last acts before leaving office, he and Mike Madigan passed a series of changes to Illinois election law. Among those changes is a new requirement that Republican ward committeeman sign off on election judges in their ward. Prior to the change, election judges could be placed by the Republican County Chairman.
Bruce Rauner used the older law to good effect in the 2014 cycle by funding an effort to put genuine Republican election judges in precincts across the city. The purpose was to control vote fraud in precincts that had previously been controlled exclusively by Democrats. With the new law, Rauner would now need to get the approval of each Republican ward committeeman to place judges in that ward — an impossible task, if the Democrats control the Republican ward committeman seat.
The second reason is that in 2014, the Chicago Republican Party ran candidates for office across the city, forcing Democrats to campaign in districts in which they had never had a challenge. The newly-active Republican Party caused Democrats to spend time and money in the city. Democrat-controlled Republican committeemen can impede that effort and even prevent it in some districts.
The Democrat-controlled Chicago Board of Elections recently made the process for Republican candidates in the city more difficult by quadrupling the signature requirements for Republican ward committeeman. While a Republican candidate in the 43rd ward, for example, only needed 99 signatures in the last cycle, the new requirement is 404 signatures. The rule of thumb is that a candidate should double or triple the minimum number, meaning that a simple ward committeeman slot can require 1,000 signatures. It’s much easier for a well-funded Democrat organization to get this number of signatures than a Republican one in the city.
“We’re fed up with Mike Madigan’s interference in our party,” said Chicago Republican Party Chairman Chris Cleveland. “There is no reason for him to do this, except to use election law to prevent Chicago Republicans from running for office, and to allow vote fraud to flourish.”
Republicans are currently contemplating a legal challenge.
The White House is proposing to offer governors individualized reports about refugees in their states.
White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said in letters to all 50 governors that upon receiving a governor’s request, the State Department would send back a “tailored report” on refugees resettled in the last month and throughout the year so far. […]
McDonough says the State Department would update the information monthly on a password-protected website. He says it would break down refugees by nationality, gender and age range.
White House Press Secretary Joshua Earnest said Wednesday that the White House “will provide more frequent updates on refugees resettled in their states and increase information-sharing on our extensive security precautions.”
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner was not placated. He still wants Illinois to temporarily halt acceptance of Syrian refugees in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris. Likewise, more than half the nation’s governors say they are rolling up the welcome mat. […]
Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly said the letter completely ignores the governor’s request that background vetting information be provided to state officials prior to refugee resettlement in Illinois.
The White House “wants to provide limited information after resettlement has already occurred,” she said.
“Given the close coordination that exists between state and federal officials on a range of issues related to homeland security, the White House’s continued refusal to provide vetting information to states prior to resettling refugees is truly puzzling,” she added.
The University of Illinois Flash Index reversed a three-month trend in November and climbed to 106.1. The index measures economic activity in Illinois and shows that the state continues to slowly recover from the Great Recession, which technically ended more than six years ago.
The increase to 106.1 reverses three straight months of decline, which saw the index fall from 106.6 in August to 105.8 last month. The decline indicated only a minor slowing of growth for those three months, as an index of 100 marks the division between growth and shrinkage in the economy.
The U. S. economy remains strong in comparison with rest of the world, said U of I economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the monthly index for the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. While state and national unemployment remained stubbornly high for several years during the recovery, rates have come down the last couple of years to pre-recession levels. For instance, the Illinois rate was over 10 percent in 2011 and has fallen to 5.4 percent today. The hope now is that wages will also begin to respond, Giertz said.
“There is no definitive way to isolate the impact on the economy of the continuing state budget impasse,” Giertz said. “The growth of Illinois economy has not changed markedly since the situation began in July. At some point, however, deadlock will take its toll.”
* Today is December 1st, and that means it’s Golden Horseshoe Awards time. What started out as a tongue in cheek thing has grown to a coveted annual prize in some circles.
For you newbies, I judge these awards based more on intensity of the nominations than actual vote counts. If you just nominate somebody without explanation, I’m likely to ignore it. So explain your votes, please.
We’ll begin with after-hours entertainment. I’m doing three today because we are on a short schedule this year…
* Best Statehouse-area bartender/waiter/waitress
* Best Springfield political restaurant
* Best Springfield political bar
Please do your very best to nominate in all three categories. And, again, explanations matter more than raw vote totals.
City Hall sources, meanwhile, talked to POLITICO, working to dispel theories that the mayor controlled the release of the explosive police shooting video to protect his own political interests, saying it was attorneys representing McDonald who first approached the city with a settlement offer. City Hall sources say the team representing McDonald reached out to the city on Feb. 27 — three days after Emanuel failed to clinch reelection and was forced into a runoff — asking to settle before filing a lawsuit. ‘I can tell you the timing of this was driven by their reaching us, by their desire to settle,’ one of the sources said.
Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy admitted Tuesday on NBC Chicago that the initial press release sent out after 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was fatally shot 16 times by an officer last year was wrong.
