EVENING NEWS CLIPS – 8.10.20

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT

MLL AND CPD ADDRESS DOWNTOWN UNREST

ABC7 News at 6PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: we intend to hold you accountable for your actions. i don't care. i do not care whatever justification was given for this. there is no justification for criminal behavior. ever.

ANCHOR: earlier this afternoon, chopper 7 hd was over this major police response. looters were hitting the west garfield park Neighborhood on the city’s west side at about 2:00 this afternoon near pulaski and madison. no word of any arrests being made there. chicago's mayor and police superintendent have a strong message for the looters and the courts, and the states attorneys office.

FOX Chicago News at 5:30PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest
ANCHOR: now at 5:00 we are following developments from the chaos that unfolded overnight in chicago from looting and damage, to what police are doing to find the people responsible. we have coverage at 5:30 with the latest. we start with elizabeth matthews and what set off a wild night of violence and looting. elizabeth?
MATTHEWS: due to the civil unrest, Chicago Police Officers now working 12-hour shifts all days off have been canceled until further notice.

WGN News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: to those who engaged in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you. we are already at work in find you and we intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest
ANCHOR: the big question, what led to the events of last night. Chicago’s top Cop is trying to explain. Elizabeth Matthews continues our team coverage at Chicago Police Headquarters.
MATTHEWS: chicago police believe the unrest was sparked last night because of a shooting that happened in Englewood yesterday. there was a lot of misinformation yesterday about that shooting and a lot of people saying that Chicago Police had shot an unarmed teenager. Chicago Police say that was not the case they actually got into a shoot out with an armed 20- year-old man.

CBS2 News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest
*MLL: He was not a juvenile and he was not unarmed
ANCHOR: Chicago’s Mayor and Police Superintendent blame misinformation for the tension that erupted around yesterday’s non-fatal officer involved shooting in Englewood. But how did the wrong information get out there and how did it lead to coordinated wide spread looting miles away? CBS2 Megan Hickey has been digging into this

ABC7 News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: those who engage in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you and intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

ABC7 News at 4:30PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: to those who engaged in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you. we are already at work in finding you and we intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

ANCHOR: a wild and chaotic scene last night. Looters targeting stores all over the city, and what police are calling a coordinated attack. So this is just some of the damage left behind: 13 police officers were injured, 2 people shot, and more than 100 arrested.

WGN News at 11:30AM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: these individuals engaged in what can only be described as brazen and extensive criminal looting and destruction. and to be clear this had nothing to do with legitimate protected first amendment expression.

CBS2 News at 11AM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: what happened in our city last night and this morning of course is deeply painful.

MLL: what happened in our city last night and this morning of course is deeply painful.

ANCHOR: unrest in downtown chicago as looters hit the loop. more than 100 arrests overnight with 13 police officers injured, trying to stop the thieves and put an end to the violence.

BROWN: what we are seeing is violence against police.

WGN News at 11AM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: let's be clear. we are coming for you. we are already at work and finding you and we will intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

MLL: let's be clear. we are coming for you. we are already at work and finding you and we will intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

ANCHOR: Chicago Mayor lori Lightfoot promising to prosecute anyone who took part in widespread looting overnight downtown on the north side and in the south loop.

In wake of downtown looting, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago does not need National Guard help

TRIBUNE//Gregory Pratt and John Byrne

Mayor Lori Lightfoot rejected calls for the National Guard to patrol Chicago in the wake of overnight looting downtown while defending herself on Monday from criticism that her administration failed to protect the city. Lightfoot said she spoke with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and neither believes the National Guard is needed at this time. The city has been working with the state police, she said.

Aftermath of looting in downtown Chicago: 13 cops injured, 2 people shot, more than 100 arrests, Mag Mile trashed

TRIBUNE//Paige Fry, Jeremy Gorner, Gregory Pratt, Megan Crepeau and Stacy St. Clair

Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores, confronting police and at one point exchanging gunfire with officers, authorities said. More than 100 people were arrested as of 9 a.m., according to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown. Thirteen officers were injured during the unrest, including a sergeant who was hit by a bottle. A civilian and private security guard were shot and wounded.

2 shot, more than 100 people arrested, 13 officers injured amid widespread downtown looting

SUN TIMES//Staff

Two people were shot, more than 100 people were arrested and 13 police officers were injured as crowds broke windows and looted stores along Michigan Avenue and on the Near North Side overnight and into Monday morning. “We are waking up in shock this morning,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot, calling it “brazen criminal looting and destruction.” Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, who joined the mayor for a news conference at CPD headquarters Monday, called it “pure criminality” not connected to any peaceful protest.

Police Say They Arrested More Than 100 People During Mag Mile Looting

WBEZ//Hunter Class, Patrick Smith

Hundreds of people smashed windows, stole from stores and clashed with police early Monday in Chicago’s upscale Magnificent Mile shopping district and other parts of the city. “We are waking up in shock this morning,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Monday morning press conference with Police Superintendent David Brown. The mayor condemned the looting, saying “what happened in our city last night and this morning of course is deeply painful for every Chicagoan.”

Widespread Looting And Gunfire Rock Downtown After Police Shoot Man: ‘We Are Waking Up In Shock’

BLOCK CLUB//Bob Chiarito and Kelly Bauer

DOWNTOWN — There was widespread looting, vandalism and gunfire Sunday night and early Monday Downtown after police shot a 20-year-old man. The unrest came hours after police shot the man Sunday in Englewood. In a statement, police said the man fired at police officers, who then shot him. He was hit in the shoulder and is recovering, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Monday press conference.

'Straight-Up Criminal Activity': Mayor Lightfoot Angered Following Overnight Looting

WBBM RADIO//Staff

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot took questions Monday following the overnight crime that happened in Chicago's downtown area. "This wasn't an exercise of First Amendment rights. This wasn't actions of people who were poor and trying to engage in activity to feed their families. Unfortunately, friends, this was straight-up criminal activity and looting in our downtown, and we will just not tolerate it," Lightfoot said.

More Than 100 People Were Arrested After A Chicago Police Shooting Led To A Night Of Looting

BUZZFEED/Julia Reinstein

A police shooting in Chicago on Sunday sparked a night of havoc and looting, with more than 100 people arrested and 13 officers injured. On Sunday, police shot a 20-year-old man while responding to a call about an individual with a gun. The man fled when approached by officers and shot at them, authorities said. Police fired back at the man, striking him. The man was transported to a hospital and is expected to survive, police said.

Looters smash business windows along Chicago’s Magnificent Mile after police-involved shooting

WASHINGTON POST//Mark Guarino, Tim Elfrink and Teo Armus

CHICAGO — Hundreds of young people looted stores, broke into indoor shopping malls and battled with police overnight Sunday into Monday in the city’s central downtown business district. The reason for the unrest, according to several looters who spoke to The Washington Post on Monday, were reports alleging a police-involved killing of a Black man on the city’s South Side late Sunday afternoon. But police said those accounts were misinformation spread across social media that appeared to encourage people to head downtown to create violence.

CITY RESTRICTS ACCESS TO DOWNTOWN 8PM TO 6AM

ABC7 News at 6PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am

ANCHOR: and now to the nightmare that shook several Chicago neighborhoods this morning. hundreds of looters smashing into businesses already reeling from looting earlier in the summer and the impact from covid-19. this all apparently started when an officer involved shooting happened yesterday afternoon. tonight police will be limiting access to the downtown area to try and stop any other looting.

NBC5 News at 5PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am
ANCHOR: So there will be temporarily restricted access to the downtown area beginning the evening at 8PM overnight until 6AM Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Avenue on the north and i-55 on the south, all downtown bridges will be up by 8 p.m. with some exceptions to that. all expressway ramps from Roosevelt to Division street will be closed in both directions.

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am
ANCHOR: the city, as elizabeth mentioned, putting the downtown area on lockdown. a curfew goes into effect at 8PM and it will lift tomorrow morning at 6:00. most bridges will be up. cta trains will not stop in the loop. bus service continues but with several route changes to be aware of. All expressway ramps from roosevelt to division will be closed in both directions as curfew will remain in effect until further notice. we will have much more on chicago's night of violence and looting throughout the newscast . political editor mike flannery will have more on the political finger-pointing that we are witnessing going on today, as well.

Downtown access will again be restricted 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday into Tuesday. What to know about bridge lifts, bus, train and travel on expressways, city streets

TRIBUNE//Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas

As police activity and unrest subsided in downtown Chicago, emergency officials Monday morning said the city was reopening blocked expressway entrance ramps, restarting Chicago Transit Authority service into downtown, and lowering bridges in time to ward off the worst for commuters. But in updates to residents about the looting that prompted the emergency measures — aimed at keeping people away from the city center after dark — state and city leaders said access to downtown again would be restricted Monday night.

Access to downtown Chicago ‘restricted’ 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. after widespread looting: CPD Supt. Brown

SUN TIMES//Staff

Access to downtown will be “restricted” from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., effective Monday night after crowds broke windows and looted stores along Michigan Avenue and on the Near North Side overnight, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said. Two people were shot, more than 100 people were arrested and 13 police officers were injured in the chaos that erupted in the city’s central business district Sunday night and into Monday morning.

Downtown Chicago To Be Shut Down Again To Prevent Looting, Vandalism, Officials Say

BLOCK CLUB//Kelly Bauer

CHICAGO — The Loop will be closed off starting Monday night after widespread looting there earlier in the day. Access to the area will be restricted 8 p.m.-6 a.m. daily for the foreseeable future, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Supt. David Brown announced Monday morning. It’s not clear yet what will be closed off, but Lightfoot said the city is talking to the CTA and is looking at lifting bridges. Check back for updates.

Milwaukee Avenue Being Closed, Police Increased In Wicker Park After Unrest Downtown

BLOCK CLUB//Hannah Alani

WICKER PARK — Chicago Police are closing Milwaukee Avenue between Damen and Ashland avenues to protect Wicker Park from possible looting, Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said Monday.

The street closure will begin 6 p.m. Monday. Extra officers from the Shakespeare District (14th) will patrol Milwaukee and Elston avenues. “I think CPD — and particularly the 14th District — is trying to be as proactive as possible and really operate out of an abundance of caution,” La Spata said.

MLL AND SUPERINTENDENT BROWN CALL ON KIM FOXX TO FULLY PROSECUTE LOOTERS

FOX Chicago News at 5:30PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
*MLL: is not anywhere near acceptable and i call upon our state's attorney and our courts to make sure these individuals who are arrested, and those to come, are held accountable. put your best people on this.
ANCHOR: Mayor Lori Lightfoot putting the ball in Kim Foxx's court after last nights unrest. Foxx has been criticized for not coming down hard enough on looters earlier this year she impliedy the Mayor is playing a dishonest blame game. Mike Flannery has details on the political fallout from last nights looting.

WGN News at 5:30PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters

ANCHOR: for the second time this summer, many downtown businesses were hit by looters. Now cook county states attorney kim foxx is facing sharp criticism for allegedly being too lenient on crime but today she defended her office and her response to looting at a news conference this afternoon. wgn's mike lowe has more.

LOWE: cook county state's attorney kim foxx is up for reelection in November. today, her critics and political opponents are pouncing, and she is facing tough questions about how she's handled those who have been arrested for looting.

CBS2 News at 5PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
*MLL: I call upon our States Attorney and our courts to make sure that these individuals who are arrested are held accountable. put your best people on this.
ANCHOR: but first to our other big story. breaking news. Attention now turns to tonight as the city activates a curfew. fingers are pointing over accountability. CBS2 Chris Tye joins us with how officials are preparing for tonight after a night of violence.

NBC5 News at 5PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
*MLL: we've got teams of people that are aggressively out there identifying the people responsible, looking at the plates and we're going to bring them to justice. and when we do make those arrests, our expectation is this will be treated with the level of seriousness that it should be.
ANCHOR: Now to the city’s response Mayor Lightfoot and Police Superintendent Brown turn their focus on the judicial system they’re asking for those arrested to face stiff penalties. at the same time there are questions about the police response. mary ann Ahern has that part of the story

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
ANCHOR: The unrest is putting the Mayor at odds with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. mike flannery joins us live with more.
FLANNERY: well, dawn, the State’s Attorney claims it's a police problem that only a relatively small number of looters are facing any charges at all after the destruction in late May and early June. and, that she insists the fact that so few people ended up being charged is not her fault and it has not encouraged more looting.

WGN News at 11AM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters

Lightfoot, Brown lay blame for last night's looting

CRAIN’S//A.D. Quig

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown decried unrest and looting on Michigan Avenue, and in the Loop and nearby Streeterville, Gold Coast, and North and Clybourn shopping areas late last night, arguing those responsible were “emboldened” by a lack of accountability following unrest in late May and early June. At a news conference today, Brown said those cases were not prosecuted “to the fullest extent,” pointing the finger at Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

Foxx bashes ‘dishonest blame games,’ calls for ‘honest conversation’ after night of looting

SUN TIMES//Rachel Hinton

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Monday rejected criticism that her handling of criminal prosecutions set the stage for the latest round of looting, accusing the mayor and her top cop of engaging in “dishonest blame games.” The first-term prosecutor’s news conference followed Police Supt. David Brown telling reporters that the looting Sunday night and early Monday was the work of looters “emboldened by no consequences in the criminal system.”

CPS PROPOSES CUTTING CPD BUDGET IN 2020-2021 BUDGET

NBC5 News at 6PM: CPS proposes cutting CPD budget in 2020-2021 budget
ANCHOR: developing now, CPS is slashing its budget for school resource officers, the district reduces it’s SRO funding by 18 million dollars a cut of more than 50% from last year. CPS says it is part of its commitment to reform the School Officer Program. the district is investing more than $125 million in additional school funding to prioritize the schools that need the greatest levels of support.

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: CPS proposes cutting CPD budget in 2020-2021 budget
ANCHOR: Chicago Public Schools announced today that it will slash spending on its police budget. the school board announced today they will pay the Chicago Police Department $15 million with officers to patrol campuses. last year it was about $33 million. The reduction comes amid a fierce debate about the role of police in schools. 5 Cps School Councils have voted to end their relationship with CPD. cps says a chunk of the reduction is due to officers not working in schools during remote learning days.

Chicago Public Schools Proposes Cutting Police Spending In Half

WBEZ//Sarah Karp

Chicago Public Schools is planning to pay the Chicago Police Department no more than $15 million next year for the program that assigns police officers to schools — less than half what was allocated last year. The police department’s contract is a tiny part of the school district’s overall budget of $6.9 billion, which was released Monday morning. But the practice of having police stationed in schools has been a source of intense controversy in the wake of the protests against police brutality this spring.

Chicago Public Schools proposes $8.4 billon budget for 2021 as it copes with financial impact of COVID-19

TRIBUNE//Hannah Leone

Chicago Public Schools is proposing an $8.4 billion budget for the 2021 school year, according to budget documents released Monday. Despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, CPS expects revenues to increase this year, in large part because of “substantial levels of federal emergency relief funding to cover emergency expenses and offset previously anticipated revenue increases that will not materialize,” the district said.

CPS to slash school police budget by more than half, to $15 million

SUN TIMES//Nader Issa

Chicago Public Schools will budget less than half as much money this year to pay police officers stationed in schools than it did last year, according to a new proposed district budget released Monday. The budget for the 2020-21 school year will be $15 million, down from $33 million budgeted last year. The reduction in spending on Chicago police officers comes in the middle of heated debate over whether officers should remain at the more than 70 schools they were stationed at last year.

Chicago Public Schools Unveils $8.4 Billion Budget Plan That Relies On More Relief From Congress

CHALK BEAT//Mila Koumpilova

CHICAGO — Chicago’s $8.4 billion budget plan for its public schools includes $125 million in new classroom investments and another $75 million for the district’s pandemic response — new spending that gambles on Congress coming through with additional emergency funding for schools despite recently stalled talks in Washington.

OTHER MLL NEWS

NBC5 News at 6PM: MLL and Gov. Pritzker agree National Guard is not needed
*MLL: We have made the case we have the video we have the officer testimony. these people need to be held accountable.
ANCHOR: new details on the overnight looting in Chicago. the Mayor and Governor say they agree chicago does not need the national guard to come in.

NBC5 News at 5PM: Ald. Reilley plans to work with city and state to develop business recovery plan
ANCHOR: now the latest on the widespread looting across chicago overnight. businesses in several areas of the city were hit very hard. police reported more than a hundred people were arrested overnight. in the morning many business owners and neighbors woke up to find broken glass and ransacked stores. we've seen a massive effort to clean up throughout the day. Stores in Chicago’s Gold Coast were some of the hardest hit we have video showing that some stores were nearly cleaned out overnight.

NBC5 News at 4:30PM: MLL and Governor Pritzker address civil unrest
*MLL: the individual who fired upon the police yesterday and was taken into custody was a 20-year-old man. he was not a juvenile and he was not unarmed.
ANCHOR: Now the past 18 hours have put a spotlight once again on the Chicago Police Department and their plan to keep people safe. mary ann ahern is following their response tonight.
AHERN: Mayor Lightfoot says the city does not need the national guard but the city is imposing restrictions on access to the downtown area. tonight starting at 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Lightfoot says it’s not a curfew but others see it that way.

Chance The Rapper’s Charity Donated 45,000 Masks To Chicago Parks For Kids, Staff

BLOCK CLUB//Alexandra Chaidez

DOWNTOWN — Chance the Rapper’s charity, SocialWorks, donated 45,000 masks to the Chicago Park District so kids and staff at day camp can be protected from coronavirus.

The Chicago Park District is offering day camp during the pandemic, though with social distancing and mask rules to prevent spread of coronavirus. SocialWorks’ donation is “particularly valuable” as it provides needed personal protective equipment so campers’ don’t have to face interruptions if they need a mask replaced, according to a Park District press release.

Drive-In ‘Movies At The Parks’ Offers 6 Movies Around The City

BLOCK CLUB//Alexandra Chaidez

CHICAGO — Six new free drive-in movies will open up in parks across the city starting Tuesday — including 1975’s “Cooley High” filmed in Chicago. The drive-ins are a part of “Movies in the Park,” the Chicago Park District’s annual outdoor movie series that has been converted to a drive-in series because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the movies scheduled include “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Akeelah and the Bee” and “The Secret Life of Bees.”

Hundreds square off with police in West Side confrontation

SUN TIMES//Manny Ramos

Hundreds of people gathered on the West Side Monday afternoon and were squaring off with a large contingent of Chicago Police. It was unclear how the confrontation just west of Garfield Park started, though some officers said it might be related to an incident Sunday in Englewood, where a 20-year-old man was shot by police. That shooting has been connected by CPD Supt. David Brown to the looting along Michigan Avenue and in the Loop early Monday morning.

Suspect wounded during police-involved shooting in Englewood; officers face angry crowd

TRIBUNE//William Lee

Chicago police shot and wounded a suspect Sunday afternoon in the city’s Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said. Speaking with reporters near the scene of the shooting Sunday evening, police Deputy Chief Yolanda Talley said officers responding to calls of a male with a gun found a young man who fit the description near Moran Park in the 5700 block of South Racine Avenue around 2:30 p.m., but he fled from officers.

What's driving this year's flare-up of violence in Chicago?

CRAIN’S//A.D. Quig

Even by Chicago's dismal standards, 2020 is shaping up to be a remarkably violent year. And while conventional wisdom dictates that the warmth of summer is the usual fuel for Chicago's gun violence, the embers of this year's conflagration began smoldering over the winter, eased during the early COVID lockdown, then sprung into full flame as the economic recession sparked by the pandemic punishes the city's most vulnerable neighborhoods.

Chicago Police Unveil Plan To Catch Up On Reform Mandates

WBEZ//Patrick Smith

The Chicago Police Department released a plan on Monday outlining how it will try to catch up on its myriad of missed reform deadlines required by a court-enforced overhaul of the department known as a consent decree. It comes after an independent monitor tasked with reviewing CPD’s reform efforts submitted two successive reports to the judge overseeing the case outlining the city’s failure to meet court-imposed deadlines or comply with the majority of the requirements laid out in the first year of the consent decree.

Kim Foxx drops more felony cases as Cook County state’s attorney than her predecessor, Tribune analysis shows

TRIBUNE//David Jackson, Todd Lighty, Gary Marx and Alex Richards

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is dropping felony cases involving charges of murder and other serious offenses at a higher rate than her predecessor, according to a Tribune analysis that comes amid a growing debate over criminal justice reform. During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor, the Tribune found. For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%.

Will voting by mail be safe and secure this fall? Here's what officials say.

CRAIN’S//Greg Hinz

Despite pleas from some state lawmakers to slow down, and threats by President Donald Trump that he might dispute the results—efforts to ensure most Chicago-area residents vote by mail this fall already are cranked up in high gear, both in the city and the suburbs. But will that process be secure and safe from fraud? Will local election authorities be able to avoid the huge problems that delayed final vote counts for well over a month in New York?

COLUMNISTS AND EDITORIALS

Enough already! Time for Foxx, Lightfoot, judges to do their jobs

CRAIN’S//Greg Hinz

When my radio alarm went off at 8 a.m. today, the first item on the news—the national CBS network news—was the looting in Chicago. The whole country heard—again—about how this city has lost control of its streets and security and is becoming the kind of place that, well, you really ought to bypass when it comes to investing, living and running a business. That’s what’s on the table after last night’s mayhem.

Editorial: Living with a higher Lake Michigan

TRIBUNE//Editorial Board

If you’ve stayed away from the lakefront in recent months because it was closed, you’re bound to have missed it. But if you’ve returned lately, you may still miss it — because much of the lakefront is gone. Lake Michigan has broken the high-water record in every month of 2020, and a higher lake means more land is under water.

FULL TRANSCRIPTS

NBC5 News at 6PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
*MLL: these people need to be held accountable and not cycled through the system. and judges that are holding these cases, you need to step up and be responsible.
ANCHOR: in the aftermath of the chaos and looting this morning on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, it didn't take long for simmering disputes to burst into the open and to question who is responsible and what happens next. NBC5’s Phil Rogers reports
ROGERS: At an early morning appearance at Police Headquarters Mayor Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown suggested a too lenient justice system was at least partially to blame for the overnight mayhem in Downtown Chicago.
SUPT BROWN: criminals took to the streets with confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions.
MLL: these people need to be held accountable and not cycled through the system. and judges that are holding these cases, you need to step up and be responsible.
ROGERS: the mayor especially is taking heat nationally for the city's response to the escalating violence in Chicago.
INGRAHAM: it's open season on the citizens Of Chicago and the Mayor cannot be bothered to accept real federal help.
ROGERS: response from State's Attorney Kim Foxx, don't blame me.
FOXX: our office is not in the arresting business. we get cases once they are brought to us.
ROGERS: Foxx said of cases brought to her since the George Floyd protest began last spring, the vast majority were ordinance violations and misdemeanors only 29% were felonies she accused her critics of confusing peaceful protesters with looters. Bristled at suggestions that in an effort to pursue bail reform she has been soft on law breakers who had been too easily returned to the street.
FOXX: looters have been charged and are awaiting trial. peaceful protesters have not had their cases pursued.
ROGERS: Again half of the Mayor's and Police Superintendent's wrath was aimed at the court. Today Chief Judge Timothy Evans declined our request for an interview but said in a statement that each case must be considered on its own merits the court. must not only consider the fact that the defendant has been arrested but also the evidence that supports the allegations and the evidence or lack of evidence that supports the defense. And Evans very pointly noted all bail decisions are still balanced with the right of every defendant to be presumed innocent Phil Rogers, Nbc 5 News.

NBC5 News at 6PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am
ANCHOR: A lot of concern about safety tonight so what is the city doing. Well right now we're learning more about the restrictions put into place after last night's unrest. In fact they begin at 8:00 tonight and expressway ramps are already closed. natalie?
MARTINEZ: well, this evening we just got within the past few minutes information from CTA that train service into the downtown area will be temporarily suspended beginning at 8 p.m. the Mayor not calling this a lockdown or curfew but a restricted access plan for downtown. Beginning tonight at 8PM and effective until further notice restrictions for downtown chicago. today the City Emergency Operation Center announced Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton and i-55 and downtown bridges will be up by 8 p.m. with the exception of this one on columbus drive and 6 others shown here. access points for residents and employees of area businesses will be at harrison, halsted, canal, kinzie and LaSalle. And late this afternoon community leaders and elected officals from Chicago’s southwest side responded to the impact this has on the city’s neighborhoods
CHICAGOAN: For our mayor to close the downtown area sends a clear message to our people that the city is willing to the protect property but not our people.
CHICAGOAN: those young people who have been treated like criminals by the police who are paid to serve and protect because they've been young people, they are basically rejecting mandates. so the question becomes what is the response?
SIGCHO-LOPEZ: we want to make sure we are pro actively bringing resources, solutions to all the areas, to every neighborhood in chicago.
MARTINEZ: all residents, essential workers and employees based downtown will have access at all times. And expressway ramps from Roosevelt to Divison will be closed in both direction so CTA is expecting bus service to remain open with the reroutes due to bridge and street closures. Rail service impacted at Fullerton to 47th and east of Halsted. Entrances into the perimeter will be manned by Chicago Police. when you get to the access points, must show proof of living or working here in the area. we know that was a lot to ingest. all of the closures are listed on nbcchicago.com in you didn't get that. live downtown in streeterville, natalie martinez, nbc news.

NBC5 News at 6PM: CPS proposes cutting CPD budget in 2020-2021 budget
ANCHOR: developing now, CPS is slashing its budget for school resource officers, the district reduces it’s SRO funding by 18 million dollars a cut of more than 50% from last year. CPS says it is part of its commitment to reform the School Officer Program. the district is investing more than $125 million in additional school funding to prioritize the schools that need the greatest levels of support.

NBC5 News at 6PM: MLL and Gov. Pritzker agree National Guard is not needed
*MLL: We have made the case we have the video we have the officer testimony. these people need to be held accountable.
ANCHOR: new details on the overnight looting in Chicago. the Mayor and Governor say they agree chicago does not need the national guard to come in. Earlier this summer the guard was used to limit access to the Loop Mayor Lightfoot is asking for accountability from Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx and judges who will hear cases surrounding suspected looters.
MLL: We have made the case we have the video we have the officer testimony. these people need to be held accountable.
ANCHOR: police say the looting followed angry crowd reaction after police shot an armed 20-year-old man in Englewood on sunday.

CBS2 News at 6PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
*MLL: I call upon our state's attorney and our courts to make sure that these individuals who are arrested and those to come are held accountable. put your best people on this.
ANCHOR: now to the city’s side, the Mayor using strong words about the man who was shot and the people who did all the looting. our team coverage continues with Chris Tye. massive changes about to happen in the city.
TYE: that's right, they are not calling a curfew, they are not calling it a lockdown but they are putting restrictions in place, 8:00 tonight, two hours from right now. most bridges in the downtown area will go up, parts of lakeshore drive will be shut down. The CTA and divvy bikes frozen in place in spots as we move into a Monday evening these are the local maneuvers that City Hall says need to happen, but as far as bringing Washington in and anyway, they have a very different view on that.
MLL: Again no, we do not need federal troops in chicago period full stop.
TYE: the Mayor says the feds aren’t needed but some business owners like the owner of the building housing this jewelry store in chicago looted three times in two months isn't so sure.
CHICAGOAN: someone has to resolve this issue. i don't know how they're going to do it but it's got to be resolved.
TYE: first up, accountability.
FOXX: we are hurting, we are frustrated, we are anxious.
TYE: the States Attorney now under fire from the Mayor and Police Superintendent in Chicago for not sending a clearer, more fierce message on crime and more importantly, punishment.
MLL: I call upon our state's attorney and our courts to make sure that these individuals who are arrested and those to come are held accountable. put your best people on this.
TYE: But the states attorney telling the media in the last run of chicago unrest in late may and early june, thousands were arrested, most for civil disobedience. 300 felony cases were demonstration related that included looting, of those, 270 were approved for charges by Foxx's office. all of the cases are still pending though. no convictions or pleads yet because courts are still playing covid-19 catch up.
FOXX: i understand the Superintendent and the Mayor's frustration, i share their frustration.
TYE: tonight and until further notice, the Mayor putting restrictions on city life from 8 pm till 6 am ranging from CTA schedule adjustments to access from highways, a blueprint first devised in chicago from their first batch of 2020 unrest.
MLL: I wanna assure residents of this city we are not taking this lately, we are going full board to make sure those who are responsible are brought to justice.
TYE: we spoke to Governor Pritzker today who said he believes the national guard does not need to be called in also, state police though are helping. last night they jumped in to shut down some highway on ramps and off ramps and they will continue to offer that service here in the hours and days ahead.
ANCHOR: you are out this morning as the looters were inside the malls in the shops and you had the opportunity to talk to business owners. one man actually had a conversation with the people looting his building and he said they were courteous.
TYE: this is sort of hard to believe. these were folks who came back time and again, he owns the building that a big jewelry store in the jewelry district here in the Loop, he said why are you doing this and were sorry but were going to go back in and they kept doing it time and time again, he said it was a surreal kind of experience where he was conversing with the people robbing him and they almost made themselves warm up to him in a very bizarre way. he said but make no mistake, i have your likeness on high definition camera and i'm going to turn you into the authorities and work with authorities as best i can. At one point we should underscore here all of these businesses that were ransacked overnight and into the morning, these were the vendors, the business owners that had the gumption to open back up when many others didn't and this is what they were served.
ANCHOR: Chris Tye thank you

ABC7 News at 6PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am

GOUDIE: most of the buildings hit overnight, at least in this part of the city, have been boarded up. streets are largely empty, although that might be due more to the storm. it also left it much darker than normal for this time of day. and it was under the cover of darkness overnight that all these problems began.

QUINN: waking up, it’s sad, such a beautiful city being destroyed in front of our eyes.

GOUDIE: Maddie quinn this afternoon walking her dog on the gold coast where 12 hours earlier, caravans of looters seemed in control of the streets. retail hit squads crisscrossed the magnificent mile after midnight. this video taken by a high-rise resident. Chicago’s prized gold coast tarnished for the second time in less than three months by what appears to be a well engineered looting scheme that some residents said had been seen scouting target locations the past few weeks. a police camera showing looters at nordstrom, roving teams of quick strike retail thieves sweeping up michigan avenue and across oaks street, over to rush and up to division. at sun up, the damage apparent. Smashed windows, ransacked stores, empty display cases, and cleared out shelved. looted stores are being shored up with plywood for now, able to rebuild and reopen again.

BARES: it does feel like the perfect storm. the global pandemic, civil unrest, and then this kind of physical violence and property damage. it is incredibly difficult.

GOUDIE: difficult too for disenchanted mag mile residents struggling with what is next.

QUINN: it is to the point now where i do not feel safe and it is sad. makes you wonder what is going to happen tomorrow.

GOUDIE: officials from the magnificent mile association say just last week they met with Mayor Lightfoot, the police Superintendent Brown and other state and local leaders who emphasize the need for permanent police resources allocated to this part of the city, and also, impressing on the state's attorney they said for the need of more serious and severe prosecutions of those who are caught involved in retail theft.

ANCHOR: to keep looters from striking downtown again tonight, the city is restricting access to the area starting at 8:00 tonight until 6:00 tomorrow morning. lake shore drive will be closed between fullerton avenue and i-55. many chicago river bridges will be raised. also, expressway off ramps will be closed in both directions from roosevelt road to division street. and the cta also suspending train service through downtown.

ABC7 News at 6PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: we intend to hold you accountable for your actions. i don't care. i do not care whatever justification was given for this. there is no justification for criminal behavior. ever.

WALL: looting and chaos downtown. a campaign of crime police say was organized on social media, sparked by misinformation spread about a police involved shooting in englewood sunday afternoon.

MLL: these individuals' engagement can only be described as brazen and extensive criminal looting and destruction.

WALL: police aware of the caravans heading downtown, deployed 400 officers to keep business areas, but it was not enough. one alderman blamed the police and the mayor for not having a plan in place after the looting in may and june.

HOPKINS: there is no way to look out at the city of chicago this morning and look at that damage and the carnage, and say that that was a sound plan. it was not. the results speak for themselves.

WALL: but the mayor and superintendent pointed the finger at the courts and prosecutors, saying they failed to hold looters accountable 2 months ago.

BROWN: they acted as if there is no consequences for the behavior. and they based that on what happened previously, that we made a lot of arrests in may and june. and not many of those cases were prosecuted to the fullest extent.

FOXX: the notion that people believe that they are somehow empowered because people were not prosecuted for looting back in the wake of the unrest's beginning is simply not true. those cases are coming to court now, as we are now in the month of august.

WALL: police promised a heavy presence downtown until further notice. access will be limited from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. while 100 looters were arrested, the mayor had a message for those who got away.

MLL: we intend to hold you accountable for your actions. i don't care. i do not care whatever justification was given for this. there is no justification for criminal behavior. ever.

WALL: the mayor said resources will be deployed across the city to protect the neighborhoods, but she says she is not going to call in the national guard.

FOX Chicago News at 5:30PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
MLL: is not anywhere near acceptable and i call upon our state's attorney and our courts to make sure these individuals who are arrested, and those to come, are held accountable. put your best people on this.
ANCHOR: Mayor Lori Lightfoot putting the ball in Kim Foxx's court after last nights unrest. Foxx has been criticized for not coming down hard enough on looters earlier this year she impliedy the Mayor is playing a dishonest blame game. Mike Flannery has details on the political fallout from last nights looting.
FLANNERY: it doesn't really inspire great confidence in the city’s leadership right now and the Mayor actually tried a reporter as if it were some kind of fake controversy. you be the judge. Police Superintendent David Brown very upset because he doesn't think the County Prosecutor is pursuing the kind of charges that should have been pursued after the last round of looting and destruction in june.
SUPT BROWN: looters, these thieves, these criminals are emboldened by no consequences in the criminal system. They get released many charges get dropped.
FOXX: the notion that people believe that they are somehow empowered because people were not prosecuted for looting back in the wake of the unrest beginning is simply not true.
FLANNERY: here's the reality out on the street. i saw at Wentworth and Garfield on that sunday night in early june, several thousand people looting a mall there dozens of stores. several of them set on fire, i saw people looting a Walmart on 87th st. out of those thousands of people, 300 or so ended up facing serious charges according to States Attorney Foxx and she says those are being pursued. But the reality on the street is, people understand. there is a very small chance that they will ever face serious charges if they get involved in looting. that is the grim reality that the City leaders have to contend with somehow turning that mentality around instead of the blame game. pointing fingers. i'm political editor Mike Flannery.

FOX Chicago News at 5:30PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest
ANCHOR: now at 5:00 we are following developments from the chaos that unfolded overnight in chicago from looting and damage, to what police are doing to find the people responsible. we have coverage at 5:30 with the latest. we start with elizabeth matthews and what set off a wild night of violence and looting. elizabeth?
MATTHEWS: due to the civil unrest, Chicago Police Officers now working 12-hour shifts all days off have been canceled until further notice. what led to the unrest last night? what sparked it? Chicago Police believe that it was tension following a Chicago Police involved shooting that happened in englewood saying there was misinformation early on that police had shot an unarmed teenager. they see that was false. they actually got in a shoot out with an armed 20-year-old man and did recover again on scene. again, in Englewood. police responded to a call of someone with a gun and they start tried to stop the 20 year old man who fled and say they fired shots at police. they fired back and struck the man and he is expected to survive, no charges have been filed against him. Police do say he has a criminal history including burglary and domestic battery. the Superintendent says the looting that happened last night was encouraged by a social media post hours after that Englewood shooting.
SUPT BROWN: the first incident happened at a store near 87th and the dan ryan expressway. soon, car caravans were headed into the Loop. this was not an organized protest. rather, this is an incident of pure criminality. this was an act of violence against our police officers and against our city.
MATTHEWS: Chicago Police arrested more than 100 people during that unrest downtown saying 13 of their officers were injured. Mayor Lori Lightfoot today saying there is still no need for help from the national guard. For more coverage lets turn it over to my colleague Tia Ewing

WGN News at 5:30PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters

ANCHOR: for the 2^nd time this summer, many downtown businesses were hit by looters. Now cook county states attorney kim foxx is facing sharp criticism for allegedly being too lenient on crime but today she defended her office and her response to looting at a news conference this afternoon. wgn's mike lowe has more.

FOXX: last night was a blatant display of criminal behavior.

LOWE: hundreds rampaged through downtown chicago converging on michigan avenue smashing storefronts looting property and creating chaos. the scenes reminiscent of the rioting that happened after the police killing of george Floyd. chicago police say they arrested 100 people and this morning Superintendent David Brown says looters learned that there are no consequences.

BROWN: criminals took to the streets with confidence that there will be no some consequences for their actions.

LOWE: that was a clear shot at state's attorney kim foxx who was on the defensive at an afternoon news conference.

FOXX: all hands on deck means that rather than standing and pointing fingers we work together.

LOWE: foxx was the subject of a front page investigation in today's chicago tribune showing how her office has dropped 30% of the felony cases brought to her.

FOXX: it's important to recognize why we drop cases we may drop the case because the facts and the evidence don't substantiate A charge. we may drop the case because a witness key to the case has decided to no longer cooperate.

LOWE: she defended her reforms which are criticized as being too lenient.

FOXX: think it's incumbent upon us. for the people that we serve and i say all of us, for the people that we serve, that we have an honest conversation about what's happening right now. it does not serve us to have dishonest blame games when all of our hearts are breaking by what we are seeing.

LOWE: foxx was questioned about her response to the looting and rioting over the weekend of may 31st. she said chicago police arrested 5,000 people that weekend but only about 1400 on looting related charges she says those cases are being prosecuted.

FOXX: the notion that people believe that they are somehow empowered because people weren’t prosecuted for looting back in the wake of the unrest beginning is simply not true. O’BRIEN: here's Superintendent Brown calling her out, she should be standing beside him but you can't because she's the problem.

LOWE: former cook county judge pat o'brien is the republican candidate running against foxx in November.

O’BRIEN: and she has in fact made this town a free for all for people who want to steal.

LOWE: foxx says the people whose cases were dismissed were not looters. she says they were peaceful protesters who were cited for minor infractions.

FOXX: i want to make sure that we're not conflating people who were not charged for looting who are not charged for breaking into a building and stealing items, who were not charged with bashing in windows. we're talking about people who were charged with curfew violations, disorderly for not disbursing in time.

O’BRIEN: this is a time when kim foxx has to be fired.

LOWE: but o'brien says there is a growing unease as violent crime rises that the city is up for grabs. and he says the prosecutor isn't fighting for the people.

O’BRIEN: our town is like dodge city on a second term we’ll become like tombstone this can't go on.

LOWE: during the news conference foxx repeatedly noted that because of the pandemic, because of the economic freefall and because of the rise in violent crime, 2020 has been like no year in recent memory here in chicago. she says finding the solutions to the problems that led to violence and looting require complex conversations not a simple sound bites.

CBS2 News at 5PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
MLL: I call upon our States Attorney and our courts to make sure that these individuals who are arrested are held accountable. put your best people on this.
ANCHOR: but first to our other big story. breaking news. Attention now turns to tonight as the city activates a curfew. fingers are pointing over accountability. CBS2 Chris Tye joins us with how officials are preparing for tonight after a night of violence.
TYE: brad and erica there's been a lot of talk in chicago about moving backwards. moving backwards in policy and procedures because of covid-19 surges. As it turns out the City Of Chicago is moving backwards in policies and procedures because of a surge of unrest for a morning that began with bridges up were walking into an evening with new policies and enforcement being laid down. Our cameras inside this downtown shopping mall with looters carrying all they could hold. While down the block
CHICAGOAN: This is the third time this store has been hit in the last 2 months
TYE: they came with boxes of rocks to crack in and big cars to roll out. some like this SUV could not pull off the get away. coordinated looting lasted for seven hours or more.
MLL: this is not anywhere near acceptable.
TYE: Acceptability isn’t a question but accountability is becoming one.
MLL: I call upon our States Attorney and our courts to make sure that these individuals who are arrested are held accountable. put your best people on this.
TYE: the Mayor wants punishment with more teeth and is signaling in chicago when you do this you pay a massive price. the States Attorney is not hesitating to push back hard.
FOXX: the notion that people believe they are somehow empowered because people weren’t prosecuted for looting in the wake of the unrest beginning is simply not true.
TYE: In the last round of Chicago unrest in late may and early june thousands were arrested. most for civil disobedience. 300 of those arrests were felony cases related to demonstrations that included looting of those 270 were approved for charges by Foxx’s office and all of the cases still pending. No convictions or pleas yet because the courts still playing covid-19 catch up.
FOXX: If they are caught they will be prosecuted
TYE: tonight Chicago’s downtown shut down early as plans are devised to curb CTA traffic, highway acess, bridge traffic. Hoping Tuesday morning doesn’t start the same way Monday did
CHICAGOAN: Resolve this issue I don’t know how there gonna do it’s gotta be resolved
TYE: Mayor Lightfoot said under no uncertain terms she does not want the national guard in Chicago. she said CPD with the help of state authorities will have this under control. she made it very clear in a press conference this morning that she was upset with the early reporting on social media that the incident that sparked all of this in Englewood was not set in motion by minor without a gun but rather a 20-year-old with a gun. chris tye cbs news.

CBS2 News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest
*MLL: He was not a juvenile and he was not unarmed
ANCHOR: Chicago’s Mayor and Police Superintendent blame misinformation for the tension that erupted around yesterday’s non-fatal officer involved shooting in Englewood. But how did the wrong information get out there and how did it lead to coordinated wide spread looting miles away? CBS2 Megan Hickey has been digging into this
HICKEY: many residents across the city were outraged because they believe that Chicago Police had shot an unarmed teenage boy. by the time the truth got out, the misinformation had spread like wildfire. surveillance cameras caught looters causally walking in and out of the nordstrom on the Mag mile filled with stolen goods. Other city pod cams picked up looters returning to their getaway cars
FOXX: random sunday night looting happened in the middle of michigan avenue is not something that we've seen before.
HICKEY: how did a nonfatal afternoon shooting 10 miles away in englewood result in this? Joseph Williams was on the scene yesterday and he said the wrong information spread quickly.
WILLIAMS: It’s a lot of misinformation right. there wasn’t a 15-year-old boy that got shot 15 times and because of that it made the world everybody start to pay attention. it made people upset. it made people riled up.
HICKEY: between 3:47 pm and 6:36 pm the cbs2 investigators found example after example of people erroneously tweeting out that the victim was a 15-year-old boy and that he had been shot according to some inaccurate tweets as many as 15 times. this information was then shared and retweeted by thousands of followers online. But in reality the shooter was 20, armed and shot at police officers according to CPD.
MLL: He was not a juvenile and he was not unarmed
HICKEY: But Williams says that it was not just the misinformation about a child victim that enraged community members but he says it was also the hostile way the community members felt like they were being treated by police on the scene
WILLIAMS: It went beyond the shooting with the young man. It wasn't even about the shooting anymore. it was strictly about the engagement between the police and the community. and how we didn't have representation of us out there.
HICKEY: Williams says the looting is being conducted to Englewood residents in particular and he calls that unfair.
WILLIAMS: They know the locations they know where they wanna go they know what they wanna hit so this already seems like it was preplanned. why are you connecting Englewood to looting and rioting.
HICKEY: Now Chicago Police said that after the shooting messages began appearing on social media instructing people to go downtown. we saw some examples but we asked CPD for the specific examples that they saw. and so far there was no response. we will of course continue to follow up. Megan Hickey cbs investigators.

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
ANCHOR: The unrest is putting the Mayor at odds with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. mike flannery joins us live with more.
FLANNERY: well, dawn, the State’s Attorney claims it's a police problem that only a relatively small number of looters are facing any charges at all after the destruction in late May and early June. and, that she insists the fact that so few people ended up being charged is not her fault and it has not encouraged more looting.
FOXX: So the notion that people believe that they are somehow empowered because people were not prosecuted for looting back in the wake of the unrest beginning, is simply not true. those cases are coming to court now.
FLANNERY: the States Attorney and her spokeswomen point to about 300 defendants charged with a felony back in early june. she said none have been tried yet. many, if not most, were quickly granted pre-trial release and were back on the streets. In June fox 32 news recorded looting continuing days after the initial outburst of violence with police and security personnel generally doing little to stop it admittedly after stores like the Walmart on 87th st. had been repeatedly ransacked. the State's Attorney says taking care of such things is not her job.
FOXX: What we have said to CPD and our other partners is bring us cases where people are committing those acts and we will pursue them.
O’BRIEN: how surprising is it that when you encourage crime and do not have any consequences for it, that it continues to happen?
FLANNERY: Patrick O'brien is the republican nominee running on november 3 against Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx, the democrat. a spokeswoman for Foxx by the way said that several assistant State Attorneys are working with Chicago Police to identify and potentially file charges against some of those involved in last night's destruction and looting. i'm Political Editor Mike Flannery

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: CPS proposes cutting CPD budget in 2020-2021 budget
ANCHOR: Chicago Public Schools announced today that it will slash spending on its police budget. the school board announced today they will pay the Chicago Police Department $15 million with officers to patrol campuses. last year it was about $33 million. The reduction comes amid a fierce debate about the role of police in schools. 5 Cps School Councils have voted to end their relationship with CPD. cps says a chunk of the reduction is due to officers not working in schools during remote learning days.
JACKSON: if we are in an all-remote setting obviously we not be paying for officers to be in our schools and that amount will be prorated based on the number of school days that we have in person instruction. so again, funding is just one of the many reforms that we are implementing for this upcoming school year.
ANCHOR: some other takeaways from CPS $8.4 billion budget, the district will spend $75 million on electronic devices to allow students to learn to remotely. The budget also calls for a $97 million increase in special education services, $18 million to expand full day pre-k programs, and $13 million to hire more nurses and social workers. In all the budget increases spending by $125 million, much of it relying on $350 million in federal relief funds that have not yet been approved.