“The initial press release was mistaken, no two ways about it,” he said. “I guess that’s my fault.”
Police initially said an officer shot McDonald in the chest when the teen refused to drop a knife and continued to walk toward officers. Authorities also said the boy lunged at officers with the knife.
But dash-cam video of the shooting shows an officer shooting the teen several times as he appeared to walk away from police.
McCarthy added that he didn’t see dash-cam video of the shooting until the day after the press release went out.
“At that point I was too involved in trying to learn the circumstances of this event and what I needed to do internally and externally and communication is a part of that, no two ways about it, but in this particular case my greatest concern was that information came from elsewhere that he had lunged at the officers, which we knew not be the case and that was what I was trying to fix behind the scenes with the FOP quite frankly,” he said.
Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy has been fired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, sources said Tuesday.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The reporter who forced the city to release the LaQuan McDonald video says there’s more…
What did these officers do following the shooting? In the first video released, you don’t see them bending down to comfort or render aid to Laquan.
Instead, police moved around some of their vehicles. We know this because video from a car that arrived on scene five minutes after the shooting shows a different configuration of cars than were seen when Van Dyke fired. This is important because each of these cruisers records what happens in front of them thanks to dashcams. Police have said that the five videos they released are the only ones from the scene that night, but police did not release video from the police car that likely shows Laquan’s face—and thus likely shows the shooting from the clearest angle.
*** UPDATE 3 *** The problem with throwing him under the bus is there aren’t many more bodies left to jettison…
Rahm on his decision to push out McCarthy: "He has become an issue rather than dealing with the issue."
A primary battle could be shaping up in the 99th House District that covers much of the city of Springfield. Republican Kent Gray of Leland Grove filed nominating petitions Monday. Gray is a lawyer and member of the Lincoln Land Community College board. He has also been named campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Republican Sara Wojcicki-Jimenez of Leland Grove has also filed. Jimenez was appointed to the seat two weeks ago to replace former Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, who was named state agriculture director. Jimenez, former chief of staff to first lady Diana Rauner, was backed by the governor for the appointment. […]
In the 50th Senate District, Bryce Benton of Springfield, a state trooper and member of the Prairie Capital Convention Center board, filed to run as a Republican against incumbent state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview. Benton said McCann has alienated himself with Rauner and other Republicans because of positions he’s taken, such as voting to send state worker labor talks to an arbitrator. McCann, though, has been endorsed by the Sangamon County Republican Party organization. […]
A Republican primary could also be in store in the 95th House District represented by Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond. Republican Dennis Scobbie of Litchfield has filed to run against Bourne who was appointed to the seat when former Rep. Wayne Rosenthal, R-Morrisonville, was named director of the Department of Natural Resources. Scobbie is a retired teacher who is a member of the Litchfield School Board.
On Monday, Republican Christopher Hicks of Sawyerville also filed. Hicks works for Incremental Sales and Marketing, which handles sales for a beer distributorship. Hicks criticized Bourne for voting “present” on a bill to send state employee labor talks to arbitration.
Discuss.
*** UPDATE *** These Rauner guys are really quite good at getting people out of the way…
Sangamon County assistant state’s attorney Gray Noll will be nominated by Morgan County Republicans to replace Morgan County state’s attorney Robert Bonjean III, who has decided not to seek re-election.
Noll, 38, also is a member of the Springfield Park Board and recently was a candidate to replace State Rep. Raymond Poe after Poe was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture last month. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez, who was First Lady Diana Rauner’s chief of staff, was instead appointed to that post.
Noll, a graduate of Illinois College and the Southern Illinois University School of Law, has been an assistant prosecutor in Sangamon County for 13 years. […]
He said if he receives the appointment, he and his wife, Lauren, will move to Morgan County and he will give up his Springfield Park Board seat.
Gov. Bruce Rauner will meet with four legislative leaders at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the state capitol to continue budget negotiations as the state enters its sixth month without a formal budget in place.
The legislative leaders who will meet with the governor include House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago; Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago; House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs; and Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont.
The leaders haven’t met as a group since May.
The governor’s office announced Monday the first hour of the meeting will be streamed live online; each legislative leader will speak for 10 minutes, and then the governor will speak. The Southern previously reported that after the public portion, the meeting will continue in private.
Few expect any kind of breakthrough, with the meeting derided by politicians in both parties as more about show than substance. As Rauner himself said last month, “What human being likes to negotiate in front of a TV camera and make a compromise on TV? People don’t do that.”
Madigan has shown in recent weeks that he’s still more interested in playing political games and putting non-winning proposals up for votes rather than solving real problems.
At the same time, Rauner has placed too much emphasis on anti-union rhetoric and not enough on solving a long list of financial problems the state faces.
The result is the current gridlock, which is unlikely to be solved today.
However, the solution to the stalemate will only occur if the leaders start to communicate. So while expectations for today should be low, we agree with Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington: “A meeting is better than no meeting.’’