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am
ANCHOR: the city, as elizabeth mentioned, putting the downtown area on lockdown. a curfew goes into effect at 8PM and it will lift tomorrow morning at 6:00. most bridges will be up. cta trains will not stop in the loop. bus service continues but with several route changes to be aware of. All expressway ramps from roosevelt to division will be closed in both directions as curfew will remain in effect until further notice. we will have much more on chicago's night of violence and looting throughout the newscast . political editor mike flannery will have more on the political finger-pointing that we are witnessing going on today, as well.

FOX Chicago News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest
ANCHOR: the big question, what led to the events of last night. Chicago’s top Cop is trying to explain. Elizabeth Matthews continues our team coverage at Chicago Police Headquarters.
MATTHEWS: chicago police believe the unrest was sparked last night because of a shooting that happened in Englewood yesterday. there was a lot of misinformation yesterday about that shooting and a lot of people saying that Chicago Police had shot an unarmed teenager. Chicago Police say that was not the case they actually got into a shoot out with an armed 20- year-old man. still, that caused tension and unrest. let's, again, take a look at some of the images of downtown that happened last night. Chicago Police say it was a social media post that sparked a car caravan to head downtown and loot. 13 officers were injured last night and hundred people arrested. Police believe the unrest, again, sparked by the shooting that happened in Englewood. misinformation, that they had shot an unarmed teenager. police say they were responding to a call of a person with a gun at 57th and South Aberdeen. They tried stopping the 20-year-old man who fled they say fired shots at officers. They say they did recover a gun on scene. police fired back struck that man he is expected to be okay. the Superintendent gives an example of what officers had to deal with last night during the unrest downtown.
SUPT BROWN: after the shooting, a crowd gathered on the south side following the police action. tempers flared. fueled by misinformation, as the afternoon turned into evening. CPD became aware of several social media posts encouraging looting downtown. officers were dispatched to our downtown area once we got word of the social media post.
MATTHEWS: the suspect from sunday's shooting in englewood, we are told, does have a criminal past no charges have been filed that criminal past does include child endangerment and a rustic battery and burglary again no charges have been filed against him. as for Chicago Police Officers, all days off have been canceled until further notice and they are now working on 12-hour shifts. by the way, restricted access to downtown starts from 8:00PM-6:00 a.m. elizabeth matthews, fox32 news.

NBC5 News at 5PM: Ald. Reilley plans to work with city and state to develop business recovery plan
ANCHOR: now the latest on the widespread looting across chicago overnight. businesses in several areas of the city were hit very hard. police reported more than a hundred people were arrested overnight. in the morning many business owners and neighbors woke up to find broken glass and ransacked stores. we've seen a massive effort to clean up throughout the day. Stores in Chicago’s Gold Coast were some of the hardest hit we have video showing that some stores were nearly cleaned out overnight. kate chapel has more on that part of the story.
CHAPPELL: clean-up begins again on north Michigan Ave. at louis vuitton and gucci, crews once again boarding up smashed windows and sweeping broken glass. a similar scene, shelves emptied at other high end stores near walton and rush.
GORDON: this is anarchy. this has to stop.
CHAPPELL: Edward Gordon has lived in the goad coast for 37 years
GORDON: the solution in the end is better education for more young people and older so they can get decent in jobs earn a living and become part of our society.
CHAPPELL: residents gathered to see the damage firsthand expressing frustration and the need for a big picture solution.
RON: Obviously it’s legal but the uprising vandalism speaks to some deep problems out in the neighborhoods in the cities. it like a tale it's like a tale of two cities.
CHICAGOAN: there's ongoing issues that have to be resolved and i think they're all interrelated.
CHAPPELL: 42^nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilley agrees more needs to be done.
REILLEY: It’s infuriating
CHAPPELL: he wants more police patrolling downtown and says the city should invest in getting a handle on social media.
REILLEY: there is technology that exists today that i think we need to invest in immediately that allows us to infiltrate social media groups that are private, to infiltrate corners of the dark web where a lot of this planning occurs.
GERSHMAN: While it’s a popular destination for shopping and tourists it's home for a lot of us so it's basically our neighborhood is torn up.
CHAPPELL: because of the damage, these stores will be closed for the foreseeable future. what does that mean for the people who work here who are now out of a job again? Alderman Reilley plans to talk to City and state leaders on how to help soon. In the Gold Coast Kate Chappell Nbc5 News

NBC5 News at 5PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am
ANCHOR: So there will be temporarily restricted access to the downtown area beginning the evening at 8PM overnight until 6AM Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Avenue on the north and i-55 on the south, all downtown bridges will be up by 8 p.m. with some exceptions to that. all expressway ramps from Roosevelt to Division street will be closed in both directions.

NBC5 News at 5PM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters
MLL: we've got teams of people that are aggressively out there identifying the people responsible, looking at the plates and we're going to bring them to justice. and when we do make those arrests, our expectation is this will be treated with the level of seriousness that it should be.
ANCHOR: Now to the city’s response Mayor Lightfoot and Police Superintendent Brown turn their focus on the judicial system they’re asking for those arrested to face stiff penalties. at the same time there are questions about the police response. mary ann Ahern has that part of the story
AHERN: Police monitored social media obviously and they were aware of promises to cause violence downtown however, Superintendent Brown says 400 officers were quickly dispatched. however, the chaos continued for more than six hours. while 100 have been arrested after the overnight looting in chicago, Superintendent David Brown believes offenders sense there will be no consequences.
SUPT BROWN: criminals took to the streets with confidence that there will be no consequences for their actions.
AHERN: Mayor Lightfoot asked for accountability from Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx as well as judges who will hear these cases.
MLL: put your best people on this. we have made the case we have the video we have the officer testimony these people need to be held accountable.
AHERN: There were also questions were the police outmanned after social media suggested there will be retaliation after a Sunday afternoon police involved shooting? the city dismisses that.
SUPT BROWN: When officers are doing their jobs of making arrests and under the threat of being shot at i would do nothing but applaud the efforts of the Chicago Police Officers.
MLL: we've got teams of people that are aggressively out there identifying the people responsible, looking at the plates and we're going to bring them to justice. and when we do make those arrests, our expectation is this will be treated with the level of seriousness that it should be.
AHERN: the Chicago Police have cancelled days off for the foreseeable future and put those officers on 12-hour shifts. from the control center, Mary Ann Ahern.

NBC5 News at 5PM: Former City Council member and Ald. Mitts react to economic impact of looting
ANCHOR: back to Chicago for some perspective on what happened overnight. our political editor Carol Marin joins us with more on the economic issues and where we go from here. carol?
MARIN: rob Dick Simpson was in the City Council, when Richard J. Daley was the Mayor Emma Mitts was there for Richard M Daley for Rahm Emanuel and now Lori Lightfoot occupying the 5^th floor. Lets start with Dick Simpson he is a UIC Political Scientist who argues Chicago’s economic reality has only worsened over the last 50 years he's talking about the disinvestment for chicago's neighborhoods and the consequent desimation of the middle class.
SIMPSON: We have some very rich and some very poor and some working class in between but almost no middle class
MARIN: Mayor Lightfoot today lamented the fact that these were protestors overnight and into today were not black lives matters, first amendment, righteous people worried about brutality, these were felonous opportunists. do you see that distinction here?
SIMPSON: yes, except they're also desperate individuals. they don't see hope for themselves. if they don't get caught by the virus they’ll be caught up by gun violence, if they don't get caught by that, they'll be caught up in crime and drug deals on their street corner. is a very difficult situation.
MARIN: Simpson credits Mayor Lightfoot's proposed $250 million neighborhood investment program but said it will not be like flipping a light switch it’s going to take years he believes to feel it’s effect.
ANCHOR: Nothing easy here Carol one of the things Alderman Emma Mitts is arguing is that political leaders really have to come together to work together to create some kind of a path forward on this.
MARIN: Yes that's her argument, from the governor, to the Mayor to the Chief Judge to the State’s attorney. Mayor Lightfoot seemed to take aim at Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx today demanding more and more vigorous felony prosecution. Foxx today defended her office’s work but what Mitts feared is that they and other officials are all talking past each other.
MITTS: not my way or the highway. that's what i don't want to see happen. and when those things star happening, whether it's the judges or a prosecutor, when you don't sit down and have conversations, carol, then you're going to get things that are not coming together for the betterment of this city.
MARIN: and you're not seeing those conversations?
MITTS: no, i don't see conversations from top to bottom, no.
MARIN: both are nervous, they say, about the days ahead. Rob and Allison back to you.

ABC7 News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: those who engage in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you and intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

ANCHOR: let's move on to breaking news, the looting and violence in the city of chicago.it started overnight, the looters fanning our, large groups hitting several areas. the loop and parts of the south loop among the areas hardest hit. businesses looted, the windows, doors smashed. police forced to shut down the streets, they raised the bridges in the downtown area for part of the morning to keep people getting across the river, and in that same scene found in the high end shopping corrdier, this is along oak street and north michigan avenue. Looters also hit businesses around Clyburn and north avenue. best buy badly damaged. A glass door at the apple store smashed and ripped off the hinges. and our chopper was above this major police presence in the early afternoon today as looters were hitting the west garfield park neighborhood on the city’s west side. we have live team coverage of what happened throughout the city and why.

GANDHI: I’ve lived in the hancock building for 22 years. Both my kids were born in the hancock building, they go to school less than a mile away. This is literally our neighborhood. You can see where we’re playing catch.

GOUDIE: this may be chicago's magnificent mile but it is raveen gandi’s home where this afternoon he was playing catch with his children in a neighborhood hoping that nightfall doesn’t usher in more mayhem. the neighborhoods are among illinois' richest zip codes, and this is a section of the city that drives revenue, tourism, and chicago's image. after midnight today, it was an area under siege by quick strike looting teams. businesses thought they had seen the last of this trouble in late may.

BARES: i think people are exhausted and they are weary and we will have a tough road to hoe in front of us. We were just starting to feel like we were seeing signs of hope and some signs of life. We had almost all of our businesses re-opened, we were starting to see an uptick in the people on the avenues shopping at our stores.

GOUDIE: now tonight some of the same stores that were hit a couple of months ago are being boarded up again, and some residents here are less forgiving the second time around.

GANDHI: a lot of people came down here in cars. it is all on tape, you can see them break the windows and run out to five different vehicles. what if there were kids in the street.it’s just so dangerous, so i want to see law and order. I think the two positions can coexist. I think on one hand, i support peaceful protests, but I also want safety in my neighborhood. I don’t think those are mutually exclusive.

ANCHOR: that was chuck goudie reporting. Now onto chicago’s Lincoln park area where another epicenter for this destruction. Looters were smashing and grabbing through windows and they stole several items from the stores.

JORDAN: this north and Clybourne corridor was one of the areas that took the brunt of the looting early this morning, and this afternoon’s storm also left its mark here, it knocked out power to this group of stores here right now. About an hour ago the power was knocked out. But what happened early this morning is generating a lot of anger, especially from alderman who say that these businesses were once again targeted like they were back in June. However, there was also a resolve from residents who helped come out to support the businesses and clean up the damage. The quiet scene at the north and Clybourne business corridor this afternoon is vastly different from early this morning. Hours of looting caused widespread damage. And daybreak saw that the best buy had been ransacked with windows broken and debris all over the parking lot. People who live nearby heard the chaos overnight and awoke to the aftermath.

CHICAGOAN: This is just going to make everyone a lot more angry. it's not going to cause change, it’s only going to cause more people in jail.

JORDAN: the nearby apple store was also broken into. Residents say they saw people going in and out for hours, grabbing merchandise.

UCHILL: it becomes more and more unsafe and i wonder why am i living in Chicago with all this.

JORDAN:this comes as businesses were already struggling with decreased revenue from the pandemic and civil unrest in late may and June.

HOPKINS: our sales are down, the stores aren't reopening and can't make money. They can't hire their employees back. it is a downward spiral.

JORDAN: residents were quick to respond to the damage left behind. Several people came out to clean up the debris. A show of unity and a message that the neighborhood support remains strong.

CHICAGOAN: you have great people around here, it’s a community that was developed over the years and you’re seeing the bad sides of it but i'm glad people are out trying to help.

JORDAN:a spokesperson from bestbuy issues a statement, telling me their thankful their Chicago teams are safe, and that they will pay their store employees for their scheduled shifts. Now in the meantime the hope is that everyone involved in this looting will be brought to justice.

ANCHOR: from that corridor on the north side to businesses in the south loop they were also hard hit by looting.

GARCIA: The damage in the south loop seems somewhat random. Looters probably hit about 4 stores in this stretch, along canal near Roosevelt. They left another dozen or so untouched. Board up crews have no shortage of work today. Overnight looters smashed one of the front windows at the Nordstrom rack store in the south loop. And down the street apparently they used a golf club to smash the window of the entrance to the men’s wearhouse store. Once inside, they stole jeans and the cash drawers from inside the registers. The manager went through this a couple of months ago when looters ransacked their store after the protest of George Floyd.

WUZNEWSKI: it’s sad what’s going on out here. i used to love living in chicago. I used to be proud saying I live in Chicago, now it seems like it’s happening every couple of months, and they’re getting away with this stuff.

GARCIA: Conare Winfield still has the boards from a couple of months ago and now he’s putting them back up after looters smashed his front window so they could steal some whigs.

WINFIELD: it’s terrible, it’s a waste, take the focus off what they’re doing. i don't know what's going on.

GARCIA: neighborhood volunteers helped clean up the mess outside the south loop target store this morning. Cardboard boxes and Styrofoam packaging from stolen big screen tv’s are among the debris left on the street. Streets and sanitation crews finished the work a short time later. At the binny’s liquor store down the street looters smashed the glass in the door to get in then stole bottles of liquor. Including don Perignon from the cellar filled with high priced wines. They also stole entire cash registers and attempted to drag the stores’ safe out of the store after abandoning that effort and leaving it on the floor. Binny’s like numerous other stores in the neighborhood, like the mens wearhouse is closed today.

WUZNEWSKI: we’ll probably be closed for a couple days again. Clean up have to inventory before we reopen.

GARCIA: board up crews have even covered some windows that were undamaged store managers tell me they have no idea what to expect in the coming days, but are taking no chances.

ANCHOR: now the mayor and police superintendent calling what happened overnight and today unacceptable and putting some of the blame on the criminal justice system.

MLL: those who engage in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you and intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

BROWN: criminals took to the streets with confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions.

ANCHOR: Cook county state's attorney kim foxx weighing in, she disagrees with them.

FOXX: the notion that people believe that they are somehow empowered because people weren't prosecuted for looting back in the wake of the unrest’s beginning is simply not true. those cases are coming to court now.

ANCHOR: foxx says the majority of cases from the unrest back in may and june were not felony cases and she says her office has no role for prosecuting people violating city city ordinances. Chicago’s department of law handles those cases. jessica Donofrio was on the air this morning outside our state street studio at state and lake when she heard gunshots about a block away.

DONOFRIO: we just heard gunfire down the street in that direction and lots of expletives at police. but we heard gun fire and my camera was pointed east on to lake street where we heard shots fire, and we are hearing continued gunshots.

ANCHOR: no one was hit in this gunfire and police say this all started just hours after police shot a man in englewood. Mark rivera explains why social media might have been behind the chaos.

RIVERA: neighbors here in Englewood say they are frustrated with how police acted during a footchase that ended with a man shot and police and neighbors in a stand off just half a block away.

BROWN: the seeds for the shameful destruction were sown in the 5700 block of racine avenue.

RIVERA: police say they shot a 20 year old man near that location in Englewood on Sunday during a footchase after the man allegedy opened fire on them.

BROWN: after the shooting, a crowd gathered on the south side following the police action. tempers flared, fuled by misinformation.

RIVERA: tensions running high as police and Englewood residents confronted each other near the scene of the shooting.

WILLIAM: if the police were here just to protect the crime scene, they didn't do that. They did the opposite of that. they came out and they just terrorized the community.

ANCHOR: community activist joseph William says he came here yesterday to try to difuse the situation.

WILLIAM: there was no relationship with the community and officers at all.

RIVERA: police superindent David Brown says that shooting and misinformation may have sparked an online push to loot downtown.

AKINS: they are angry and upset. i would just like them to do it in a better way, to get their voice out, to get their feeling out. you want to be heard.

RIVERA: akins lives down the street from where the shooting happened. She’s frustrated by how she says her community was treated by police.

AKINS: i understand why everyone was so upset and heated, because they’re tired.

RIVERA: but she and others are calling for an end to the looting and the destruction of the city.

WILLIAM: i don't condone stealing and people tearing up businesses. the people in the community work in these businesses and they still have to feed their family.

RIVERA: COPA is investigating the police shooting. Everyone we spoke to condemned the looting downtown. But said that police accountability is key.

WGN News at 5PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: to those who engaged in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you. we are already at work in find you and we intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

ANCHOR: we're continuing to follow breaking news for you after major looting and property damage took place in chicago overnight. hundreds of people seen breaking into stores downtown along the magnificent mile and on the near north side. this is the apple store in lincoln park. more than 100 people arrested there. 13 police officers have been injured and at least 5 guns have been recovered. social media played a big part in last night's widespread loop looting superintendent of police David Brown said it was a coordinated effort encouraging looting in response to a police involved shooting yesterday afternoon in Englewood. officials say problems started when initial misinformation was spread on social media claiming officers had shot an unarmed juvenile. we'll have more on that part of the story on our news at 6 o'clock.

and access will be restricted to downtown chicago tonight after those looters attacked numerous businesses overnight.

FRANCISCO: as promised by police Superintendent David Brown there is an increased police presence here in the area as people now come out to survey the damage and cleanup.

multiple shots rang out near the gucci store on michigan avenue. one gold coast resident caught thieves trying to break into a stolen cash register. while looters could be seen loading up it all added up to chaos in the early morning hours in which dozens of stores in the loop river north gold coast and goose island neighborhoods were cleaned out.

MAMAR: i think that they did a reconnaissance of this neighborhood and cherry picked every single store they wanted to go into.

BROWN: this was not an organized protest. rather this was an incident of pure criminality.

FRANCISCO: he says the seeds were sown after a police involved shooting sunday afternoon at 57th the racine in which 20 year-old man was injured. he says tempers flared between officers and the community which ended up spilling out on to social media when calls went out to descend on downtown.

BROWN: as the officers arrived to our downtown the first incident happened at a store near the 87th and the dan ryan expressway. soon car caravans were headed into the loop.

FRANCISCO: 400 police officers were sent to the downtown area but they weren’t able to stop the pillaging more than 100 arrests were made and 13 officers were injured. some officers even exchanged gunfire with someone in a passing car as they were trying to arrest a man carrying a cash register near michigan and lake.

MLL: to those who engaged in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you. we are already at work in find you and we intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

FRANCISCO: many stores that were hit were just beginning to restock after the looting in late may and early june when they were hit again this morning after steps were taken to prevent it. this wasn't a simple glass break.

LOWE: no not at all. It is i probably about 1000 pounds worth of glass, one inch thick tempered and laminated both strong and the safest you could get.

FRANCISCO: high end stores like gucci dior air mays were cleaned out with thieves taking everything including the mannequins. access to downtown is now being restricted from 08:00pm to 06:00am the city points out that this is not a curfew but rather a restriction. it also involves several street closures this is being done until further notice for more information about it just head to our web site wgn tv dot com.

ABC7 News at 4:30PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: to those who engaged in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you. we are already at work in finding you and we intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

GOUDIE: retail hit squads descended on the magnificent mile after midnight. This video taken by a high rise resident. Chicago’s prized gold coast tarnished for the second time in less than 3 months by what appeared to be a well engineered looting scheme, looters that some residents told us had been seen scouting target locations the past few weeks.

GORDON: last night about 1:00 or 2:00, just caravans of vehicles were coming up, people were everywhere. Vehicles were going down the wrong way on a one-way street and i called 911 several times and police were sort of deployed everywhere.

GOUDIE: a police camera shows looters at Nordstrom, the roving teams of quick strike retail thieves quickly sweeping up Michigan avenue and across oak street over to rush and up to division. At sun up the damage apparent: smashed windows, ransacked stores, empty display cases, and cleared out shelves. The looted stores are being shored up with plywood for now, able to rebuild and reopen again.

BARES: it does feel like the perfect storm. global pandemic, civil unrest and this kind of physical violence, property damage. It’s incredibly difficult.

GOUDIE: and to the disenchanted mag mile residents may have difficulties moving on. GORDON: this is beyond luxury retail stores. my grocery store was hit, my drug store was hit. This is where we live this is our home, this is our front yard and it's upsetting.

ANCHOR: that was chuck goudie reporting, and here is a look at the damage on jewlers row on Wabash in downtown Chicago. Many of the stores in the loop still reeling of course from the looting and protests that happened at the end of may.

GALLARDO: it was sheer chaos. Looters ransacking the macys on state street as police officers tussled with some of them inside the store, attempting to stop them. One of the looters comes back, tries to break the revolving door down. Then gets tackled by a nearby officer. It is but a snapshot of the mayhem that overtook the loop once again. As looters streamed into the state street corridor. Breaking into shops, running out with armfuls of merchandise, stuffing it into waiting vehicles.

CHA: it broke my heart when i saw people coming out through this.

GALLARDO: paul cha owns the paul young jewelry store near the corner of Dearborn and Randolph. He watched helplessly as television images were broadcast of his store being ransacked on the air. 38 years he’s been in the loop, and while most of the valuables were locked up inside a safe the entire store was trashed. His long time customers stopping by today to help with the cleanup.

MIRABELLI: i have been a customer probably 20 years and hard-working, honest guy, it's a shame. it's an embarrassment. Im on my way to work, i have things to do today, but im going to stop. i know the mayor and police are doing what they can, but it's not enough. and these stories are happening way too many times. It’s not the city i grew up in.

ANCHOR: that was michelle Gallardo reporting, Mayor Lightfoot rejected calls for the national guard to patrol Chicago in the wake of this looting. She also defended herself form criticisim that her administration has failed to protect this city.

WALL: the Mayor and Police Superintendent frustrated and angry about what happened overnight, labeling the criminal activity as felony criminal conduct pure and simple. The situation leading to a lot of fingerpointing today. Looting and lawlessness in the loop and other downtown business zones the city in chaos, police overwhelmed.

HOPKINS: i was out there for four hours on michigan avenue between roughly midnight and 4 am, i saw more incidents of criminal activity and looting than i could count.

WALL: the police superintendent saying it was sparked by misinformation about a shooting in Englewood Sunday afternoon. Social media then spurred hundreds of people to caravan downtown for an orchestrated organized looting campaign.

MLL: to those who engaged in this criminal behavior, let's be clear, we are coming for you. we are already at work in finding you and we intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

WALL: The mayor and superintendent suggesting that prosecutors and the courts are at least partially to blame for not being tough enough on looters from may and June, after George floyd’s death.

BROWN: criminals took to the streets with confidence there would be no consequences for their actions. let me say that again, criminals took to the streets with the confidence that there will be no consequences for their actions.