* Once again, the Tribune editorial board doesn’t explain what reforms it actually supports. They just back their guy against the other guy…
Rauner has said publicly that he’s willing to talk about a tax hike to bring in more money to balance the budget, but he wants fundamental changes in how Illinois operates. We stand firmly with him on this. An exercise that simply matches some spending cuts and some tax hikes will help Illinois limp through another year.
But that’s not good enough. Just look at that credit rating — the worst in the nation. Moody’s warns that the state’s credit could drop lower.
The five people who can do something about that will be in the same room Tuesday. Expectations are low. Ambitions have to be high.
Word is, if the governor and four leaders hope to save some face, it may be with an agreement to move a local aid funding bill — containing money for Illinois lottery payouts, roads and other items. It already passed the House, then stalled once House Speaker Mike Madigan’s lieutenants put a hold on it.
Subscribers know more about that particular topic. But keep an eye on it.
* From Emily Miller at Voices for Illinois Children…
If this meeting yields payouts for lottery winners and roads (both totally legitimate expenses in the context of an entire budget), but continues the budget stalemate when it comes to social services for children, care for people who suffer from mental illness, meals on wheels for homebound seniors and people with disabilities, infant mortality prevention, early childhood education, services for victims of domestic and sexual violence, breast and cervical cancer screenings, afterschool programs for kids, job training programs, and the entire higher education system, including MAP grants, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle need to start questioning their leaders about where their priorities lie.
It’s time for a new framework for budget talks– a framework built around talking about, wait for it, an actual fully funded year-long budget that invests in vital programs for children, families and communities.
We’ve got to remove non-budget policy agenda items from their current position as a precursor to making any responsible budget decisions.
* Comptroller Leslie Munger’s chief of staff just called to say his boss will be able to make the full state pension payment for December. The comptroller couldn’t make the November payment, but holiday sales tax receipts and quarterly income tax payments will help the office make the December payment.
The missed November payment will be made sometime in the spring, I’m told.
In the past, the comptroller made a single pension payment during the fiscal year, but Comptroller Topinka was able to make them every month after taxes were increased in 2011.
* I told subscribers about Gonzalez weeks ago. The other two candidates are new, however…
Those watching the Illinois election board’s web site closely saw a last-minute time-stamp for a widely-rumored Hispanic candidate to challenge [House Speaker Michael Madigan] in the 22nd district. That happened when Jason Gonzales filed.
So Madigan vs. Gonzales? Maybe this guy could actually give the much-maligned Madigan a run for his money in a Southwest Side race.
But wait. Not last-minute enough. In what insiders see as a Madigan play, two end-of-the-night filers then came online and filed their petitions as well: Joe Barboza and Graciela Rodriguez. So Madigan versus Barboza, Rodriguez and Gonzales. Listen as the air deflates.
The rule of thumb for incumbents with primaries is: The more, the merrier. So, yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if MJM put up those other two.
* Now, on to the caption contest. From Jason Gonzalez’s Twitter page…
The Kirk For Senate campaign launched its second television ad of the 2016 U.S. Senate race, titled “Trust”. The ad highlights the contrast on national security issues between Senator Mark Kirk and Rep. Tammy Duckworth. Since the Paris attacks, Rep. Duckworth has called on the United States to accept 200,000 Syrian refugees–20 times more than the President has requested–while simultaneously voting against the America SAFE Act that would require greater screening of refugees to ensure none are associated with ISIS. The statewide ad buy begins today.
Statement from Kirk For Senate Campaign Manager Kevin Artl:
“The facts remain that ISIS used the Syrian refugee crisis to smuggle its terrorists into France and carry out their tragic and deadly acts. Yet Rep. Duckworth continues to ignore the concerns of the Director of the FBI, Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center about our government’s flawed vetting process which cannot ensure that these refugees are not part of ISIS. Instead of listening to the experts, Rep. Duckworth is doubling down on a reckless plan to let in 200,000 Syrians - 20 times more than the amount the Obama Administration is requesting. Rep Duckworth’s plan demonstrates a complete lack of judgment and creates unnecessary security risks for American families.”
In 2009, the flawed vetting system allowed two al Qaeda terrorists disguised as Iraqi refugees to settle in Kentucky, according to an ABC News Investigation. This investigation resulted in the temporary halt of the refugee program by the Obama Administration.
Less than a month ago, Rep. Duckworth voted against the American SAFE Act. This bipartisan measure requires the FBI Director, DHS Secretary and Director of National Intelligence to certify that each refugee admitted to the United States from Syria or Iraq poses no national security risk.
· Mr. Valls Said Some Of The Paris Attackers Had Taken Advantage Of The Massive Influx Of Migrants Into Europe Fleeing Conflict. (”These Individuals Took Advantage Of The Refugee Crisis… Of The Chaos, Perhaps, For Some Of Them To Slip In” to France, He Told French TV. “Paris Killers Used Refugee Crisis To Slip In,” SKY News, 11/20/2015)
· Two Of The Terrorists Bought Ferry Tickets From Leros To Continue Through Europe With Syrian Refugees. (”Paris Attacks: BBC Names Stade De France Bombers As M Al-Mahmod,” BBC, 11/22/2015)
Amazingly, Tammy Duckworth still wants to bring 200,000 Syrian refugees to America, even though the FBI says they cannot be safely screened.