FOXX: the notion that people believe that they are somehow empowered because people weren't prosecuted for looting in the wake of the unrest in the beginning is simply not true. those cases are coming to court now as we are now in the month of august.

WALL: alderman Hopkins saying the mayor and police are to blame for not being prepared after getting intelligence over what was going to happen.

HOPKINS: they waited for this to get out of control before they started bringing in police officers from the neighboring districts and by then it was too late.

MLL: alderman Hopkins has a pension for letting his mouth run before he actually gets the facts. I don’t think there’s any reason for me to say anything further. our police department got the intelligence, acted on it quickly, brought 400 officers downtown, and what we need now is not monday morning quarterbacks and sideline critics.

WALL: police have cancelled days off for officers and put them all on 12 hour shifts, and the superintendent saying there will be a heavy police presence downtown until further notice. Access to downtown will be restricted from 8 tonight to 6 tomorrow morning, but the mayor’s office emphasizing this is not a curfew, but the mayor made it clear after talking to the governor today that she has no plans to call in the national guard.

NBC5 News at 4:30PM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest
*MLL: to be clear, this had nothing to do with legitimate protected first amendment expression.
ANCHOR: turning now to ongoing unrest here in the City Of Chicago. take a look at this video dozens of police shutting down an area near Madison and Karlov similar scenes played out in many areas across Chicago. officers called in to this area for what was called civil unrest. chaotic scenes have been going on across the city over the last 18 hours most of which of which unfolded over night in many Chicago neighborhoods. In many instances large crowds looted stores and clashed with police.
MLL: we are waking up in shock this morning.
FAZIO: shock yet again over widespread unrest across Chicago over the course of nearly 7 hours. looters damaged countless businesses in multiple neighborhoods. the city's west side, the Loop, Mag Mile, river north and the gold coast, all victim to mass chaos and destruction. much of the brazing criminal looting was caught on camera, people smashing windows, ransacking stores and carrying out loads of supplies the Walgreens and Portillos at Clark and Ontario, shelves left empty at macy's, louis vuitton and gucci. SKY5 flew over the Best Buy in Lincoln Park where the parking lot looked like a tornado swept through
MLL: to be clear, this had nothing to do with legitimate protected first amendment expression.
FAZIO: Chicago Police say they arrested more than 100 people after hundreds of officers were dispatched across the city. this time wearing helmets to protect them from things people were throwing at them. the department says 13 officers were injured. it's the second time this summer looting has erupted, as some businesses struggle to recover from the last round of destruction. And again the Mayor put in travel restrictions closing streets, ramps and lifting bridges to limit access to downtown.
MLL: These were not poor people engaged in petty theft to feed themselves and their families this was straight up felony criminal conduct.
FAZIO: many are asking how did this all happen so fast and why? Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown says this unrest was sparked by a police involved shooting in the Englewood neighborhood.
SUPT BROWN: on Sunday afternoon officers responded to a call of a man with a gun. a suspect was spotted and officers attempted to interview the individual, who quickly fled. as this person was running away, a gun held by this person was pointed at our police officers who gave chase and this person fired shots at our officers. the officers returned fire and struck the individual who was taken to The University Of Chicago Hospital and is expected to survive. the shooter is a 20-year-old man with four previous arrests for charges including burglary, child endangerment and domestic battery. I am relieved to say that none of our officers were hurt in this shooting. A gun was recovered from the scene after the shooting a crowd gathered on the south side following the police action, tempers flared fueled by misinformation as the afternoon turned into evening.
ANCHOR: Superintendent Brown says social media posts encouraged looting downtown and soon after looters headed into the Loop.

NBC5 News at 4:30PM: City restricts access to downtown 8pm to 6am
ANCHOR: so what happens now? there will be temporary restricted access to the downtown area beginning this evening at 8 p.m. and that will go until 6 am tomorrow morning. as part of the restricted access Lake Shore Drive will be closed between Fullerton Ave. on the north and I-55 to the south, all downtown bridges will be up by 8 p.m. with some exceptions. All expressway ramps from Roosevelt to Division Street will be closed in both directions.

NBC5 News at 4:30PM: MLL and Governor Pritzker address civil unrest
MLL: the individual who fired upon the police yesterday and was taken into custody was a 20-year-old man. he was not a juvenile and he was not unarmed.
ANCHOR: Now the past 18 hours have put a spotlight once again on the Chicago Police Department and their plan to keep people safe. mary ann ahern is following their response tonight.
AHERN: Mayor Lightfoot says the city does not need the national guard but the city is imposing restrictions on access to the downtown area. tonight starting at 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Lightfoot says it’s not a curfew but others see it that way.
MLL: it's straight up felony criminal conduct.
AHERN: Mayor Lori Lightfoot along with Police Superintendent David Brown want to set the record straight about what happened early Sunday a police-involved shooting that fueled information and ignited the overnight violence.
MLL: the individual who fired upon the police yesterday and was taken into custody was a 20-year-old man. he was not a juvenile and he was not unarmed.
AHERN: the violence overnight left 13 police officers injured and 100 arrested.
SUPT BROWN: a heavy police presence will continue throughout the downtown today and until further notice. officers will return to working 12 hour shifts and all days off have been cancelled.
AHERN: Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker spoke about whether the national guard should return to the city as they did in June, but for now the answer is no.
MLL: Were not going to spare resources if we need them but we want to make sure we're that prudent in the resources that we need. And again no, we do not need federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop.
PRITZKER: these were criminals, these are people who broke in who were shooting at people. They were shooting, and we had I believe, 13 Chicago Police Officers who were injured last night. I mean this is criminal activity and those criminals need to be held accountable
AHERN: the federal troops that the mayor is referring to is compared to what is happening in Portland. we have seen added federal agents to focus on gangs, drugs and gun cases here in Chicago. Tonight the city as we have said will restrict access downtown essential workers can come and go between those hours. Reporting from the control center Mary Ann Ahern NBC5 News
ANCHOR: all right, thank you, mary ann. and we have continuing coverage of the unrest in chicago. For the very latest keep an eye right here on nbc 5, nbcchicago.com and the nbc chicago app. we'll be right back.

CBS2 News at 11AM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: what happened in our city last night and this morning of course is deeply painful.

MLL: what happened in our city last night and this morning of course is deeply painful.

ANCHOR: unrest in downtown chicago as looters hit the loop. more than 100 arrests overnight with 13 police officers injured, trying to stop the thieves and put an end to the violence.

BROWN: what we are seeing is violence against police.

ANCHOR: all days off canceled for chicago police and access to downtown will be restricted tonight as the city tries to clamp down on the chaos. hundreds of looters in the streets for hours. looters smashed their way into the block 37 shopping mall near our cbs 2 studios, some carrying stolen merchandise and going up and down escalators which had been shut down for the night.

ANCHOR: it looked like a bomb went off. take a look outside the best buy. looters calmly walking in and walking out with merchandise from several stores in the shopping center. smash and grab robbers hit stores on the mag mile in what appeared to be an organized effort. it's rare to see such a brazen crime spree certainly.

MLL: let's be clear. we are coming for you. we are already at work finding you and we intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

BROWN: and i for one refuse to allow these cowardly acts to hold our city hostage.

ANCHOR: the looting, break ins, smash and grabs went on for hours across a wide area of the city from the south loop to the northside. the Mayor spoke about the overnight violence and crime. she didn't mince words. she said looters should be ready to face consequences - tougher consequences. cbs 2 is live with more on the Mayor's words this morning.

TYE: good morning to you. here is what we can tell you from the Mayor's press conference that wrapped up about an hour ago. we are learning that city hall is spending part of today working on a plan that will restrict access to downtown chicago for wide spans of time for an unknown period of time. let me show you how this would look depending on how this plays out. they will essentially lock down parts of chicago and the loop from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. each day until further notice. how this will be executed, will L lines run, will we have highway entrance and exit ramps open? that is being worked out as we speak, the Mayor telling reporters earlier this morning that they're going to roughly duplicate what happened in early june. the Mayor talked about a number of things. one thing she wanted to make abundantly clear was the flash point incident in the englewood community last night involving a police officer shooting was not involving an unarmed minor. in fact it was a 20-year-old armed individual with a criminal record and she said misinformation to the contrary may have stoked some of these flames. let's listen to the Mayor from about an hour ago.

MLL: a foot chase ensued. the individual fled. he turned around and fired upon the police. police returned fire. he was hit, i believe, in the shoulder and is recovering from the injuries. but i want to be very very clear. this was not an unarmed juvenile unfortunately as being propagated on social media. this is not an incident that requires national guard. in the event that we need additional resources, we will. we work hand in glove and well with the state police. they were with us last night.

TYE: let me point out that the restrictions in downtown chicago last until 6:00 a.m., not 6:30 a.m. tomorrow morning and moving forward. just a point of clarification. the Mayor and the Superintendent of police saying -- this is a change in tune since late may and early june -- throwing criticism for not properly throwing the book at some who may walk away from the justice system feeling as they have impunity. we asked the Mayor what kind of dialogue she's had with Kim Foxx - the States Attorneys Office - she refused to go into detail other than to say there are ongoing discussions along those lines. we just heard right before this newscast from the COPA Office that investigates police involved shootings and they are indeed looking into that one last night in the englewood neighborhood that sort of set all of this in motion. and one final thing i would like to mention, social media was both the way that the flames got fanned and started a caravan from the englewood neighborhood into the loop and surrounding downtown area. police officials telling the media today they were monitoring that social media but weren't able to get into greater depth about how the monitoring works and should they have been on top of it a little sooner. a lot of questions to unpack here.

ANCHOR: it wasn't just people breaking windows and grabbing things from stores. it's not all about property here. there were also shots fired at police last night. live at lake and michigan, the scene looks different right now but it was chaotic all morning.

NGUYEN: audrina, that's right. this was an attack on chicago police officers. fortunately no officers were injured. the Superintendent David Brown said this past week nine officers were shot at. this is the scene. police cleared it and reopened lake and michigan about an hour ago. detectives were looking for evidence and possible surveillance video. this started just before 5:00 a.m. officers were arresting a looting suspect – this person a man was carrying a cash register. officers were in the process of arresting the man when someone in a car heading south on michigan avenue started shooting at officers. officers fired back. this was just a very dangerous and very scary situation for the officers. they were out here trying to get everything under control when they were fired upon. Superintendent David Brown telling us they are hoping technology - pod cameras - throughout the loop can help them identify the shooters in this case and also looters from overnight.

BROWN: i have instructed detective units to create a special team of investigators to look at the hours of pod camera footage from last night. we have high definition video of suspects and vehicles.

NGUYEN: we still have a lot of questions. how many people were in this car? how many people were shooting at chicago police officers? how many officers fired back? % again, fortunately, no officers were injured in the shooting. detectives again were out here for hours just looking for evidence, trying to find anything that could help them with this investigation. that is the very latest from lake and michigan. back to you.

WGN News at 11AM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

*MLL: let's be clear. we are coming for you. we are already at work and finding you and we will intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

MLL: let's be clear. we are coming for you. we are already at work and finding you and we will intend to hold you accountable for your actions.

ANCHOR: Chicago Mayor lori Lightfoot promising to prosecute anyone who took part in widespread looting overnight downtown on the north side and in the south loop. this is just one of the scenes from last night take a look at the video here shared on social media: mobs hitting the gucci store on michigan avenue. and, as you can hear, gunshots ringing out. let's get straight to judy wang she's been covering the looting all morning long into the wee hours of the morning.

WANG: now is the time to start assessing the damage and the cleanup and that's exactly what is happening here. i am at state and randolph in front of the entrance to block 37 a lot of businesses in this area are damaged - many of them for a second time. all of this chaos started at about midnight; the places hit: the mag mile, river north, the loop. hundreds and hundreds of looters hit downtown streets. there were cars packed in the streets causing traffic jams. sometimes these cars would pull up to these luxury stores and then people would pour out of these cars break into these stores go in and take whatever they they would come out with their herbs filled with stuff, clothing shoes computers, some of them had bags, it was as if they came prepared and they were just putting whatever they could in these bags and walking out these stores. sometimes officers would run into the stores and try to chase these looters out; some cases they were able to but in other cases there was really not much they could do. my impression is that these looters were not afraid at all a police walking right in front of with all the stolen merchandise. some of the stores looted: bloomingdale's, nordstrom, target, old navy, macy's on state.

ANCHOR: chicago police say overall there were more than 100 arrests and 13 officers hurt in the violence. 5 guns were recovered. just a little bit ago the Mayor and Governor were asked about the calling in the of the National Guard or help from the Feds and here's what they both had to say.

MLL: i've been in contact with the Governor and he and i spoke early this morning on so that i could brief him on what happened. both of us believe this is not an incident that requires the national guard. in the event that we need additional resources we will. we work hand in glove and well with the state police they were with us last night. those additional resources are available. we're not going to spare resources if we need them, but we want to make sure that we are prudent in the resources that we need and again no we do not need federal troops in chicago, period, full stop. i'm sure the President will have his way with this incident but i'm calling upon him to do the things that we do need: we need commonsense gun control. we cannot continue to have circumstances or anybody in their brother can go off the across the border or in other parts of illinois and bring illegal guns into the city of chicago that is something that the federal government is uniquely qualified to handle and we need the President to step up and do that.

PRITZKER: well i reached out early this morning to the mayor to offer our help but last night we did in fact provide state police. you know closure of on-ramps and off-ramps where necessary for the city of chicago. we'll continue to offer state police and indeed our state police Director has been in touch not only with me but also with CPD and OECD and we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to support the city as we did back in may and june when the you know the looting and and mayhem was occurring back then. so everything and anything that we're asked to do will be helpful.

WGN News at 11AM: MLL and Superintendent Brown call on Kim Foxx to fully prosecute looters

ANCHOR: this morning Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent David Brown calling on the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to handle arrest from last night's looting more seriously than were handled during may and june. today's edition of the chicago tribune features an analysis on the Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx’s dropped felony cases and they are at a rate higher than her predecessors - not just in may and june but overall. chicago tribune investigative reporter Gary Marks joins us by phone for more on this story. let’s start with the basics - lay out for folks at home what your graphics spell out to you when you compare the Alvarez administration to the first 3 years of the Foxx administration.

MARKS: yes, so we make the first one which is these this information we got is off of Kim Foxx’s data portal so it is actually her data that we use. so we have analyzed the last 3 years of Anita Alvarez's “nolley cases” - essentially means the prosecutors drop the cases for a number of reasons - and then we look at Kim Foxx’s tenure in office as well. what we found is you know Kim Foxx was dropping cases at a dramatically increased rate over Anita Alvarez – the number we came up with was 29.9% of felony defendants had their cases dropped under Kim Foxx and 19.4% under Anita Alvarez. and it included serious crime we're talking about homicide aggravated, battery with a firearm, shooting another person, etcetera etcetera. so we're not just talking about retail theft and nonviolent crime that Kim Foxx said she is nolleying at a higher rate - but crimes involving serious violence.

ANCHOR: and this is something that the Superintendent has been talking about over and over again: his officers arrest people and they end up back out on the street. and Lori Lightfoot same thing: she points to the prosecution numbers and criticizes those but yet when asked specifically she will not criticize Kim Foxx - what's going on there. MARKS: well listen, i don't want to get into the politics of it. i mean obviously these 3 officials need to work together. i mean we are facing a crisis in the city. what happened last night is an absolute tragedy so you know Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown and Kim Foxx they need to work together to try to you know protect the citizens of our city. so i don't think it's i don't think it's productive for any one of these officials to point fingers at each other, but each of them have to figure out a way to stop this looting and violent crime. and clearly in today's press conference both the Superintendent and the Mayor said that they believe that States Attorney Foxx is not doing her job.

WGN News at 11:30AM: MLL and CPD address downtown unrest

TUMULTY: you did hear from the Mayor earlier on during a press conference said that the city would be coming for those looters. already overnight 100 of them arrested - or more than a 100 - and we will of course see more arrests coming because the Superintendent did say that if anybody does have video out there they want that submitted to police and we have already seen a lot of videos on social media: twitter, facebook, etc.

ANCHOR: and she mentioned Aldermen Hopkins who had raised the red flag before last night, saying these businesses were already in trouble. and now look what happened. 400 police officers were dispatched downtown as soon as chicago police saw posts encouraging looting. soon after, caravans of thieves started to roll in.

BROWN: and the officers arrive to our downtown - the first incident happened at a store near the 87th and the dan ryan expressway. soon car caravans were headed into the loop. this was not an organized protest. rather this was an incident of pure criminality.

MLL: these individuals engaged in what can only be described as brazen and extensive criminal looting and destruction. and to be clear this had nothing to do with legitimate protected first amendment expression.

ANCHOR: and the city is now implementing a curfew tonight access to downtown will be restricted from 08:00pm to 06:00am.

FULL ARTICLES

Aftermath of looting in downtown Chicago: 13 cops injured, 2 people shot, more than 100 arrests, Mag Mile trashed

TRIBUNE//Paige Fry, Jeremy Gorner, Gregory Pratt, Megan Crepeau and Stacy St. Clair

More than 100 people were arrested as of 9 a.m., according to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown. Thirteen officers were injured during the unrest, including a sergeant who was hit by a bottle. A civilian and private security guard were shot and wounded.

“What occurred in our downtown and surrounding communities was abject criminal behavior, pure and simple,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. “And there cannot be any excuse for it. Period.”

City officials said the seeds for the violent crime spree were sown on social media Sunday afternoon following an officer involved shooting in the Englewood neighborhood. Officers shot and wounded a 20-year-old man Sunday after he fired shots at them while being chased, authorities said.

The man was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center and is expected to survive, Brown said.

More than an hour after the shooting, police and witnesses said a crowd of about 30 people faced off against officers holding a police line near 56th and Aberdeen streets. Authorities said someone fed false information to the angry group, including that police shot and wounded a child.

During a scuffle, one officer was hit with pepper spray and a second officer suffered a minor shoulder injury. Two people were arrested and a police car window was shattered by a brick, police added.

A large number of officers cordoned off streets in nearly every direction until the mood of the crowd cooled off. But by that time, Brown said, messages began appearing on social media encouraging people to head downtown.

The looting and vandalism began shortly after, with people streaming in and out of high-end stores. Some could be seen throwing merchandise into rental trucks and other large vehicles before driving away.

“This was not an organized protest,” Brown said. “Rather this was an incident of pure criminality. This was an act of violence against our police officers and against our city.”

The looting began shortly after midnight as people darted through broken store windows and doors along Michigan Avenue carrying shopping bags full of merchandise. Cars dropped off more people as the crowd grew.

One woman with shopping bags in her hands fell on the sidewalk as an officer was chasing her. Another woman appeared to have been pepper-sprayed. A rock was thrown at a squad car.

At least five guns were recovered, officials said.

The scene was reminiscent of the looting that occurred earlier this summer amid the response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police. Both Lightfoot and Brown implicitly criticized Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, saying there weren’t consequences for looters earlier this summer.

A Tribune investigation published this morning found that Foxx drops felony cases involving charges of murder and other serious offenses at a higher rate than her predecessor.

Lightfoot, who endorsed Foxx for reelection, became angry when asked follow-up questions about Foxx’s handling of cases and told a reporter not to bait her.

“What we’re saying is, as a result of what happened last night, there have to be consequences,” Lightfoot said. “We’ve got teams of people that are aggressively out there identifying the people responsible, looking at the plates, and we’re going to bring them to justice.

“But when we do make those arrests, our expectation is that this is going to be treated with the level of seriousness it should be. Period,” she said. “Don’t try to bait us, mischaracterize, pit one against the other, we’re not playing that. We’re in a serious situation here and we need a serious response. That’s what we’re saying.”

Foxx’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The looting seemed to be centered in Streeterville and North Michigan Avenue, but some looting was reported on State Street in the Loop and on the Near North Side. By 4 a.m. police appeared to be getting things under control.

But some vandalism continued into the daylight hours, and the CTA suspended train and bus service into downtown during the morning rush, while the Illinois state police blocked off ramps from expressways. Bridges across the Chicago River were raised, except for the one on LaSalle Street for emergency vehicles.

People were seen running out of a PNC Bank, its windows smashed, at Huron and State streets. Down the block, other stores, including a Sally Beauty Supply, had been cleaned out by vandals. Other parts of downtown, including around Grand and Wabash avenues, were littered with trash.

Crowds repeatedly tried to bash in the windows of the Omega watch store at Delaware Place and Michigan Avenue.

“The watch store,” one officer said. “They’re gonna get it eventually.”

A group of people went in and out through a broken window of the Louis Vuitton store along Walton Place across the street from the Drake Hotel. A squad car drove by and the group ran away.

But as the car rode off, at least one person tried to go into the shop. The police returned.

“Go home!” One cop shouted.

“You go home!” Someone shouted, apparently back at the officer.

City officials will restrict access to the downtown from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for time being. The Police Department has canceled all previously scheduled days off, and Brown has assigned a special team of detectives to review video footage.

“I don’t care, I do not care, whatever justification was given for this,” Lightfoot said. “There is no justification for criminal behavior, ever. You have no right to take and destroy the property of others. Our residents deserve to be safe. Our businesses deserve to understand and enjoy safety and security of their property and their employees. Our police officers deserve to be able to do their job without having to worry about shots being fired, projectiles being thrown, and being maced. This is not anywhere near acceptable.”

2 shot, more than 100 people arrested, 13 officers injured amid widespread downtown looting

SUN TIMES//Staff

“We are waking up in shock this morning,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot, calling it “brazen criminal looting and destruction.”

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, who joined the mayor for a news conference at CPD headquarters Monday, called it “pure criminality” not connected to any peaceful protest.

“Criminals took to the streets with the confidence that there would be no consequences for their actions,” Brown said, adding that police would aggressively pursue cases against people involved in the looting.

“You have no right, no right to take and destroy the property of others,” Lightfoot said. “We are coming for you. ... I don’t care what justification was given for this. There is no justification.”

The police have started a neighborhood protection plan, and Brown said a team of detectives has been assigned to scour security footage of all incidents.

Brown said police will not stand by and watch downtown Chicago become “someplace people fear.” He promised a “heavy police presence” to restore order, and said access to downtown will be restricted from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., effective Monday night.

For several hours this morning, bus and train service was suspended in the area bordered by Fullerton and Ashland avenues and Cermak Road, the CTA said. The transit agency was in the process of restoring normal service shortly before 8 a.m.

All downtown bridges except the one at LaSalle Street were raised. The Chicago Department of Transportation said they were being lowered again as of 7:15 a.m., but ongoing street closures could be expected throughout downtown.

Brown said “the seeds for the shameful destruction we saw last night” started in Englewood Sunday afternoon. About 2:30 p.m., officers responded to a report of a man with a gun. He fled as they arrived, Brown said, and fired at officers. They returned fire, striking the man, who was taken to the University of Chicago Hospital and is expected to survive. The 20-year-old man had previously faced charges of domestic battery, reckless conduct and child endangerment, Brown said.

After the shooting, a crowd gathered in the area. “Tempers flared, fueled by misinformation,” Brown said.