Citations:
· But U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Schaumburg, said at a separate event that the country needs to “have confidence in our intelligence services” and not put up walls. “Our nation is better than that,” Duckworth said, underlining her support for a measure to allow up to 200,000 refugees from the war-plagued country in the U.S. (Greg Hinz, “Stark Political Split Opens Up On Syrian Refugees,”Crain’s Chicago Business, 11/16/15)
· The Head of the FBI Said The Screening Process Is Not 100% Accurate. “I can’t sit here and offer anybody an absolute assurance that there’s no risk associated with this,” Comey said. (Jerry Markon, “Senior Obama Officials Have Warned of Challenges In Screening Refugees From Syria,” Washington Post, 11/17/2015)
Duckworth supports 20 times more refugees than the President.
Citation:
· Obama Said He Will Continue With His Plan To Allow 10,000 Syrian Refugees Over The Next Year. (Eric Lichtblau, “White House Affirms Syrian Refugee Pan Despite Paris Attacks,” New York Times, 11/18/15)
DUCKWORTH CLIP
“I signed on for 200,000 refugees.”
Citation:
· Duckworth Says Publicly She Wants 200,000 Refugees Allowed Into The U.S. (Fox Chicago News: “Reporter on Senator Mark Kirk and Rep. Tammy Duckworth addressing the Syrian refugee crisis” FOX Chicago, 11/15/2015)
ANNCR:
Mark Kirk opposes more Syrian refugees until it can be done safely.
Citation:
· Kirk Calls On Obama To Pause Intake of Syrian Refugees Until There Is 100% Guarantee With Vetting Process (Mark Kirk, “We’ve Already Let Terrorists In As Refugee,” Chicago Tribune, 11/24/215)
For your family’s safety: Who do you trust?
KIRK:
I’m Mark Kirk and I approve this message.
Rate it.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Response…
Good morning. In response to Sen. Mark Kirk’s new ad, please see the following statement, attributable to Matt McGrath, deputy campaign manager. Please also see the attached document, which goes point-by-point on Sen. Kirk’s uncertainty and dishonesty on this matter:
“We agree this is a crucial difference in this campaign. Tammy Duckworth believes leadership comes through strength, not fear. Mark Kirk’s worldview, on the other hand, is driven very much by fear and a willingness to compromise American values and to act how enemies like ISIS want us to act.
He has called for the mass incarceration of African Americans and suggested we just drive faster through African American neighborhoods. He suggested the President’s goal was to arm the Iranians with nukes, and compared the Iran peace agreement to Nazi appeasement. He wanted to place coffins outside the offices of his political opponents. Now, like Donald Trump, he’s appealing to base xenophobia, sowing fear of refugees in the midst of one of the largest humanitarian crises of our time. His ad is false, and he knows it, but worse yet it appeals exclusively to fear and the lowest common denominator. He should be ashamed. Illinois deserves better.”— Matt McGrath, campaign spokesman
* Fran Spielman reports on Latino politicians who have turned against Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez…
On Monday, vanquished mayoral challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and six of the City Council’s 10 Hispanic aldermen demanded that Alvarez resign for taking 13 months to charge a white Chicago Police officer with the first-degree murder of the African-American teenager.
“As we seek now to heal our city and our county, and as we as a society seek to enact long-overdue reforms of our criminal justice system, we need law enforcement officials who are honest, fair, and professional,” Garcia said.
“Too much is at stake to allow Anita Alvarez to continue in the position of Cook County state’s attorney, and accordingly, we call on her today to resign immediately.”
Joining Garcia at the news conference were four aldermen: Susie Salowski Garza (10th), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), Gilbert Villegas (36th) and Ricardo Muñoz (22nd). Two other Hispanic aldermen — Roberto Maldonado (26th) and Proco Joe Moreno (1st) — also joined the call for Alvarez’s resignation, but did not attend.
“Ms. Alvarez’s record as the county’s chief prosecutor has been replete with actions that show a disdain for restorative justice and a petty vindictiveness wholly inappropriate for her office.”
Alvarez’s office later issued a written response to the latest demand for her to leave:
“I am a professional prosecutor and I am not driven by politics. I offer no apologies for enlisting the FBI to investigate Laquan’s murder because obviously the Chicago Police Department could not investigate themselves in this case. And I certainly do not apologize for conducting a meticulous and thorough investigation to build the strongest possible First Degree Murder case against Officer Van Dyke.”
Garcia did not call for the resignation of Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, however, saying he wanted to let a Chicago city council hearing into the matter play out first.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Monday called for State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to step down and for Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy to be ousted because of their handling of the investigation into the shooting of an African-American teen by a white Chicago police officer.
“I’ve had no confidence in (Alvarez’s) leadership for a very long time,” said Preckwinkle, who is backing her former chief of staff, Kim Foxx, over Alvarez in the March 15 Democratic primary election. “I think the way she has run the office is disgraceful.” […]
Preckwinkle said McCarthy either knew or should have known months ago that 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was not lunging at police when Officer Jason Van Dyke shot him 16 times in October 2014. […]
Alvarez released a statement saying she would not be “driven by politics” or “bullied by politicians who do not have a full understanding of the facts of this investigation.”
Who failed Chicago and how? That question demands an answer, not a scapegoat. It demands an investigation independent of the political stakeholders in the Police Department, the state’s attorney’s office or City Hall.
Since April, the U.S. attorney’s office has been conducting an investigation of the McDonald shooting. We don’t know the nature or scope of that investigation; we do know the feds have a formidable track record for prosecuting wrongdoing that other agencies have dismissed or discounted. This is the place for an investigation of all the circumstances around this shooting.
There will be no accountability until Chicagoans know the truth about what happened to Laquan McDonald — and about what happened next.
* Frankly, getting rid of Alvarez and McCarthy and investigating this particular cover-up isn’t gonna do much to change things if this story is true…
If you did think an officer was lying, even in the most egregious cases where there was a dead suspect, reporting such behavior was met with severe consequences like taking cases away from young prosecutors, marginalization in the office and yelling and reprimand.
In my interviews with more than two dozen prosecutors and former prosecutors, they revealed that management did not support the attorneys who came forward; instead, they acted as henchmen at many levels of command, thwarting and even threatening whistle-blowers.
One prosecutor described a killing hauntingly reminiscent to the shooting death of LaQuan McDonald and how it may have played out if a prosecutor tried to investigate Officer Jason Van Dyke. As this assistant State’s Attorney explained:
A police officer killed a guy and they said he was shooting at them at the time. I could tell that didn’t make much sense, but I put the blinders on. [I got conflicting stories from police officers that came in at two different times]. I told my supervisor, and he asked why I had had them come in separately (I hadn’t, they just came in that way) and told me that I should have them get together and straighten it out. He got mad at me. [I went up the chain of command with the complaint, and didn’t get a response]. One supervisor told me, “You’re a prosecutor, not a defense attorney.” One supervisor got so mad that he threw an ashtray against the wall and broke it. They wouldn’t let me see Daley (State’s Attorney and Former Chicago Mayor) about it. They took the case from me and gave it to another lawyer…
…Adding… State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago)…
To be effective, our outrage must be focused, our demands specific and sharp. Charging Jason Van Dyke with first-degree murder is not enough. There was a cover-up, and anyone involved in it must be held accountable. If we do not tear down the blue curtain of silence once and for all, Laquan McDonalds will continue to die in our city. We must never forget that the video – and the truth – were not simply handed to us. Instead, they were ripped from reluctant hands by journalists, citizens and the courts.
Policing reform legislation I co-sponsored this year provides a pathway to the appointment of a special prosecutor in cases such as this one. The law takes effect in January, and it must be used to help bring to justice rogue cops and those who cover for them. In the meantime, we need a fresh start. State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez must step down. She has failed in her responsibility to timely, openly prosecute a heinous crime that not only took a life but betrayed the public trust.
I am immensely proud of all who have protested peacefully in Chicago, and on Friday, I was honored to march alongside young people and veterans of the Civil Rights Movement alike on Michigan Avenue. I am more confident than ever that apathy and self-absorption will not succeed in suppressing the human bent toward basic fairness. Not only people of color, but all people who respect justice should be outraged and engaged, and that is the unity I have witnessed since the release of the video last week.
But if these protests do not result in top-to-bottom change, we will be here again – perhaps a month from now, maybe six months or a year from now. Our voices must not die away. We must not stand by while police officers act as judge, jury and executioner on our streets. We will remain united for justice.
The St. Clair County Circuit Court has ruled in favor of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, which was granted a temporary restraining order against Gov. Bruce Rauner and Comptroller Leslie Munger. The ruling issued late Wednesday (attached) protects health insurance for nearly 5,000 low-wage home healthcare workers in Illinois. The home healthcare workers serve adults with disabilities in Illinois’ Home Services Program. (Case No. 15 CH 475.)
Despite a contract requiring the State of Illinois to contribute health insurance benefits for home healthcare workers, Gov. Rauner refused to pay the State’s contribution to the workers’ health fund. Rauner’s administration owes the health fund $1.5 million from fiscal year 2015, as well as approximately $11.8 million for work already performed for the months of July through October in fiscal year 2016. If Gov. Rauner failed to honor the State’s contractual obligations to continue health contributions, workers would have lost all of their health insurance after December 31st, 2015.
The state’s 52,000 home healthcare and child care workers-the largest bloc of workers in Illinois-continue to work without a contract.