At a later news conference, Lightfoot said the shooter was “not an unarmed juvenile” as was “propagated on social media.”

Shortly after that, police became aware of “several social media posts” about looting planned downtown, Brown said, and as a result, the department reacted by deploying 400 officers to the downtown area.

The first looting incident, Brown said, was at 87th Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway, but “soon, car caravans were headed into the Loop” to begin looting.

Lightfoot said the public has a responsibility to help apprehend the looters.

“Give no shelter to the criminals,” Lightfoot said. “People in [the] neighborhoods know who these folks are. ... This is your time to step up. ... We cannot do this without you. ... We are not going to let our city be taken over by criminals and vigilantes.”

Brown and Lightfoot also called on the Cook County state’s attorney’s office to handle the arrests from the looting seriously, arguing that previous arrests by Chicago Police from looting in May and June were not. With local prosecutors dropping cases, looters believed there would be no serious consequences for committing crimes.

Cook Count State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has previously pushed back at that characterization, saying the data does not support the “narrative” that people arrested on gun charges are quickly released and commit more crimes.

Lightfoot became angry at Monday’s news conference when the pool reporter tried to follow up on the apparent criticism of Foxx.

“Don’t bait us,” she said. At a later news conference, Lightfoot said she “values our partnership” with state’s attorney, but we need a “comprehensive, all-hands-on-deck strategy” that includes Foxx taking a hard line on those who looted with impunity and fired at police.

Cleanup efforts were underway across the downtown area Monday morning, as shattered glass from broken windows littered many Loop streets.

Several businesses along Lake Street from LaSalle to Michigan were looted, as were a jewelry store and McDonald’s near the Daley Center.

One woman, who declined to give her name, said she brought her own baseball bat for protection as she swept up glass outside the McDonald’s.

Looting stretched into the Near North Side, where several businesses were hit, including grocery stores, boutiques and an interior design store.

Jewel Osco, 102. W. Division St., was closed Monday morning as employees cleaned up the mess from looters, who hit the store in the early hours Monday. Beauty products could be found amid the shattered glass, though a store spokesperson said “no product was taken.”

Ken Londe, owner of Londo Mondo on the Near North Side, said his women’s fashion boutique was hit about 2:30 a.m. He said there was well over $25,000 worth of lost merchandise and said the looters went away with his cash drawer.

“This is my livelihood,” Londe said. “All this merchandise they took is on credit cards [that] still needs to be paid. And now we’re going to have to order more. And we have limits on our credit cards, so not good.”

This is the second time Londo Mondo was hit by looters in three months. The first incident happened in May amid the civil unrest over the police killing of George Floyd. Londe has owned this store for more than 30 years and has “never seen anything like what we’re experiencing now.”

“We were just getting back on our feet and things seemed to have been going better,” said Londe, who’s considered moving his store after the looting. “We were down three months because of the coronavirus and just before we opened up, we got looted [in May]. … And then we got that cleaned up … we had a nice month of business and then we got hit again, they just keep knocking us down.”

Community members and area business owners rallied together on the Near North Side around 3 a.m. to protect stores, several people said. Some had baseball bats and weapons. Londe said he pretended to call the cops to deter looters.

Londe and other business owners said the city needs to call in the national guard and have armed security guards on every corner and in condo buildings.

“The people that are doing this are hardened criminals, they’re losers, they’re opportunist,” Londe said. “These are not protesters, and if they are protesters than they’re frauds because these are not peaceful in any way, shape or form.”

Chief Judge Timothy Evans ordered all Cook County courts in downtown Chicago closed Monday due to restricted access to the area. Bond courts at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, the Domestic Violence Courthouse, the Juvenile Justice Division and the suburban municipal district courthouses will remain open.

All non-bond cases scheduled for Monday will be continued for 30 days and affected parties will be notified of their new court dates, according to the chief justice’s office.

Federal court in Chicago was closed as well.

Videos posted to social media showed large crowds breaking windows and entering stores along the Magnificent Mile.

CPD officers exchanged gunfire with an armed person near Michigan Avenue and Lake Street Monday morning, spokesman Tom Ahern said. No officers were injured.

The incident happened shortly before 4 a.m. and no one was hit by gunfire, according to Civilian Office of Police Accountability spokesman Ephraim Eaddy. COPA will investigate the shooting.

A security guard was wounded in a shooting shortly before 4 a.m. in the 400 block of North Clark Street, according to Chicago Fire Department officials. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

A second man was shot about 2 a.m. near Madison and Wabash, fire officials said. He was also taken to Northwestern in critical condition.

Police said smash-and-grab burglars hit a store in the South Loop late Sunday night, but it was not immediately clear whether that incident was related to the other large crowds of looters.

Outside a Best Buy store near Marcey and Halsted streets, two dozen or so store employees and neighborhood volunteers, like Bruce Ackerman, were out cleaning up after a night of looting. Much of the parking lot was strewn with empty flat-screen TV boxes and shredded styrofoam.

Ackerman, 30, who lives nearby, said he was thinking of starting up his drone to survey the area, and then thought he could be more help with a broom.

“This is the least I could do,” Ackerman said. “This is unfortunate. It isn’t really helping any cause. I’m a Black guy living in this neighborhood too. What if (Best Buy) closes and they don’t want to reopen? It hurts the whole neighborhood.”

Bruce Alper, 66, was helping clean up at Best Buy. Alper, a lawyer, drove up from River North after hearing about the destruction.

“I’m terribly sad and horrified as to what happened last night,” Alper said. “It makes no sense. It’s just criminal activity. It’s not related to any cause. ... This is just criminals and punks destroying our city and neighborhoods.”

Chicago and the surrounding suburbs saw widespread looting and vandalism in late May and early June during unrest in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Officials estimated the looting caused more than $20 million in damage in Cook County.

Lightfoot, Brown lay blame for last night's looting

CRAIN’S//A.D. Quig

"We have made the case, we have the video, we have officer testimony. These people need to be held accountable and not cycled through the system," Lightfoot said. "Judges that are holding these cases, you need to step up and be responsible. We can't continue to allow this to happen and as the superintendent said, for people to believe that there is no accountability through our criminal justice system. No one wants to hold people in jail because they are poor, but people who engage in this kind of criminal activity" need to be prosecuted.

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Brown said last night’s “destruction” began after a 20-year-old man in Englewood and officers shot at each other yesterday afternoon. Officers responded to calls of a man with a gun. Brown said that the man, who had previous burglary and domestic battery arrests, shot at officers first as he was running away. Cops shot back at the man, who was injured in the shoulder and is expected to recover, officials said.

“Misinformation” about the incident spread, Brown said, leading to tense moments between people in the neighborhood and officers processing the crime scene. Lightfoot said social media chatter incorrectly suggested the police pursuit involved an unarmed juvenile. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is investigating the incident.

Officers monitoring social media activity noticed chatter of a caravan headed to the Loop, Brown said, and CPD deployed 400 officers to respond within half an hour of seeing the activity. Looting was widespread from midnight into the early morning hours, the Chicago Tribune reported, hitting stores, shops and banks along the Magnificent Mile. Brown said CPD made 100 arrests through the night. Bridges into the Loop were lifted and CTA service was suspended at several downtown stops until roughly 8 a.m.

"This had nothing to do with legitimate, protected First Amendment expression" over the shooting in Englewood, Lightfoot said. It was "abject, criminal behavior, pure and simple. . . .There cannot be any excuse for it, period."

Criminals took to the street with the confidence there would be no consequences for their actions, Brown said, adding that he had canceled days off and officers should move to 12-hour shifts. Officers will also be deployed to ensure neighborhoods do not face similar looting seen in unrest following May and June protests after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Brown said 13 officers were injured last night, and in the past week, nine officers have been shot at. Two bystanders were shot during the "melee" last night, he said. Friday through Sunday, there were 31 shootings throughout the city, three of which were murders. All of it is "completely unacceptable," Brown said.

"CPD will not stand by as our beautiful downtown becomes someplace that people fear," he said, and a special team will scour security and pod camera footage. "I pledge to pursue these offenders to the fullest extent of the law." Brown said "a heavy police presence" will continue downtown, and access to downtown "will be restricted from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m."

Police Say They Arrested More Than 100 People During Mag Mile Looting

WBEZ//Hunter Class, Patrick Smith

Hundreds of people smashed windows, stole from stores and clashed with police early Monday in Chicago’s upscale Magnificent Mile shopping district and other parts of the city.

“We are waking up in shock this morning,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Monday morning press conference with Police Superintendent David Brown. The mayor condemned the looting, saying “what happened in our city last night and this morning of course is deeply painful for every Chicagoan.”

Last night’s lootings come months after downtown businesses were hit during protests against police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Lightfoot said the recent lootings were “brazen and extensive criminal destruction” that were not connected to peaceful demonstrations.

“This is not legitimate 1st Amendment-protected speech. These were not poor people engaging in petty theft to feed themselves and their families,” Lightfoot said. “This was straight up-felony, criminal conduct.”

At one point, shots were fired at police and officers returned fire. Thirteen officers were injured, but none in the shooting, police said. Many of the businesses that were ransacked had recently opened after Chicago protests of Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis devolved into chaos.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said protests and looting were driven by misinformation following a police shooting Sunday in which officers wounded a 20-year-old man in Englewood. Brown said police opened fire after the man shot at police during a foot chase.

Immediately following the shooting, it was rumored the person shot by police was 15-years-old.

The United States Department of Justice singled out foot chases as a major cause of violent confrontations between police and citizens in its 2017 report on CPD. The independent monitor tasked with reviewing the city’s compliance with the court-ordered police reform plan known as a consent decree reported that CPD has begun tracking when officers engage in foot pursuits, but has failed to review those foot chases for any tactical or training concerns, as required by the consent decree.

Late Sunday, 400 officers were sent downtown after learning about planned looting via social media, according to Brown, who said “car caravans” arrived on the Mag Mile. More than 100 people were arrested.

“This was an act of violence against our police officers and against our city,” according to Brown, who said nine Chicago police officers have been shot at in the past seven days.

Along the Magnificent Mile, people were seen going in and out of stores carrying shopping bags full of merchandise as well as at a bank, the Chicago Tribune reported, and as the crowd grew vehicles dropped off more people in the area. On streets throughout the downtown area, empty cash drawers from stores were strewn about and ATMs were ripped open.

Stores miles from downtown were also ransacked, with parking lots littered with glass and items from inside the stores. Clothes hangers and boxes that once contained television sets and other electronics were seen — evidence that thieves had taken racks of clothes and removed them from the hangers.

“This was obviously very orchestrated,” the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a prominent Roman Catholic priest and activist on the city’s South Side, told WBBM-TV as cameras panned the downtown area.

One officer was seen slumped against a building, several arrests were made and a rock was thrown at a police vehicle, the newspaper said. Police worked early Monday to disperse the crowds.

There was a large police presence Monday morning outside an Apple store located north of Chicago’s downtown area. Blocks away, debris was strewn in parking lots in front of a Best Buy and a large liquor store.

Train and bus service into downtown was temporarily suspended at the request of public safety officials, the Chicago Transit Authority said on Twitter. Bridges over the Chicago River were lifted, preventing travel to and from the downtown area, and Illinois State Police blocked some expressway ramps into downtown.

An OEMC spokesperson said that as of 8 a.m., the bridges were being lowered and streets have been opened. The CTA also began to resume service at about 8 a.m.

Chicago and its suburbs, like many other cities, saw unrest following the death of Floyd. Chicago’s central business district and its commercial areas were shut down for several days after violence erupted and stores were damaged in the wake of marches protesting Floyd’s death. Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died after a white officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe.

Kim Foxx drops more felony cases as Cook County state’s attorney than her predecessor, Tribune analysis shows

TRIBUNE//David Jackson, Todd Lighty, Gary Marx and Alex Richards

During Foxx’s first three years as the county’s top prosecutor, her office dropped all charges against 29.9% of felony defendants, a dramatic increase over her predecessor, the Tribune found. For the last three years of Anita Alvarez’s tenure, the rate was 19.4%.

In all, a total of 25,183 people had their felony cases dismissed under Foxx through November 2019, up from 18,694 for a similar period under Alvarez.

Foxx, a Democrat, swept into the state’s attorney’s office in 2016 vowing to reform the criminal justice system and reduce the population of Cook County Jail, which disproportionately holds low-income people of color. She is up for reelection in November.

In an interview, Foxx did not dispute the Tribune’s findings but said her office’s higher rate of dropped felony cases gives an incomplete picture of her commitment to keeping the public safe. She said her office has dismissed cases against low-level, nonviolent offenders so prosecutors can concentrate on crimes of violence.

“It is always eye-opening to be able to look at our own data and compare it to my predecessor’s past,” Foxx said. “I can’t reconcile what her decision-making was, and how they chose to (dismiss) cases in the past. But I will say that this administration has been clear that our focus would be on violent crime and making sure that our resources and attention would go to addressing violent crime.”

However, the Tribune found that Foxx’s higher rates of dropped cases included people accused of murder, shooting another person, sex crimes, and attacks on police officers — as well as serious drug offenses that for decades have driven much of Chicago’s street violence.

For the three-year period analyzed, Foxx’s office dropped 8.1% of homicide cases, compared with 5.3% under Alvarez, the Tribune found. Under Foxx, the office dropped 9.5% of felony sex crime cases; the rate was 6.5% for Alvarez.

Foxx’s office also increased the rate of dropped cases for aggravated battery and for aggravated battery with a firearm. And under Foxx, the percentage of cases dropped for defendants accused of aggravated battery of a police officer more than doubled, from 3.9% to 8.1%.

Foxx said she has tried to create an office culture where assistant state’s attorneys can openly discuss dropping felony charges if a case has legal problems, pointing to wrongful convictions that have occurred over the years and the dark history of Chicago police detectives torturing people of color to gain false confessions.

“Recognizing the history that we’ve had around wrongful convictions, recognizing our ethical obligations as prosecutors ... requires us to reinforce that people can, if they believe a case is flawed, bring it to our attention, and we will dismiss it if it’s appropriate,” Foxx said.

The most well-known case where Foxx’s office dropped all felony charges was that of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who had been accused of staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself in downtown Chicago. Prosecutors in 2019 moved to dismiss all 16 felony counts against Smollett. The legal term for this, “nolle prosequi,” means the office was declining to prosecute.

A Cook County judge last summer appointed former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb as a special prosecutor to investigate whether there was any misconduct in the way Foxx’s office handled the allegations against Smollett. In February a grand jury indicted Smollett on new charges, making allegations nearly identical to the charges dropped by Foxx’s office.

Webb has said he will issue a final report to the court and to the Cook County Board of Commissioners, although no date has been specified. Foxx had opposed the appointment of a special prosecutor, saying it would duplicate the work of the county’s inspector general, who was already looking into the Smollett case.

The Tribune findings are based on data that Foxx’s office posted online showing the outcomes for more than 810,000 charges from 2011 onward. The data shows for each charge whether the defendant entered a guilty plea, was found guilty or not guilty at trial, or had the charge dismissed.

Defendants often face multiple charges in a single case, and it’s common for prosecutors to drop some of the charges before and even during a trial. The Tribune wanted to determine how often the state’s attorney’s office dismissed all charges; the analysis was ultimately based on the cases of about 287,000 defendants.

It is impossible to determine from Foxx’s database, which omits names of defendants and their criminal case numbers, how many people were arrested on new charges after their cases were dismissed.

The Tribune also could not use the data to analyze the reasons prosecutors cited for dropping all charges against defendants. That’s because for the time period examined, the information on the reasons is incomplete.

In her interview, Foxx stressed that she brings a reform-minded philosophy about what constitutes justice and how the resources of her office should be applied. Foxx said she is more selective about prosecuting the strongest, winnable cases.

But the Tribune found that Alvarez actually had a higher overall conviction rate.

Of the felony cases that have been concluded, Alvarez’s office won convictions in 75% during her last three years in office, according to the Tribune’s analysis, higher than Foxx’s 66% in the first three years of her term.

Alvarez, who now works for a global consulting firm, declined to comment for this story.

Looking at outcomes

When police arrest a person in connection with a felony crime such as murder, carjacking, armed robbery or rape, prosecutors review the evidence and determine whether charges should be filed. (Police can directly file charges in some instances, including certain drug cases, without prosecutors’ approval.)

Once a person is charged with a felony, the defendant appears before a bond court judge who determines whether that person should be held in jail or be released before trial, and under what conditions he or she should be released back into the community. The case continues through the court system, where a grand jury files an indictment or a judge determines there is probable cause to let the case proceed.

The case could end in a number of ways, including a trial. Some defendants charged with less serious crimes are diverted to counseling or treatment programs. Or prosecutors may choose to drop the charges; reasons that can happen include cases when witnesses, police or victims fail to appear in court, or judges disqualify evidence.

In the felony data, narcotics defendants account for about 40% of all criminal cases handled by prosecutors. Foxx has long argued that enforcement of drug offenses disproportionately affects communities of color and that nonviolent drug users are better served outside the criminal justice system.

Indeed, the Tribune found that Foxx’s office dropped more than half of all felony narcotics cases, compared with just over a third for Alvarez.

But the disparity in dismissed cases was especially acute among people charged with the most serious drug crimes — trafficking and other drug manufacturing and delivering offenses categorized as Class X felonies, the most serious class of felony other than murder. Foxx’s office dropped 1 out of every 4 of those Class X drug cases, compared with about 1 out of 9 for Alvarez.

When first told of the Tribune’s finding that Foxx’s office was dropping cases more often, Foxx’s aides suggested the Tribune also look at conviction rates.

When the Tribune did so, the analysis found prosecutors under Alvarez won a higher percentage of felony cases than under Foxx. Even if drug defendants are excluded, Alvarez’s office still had a higher conviction rate, winning 84% of non-narcotics cases to 82% for Foxx.

Foxx’s office decided to look at conviction rates a different way. Instead of analyzing all 80 criminal offense categories represented in the database, her office selected a group of 34 that officials said represented “serious and violent offender categories.”

Among the categories Foxx’s office did not include in its analysis: felony burglary, narcotics and child pornography.

When asked about those exclusions, Foxx said that when she first came into office Chicago was experiencing a spike in violence and she wanted to focus her attention primarily on prosecuting those crimes.

“I want to be clear, we’re not being dismissive of any of those (other) offenses.” she said. “We’re not in any way saying, by trying to parse the data, about which cases are significant, because to every victim, every offense is significant.”

For the categories Foxx’s office selected, she had a conviction rate of 83%, officials said — higher than Alvarez’s 81%.

A different mentality

The Tribune’s findings add a new element to the debate over criminal justice reforms and public safety in Chicago, which has seen far more killings in 2020 than the more populous cities of New York and Los Angeles.

As of Aug. 2, the number of people killed in Chicago had hit 450, up 55% from 291 by the same date the previous year. Shootings were up 48%, jumping from 1,220 to 1,804, according to Chicago police numbers.

Foxx said her policies have not led to the recent spike in violent crime, which she noted occurred during a pandemic and time of civil unrest, and that other big cities also have seen increases.

“The fact that we’ve had three years of my policies that have been put in place and over the three years we did not see an increase in violent crime would suggest to me that ... that is not a logical outcome,” she said.

As she has pushed for reforms in the office, Foxx has said residents deserve a prosecutor who is not driven by a win-at-any-cost mentality but “by a persistent quest for justice, in whatever form that takes in a particular case.”

Having defeated three challengers in the Democratic primary in March, Foxx, 48, faces former Cook County Judge Patrick O’Brien in the November general election.

Foxx says she’s seeking another term because she wants to continue reforming the criminal justice system.

Among the actions she has taken as state’s attorney: not prosecuting people for nonviolent offenses such as minor traffic offenses for failing to pay tickets, declining to prosecute shoplifting as a felony if the stolen merchandise was worth less than $1,000, and diverting drug defendants to treatment and counseling programs instead of prosecuting them on criminal charges.

On her campaign website, Foxx says she has exonerated 80 wrongly convicted individuals, expunged the criminal records of more than 1,000 low-level marijuana offenders and helped change the bail system.

Along with Chief Judge Timothy Evans and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Foxx has advocated for lowering or eliminating cash bonds for defendants facing a host of charges, including many gun offenses. They have said people should not be held in jail before their trial merely because they are too poor to come up with bail money.

These public officials argue that their changes to the bail system have had no impact on violent crime. But a Tribune investigation earlier this year found that the key study used to support those claims, done by Evans’ office, had flaws that minimized the number of defendants charged with murder and other violent crimes after being released from custody under bail reform.

As more defendants were freed from jail, judges increasingly placed many of them on electronic home monitoring as a condition of their release. Defendants who destroy the ankle bracelet or simply take off can be charged with felony escape.

It’s a charge where the difference between Foxx’s office and Alvarez’s is particularly stark. About 400 people are charged every year with felony escape. During Alvarez’s last three years in office, she dropped a total of 55 such cases, compared with 429 for Foxx.

Foxx could not explain why her office has pursued far fewer escape cases than under Alvarez. “We don’t have an official policy on escape and so I don’t have an answer for you as to why that number would be different, other than, again, we’re asking our people to be able to proceed on cases where the facts, the law and the evidence support it.”

Matthew Walberg, a spokesman for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who administers the electronic monitoring program, criticized Foxx’s office for dropping so many escape cases after charges were filed.

“Individuals who commit these types of violations should be held accountable for their actions,” Walberg said.

Editorial: Living with a higher Lake Michigan

TRIBUNE//Editorial Board

We got a pointed reminder of the elevated level recently, when strong waves pounded the shoreline from Wisconsin to Michigan and the National Weather Service warned people to stay away. Lake Shore Drive and South Shore Drive have been unusually prone to flooding, and beaches and bluffs have suffered serious erosion.

This is not a new phenomenon. Back in 1987, a Tribune editorial on the high lake level noted that solutions were hard to come by: “The usual remedies — breakwaters, retaining walls, human-made reefs, piers, groins, dikes and beach replenishment — often preserve one stretch of lakefront while increasing erosion and damage elsewhere. Often, success is only temporary.”

That didn’t stop people from trying. In 2019, Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, told WTTW:“ Over the last 30 years, Chicago has spent — along with the feds — more than $300 million on buildings shoreline protection projects, which are designed to prevent flooding of Lake Shore Drive, protect the lakefront park system, and make sure that we’re ready for the next record high.” The lake level also fell, staying well under the historic average for most of this century, hitting a record low in 2013 before it began to creep back up.

But money and ingenuity only go so far. Despite all the investments, Chicago and communities on the North Shore are once again scrambling to cope with the effects of an overflowing lake.

As Tribune reporters Karen Ann Cullotta, Genevieve Bookwalter and Karen Berkowitz reported, Evanston had to close its dog beach for the third consecutive year, and Highland Park spent nearly $400,000 to replace the sand on its beach. Langdon Beach in Wilmette “doesn’t exist anymore,” said Steve Wilson, executive director of Wilmette Park District. A parking lot in Lake Bluff was destroyed.