In response to the temporary restraining order, Keith Kelleher, President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, issued the following statement:
“We applaud the St. Clair County Circuit Court ruling to protect our home healthcare workers from a potentially devastating economic and health crisis.
“The Court’s ruling is yet another major rebuke to Gov. Bruce Rauner’s extreme agenda and another example of Rauner’s failure in leading and managing Illinois’ finances, contracts and basic state operations.
“Lisa Viti, a home healthcare worker in Berwyn, suffers from diabetes and extremely high blood pressure and must take eight medications daily. She is among thousands of other home care workers whose health insurance was protected by the Court’s ruling. If Gov. Rauner had been successful in stripping away Ms. Viit’s health insurance that she currently gets from the health fund, her life-saving prescriptions would have cost more than $1,000 a month, forcing Ms. Viti to choose between her health or losing her own home. This is an example of Gov. Rauner’s agenda in a nutshell.
“Let’s not forgot how we got here. Gov. Rauner chose to use low-wage home healthcare workers, and their health insurance and economic security, as ‘leverage’ for his extreme anti-worker and political agenda.
“Gov. Rauner manufactured the State’s ongoing government shutdown for over five months now with no resolution in sight. But then Rauner claimed he had no budget authority to pay money into the health fund, putting workers, their families, and adults with disabilities in jeopardy and potentially devastating our vital workforce.
“Rauner’s attempt to manipulate and gamble with peoples’ livelihoods and health security is utterly reprehensible. Rauner’s actions show how little he cares about the struggles of low-wage workers and families in Illinois and how willing he is to use them as pawns in his political game.”
[Chicago politicians] want Alvarez to wear the jacket for it all.
Rahm seems to be throwing her under his bus, but he doesn’t want his fingerprints on her. So his ally, David Axelrod, threw her under.
Axelrod is a Rahm pal, but for years he was also the mouthpiece for former Mayor Richard Daley, and was the top political and media strategist for Obama. It’s a Chicago thing.
“Why did it take a year to indict a CPD officer who shot a kid 16 times?” Axelrod tweeted Tuesday night. “Would it have happened today if judge hadn’t ordered video release?”
That puts it on Alvarez. Does she deserve it?
I don’t think so. To me, she’s not the issue.
The video threatened Rahm Emanuel and his pursuit of power. Alvarez told reporters she’d been waiting for the feds to issue a joint announcement with her office. That didn’t happen.
Funny how things work out.
Axelrod’s tweet legitimizes a self-preservation tactic Chicago politicians have been pursuing for the last day or so: They know people are angry over what happened to 17-year-old McDonald. They want to be safe from that anger. So they’re directing the mob to go against Alvarez.
You’ll get zero excuses about Rahm from me. He was obviously covering things up. But we can’t ignore what Alavarez has done over the years. This was no one-off event.
In announcing the charge against Van Dyke, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said forensic testing revealed no evidence that anyone had intentionally erased the Burger King video. NBC5 News first broke the story about the missing footage.
“We have looked at those videos and … it doesn’t appear that it’s been tampered with,” Alvarez told reporters. […]
The officers stayed on the scene until almost midnight and even brought in their own information technology specialist when it appeared they were having trouble operating the system, [Jay Darshane, a Burger King district manager] said. […]
When the video system kicked back on, it recorded two police officers in the Burger King office who appeared to be looking at something on the monitor over and over, according to Michael Robbins, an attorney representing McDonald’s family.
Yeah, I’m sure they were looking over and over at nothing whatsoever.
She waited over a year to charge the cop, even though this appears to be an open and shut case, and then she says no tampering was done on the BK video and expects us to trust her.
Plus, unlike Emanuel, she’s up for reelection next year. She ought to face some heat.
Others took a more draconian line. Vince Tribo, 84, was out shopping for underwear. He said he lived in Flossmoor but also keeps a downtown condo, and that he “doesn’t really believe in protesting.”
“I grew up in Italy under Mussolini — I wasn’t brought up with all this,” he confided with a smile, gesturing to the crowd, which was chanting that McDonald had been shot 16 times. “There was more discipline and law and order.
“My mother always said that before Mussolini came to power it was lawless,” he added, before gesturing to the crowd again and adding, “it was like this.”
I gave thanks this week for being able to ply my trade in one of the most continually interesting buildings in Illinois.
Heading into the press offices carved in the Illinois Capitol these recent weeks, I’ve been recalling memorable moments that occurred during my tenure as a reporter covering state government and politics in Springfield.
Go read the whole thing. As we’ve discussed before, Kurt is moving to Missouri to report on that state’s capital.
Months after formally endorsing Gov. Bruce Rauner’s controversial turnaround agenda for Illinois, Lincolnshire officials are going further by moving to establish the town as a right-to-work zone.