Some homes perched on bluffs are vulnerable to collapse as the lake eats away at the ground beneath them. Architect Jon Shabica told the Tribune, “We need to recognize the fact that change is now happening at an alarming rate, and while it happened before, we’re seeing an impact now that is different in its ferocity.”

The problem can be addressed with breakwaters, revetments, sea walls, bluff supports and lavish additions of sand. But besides being costly, new barriers may worsen problems for neighboring homes and towns that lack them, and restored beaches may not stay restored for long. When a lake as large as this one decides to flex, it’s bound to do damage.

The hope is that the lake will soon subside in the next stage of a natural cycle. But the warming of the planet may alter the usual pattern. As temperatures rise, our region is likely to get more precipitation and more intense rain storms. But higher temperatures also increase evaporation. So the ultimate effect on the lake level is clouded in uncertainty.

For the time being, though, we’ll have to cope with a higher lake. It’s crucial for states, cities and towns bordering Lake Michigan to work together to protect their residents and property.

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What form would that take? Simply armoring the lakefront would be shortsighted. Jennifer Caddick, vice president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, tells us. “We need more natural, living shorelines, not hardened shorelines. Living shorelines rely on dunes, natural barrier reefs, etc. to dampen the lake’s effects during high water years.” New buildings should be located farther back from the lakefront. Some new barriers will make sense, but they need to be designed and located so they don’t simply move the damage somewhere else.

Lake Michigan is a vast and precious resource that has done much to enrich and define our city and region. But it’s not going to adapt to us. We have to adapt to it.

Will voting by mail be safe and secure this fall? Here's what officials say.

CRAIN’S//Greg Hinz

But will that process be secure and safe from fraud? Will local election authorities be able to avoid the huge problems that delayed final vote counts for well over a month in New York?

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After talking at length to the three offices here with the most influence—the Chicago Board of Elections, and the Cook and DuPage county clerks—my answer is a guarded yes.

Each jurisdiction is handling things in a slightly different way, and the unprecedented tidal wave of mail ballots will test local electoral systems in a way they’ve never before been tested. But equally unprecedented are the types of actions being taken, from redesigning envelops with the U.S. Postal Service and assigning each ballot envelope a unique bar code tracker, to assigning guard to secure scores of ballot drop boxes and notifying voters by email and phone when their ballot has been received, processed and cast.

“We started our buildout process in March, the day after the primary. We think it will work,” says Ed Michalowski, who’s in charge of elections for Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough,

“I believe we’ll be able to get this job done,” says DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek. “We’re very confident.”

The message from them and the Chicago Board of Elections is the same: Things should work.

But, to avoid problems, voters should apply for a mail ballot now—more than 400,000 people in the three jurisdictions already have do so. They'll be mailed to voters at the end of September. And get them back as soon as possible, so as not to swamp the post office.

That means politicians ought to be in high gear already, because a large portion of the vote will occur in early October, not on Election Day, Nov. 3.

Not everyone is convinced this is going to come off as it should.

State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, who served as point man for Republicans when the General Assembly took up expanded mail-balloting legislation this spring, is particularly concerned about automatically sending mail-in ballot applications to people who may have moved, something he fears could result in multiple votes by the same person. Some jurisdictions are better than others at periodically scrubbing their registration rolls of such cases, he says.

Butler also told me he’s worried about unsecured drop boxes, fearing they could end up being depositories for votes illegally “harvested” by unscrupulous political operatives.

I asked the election officials about that and their overall preparations. Here’s what they said:

In suburban Cook, where the vote is conducted by the county clerk’s office, Michalowski said anyone who applies for a mail ballot will get one with a pre-stamped envelope. If they apply online, the ballot envelope will come with a unique bar code tracker linked to the applicant’s email or cellphone, so they know when their ballot has been accepted and processed.

When the ballot arrives at the clerk’s office, the voter's signature will be examined by three-person, bipartisan teams of election judges. If all three judges consider the signature invalid, the applicant will be notified within 48 hours and given a chance to respond and provide a replacement signature.

For those who don’t trust the mail, the county will have drop boxes in each of its 53 early voting sites, as well as a large site being set up at Union Station, Michalowski said. The county also hopes to have drop boxes in some other downtown Metra stations. Each drop box will have an attendant, who will check IDs. Anyone dropping off more than one ballot—say, for their spouse or a friend—will be required to produce a signed affidavit authorizing such an action.

Otherwise, ballots returned by mail will be reviewed and processed every day, Michalowski said, though no ballots will be counted until after the polls close on election night. Most of the processing will be handled at a new supplemental facility the county has opened up in Cicero.

As occurred this spring, ballots will be counted even if they arrive after election day, so long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3. If a ballot comes without a postmark, the day it was signed will be determinative.

One other thing: Computer images of the ballot will be retained at every stage of processing, Michalowski said. And ballots will go to all active voters, those who remained on the polling list after the county’s canvass last fall.

Chicago’s procedures will be similar, but amplified.

According to Chicago Board of Election Commissioners Chair Marisel Hernandez, steps her agency has taken include working with postal officials to redesign the return envelope, making it easier to process and hopefully cutting potential delays.

Applications the board already has mailed to 1.6 million registered city voters will be non-forwardable. The board is working with a consortium of 30 states to catch and weed out outdated registrations for people who have moved. When someone’s mail ballot is received, board records will be automatically updated so the same person cannot show up at a polling place on Election Day and vote again. And the board also will use a bar code tracking system.

The Chicago Board of Elections will not require anyone depositing a ballot in a drop box to show ID, fearing that could be illegal. But all boxes will be inside early-voting sites beginning on Oct. 14 and all ballots will be immediately time and location stamped before deposit.

“We are taking as many precautions as possible,” says Hernandez. “We’ve had a lot of experience with mail voting in recent years. We’ve tried to think of everything we can to deal with the situation.”

Procedures will be similar in DuPage, according to Kaczmarek.

Applications already have been sent to 617,000 people, all of those who are currently registered in the county. DuPage is not using bar codes, but those who apply for a mail ballot will be given the option to sign up for a notification system that will ping the users’ email or cell when a ballot has been received. The county will have drop boxes at its administrative center, either located inside or outside in areas that are well-lit 24 hours a day, and will be emptied each day, Kaczmarek said.

All of three jurisdictions told me they intend to have their usual number of precinct polling places open, despite concerns about a lack of judges due to COVID-19. Since Election Day will be a government holiday for the first time this year, you can expect more of them to be in government buildings than usual.

Will it work? I’ll leave discussion of any possible hacking for another day. Meantime, this is what local election officials are saying. Hopefully, they’re right.

What's driving this year's flare-up of violence in Chicago?

CRAIN’S//A.D. Quig

With jobs growing even more scarce and the church, school, nonprofit and government safety nets that typically hold communities together strained by the pandemic, a growing sense of hopelessness has emerged, one that deepened in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing, street outreach workers on the front lines of violence say. That hopelessness is changing the rules of engagement on the streets. A cycle of retaliation has set in, and children and bystanders, once considered off-limits, are increasingly in the crossfire.

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"People felt despair and lack of hope prior, and they almost feel nothing now," says Chris Patterson, who helped launch the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago in the Austin neighborhood in 2016, one of Chicago's worst years for gun violence in recent memory. With jobs disappearing and the constant threat of a deadly virus, "it's very uncertain. It's uncertain for people who have everything together, you know? If you're a person who can never get their foot forward and has been struggling, it feels like a very terrifying time."

With seven months of 2020 on the books, Chicago is on pace to soon exceed last year's homicide total. As of Aug. 2, the Chicago Police Department logged 450 total murders. That's up more than 50 percent compared to 2019. Shooting incidents were up by a similar margin. We're not alone: Reported homicides are up 24 percent so far this year in America's 50 biggest cities, a Wall Street Journal analysis found. But Chicago leads the nation in the total number of homicides among big cities.

Fragmentation of gangs and cliques, escalating interpersonal and gang conflicts fueled by social media, and what CPD believes are more and deadlier guns flowing into shooters' hands are making violence-prevention work that much tougher this year.

There is no single culprit. Chicago has a long history of gun violence, and a longer history of segregation and disinvestment. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said her "all hands on deck" approach to addressing gun violence as a public health issue and driving business and resources to the city's South and West sides would take time to yield results. It's also unclear whether 2020's rise in shootings and homicides is a historic blip, and shifting gang rivalries and social media use are hard to measure. But while this year's statistics are stark, outreach workers say they believe they're preventing numbers from being worse, and were making meaningful progress before COVID struck.

Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research seemed to back that notion up. A preliminary analysis released in March of the work of eight outreach organizations via Communities Partnering 4 Peace, or CP4P, offered promising initial findings: Since the partnership began in 2017, shootings and homicides declined an average of 1 percent per month in CP4P areas, where shootings and homicides were increasing by 2 percent previously. That led to an overall 17.7 percent reduction on average in the number of homicides and shootings per month in the 30 months since the initiative launched.

Many organizations and their workers are stretched even thinner. Focusing on those deemed most at risk of shooting or being shot, intervention groups work to connect people in Chicago's most violent neighborhoods to case managers, help them reach educational or employment goals, keep an ear to the ground to tamp down or mediate potential conflicts, and help families or victims access therapy or other resources. Now they've had to expand their mandate to help distribute food, masks and COVID literature.

'TENSION IN THE HOME'

Eddie Bocanegra is the gun violence leader at READI Chicago, a Heartland Alliance program that delivers a mix of cognitive behavioral therapy and jobs programs to high-risk men. The virus has added a variety of stresses for READI participants. Eighty percent have unstable housing. "You have family and friends who let you crash, you move somewhere else. Now they're like, 'Hey, man, when we agreed to this, you were working. Now you're trying to do remote cognitive behavioral therapy, you're using my Wi-Fi, and by the way, you're eating up my food and you're an extra body in a 700-square-foot apartment. I need that couch you're sleeping on because my kids want to watch TV.' Now there's a tension in the home, we have more domestic violence, more arguments that could stem, and have led to, physical altercations."

Both CPD and outreach groups say an acceleration of gang splintering that long predated the virus has also made it tougher to reach leadership and mediate conflict. Patterson says his organization dealt with 14 cliques in Austin in 2016. Now there are 23. "Sometimes you find out overnight that there's a new clique of guys that have broken off," he says.

Spates of violence are happening in new and different neighborhoods like Albany Park, Gage Park and South Shore, where anti-violence groups aren't well-established. Some conflicts also shifted to early morning hours.

Previous rules of engagement—gang-affiliated and interpersonal—have gone "out the window," says Frank Perez, director of violence intervention and prevention services at UCAN and past national director of CURE Violence/Ceasefire. "We're seeing people saying, 'Because you shot my sister, you shot one of my relatives, I don't care if your 3-year-old is in the car.' " That's one of the reasons this summer has seen so many headlines for deaths of young children and shootings with multiple victims, he says. "They're not the intended target, but the perpetrators don't care."

Dishonoring the dead, previously frowned upon, is more of a problem, too, fueled by the ease of posting on social media.

"I think we're in a vicious cycle of retaliation right now," says Vaughn Bryant, executive director of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives. Those traumatized by the loss of their loved ones to gun violence are sometimes losing others to COVID. The trauma is amplified, outreach workers say, by a feeling of despair about the future. "Every little offense is taken to the nth degree," Bryant says. "It's a symptom and a sign of a traumatized people."

Melvyn Hayward, head of programs at Chicago CRED, has worked in violence prevention for more than two decades, in Los Angeles and Chicago. He says Chicago's abundance of "military-grade weaponry" is at a capacity he's never seen. That's "part of the reason why there are often multiple victims at shootings: People are coming up, shooting at a crowd, and multiple victims are hit because they have semiautomatic weapons with large clips."

CPD says they've so far recovered 5,700 guns this year—a number consistent with recent years—but believe there is "an increasing proliferation of guns throughout Chicago's neighborhoods than we've seen in recent years," spokesman Luis Agostini says.

SIGNS OF HOPE

Despite all this, outreach groups have hope. Funding from city, county, state and philanthropic partners has aligned and increased. There is better coordination and communication between the Mayor's Office of Violence Prevention (led by alums of groups like CRED and UCAN), CPD and outreach organizations. The city's new violence prevention dashboard helps all parties coordinate what hot spots to occupy and what hours to work.

The work also has buy-in from CPD. "Superintendent (David) Brown has been clear that curbing Chicago's violence is not going to be solved by law enforcement alone," Agostini says in a press release. "That's why Chicago's local police districts continue to partner with the violence interrupters, block clubs and street outreach organizations, who provide crisis de-escalation, youth programming, employment in transitional jobs and cognitive behavioral therapy and support for those at the highest risk of violence. This evidence-based public health approach has not only been proven to reduce gun violence in communities but also to improve community perceptions of police."

Andrew Papachristos, a sociology professor and fellow at Northwestern's Institute for Policy Research, says violence outreach is still a nascent profession and does not employ enough people to match the city's overall gang population. Nor is it a match for long-term investment in areas starved for development.

"Chicago is having to deal with its short-term issues—who is getting shot today?—as well as these long-term issues," he said at a Crain's Forum event on gun violence Aug. 4. The short-term work of intervention today and the long-term investment "to stop people who might be affected by gun violence tomorrow" are both needed. "We want to make sure that panic doesn't destroy progress."

Chicago Public Schools Proposes Cutting Police Spending In Half

WBEZ//Sarah Karp

The police department’s contract is a tiny part of the school district’s overall budget of $6.9 billion, which was released Monday morning. But the practice of having police stationed in schools has been a source of intense controversy in the wake of the protests against police brutality this spring.

Many have questioned whether the money the school district set aside for police couldn’t be better used for social supports for students.

Also, just last month, it was revealed by WBEZ/Chalkbeat that last year the school district agreed to pay up to the entire 12-month salary and benefits of 209 police officers and sergeants assigned to schools.

But now the school district is making it clear that next year’s contract will be significantly less and only for specific services rendered. It already knows that school will only offer in-person instruction for eight months, at most, as it will be all-remote for at least the first quarter of the year. The existing $33 million police contract expires at the end of this month, and the Chicago Board of Education is scheduled to vote on a new contract at its Aug. 26 board meeting. Earlier this summer, the Chicago Board of Education voted down a measure to terminate the contract by a narrow majority.

Also, in a surprise move, the school district will not pay for a fleet of 48 \officers that rove from school to school as it now says they also do regular street patrolling around the city. WBEZ submitted a Freedom of Information Act to determine what exactly these officers do, but the school district keeps extending the deadline and hasn’t responded.

The other reason the contract is being reduced is that a handful of local school councils have voted to remote police officers from their schools. Many LSCs have not voted yet, as they have until the end of this week to decide.

Boosting spending overall

Despite the economic downturn, the school district is planning on an operating budget that is $600 million more than last year’s budget, mostly because it is expecting more money from the federal government in emergency COVID-19 funding. The school district says its projections are conservative given what is being debated by lawmakers.

About $75 million of that will go to expenses that are specifically related to the pandemic and how it has impacted the school district. Chicago Public Schools has already announced it will be all remote for the first quarter of the year. After Nov. 8, officials hope to implement a hybrid model in which most students are in class for two days a week.

The school district says it will use the money to buy more computers for students to use at home, more cleaning supplies and more protective equipment, such as masks and hand sanitizer.

While the school district expects to be on solid financial footing due to a boost in federal funding, officials are acknowledging that the future may be uncertain. The state had been committed to increasing funding to school districts so they could achieve a level of funding that would allow them to provide all students what was deemed an “adequate” education.

But due to the economic downturn, the state is facing financial trouble and was only able to provide level funding for school districts. For Chicago Public Schools, that meant it will get about $60 to $65 million less than what it was projecting from the state.

Also, while overall the school district is expecting more in property taxes, other local revenue is expected to be reduced.

Capital budget

The school district is also touting its capital budget of $653 million, which includes $50 million for a new athletic sports complex on the South Side.

Most of the funding decisions in the capital budget were decided through a new “equity-driven” process the school district has been working on. That process takes into account what has been spent in the past, the demographics of communities and the economic hardship the community faces.

Using that process, school district officials decided to use $306 million to fix things like roofs, chimneys and fire alarms in neighborhood schools.

Much of the rest of the money will go to support ongoing initiatives, such as creating preschool classrooms for the school district’s universal prekindergarten for four year olds. It also will renovate more science labs.

Chicago Police Unveil Plan To Catch Up On Reform Mandates

WBEZ//Patrick Smith

It comes after an independent monitor tasked with reviewing CPD’s reform efforts submitted two successive reports to the judge overseeing the case outlining the city’s failure to meet court-imposed deadlines or comply with the majority of the requirements laid out in the first year of the consent decree.

“Using the new Priority Plan, we will prioritize our efforts and resources in the areas that will have the greatest impact on the communities we serve along with our Department, and to most likely achieve significant progress,” CPD Deputy Superintendent Barbara West, who leads the CPD Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform, said in a statement.

The document, released to the public one day before department officials are scheduled to defend their performance at a City Council committee hearing, acknowledges “the high volume of work that lies ahead.”

“CPD believes it is critical to prioritize consent decree projects … so that the Department can focus its efforts and resources on projects that will maximize impact on its organization and accelerate consent decree compliance,” the plan reads.

Also on Monday the department unveiled a new “consent decree compliance” dashboard online that is supposed to make it easier for the public to track the city’s progress overhauling its police department.

For more than a year, advocates have pressed the city to devote more resources to meeting its reform obligations.

In a June court hearing, Shareese Pryor, chief of the civil rights bureau of the Illinois attorney general’s office, blasted the city for what she described as “foot dragging” on mandatory reforms.

“The process of implementing the consent decree has been slow. Slower than the consent decree demands. The mayor and the city have the power to change that,” Pryor said.

After a WBEZ analysis found the department to be behind on at least two dozen deadlines in the first six months of the consent decree, Karen Sheley, director of the Police Practices Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said the city needed to provide “an explanation of how they’re going to catch up and what they’re going to do about it.”

The plan released Monday is an effort to provide such a blueprint. In total, CPD is seeking to complete more than 100 consent decree linked tasks by the end of the year.

“As is typical for police department consent decrees, the first year of implementation has focused on establishing the infrastructure and building the processes that allow for consent decree compliance to occur,” Sudip Singh, deputy chief of CPD’s Reform Management Group, said in a statement. “Some of these processes have worked well, while others need additional improvements. As with any major undertaking, the department has learned valuable lessons from its early efforts and is working hard every day to make further improvements moving forward.”

Among the department’s priorities: set up a way for school principals to give feedback on officers assigned to work in their buildings, revise its policies on when officers can use force, review foot chases by officers, complete an “independent expert assessment” of the department’s promotion process, create an officer wellness support plan and create new screening and selection criteria for those seeking to investigate officer misconduct.

Since taking over as Chicago’s top cop in April, Superintendent David Brown has talked up the importance of reform and consent decree compliance to improving CPD. A CPD spokesman said Brown last month started holding monthly meetings on consent decree progress.

“One area where I have a strong sense where we need to do better is meeting the deadlines,” Brown told WBEZ in a May interview. “So we will be pushing to achieve above and beyond what’s required. And I’ll likely not be satisfied until we get to that point.”

More Than 100 People Were Arrested After A Chicago Police Shooting Led To A Night Of Looting

BUZZFEED/Julia Reinstein

A police shooting in Chicago on Sunday sparked a night of havoc and looting, with more than 100 people arrested and 13 officers injured.

On Sunday, police shot a 20-year-old man while responding to a call about an individual with a gun. The man fled when approached by officers and shot at them, authorities said. Police fired back at the man, striking him. The man was transported to a hospital and is expected to survive, police said.

Tensions flared in the city following the shooting, with people breaking windows, stealing from stores, and facing off with officers in downtown Chicago. Bridges to the area were raised to prevent access.

Police said the unrest had been partly fueled by misinformation on social media, which claimed the man shot was a 15-year-old and that he had been killed.

"This was not an organized protest," Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown said. "Rather, this was an incident of pure criminality."

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot echoed the sentiment, calling it an "assault on our city."

“To be clear, this had nothing to do with legitimate, protected First Amendment expression,” Lightfoot said at the press conference. “What occurred in our downtown and surrounding communities was abject criminal behavior, pure and simple.”

In addition to major chain stores being looted, some smaller businesses that had been rebuilding from being damaged during May protests were also hit, Lightfoot added.

“These were not poor people engaged in petty theft to feed themselves and their families,” she said. “This was straight-up felony criminal conduct.”

Widespread Looting And Gunfire Rock Downtown After Police Shoot Man: ‘We Are Waking Up In Shock’

BLOCK CLUB//Bob Chiarito and Kelly Bauer

DOWNTOWN — There was widespread looting, vandalism and gunfire Sunday night and early Monday Downtown after police shot a 20-year-old man.

The unrest came hours after police shot the man Sunday in Englewood. In a statement, police said the man fired at police officers, who then shot him. He was hit in the shoulder and is recovering, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Monday press conference.

After the shooting, a crowd gathered at the scene as people protested police violence.

Police, who were monitoring social media, saw posts encouraging people to form a car caravan to the Loop so they could loot, Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said.

“This was not an organized protest; rather, this was an incident of pure criminality. This was an act of violence against our police officers and against our city,” he said.

Police sent 400 officers to the Downtown area, where looting soon began, Brown said.

There were also scattered reports of looting and vandalism in more residential neighborhoods. The first incident of looting happened at a store near 87th and the Dan Ryan, Brown said.

But the brunt of the looting was Downtown, where hundreds of people took to the streets overnight, dozens of stores were broken into and police clashed with crowds.

Two people were shot — one a civilian and one a security guard — amid the looting and were taken to Northwestern Hospital in critical condition, Brown said. Thirteen police officers were injured throughout the night, as well.

“We are waking up in shock today,” Lightfoot said. “This was straight-up felony criminal conduct.”

The city lifted Downtown bridges over the Chicago River and shut down expressway entrances to try to control the crowds. The CTA suspended service into Downtown, but began to restore it at 8 a.m.

Brown said access to the Loop will be restricted 8 p.m.-6 a.m. for the foreseeable future beginning Monday. Asked for details about how that will be enforced, Lightfoot said the city is still working out, but officials want to ensure people who live and work in the Loop can still easily access the neighborhood.

Amid unrest at the end of May, similar measures led to widespread looting and vandalism in the neighborhoods. To prevent that from happening this time, the Chicago Police Department will deploy officers “in large measures” to neighborhoods for their protection, Brown said.

Officers have also had their days off canceled and will work 12-hour shifts for the time being, Brown said.

Workers from city agencies like Streets and Sanitation will be stationed throughout the neighborhoods to help police, Lightfoot said. They’ll be in place until the city knows “our neighborhoods are safe.”

The city is also working with state police, but there are no plans to call in the National Guard, Lightfoot said.

What happened is “deeply painful,” Lightfoot said. “This was an assault on our city. … It undermines public safety and breeds a sense of insecurity among our residents.”

Lightfoot and Brown said more than 100 people were arrested for things like disorderly conduct, battery to officers and theft. They called on the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to prosecute those people, saying they need to know there will be consequences for looting.

Not many people were prosecuted “to the fullest extent” after unrest in May and June, Brown said.