Trustees are considering an ordinance that would prevent local employers from automatically deducting union dues from workers’ paychecks. Eliminating that mandatory deduction means workers couldn’t be fired if they choose not to pay union dues or fees. […]
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has issued a formal opinion that municipal right-to-work zones aren’t allowed under federal law. […]
The Illinois Policy Institute — a nonprofit research group that focuses on economic and government issues — disagrees. It endorses the right-to-work concept and says Illinois law doesn’t prevent home-rule communities, such as Lincolnshire, from adopting such ordinances. […]
When asked for his opinion of Lincolnshire’s proposal and the potential legal risks, village attorney Adam Simon said officials are relying on the Illinois Policy Institute’s analysis. He declined to comment further.
For the first time in seven months, the small group of people who could bring an end to the state’s epic budget impasse are finally going to meet.
But, rank-and-file lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say Tuesday’s pow-wow with Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Legislature’s four leaders may be more of a public spectacle than a productive meeting.
“So there’s a meeting in Springfield. Great,” said state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton. “What I want to see is a common-sense plan from the governor to lead us out of this impasse that he created.”
“I do not have high hopes for the meeting,” added state Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon. “It’s going to be theater.”
* Just a taste of what’s at stake from recent news stories…
* Vendor Payment Program suspended in Illinois budget impasse: Vendors facing payment delays have lost another lifeline for getting what they are owed. The Vendor Payment Program gets cash quickly to vendors who have provided products or services to the state but have not been paid. It has been temporarily suspended because legislators and Gov. Bruce Rauner have not agreed on a permanent state budget.
* Budget impasse traps people dependent on utility help: Unable to work since 2005, the 57-year-old Effingham woman has been relying on the state’s Percentage of Income Payment (PIP) utility assistance program to help her pay her power bill on a $753 disability check. But the state budget impasse has eliminated the PIP programs, at least for the time being. She’s eligible for the Low Income Household Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), but she said that’s not an immediate option.
* Legislators, Rauner must compromise: More than 5,000 NIU Monetary Assistance Program grant recipients are at risk of having to repay MAP grants that were credited by NIU despite no money coming in from the state, and the university plans to spend $300,000 to maintain the Stevens Building — a state project — over the winter to avoid $1 million worth of damage.
* State needs to fund services for people with disabilities: Every day this stalemate goes unresolved social service agencies struggle to keep their doors open. Agencies sign contracts with the state to provide valuable community-based services, and that’s what they continue to do – even though payments are not being processed for state-funded grant programs.
* Enforcement of underage drinking laws slows during Illinois budget standoff: Liquor commission sting operations are among the latest casualties of Illinois’ nearly five-month budget standoff, with only 38 this past August — the most recent month for which figures are available — compared with 208 in August 2014.
* Little interest in loans to cover state shortfalls: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s plan to offer loans to help cash-strapped local governments weather the lingering budget storm appears to be drawing little interest. According to the director of the Illinois Finance Authority, only two 911 emergency telephone systems have inquired about the loans, and neither has taken the steps to apply for the financial assistance. The lack of business comes as a surprise, Illinois Finance Authority chief Chris Meister said last week. “I was expecting a lot of calls,” Meister said.
* Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti says the savings from her government consolidation task force proposals will be “huge.” But, as always with this administration, there are anti-union poison pills…
One would give local governments the right to decide what should be part of collective bargaining with public-worker unions. Another would repeal or make changes to union-backed laws requiring governments to pay a certain level of wages and benefits to workers on publicly funded projects.
Holmes said she doesn’t understand why the proposals are part of group’s discussion, other than that “attacks on collective bargaining and organized labor are an ongoing theme” for Rauner.
Sanguinetti countered that many of the officials who spoke to the task force — from cities, universities and elsewhere — said repealing those requirements would save money.
“When Bruce and I were chosen to lead, we promised the people we would change Illinois,” she said.
[Rep. Jack Franks] argued that debating those measures is futile, since they have been repeatedly shot down by Democrats who run the Legislature, and even some GOP lawmakers don’t support them.
“Besides being a waste of time it’s a question of credibility at that point,” Franks said.
It’s like they can’t help themselves or something.
Sheesh.
I mean, haven’t these people ever done any marketing? If your pitch involves pointing to an essential ingredient that you know your targeted consumer will hate, then you’re not gonna get very far with your target audience.
Remember the furor nearly three years ago when newly elected state Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, was the only Republican in the Illinois Senate to vote for a bill to legalize gay marriage in Illinois?
He was criticized by members of his own party — the Ford County Republican Party passed a resolution expressing its displeasure with his vote and former McLean County Republican Party Chair John Parrott said the young senator had made a lot of enemies.
“The outpouring of dissatisfaction from Republicans in McLean County has been overwhelming, along with other county chairmen calling me and talking to me about how disappointed they are in Barickman’s vote,” Parrott said.
But unless someone files [today] to oppose him, Barickman is going to get a pass in the March 15 Republican primary. Although he hasn’t filed yet, Barickman said he’ll do so on Monday.
We’ll see what happens today, but Sen. Barickman is an otherwise conservative Republican, he diligently works his district and, because of the US Supreme Court gay marriage is a done deal nationally. Ain’t nothing anybody can do about it now. Plus, it was probably an overblown issue to begin with, especially by the time it was passed here.
Also, the very real problems Illinois faces completely overshadow the minor little question about whether two people from the same gender can get married. Live and let live, and all that.
* It’s not that there’s a whole lot of new stuff in this Sunday New York Times article, but I’ve been forwarded the link a kabillion times because, I suppose, it’s in the Sunday New York Times…
The richest man in Illinois does not often give speeches. But on a warm spring day two years ago, Kenneth C. Griffin, the billionaire founder of one of the world’s largest hedge funds, rose before a black-tie dinner of the Economic Club of Chicago to deliver an urgent plea to the city’s elite.
They had stood silently, Mr. Griffin told them, as politicians spent too much and drove businesses and jobs from the state. They had refused to help those who would take on the reigning powers in the Illinois Capitol. “It is time for us to do something,” he implored.
Their response came quickly. In the months since, Mr. Griffin and a small group of rich supporters — not just from Chicago, but also from New York City and Los Angeles, southern Florida and Texas — have poured tens of millions of dollars into the state, a concentration of political money without precedent in Illinois history.
Their wealth has forcefully shifted the state’s balance of power. Last year, the families helped elect as governor Bruce Rauner, a Griffin friend and former private equity executive from the Chicago suburbs, who estimates his own fortune at more than $500 million. Now they are rallying behind Mr. Rauner’s agenda: to cut spending and overhaul the state’s pension system, impose term limits and weaken public employee unions.
Here’s what the Chicago Police Department told the media after LaQuan McDonald was killed by a police officer 13 months ago: A drug-addled black kid lunged at a cop with a knife and was then shot in the chest.
Six months later, and a week after Chicago’s mayoral election, the City Council rushed through approval of a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family, even though no lawsuit had been filed.
Seven months after that, the city finally released the dashboard video from a Chicago police car which clearly showed McDonald walking away from the police when he was shot 16 times—and almost all of those shots were fired as he lay bleeding to death on the pavement.
In addition to the officer who shot him, everybody failed that kid, from his own mother, who lost custody of LaQuan after her boyfriend savagely beat him; to the state’s Department of Children and Family Services, which was supposed to protect and help him as his legal ward; to the city’s mayor, who covered up the gruesome manner of McDonald’s death by fighting the release of the dashboard video; to the City Council, for not demanding answers before approving such a huge settlement; to the mainstream media, for not following up on their denied Freedom of Information Act requests with a lawsuit; to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, for her all-too-usual slow-walking of investigations of alleged police misconduct; to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who waited until days before a judge finally acted to claim that the city had violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act by sitting on the video.
Other states take much better care of their young wards. Yes, that can be expensive. But if caring for the kids nobody else wants isn’t one of the state’s most important responsibilities, I don’t know what the heck is.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, LaQuan was sexually molested in two different foster homes that were chosen, vetted and paid for by the state.
Two.
If that doesn’t boggle your mind and enrage your very soul, then absolutely nothing will.
Other states release their police dashboard and body cam videos much, much faster than Illinois. While that may lead to some unrest in the streets, it’s infinitely more democratic and honest than our far too encumbered, lumbering process, which overwhelmingly favors the political interests of those who run things.
Citizens can’t hold politicians accountable if they are deliberately kept in the dark, so Chicagoans deserved the right to know about McDonald’s death before they voted last spring.
And most other states license their police officers.
According to an article in Police Chief magazine, 44 states license police officers and have a statewide process for revoking those licenses.
Illinois does neither, but it’s not for lack of trying.
Earlier this year when the General Assembly was debating law enforcement reforms, police licensure was a hot topic. But, according to its chief sponsor, Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), the idea was derailed by the House Republicans. The proposal was dropped in order to achieve a bipartisan victory on some much-needed reforms like body cams and police training.
Cops have an almost impossible job, particularly in Chicago. Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 23, there have been 2,712 Chicago shooting victims, according to the Chicago Tribune. I wouldn’t want to be a Chicago cop for any amount of money.
The number of fatal shootings by Chicago police (70 in five years) pales in comparison to the total of all shootings. For most, our first instinct is to back the police. It’s a natural reaction. They’re our protectors, so we want to believe they are just and good people, and most definitely are.
But more citizens, particularly in high crime areas, have more contact with the police than they do with any other government employees. And, of course, the cops carry guns and are allowed to use them. In Chicago, official discipline of bad cops is so rare as to be almost non-existent, according to some recent studies. It’s a problem that screams for a remedy from above.
We need to do a better job as a state. The nightmare at DCFS needs to be addressed before the government makes more kids’ lives even worse.
Our Freedom of Information Act should no longer be a freedom from information law.
And we as a state should revisit the police licensing issue, since Chicago apparently can’t seem to take care of this very real problem on its own.
Discuss.
…Adding… The attorney general’s office is adamant that “we did our jobs” in this case and they sent along their early November memo as proof. Click here and decide for yourself.