“We have to have consequences for the arrests Chicago Police officers make,” Brown said.

Their plans were quickly criticized by activists on social media, who said the city and Police Department are prioritizing high-end stores over people and putting more officers on the streets will endanger Black people.

The looting began about 11 p.m. Sunday, said police spokesman Hector Alfaro.

Dozens of stores had windows smashed and merchandise stolen, including in River North, the Gold Coast, the Loop and South Loop. Damage was also seen at the Apple store at North and Clybourn in Lincoln Park.

A scared cleaning crew locked themselves inside Nordstrom, according to reports.

Several people looting were seen hauling off stolen merchandise that they had to set down on the sidewalk while they waited to get a ride.

Some of the people looting told The Daily Line they came Downtown in response to the police shooting in Englewood.

About 4:30 a.m., Chicago Police officers exchanged gunfire with people shooting in the crowd near Michigan Avenue and Lake Street, Alfaro said. It is unknown if anyone was wounded in that incident.

A Chicago Police SWAT team in riot gear and gas masks raced to the area to assist officers in riot helmets and shields with their batons out. Police formed lines to move out groups of people who gathered together.

The overnight looting follows widespread looting in the Loop and in neighborhoods across the city in late May. That unrest came after organized protests over police killing George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Downtown Chicago To Be Shut Down Again To Prevent Looting, Vandalism, Officials Say

BLOCK CLUB//Kelly Bauer

CHICAGO — The Loop will be closed off starting Monday night after widespread looting there earlier in the day.

Access to the area will be restricted 8 p.m.-6 a.m. daily for the foreseeable future, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Supt. David Brown announced Monday morning. It’s not clear yet what will be closed off, but Lightfoot said the city is talking to the CTA and is looking at lifting bridges. Check back for updates.

The city does want to make it easy for people who live and work in the area to still travel into it, Lightfoot said.

But officials hope closing off the Downtown area can prevent more damage. Sunday night and Monday morning saw hundreds of people pour into the Loop and surrounding neighborhoods, where they broke into stores, stole and clashed with police. Two people were shot and 13 officers injured, and more than 100 people were arrested.

The unrest came hours after police shot a 20-year-old man Sunday in Englewood. In a statement, police said the man fired at police officers, who then shot him. He is recovering.

Hoping to control the crowds Downtown, the city lifted bridges over the Chicago River and shut down expressway entrances. The CTA temporarily suspended service into Downtown from Sunday night into Monday morning.

Similarly, at the end of May and beginning of June, the city shut down the area because of unrest over police killing George Floyd in Minneapolis.

At that time, the city blocked off roads, shut down bus and train service and raised the bridges to keep most people from being able to access the Loop. Only workers and residents were allowed in and out, and they had their identifying information checked by members of the National Guard.

The move was highly criticized, as it led to looting and vandalism moving into more residential neighborhoods.

This time, Lightfoot and Supt. David Brown said they’ll have police officers and city workers in the neighborhoods to protect businesses and residents.

Lightfoot also said she has no plans to bring in the National Guard.

Drive-In ‘Movies At The Parks’ Offers 6 Movies Around The City

BLOCK CLUB//Alexandra Chaidez

CHICAGO — Six new free drive-in movies will open up in parks across the city starting Tuesday — including 1975’s “Cooley High” filmed in Chicago.

The drive-ins are a part of “Movies in the Park,” the Chicago Park District’s annual outdoor movie series that has been converted to a drive-in series because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some of the movies scheduled include “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Akeelah and the Bee” and “The Secret Life of Bees.” Movies will be shown every Tuesday and Thursday at different parks through Aug. 27. The movies begin at 8 p.m.

Based on the size of each parking lot, capacity will vary between 40 and 60 cars. Parking lots will close at 4 p.m. to set up for the drive-ins and will reopen at 7 p.m.

The press release noted that fieldhouses and restrooms will not be available during the screenings of Movies in the Park and that capacity will be limited to no more than 100 people if the group is “largely static” and practicing social distancing, in accordance with public health measures. Anyone who leaves their cars must wear a face mask at all times.

Drive-in Movie Schedule:

· Tuesday, August 11 (50 vehicle capacity)

Warren Park, 6601 N. Western Ave.

“Cooley High”

· Thursday, August 13 (60 vehicle capacity)

Columbus Park Refectory, Golfers Parking Lot, 5701 W. Jackson Blvd.

“A Wrinkle in Time”

· Tuesday, August 18 (40 vehicle capacity)

Tarkington Park, 3344 W. 71st St.

“Remember the Titans”

· August 20 (50 vehicle capacity)

Riis Park, 6100 W. Fullerton Ave.

“Akeelah and the Bee”

· August 25 (50 vehicle capacity)

Humboldt Park, 1301 N. Humboldt Blvd.

“The Secret Life of Bees”

· August 27 (60 vehicle capacity)

Calumet Park, 9801 S. Ave. G

“The Last Dragon”

Looters smash business windows along Chicago’s Magnificent Mile after police-involved shooting

WASHINGTON POST//Mark Guarino, Tim Elfrink and Teo Armus

CHICAGO — Hundreds of young people looted stores, broke into indoor shopping malls and battled with police overnight Sunday into Monday in the city’s central downtown business district.

The reason for the unrest, according to several looters who spoke to The Washington Post on Monday, were reports alleging a police-involved killing of a Black man on the city’s South Side late Sunday afternoon. But police said those accounts were misinformation spread across social media that appeared to encourage people to head downtown to create violence.

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said Monday that officers responded to a call about a man with a gun in the Englewood area; once spotting the man, they pursued him on foot. After the man shot at them, police said, the officers returned fire. The man, 20, is now recovering at the University of Chicago Hospital and is expected to survive, police said.

“This was not an organized protest. This was an act of pure criminality,” Brown said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) added: “This was brazen and criminal looting and destruction. … This is not anywhere near acceptable.”

During the unrest, officers shot at least one person and chased suspects toting bags full of goods, tackling some to the ground and blocking off streets as they sought to restore order to the area. The looting came after a tense day between police and Black residents after the exchange of gunfire in the city’s South Side, sparking a violent standoff between dozens of officers and angry neighbors.

A crowd quickly gathered nearby, and tempers flared after police allegedly took a cellphone away from someone who had recorded the shooting. Soon, rows of police faced off with a rapidly growing group.

In the looting that followed later downtown, videos show people roaming up and down the streets, bashing their way into stores including Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom Rack and a Tesla dealership. As police closed off highway ramps, bus and train service was halted downtown at the “request of public safety officials,” the city’s transit agency tweeted.

Thirteen of the 400 Chicago police officers dispatched downtown were injured during the night by bottles and physical attacks. Many were shot at, Brown said, and a security guard and a bystander were injured and are in critical condition. Police recovered five guns.

The looting, which spread south into the Loop and also into the North Side’s Old Town neighborhood, was a reminder of the chaos that followed the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in the custody of Minneapolis police less than three months ago. At the time, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) sent 375 National Guardsmen to protect the downtown area, freeing up Chicago police to handle the looting that had spread throughout the city and surrounding suburbs. The unrest lasted for about a week after Memorial Day.

Lightfoot told reporters at a second news conference Monday morning that she has not asked Pritzker for National Guard help, despite calls from Republican state lawmakers for state and federal troops to be sent in.

“No, we do not need federal troops in Chicago — period, full stop,” Lightfoot said.

Pritzker told reporters that the state police were dispatched last night. “Anything and everything we are asked to do, we will be helpful,” he said.

Chicago’s downtown is now closed indefinitely between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Police will be dispatched to outlying neighborhoods to prevent continued looting this week, Brown said. Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans ordered the closing of all courts, with the exception of bond courts. A ribbon-cutting ceremony in Englewood for a new restorative justice court also was canceled.

The looters arrived downtown in cars about 1 a.m. Police had major intersections blocked off, but that did not stop groups of mostly young people roving through the district of high-end retail stores, smashing windows and stealing goods. Clothes hangers and smashed glass covered sidewalks along North Michigan Avenue. Water Tower Place, the district’s premier indoor shopping mall, was broken into on both its west and east sides. Looters shattered windows of convenience stores and retailers including Macy’s, Ralph Lauren and Express.

Two boys, ages 14 and 15, said they were downtown because “of the same situation as before — killing an innocent Black person.” A woman who was quickly walking while carrying a Target basket filled with goods said she and her friends went downtown because they “felt like starting a riot.”

The violence terrified people staying downtown. One couple that headed to a Walgreens for cold medicine ran into the looters along the way. They said it appeared as if the violence had been planned.

“They were all getting out of cars and heading straight to the businesses,” said a 33-year-old restaurant manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals. He said he was part of a crew that helped other restaurants clean up during the first round of looting in early June. “This is the new normal. At this point you become desensitized to it.”

Brown suggested that looters are newly emboldened by the reform efforts that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx (D) and her office have implemented and that he views as being lenient in charging felony offenses.

“Criminals took to the streets with the confidence there is no consequence for their actions,” Brown said.

A Chicago Tribune investigation found that during Foxx’s first three years, her office dropped all charges against nearly 30 percent of felony defendants; during the same time period of her predecessor, the rate was 19 percent.

Lightfoot was more direct about the need for the state’s attorney’s office and the courts to “step up.”

“Put your best people on this,” Lightfoot said. “We have made the case — we have the video, we have the officer testimony — that these people need to be held accountable and not cycled through the system. And judges that are holding these cases — you need to step up and be responsible. We can’t continue to allow this to happen, for people to believe there is no accountability through our criminal justice system. No one wants to hold people in jail because they are poor. But people who are engaged in this kind of criminal activity, they need to be held accountable. And we cannot do it alone.”

CPS to slash school police budget by more than half, to $15 million

SUN TIMES//Nader Issa

The budget for the 2020-21 school year will be $15 million, down from $33 million budgeted last year.

The reduction in spending on Chicago police officers comes in the middle of heated debate over whether officers should remain at the more than 70 schools they were stationed at last year.

About $10.5 million of the reduction is due to officers not working in schools during remote learning days. CPS has announced that at least the first quarter of the school year will be held fully remote, with no in-person learning.

The remaining $7.5 million decrease is because CPS will no longer pay the mobile patrol officers to drive around schools but don’t work inside buildings.

The district wrote in a statement accompanying the new budget that the cuts to the school officer program were “as part of the ongoing reforms to strengthen the SRO program.”

The district ended up paying $15 million less than the $33 million budgeted in the previous school year because of days officers didn’t work in schools when buildings shut down because of the coronavirus.

The CPS Board of Education voted 4-3 in June against a motion to dump the contract with police. But another vote on the program could come later this month.

In the meantime, Local School Councils at individual schools have been voting on whether to keep officers at their schools. While most that have voted so far have chosen to keep them, some have decided to get rid of them and many have yet to vote.

District officials scheduled a late morning news conference to discuss the CPS budget for the upcoming year, which includes the cops in schools program.

'Straight-Up Criminal Activity': Mayor Lightfoot Angered Following Overnight Looting

WBBM RADIO//Staff

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot took questions Monday following the overnight crime that happened in Chicago's downtown area.

"This wasn't an exercise of First Amendment rights. This wasn't actions of people who were poor and trying to engage in activity to feed their families. Unfortunately, friends, this was straight-up criminal activity and looting in our downtown, and we will just not tolerate it," Lightfoot said.

The Mayor announced that the superintendent and his team have already activated a group of officers who are working to identify more suspects. She added more than 100 arrests were made overnight.

"And I'll just say this in closing: People in our neighborhoods, our residents, deserve to be safe. Businesses and their employees deserve to be safe and their property needs to be secure. And our police officers deserve the support and to be safe in the neighborhoods. We will not tolerate a circumstance where our residents, our businesses, our property, and our police officers are under siege by those who don't care about themselves, don't care about their communities, and care nothing about the damage that it does to our city," Lightfoot said. "We are going to stand tall; people of goodwill, which far out-number those who do not. We will stand up, one together to make sure that our city continues to be strong and vibrant and we will hold those accountable who want to go in a different direction. That will not happen in the City of Chicago, and our residents, our police officers have our respect. They deserve it and we will have their back and make sure we hold those accountable and bring them to justice."

In taking questions, the Mayor was asked about the specifics of the lockdown Superintendent Brown announced earlier Monday, closing the downtown area from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Will there be CTA service? Will bridges over the Chicago River be raised and expressway ramps closed?

"We are working on the specifics now, but certainly it's gonna include some elements of that. We're working with the CTA. We're looking at the bridges. But we want to make sure, obviously, people who work and live downtown have easy access to the downtown area. We are going to make sure we do everything we can. In addition, we are sending resources out to neighborhoods, really activating a multi-layer plan that we developed in early June following the unfortunate incidents of late May, early June. So I feel we have a very robust plan, both for the downtown, but also towards all the neighborhoods.

"Let me also just say, because there continues to be a lot of Twitter traffic that I think is unfortunate. Number one: the individual who fired upon the police yesterday and was taken into custody was a 20-year-old man. He was not a juvenile and was not unarmed. Officers responded because they received a 911 call about a man with a gun, with a very specific description. A foot chase ensued. The individual fled. He turned around, fired upon police. The police returned fire. He was hit. I believe in the shoulder and is recovering from those injuries. I want to be very, very clear, this was not an unarmed juvenile as, unfortunately, being propagated on social media."

A reported asked the Mayor what specific conversations has she had with State's Attorney Kim Foxx about prosecuting looters.

"This is an ongoing conversation with them. We value our partnership with the State's Attorney. We value our partnership with the courts. But this is an instance where we have to have a comprehensive, all-hands-on-deck strategy. Our police officers put themselves at great risk last night. Literally they were being fired upon, as they were working to stop the looters. That can't be a circumstance that goes unchecked. So we have been in conversation with the State's Attorney. I have not yet had the opportunity to reach out to Chief Judge Evans...but we will. Our staffs are in conversation," Lightfoot said.

"We've got to make sure that, if the evidence supports it, these individuals are fully held accountable. And that work is ongoing to identify those suspects. We got a lot of great footage from last night, and I want to assure residents of this city we are not taking this lightly."

She won't go into detail on conversations with Kim Foxx.

"I want to make sure, as I said, we have reached out to the State's Attorney, we are reaching out to the courts. We want to make sure the partnerships that already exist are strong and that we are communicating information that will allow her prosecutors to argue to the courts these people need to be held accountable," Lightfoot said.

Reporter: Illinois GOP leader Jim Durkin is calling for the National Guard and any federal help to help Chicago. Despite your misgivings and tussles with President Trump, should Chicago take him up on his offer for additional federal resources?

The Mayor said she spoke with Governor Pritzker early Monday morning to brief him on what happened.

"Both of us believe this is not an incident that requires the National Guard. In the event we need additional resources, we will. We worked hand and glove, and well, with state police. They were with us last night. Those additional resources are available. We're not going to spare resources if we need them, but we want to make sure that we're prudent in the resources we need. And, again, no: We do not need federal troops in Chicago. Period. Full stop. I'm sure the President will have his way with this incident. But I am calling upon him to do the things we do need. We need commonsense gun control. We cannot continue to have circumstances where anyone and their brother can go across the border or other parts of Illinois and bring illegal guns into the city of Chicago. That is something that the federal government is uniquely qualified to handle and we need the President to step up and do that. We need to make sure the ATF has adequate resources to actually do checks on gun dealers who are selling guns to straw purchases...Again, strengthening the laws so we can do effective oversight of gun dealers," she said.

Mayor Lightfoot said the city is monitoring social media for signs of unrest or plans for retaliation, which is how they saw the plans for looting on Sunday night into Monday morning.

Access to downtown Chicago ‘restricted’ 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. after widespread looting: CPD Supt. Brown

SUN TIMES//Staff

Two people were shot, more than 100 people were arrested and 13 police officers were injured in the chaos that erupted in the city’s central business district Sunday night and into Monday morning.

“A heavy police presence will continue throughout the downtown area today, and until further notice,” Brown said at a Monday morning press conference.

“The department also has its eyes on the neighborhoods to ensure that looting does not spread,” Brown said, adding that officers will be deployed “in a large measure to our neighborhoods to protect the neighborhoods.”

To support the additional deployment of police across the city, Brown said officers will return to working 12-hour shifts, and all days off have been canceled until further notice.

All non-bond cases scheduled for Monday will be continued for 30 days and affected parties will be notified of their new court dates, according to the chief justice’s office.

Federal court in Chicago was closed as well.

For several hours Monday morning, bus and train service was suspended in the area bordered by Fullerton and Ashland avenues and Cermak Road, the CTA said. All downtown bridges except the one at LaSalle Street were raised.

Later Monday morning, CTA service was restored and the bridges were lowered, but ongoing street closures could be expected throughout downtown, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation.

Chicago Public Schools proposes $8.4 billon budget for 2021 as it copes with financial impact of COVID-19

TRIBUNE//Hannah Leone

Chicago Public Schools is proposing an $8.4 billion budget for the 2021 school year, according to budget documents released Monday.

Despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, CPS expects revenues to increase this year, in large part because of “substantial levels of federal emergency relief funding to cover emergency expenses and offset previously anticipated revenue increases that will not materialize,” the district said.

The greatest funding stream continues to be local property taxes, which are based on the prior year’s assessments.

Yet that outlook “still does not elevate the district’s revenue collection” enough to provide students with everything they need, and CPS would still require more than $1.9 billion in additional state funding in order to fully fund schools based on the state’s assessment, according to CPS.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic has created new resource needs for our schools and students that the district is committed to meeting, it has also created unique funding challenges in the short term due largely to state funding and other economically sensitive revenues not meeting anticipated levels,” according to a statement from the district. “Schools throughout the country are managing similar challenges, and both parties in Congress have committed to supplying schools with supplemental funding to mitigate these unique challenges.”

About $128 million of the $206 million CPS anticipates from the first pandemic relief package is going into the new budget, which assumes $343 million in additional federal funding. District leaders said that’s less than what they’d get based on “the most conservative proposal” debated by Congress and includes funds the district would share with non-public schools.

“We approached the FY21 Budget with the goal of balancing the significant challenges posed by COVID-19 with the need to ensure long-term investments in academic programs and school buildings throughout the city,” said CPS CEO Janice Jackson. “Our budget proposal meets those challenges by increasing school funding, allocating resources to support students and families during the pandemic, and making crucial investments that will ensure CPS students can benefit from safe, modern school buildings for years to come.”

Those investments include spending on new preschool classrooms, modernized science labs and new spaces to support academic programs such as STEM, dual-language and international baccalaureate. ADA upgrades are intended to make every first floor in CPS schools accessible to people with disabilities.

The $8.4 billion includes a $6.92 billion operating budget, and another $758 million in capital budget projects. About 59% of the operating budget goes to district, charter, and contract school budgets; 36% to centrally managed support for schools such as custodians, nurses, social workers, and security officers; and 5% to central and network office costs.

The budget sets aside $75 million to address costs brought on by COVID-19, including computers, cleaning supplies and masks to help students with remote learning and prepare for whenever a hybrid model is possible. That’s separate from the Board of Education-approved $75 million emergency spending allowance, which is covered by federal pandemic relief funds.

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The district already announced a $125 million increase to individual school budgets, which are projected to total $4 billion. The $7 billion CPS budget announced last August included $3.8 billion for individual schools. The district later passed an amended budget for the current school year to reflect provisions of the Chicago Teachers Union contract signed after an 11-day strike in the fall.

For the upcoming school year, CPS budgeted $13 million to hire 55 more nurses, 44 social workers and 40 special education case managers. That would bring the total to 426 nurses, 536 school social workers, and 163.5 special education case manager positions, each “a record high for the district,” officials said.

The district’s Equity Office developed an equity index to show where resources are most needed, prioritizing schools where the majority of students are from low-income households.

“This budget represents the latest step in our mission of creating strategic, data-driven investments throughout our school communities with significant capital improvements and instructional support, as well as by developing innovative resources to enable remote learning throughout this school year as needed,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a prepared statement. “Despite its historic challenges, this crisis stands as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to embrace the imperative of ensuring all our residents have the resources and supports they need to reach their potential.”

The spending plan would have about 50% less funding for school-based police officers than last year’s $33 million agreement, according to CPS. That includes at least $10.5 million in credit for remote school days, when officers aren’t assigned to schools, and $7.5 million by removing costs associated with mobile school patrols ‚according to a budget book. The cost of last school year’s CPD contract has also been reduced by $15 million to account for remote days in which officers were not assigned to schools, according to CPS.

Chance The Rapper’s Charity Donated 45,000 Masks To Chicago Parks For Kids, Staff

BLOCK CLUB//Alexandra Chaidez

DOWNTOWN — Chance the Rapper’s charity, SocialWorks, donated 45,000 masks to the Chicago Park District so kids and staff at day camp can be protected from coronavirus.

“As we resume programming, our main objective is to offer recreation opportunities in a manner that protects the health and safety of our patrons and staff. These masks help us do just that,” said parks CEO Mike Kelly in the press release.

The current session of camp finishes Friday. After that, a two-week extended camp will run Aug. 17-28.

“The Park District is vital for the city of Chicago. It provides communities and their residents with various forms of wellness,” said SocialWorks Executive Director Justin Cunningham in the press release. “It’s important to assist organizations that provide outlets for youth recreation and exploration in a safe manner.

In wake of downtown looting, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says Chicago does not need National Guard help

TRIBUNE//Gregory Pratt and John Byrne

Lightfoot said she spoke with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and neither believes the National Guard is needed at this time. The city has been working with the state police, she said.

Lightfoot also preemptively criticized President Donald Trump, who has previously threatened to send in federal agents to intervene in Chicago street crime. He recently sent a bunch of agents to the city as part of Operation Legend, which Lightfoot said she supports as long as it’s operating through U.S. Attorney John Lausch.

“Again, no, we do not need federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop,” Lightfoot said. “I’m sure the president will have his way with this incident but I’m calling upon him to do the things that we do need,” such as making changes to the nation’s gun laws.

Pritzker said Monday he reached out to Lightfoot overnight to offer the state’s help, and Illinois State Police closed on-ramps and off-ramps “where necessary for the city of Chicago.”

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly has been in touch with Chicago Police officials, and “we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to support the city as we did back in May and June when looting and mayhem was occurring back then,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference Monday in Chicago.

“Criminals need to be held accountable, there’s no doubt it,” Pritzker said. “I have, of course, been an advocate for police accountability and for reforms, significant reforms. Having said that, these were criminals — people who broke in, and were shooting at people. We had 13, I believe, 13 Chicago police officers who were injured last night. This is criminal activity and those criminals need to be held accountable.”

Lightfoot, however, faced criticism from Ald. Brian Hopkins, 2nd, who represents parts of downtown. Hopkins said he was on Michigan Avenue from midnight to about 4 a.m., and saw police with very little apparent plan get overwhelmed by the crowds of looters.

Hopkins criticized Lightfoot for not being prepared after the earlier looting in May and June that followed George Floyd’s death, which sparked nationwide protests.

“The real question today is, where was the strategy? What was the decision making at the highest levels?” Hopkins said. “That means the police superintendent and the mayor, who’s a very hands-on mayor when it comes to these kinds of decisions.”

Hopkins painted a bleak picture for the city if Lightfoot can’t get such criminal activity in and around downtown under control.

“Literally, the future of Chicago hangs in the balance, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that,” he said. “If this continues, how can Chicago survive? What will be left downtown after Water Tower Place gets boarded up and the for-sale signs go up on all the condos near Michigan Avenue? People who live around there have had their sense of safety badly shaken. This is our tax base, by the way. We count on tax revenue from this area of the city to fund all number of other programs we count on.”

Asked about the alderman’s criticism, Lightfoot defended the city’s response.

"Ald. Hopkins has a penchant for letting his mouth run before he actually gets the facts," Lightfoot said. "I don't think there's any reason for me to say anything further."

Police got intelligence and moved 400 officers downtown, she said.

“What we need now is not Monday morning quarterbacks and sideline critics. What we need is to come together as a city and have a united strategy and focus,” Lightfoot said. “We’re focused, we’re not going to let the noise of people that like to chatter before they know what the facts are get in the way and that’s all I’ll say about that.”

Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, Monday morning released a statement calling for the National Guard.

“Once again, Illinois government has failed to protect its residents and businesses. It is time to bring in the National Guard and accept any and all federal assistance to stop the chaos that is destroying our state. No more excuses. No more failures.”

Illinois Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady, of Bloomington, in a tweet on Monday said “the looting, wanton destruction of property and disregard for public safety we witnessed in Chicago overnight is unacceptable.”

“I implore our leaders at the city, state and federal levels to do everything they can to ensure those who perpetrated these crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that all measures are taken to ensure our residents and businesses remain safe,” Brady said.

Southwest Side Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, also criticized Lightfoot, Brown and Foxx.

“This is a failure of leadership. A failure of law enforcement & states attorney not on the same page. A failure to act on information,” he tweeted. “We have seen this before. The question now is how do we protect the other neighborhoods. How do you hold these criminals accountable.”

Hopkins said Chicago police have handled large, tense standoffs with crowds, pointing to protests during the 2012 North Atlantic Treaty Organization conference at McCormick Place.

“I’m not a police officer, so I can’t speak to the specific tactics that might have been deployed to stop the looting last night, but there is training and planning that can take place ahead of time,” he said. “Look at NATO. People were afraid it was going to be rioting like in Seattle, and it wasn’t. That wasn’t an accident. There was a lot of preparation by the police that went into being ready for that, and it worked. I don’t see any kind of coordination like that happening now.”

Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, whose ward stretches from the South Loop through Bronzeville into Washington Park, said a South Loop athletic shoe and clothing boutique was looted, and windows were broken on a Dunkin’ Donuts in her ward.

Chicago police seemed to be as ready as they could be for the unrest, given that the crowd quickly organized on social media and descended on downtown, Dowell said.

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“The number I heard was 400 police detailed to the downtown area, which seems appropriate,” Dowell said. “I’m more concerned with the fact that certain elements appeared to use the situation in Englewood as a pretext to engage in criminality, targeting certain retailers. When I hear that people had U-Haul trucks, sledgehammers and precision glass cutters, that doesn’t sound to me like it was a spontaneous situation.”

Dowell said she’s working with police and retailers to be ready for the possibility more looting will next spread into South and West side neighborhoods that were hard hit by looters during the unrest following George Floyd’s death.

“I’m talking with the police and Streets and Sanitation, to make sure we will be able to get the resources we need in terms of officers and to block off streets if it comes to that,” she said. “And I’m talking to business owners, making sure they’re thinking about how to get ready if the need arises, to just have their spider sense up a little bit, to be prepared.”

Chicago Public Schools Unveils $8.4 Billion Budget Plan That Relies On More Relief From Congress

CHALK BEAT//Mila Koumpilova

The school district is also planning to cut its controversial tab for school police at least in half to reflect that officers don’t work in schools 12 months of the year, a new detail that has emerged in response to questioning about the existing $33 million contract between the school district and the city’s police department.

Chicago’s budget plan unveiled Monday includes $758 million in capital spending, specifically $653 million for facility projects across the city — a list that includes a new South Side high school long-awaited by some communities.

Broken down by category, the budget proposal lays out a $6.9 billion operating budget for district schools, charters, and administrative expenses, $711 million in debt management spending, and $758 million in capital expenses. It must now go before the Chicago Board of Education on Aug. 26.

The added spending banks on the feds delivering on proposals for a second school bailout package. District officials noted that the $343 million in such financial support they budgeted is less than what Chicago would receive under even the most conservative proposal in Congress; they argued that there is strong bipartisan support for channeling more money to schools grappling with the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

While some public entities, including California, are also budgeting with the assumption that this financial injection will come through, the approach could be risky given deep disagreement about the amount and fine print of the funding between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

District officials said they prioritized investment in the city’s highest-need communities, using for the first time a new “equity index” to steer resources to schools that serve primarily low-income students.

“Even amidst the unprecedented challenges created by the COVID-19 crisis, we continue to lead with our values of equity and inclusion, especially when it comes to our children and their educational future,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement.

The district said an additional $75 million in COVID-19 related expenses — beyond an earlier $75 million in emergency spending the school board authorized last spring — will help support both the remote learning that will start the school year and a possible shift to a blend of in-person and virtual instruction later in the year. The money will pay for more computers and other technology, personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, free school meals, and more.

The district is also using $128 million out of the $206 million it is expected to receive in other coronavirus relief funding, with the remainder covering expenses from this past school year.

A more restrained facility budget than the district has adopted in recent years, the $758 million in capital expenditures includes $653 million that will go toward what the district described as critical renovations at neighborhood schools, with a priority on restroom repairs.

It also includes money to make school buildings more accessible for people with disabilities as part of a five-year, $100 million investment, as well as dollars for new pre-kindergarten classrooms, science labs, South Side sports complexes, new playgrounds, and spaces for new academic programs.

The budget includes an added $50 million allocation from the state to build a new high school in the Near South Side. Previously, the district had pushed to close a popular South Side elementary school and reopen it as a high school — a proposal that drew widespread controversy. After protests and a court-ordered freeze on the school closure, Chicago ultimately withdrew the plan.

The $125 million in new classroom spending includes $44 million in previously announced “equity grants” to support schools with flagging enrollment and other needs as well as what officials touted as a record investment in school nurses, social workers, and special education case managers.

Milwaukee Avenue Being Closed, Police Increased In Wicker Park After Unrest Downtown

BLOCK CLUB//Hannah Alani

WICKER PARK — Chicago Police are closing Milwaukee Avenue between Damen and Ashland avenues to protect Wicker Park from possible looting, Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said Monday.

The street closure will begin 6 p.m. Monday. Extra officers from the Shakespeare District (14th) will patrol Milwaukee and Elston avenues.

“I think CPD — and particularly the 14th District — is trying to be as proactive as possible and really operate out of an abundance of caution,” La Spata said. “They’re taking all of the necessary precautions and really being smart in their preparations. Hopefully that results in a safe and stable night for the 1st Ward and our residents.”

The unrest Downtown came hours after Chicago police shot a 20-year-old man Sunday in Englewood. Stores were broken into and there was vandalism and gunfire in the Loop and surrounding area.

Officials plan to shut off the Downtown area to most people 8 p.m. Monday-6 a.m. Tuesday to prevent further looting there.

But similar measures in June led to widespread looting and vandalism in the neighborhoods. At that time, more than 40 Wicker Park businesses were looted or vandalized.

To prevent that from happening this time, the Chicago Police Department will deploy officers “in large measures” to neighborhoods for their protection, Supt. David Brown said at a Monday morning press conference.

Some Wicker Park businesses may be able to receive safety-related financial assistance from the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce.

If your businesses was recently vandalized or broken into, you can contact the chamber by emailing info@wickerparkbucktown.com.

Downtown access will again be restricted 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday into Tuesday. What to know about bridge lifts, bus, train and travel on expressways, city streets

TRIBUNE//Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas

But in updates to residents about the looting that prompted the emergency measures — aimed at keeping people away from the city center after dark — state and city leaders said access to downtown again would be restricted Monday night.

Looting, which overnight had been centered in the Streeterville, North Michigan Avenue and Loop areas, was beginning to die down as authorities worked to reopen after some of the city’s swankiest stores were hit. Some closures remained in effect downtown Monday morning, and Cook County courts except for bond court were to be closed Monday.

The expressway closures began in early morning and were ending just before 7 a.m. as police were able to quell some of the unrest, according to Trooper Gabriela Ugarte, an Illinois State Police spokeswoman.

She said the agency started closing expressway ramps about 1 a.m. The inbound and outbound Ontario feeder ramps as well as all exit ramps from the Kennedy at Division Street to the Dan Ryan at Cermak Road. All ramps reopened at 6:55 a.m.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and police Superintendent David Brown, at a morning news conference, said they will work to keep the downtown area restricted from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for as long as is necessary.

During a different news conference Monday, both Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker said quick and coordinated efforts involving Chicago police and state police to close expressways helped to contain the magnitude of the looting. Pritzker said state police will continue supporting local authorities as long as is necessary.

Lightfoot, when asked if it is time to call in the National Guard, emphatically denounced such a move as unnecessary.

“Both of us believe this is not an incident that requires the National Guard,” she said. “We work hand in glove and well with the state police. They were with us last night. Those additional resources are available. We’re not going to spare resources if we need them but we want to make sure that we’re prudent in the resources we need. And again, no, we do not need federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop.”

“A heavy police presence will continue throughout the downtown area today and until further notice,” Brown said. “We are also working with other city agencies including streets and sanitation, the CTA, the Department of Transportation and the state police and other agencies in a multi-layered plan which will be based on lessons we’ve learned from earlier this summer.”

He said officers will again return to working 12-hour shifts and all days off have been canceled until further notice.

When talking about the neighborhood protection plan, which employs help from other agencies to stop the looting from expanding to neighborhoods, Lightfoot said she expects “these measures will be in place ... until we know our neighborhoods are safe.”

Details about plans to restrict access to downtown and the neighborhood protection plan were not immediately available. In her news conference with Pritzker, Lightfoot said details were still being hammered out Monday morning.

“We are working on the specifics now … but we want to make sure, obviously, people who work and live downtown have easy access to the downtown area, where we’re going to make sure we do everything we can,” Lightfoot said. “I feel like we’ve got a very robust plan both for the downtown but also as well as the neighborhoods.”

Also overnight, bridges between Ida B. Wells and Lake Shore Drive were temporarily raised, but were being lowered as of 7 a.m., according to Mary May, a spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.

“The ones that are up are going down. I don’t know how long that’s going to take, but they are going down,” May said.

Limited street closures remained throughout the central business district, she said, causing some traffic issues, specifically between North Avenue and Roosevelt Road, between the lakefront and Halsted Street, she said.

Pace bus service was temporarily suspended Monday, but service had been restored as of 7:30 a.m., she said. Pace sent out a news release saying service would resume as of 8 a.m.

The CTA also had stopped trains and bus from entering downtown and the CTA cited all stoppages as “temporarily suspended at the request of public safety officials,” but was restoring service, according to the city’s emergency management office. For a list of current closures, check the CTA’s website.

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Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans on Monday ordered the closing of all courts as a result of transportation issues that could prohibit people from making their court date, according to Mary Wisniewski, a spokeswoman for the office of the chief judge.

However, bond court at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, the Domestic Violence Courthouse at 555 W. Harrison St., the Juvenile Justice Division and all six municipal districts were scheduled to be held.

Except for bond court, all cases scheduled for Monday were to be continued for 30 days and parties will be notified by the clerk of new court dates, she said.

Metra has been operating a modified schedule since the coronavirus pandemic relegated many to working from home. But Tom Miller, a spokesman for Metra, said the first train arrived downtown from the suburbs about 5:30 a.m. and many more arrived before 7 a.m.”There are no changes right now to our service,” Miller said. “It’s a fluid situation, of course, but our trains that have been scheduled to arrive (downtown) have.”

Enough already! Time for Foxx, Lightfoot, judges to do their jobs

CRAIN’S//Greg Hinz

That’s what’s on the table after last night’s mayhem.

If this city is going to survive and thrive, if it’s to have the tax base needed for schools and any number of other things, it needs a secure and safe central area. And all summer now, first with looting that accompanied the George Floyd protests, then with a series of robberies and muggings and murders day to day, now with another spasm of looting that was the opposite of peaceful protest, it has become anything but.

This has to stop. Now. Downtown is the economic hub of the Midwest, with 600,000 jobs, including mine. It’s home to a quarter of a million people. And we are tired of having our neighborhood trashed because our mayor and our state’s attorney can’t seem to control things.

It’s on you, ladies: Mayor Lori Lightfoot, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. And you, too, Chief Cook County Circuit Court Judge Tim Evans. Do your jobs.

Now, Lightfoot insists she and police are doing their jobs, that it’s Foxx’s office and lenient judges who have sent the message that anything goes, letting perpetrators of the widespread looting after Floyd’s death largely go free.

The evidence is uncertain, but there’s more than adequate reason to believe that there’s some truth to that. For instance, as I reported a couple of weeks ago, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says too many people accused of violent offenses are being released on no-cash bail, many on electronic monitors, only to promptly show up in new arrests. As I further reported, Foxx contests that and says the number of re-arrests of violent felons is very small, but data from Dart and Chicago police conflicts with that.

Another batch of evidence came in this morning’s Tribune. It reported that Foxx’s office is dismissing felony charges at a 50 percent higher rate than her predecessor, Anita Alvarez. Foxx has said she’s concentrating on major crimes and does not want to ruin the lives of young African-American men over a minor mistake, but she reportedly has dropped 8.1 percent of homicide cases brought to her by police, compared with 5.3 percent under Alvarez, twice as big a share of Class X drug cases compared to Alvarez, and twice as big a share of cases for aggravated battery of a police officer, 8.1 percent versus 3.9 percent.

Data released by Foxx’s own office this morning indicates that her office in the past year has proceeded with just 46 percent of cases of retail theft in the Streeterville area brought to her by police, and 56 percent of such cases along North Michigan Avenue. A related fact: Foxx’s office generally won’t prosecute as a felony retail theft of anything worth less than $1,000. Instances of lesser value are treated as misdemeanors, and Foxx’s office doesn’t keep track of those.

Great message.

Now, at her own press conference today, Foxx, unlike, Team Lightfoot limited its buck passing. Foxx did point out that judges decide who to release on bail—after hearing from prosecutors, I’d add—and that her office doesn’t arrest anyone. But she generally declined to attack others. Good for her.

Of roughly 5,000 people arrested amid the Floyd riots and looting, roughly half the cases were for municipal code violations, such as disorderly conduct and violating curfew, that her office doesn’t handle, she said. Of the 29 percent who were charged with felonies, only 300 or so directly involved looting, 30 have been dismissed, and 270 are somewhere in the prosecutorial system. She didn’t offhand know how many are in jail, as opposed to out on bond. But none have been convicted as of today.

What was most striking is that Foxx, although “heartbroken” over the looting, continued to use words such as “conflate” to describe it, suggesting that it's part of economic disparity, COVID-19-related lockdowns and other matters. “I don’t have an answer to what happened last night,” she said at one point. The perception that there is “a simple answer is not right. We have to be thoughtful.”

Really? If a prosecutor won’t flatly say that looting is inexcusably wrong, period—Foxx called later to tell me, “The people who broke into those stores, it’s their fault"—who will?

Now, Lightfoot’s got her own problems.

Street violence in Chicago has exploded this summer and shows no sign of tailing off. Whatever Police Supt. David Brown is doing hasn’t worked.

Downtown neighborhoods that once were safe have become anything but, and while South and West Side neighborhoods long have suffered worse, “spreading the pain” will only intensify it, not solve it.

How did an entire caravan of cars filled with hungry looters manage to get downtown without police getting there first? At least two aldermen say they gave police hours' notice that big trouble was on the way.

What kind of guarantees can the mayor offer to shopkeepers that if they rebuild and restock and open up once again, that the same kind of thing won’t happen again because people see a great chance to snag a new widescreen TV, some gym shoes, or some weed for free?

One thing Foxx told me is that only three looting-related cases from last night’s disturbances have appeared in bond court so far today. If so, that suggests something is wrong with how police handle these matters.

One thing I agree with Foxx on: The finger-pointing has to stop and be replaced by action. That’s not an excuse to fail to hold public officials accountable. What it is is a plea in the strongest possible terms for the mayor and the prosecutor and the judges to get on the same page

I want to see some folks go to jail, because what they did has nothing to do with criminal justice reform. And until that happens, looting is just one incident away from occurring again.

How about a joint press conference tomorrow, Mayor Lightfoot, State's Attorney Foxx and Judge Evans? All together. On the stage at once. Wouldn't that be something to hear.

Suspect wounded during police-involved shooting in Englewood; officers face angry crowd

TRIBUNE//William Lee

Chicago police shot and wounded a suspect Sunday afternoon in the city’s Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.

Speaking with reporters near the scene of the shooting Sunday evening, police Deputy Chief Yolanda Talley said officers responding to calls of a male with a gun found a young man who fit the description near Moran Park in the 5700 block of South Racine Avenue around 2:30 p.m., but he fled from officers.

“During the foot pursuit, the offender turned and fired shots at the officers. The officers returned (fire), discharging their weapons,” she said. The suspect was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in unknown condition, authorities said.

A weapon was found at the scene, police said.

More than an hour after the shooting, police and witnesses said a crowd of about 30 people faced off against officers holding a police line near 56th and Aberdeen streets after, according to Talley, someone fed false information to the angry group, including that police shot and wounded a child.

The suspect in custody is a man in his late teens or early 20s, police said.

The crowd turned “very hostile. Emotions were running high. They were responding to misinformation,” Talley said. “It happened while we were processing the crime scene. We were holding the line and if there had not been a crime scene there, we would have not been there.”

During a scuffle, one officer was hit with pepper spray and a second officer suffered a minor shoulder injury, Talley said.

Two people were arrested in connection with the standoff with officers. A police vehicle window also was shattered by a brick, she added. A large number of officers cordoned off streets in nearly every direction until the mood of the crowd cooled off.

Talley, who was recently promoted after serving as commander of the Austin police district, asked for residents in such highly charged emotional confrontations to “take a step back” and beware those trying to stoke anger.

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Chicago police have been involved in at least four police-involved shootings in the past couple of weeks, including two incidents where officers were hit by gunfire. Some of this activity is believed to be a result of nationwide protests brought on by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“We’ve been having a lot of protests. Some are legitimate protests; others have not been legitimate. This right here has been a direct response to one agitator being on the scene, getting people all worked up, without having the full story,” Talley said.

“And the only thing we ask people to do is listen.”

Hundreds square off with police in West Side confrontation

SUN TIMES//Manny Ramos

Hundreds of people gathered on the West Side Monday afternoon and were squaring off with a large contingent of Chicago Police.

It was unclear how the confrontation just west of Garfield Park started, though some officers said it might be related to an incident Sunday in Englewood, where a 20-year-old man was shot by police. That shooting has been connected by CPD Supt. David Brown to the looting along Michigan Avenue and in the Loop early Monday morning.

Brown and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have said misinformation about the Englewood shooting, spread on social media, had served as an excuse for lawless behavior. The man is expected to survive; police said he fired at them before they returned fire.

The volatile nature of the confrontation between the crowd and police on the West Side Monday afternoon prevented any attempts to ask those in the crowd why they were there.

Whatever the reason, a crowd of hundreds had gathered near Madison Street and Karlov Avenue about noon Monday, and responding officers found themselves facing a barrage of rocks, bottles and bricks.

Reporters on the scene also were targets; a photographer for the Chicago Tribune was struck by a brick in the back of the head and required medical attention.

By 1 p.m., hundreds of CPD cars and officers were flooding the area.

A police SWAT team tried to clear the crowd from an alley near that intersection, forcing the larger crowd to break into smaller groups which then roamed the area, continuing to engage with police. The affected area stretched west and east from Karlov along Madison, and onto Pulaski Road, spreading to Pulaski Road, about two blocks east, where some from the crowd damaged a semitrailer as it made its way down the street.

Some people tried to break into the back door of a business in the neighborhood, but it was unclear if they gained entry. Other businesses along the street were closed, with their metal gates down covering their storefronts. A few had their windows broken.

Foxx bashes ‘dishonest blame games,’ calls for ‘honest conversation’ after night of looting

SUN TIMES//Rachel Hinton

The first-term prosecutor’s news conference followed Police Supt. David Brown telling reporters that the looting Sunday night and early Monday was the work of looters “emboldened by no consequences in the criminal system.”

Foxx’s Republican rival was more pointed in his criticism, calling on voters to fire the Democratic incumbent because “our town is like Dodge City.”

Foxx blamed delays in prosecuting cases on court delays related to COVID-19 and criticism of her record on “statistically insignificant” data.

“I think it’s incumbent upon us, for the people that we serve … that we have an honest conversation about what’s happening right now,” Foxx said. “It does not serve us to have dishonest blame games, when all of our hearts are breaking by what we’re seeing.”

Foxx’ spoke in the lobby of the county building at 69 W. Washington, just steps from Block 37, which was boarded up after people looted the store overnight.

Brown earlier had said “a lot of” arrests were made after looting in May and June, but they “weren’t prosecuted to the fullest extent.”

“I think that’s my point and the mayor’s point — we have to have consequences for the arrests that Chicago police officers make through great threat to their own safet,” Brown said. “And these looters, these thieves, these criminals are emboldened by no consequences in the criminal system. They get released, charges get dropped, so they feel emboldened to do it more.”

Lightfoot joined in the criticism, arguing we need a “comprehensive, all-hands-on-deck strategy” that includes Foxx taking a hard line on looters. But the mayor became angry with a reporter who tried to follow up on the criticism, telling him “don’t bait us.” Lightfoot also said she “values our partnership” with the state’s attorney.

Foxx said she hasn’t prosecuted any of those people arrested in connection with the May or June looting because the cases are just getting trial dates now, blaming the delay on the pandemic largely shuttering courts until July 1.

Nearly 5,000 people were arrested after the death of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer sparked days of protests and also looting, Foxx said.

Of that number, 1,000 arrests were for city ordinance violations, such as being out after curfew. Another 1,000 were misdemeanor arrests, and 400 to 500 of those involved people she said were involved in what her office considers peaceful protests. Foxx said her office has “no role in the prosecution of city ordinance violations.”

Foxx announced in June that her office would focus on dismissing charges stemming from arrests at demonstrations and for citywide curfew violations after a week or protests and civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

The political stakes for the freshman prosecutor are high. Of all the officials involved in efforts to stem the looting and violence, she is the only one on the November ballot.

And her handling of cases has drawn media scrutiny. A Chicago Tribune analysis found that Foxx has dropped nearly 30% of charges against felony defendants, considerably higher than her predecessor, Anita Alvarez, who dropped charges in a little over 19% of cases.

Foxx said the numbers that contributed to that jump were “statistically insignificant.”

The first-term state’s attorney survived a tough primary election battle and will face Republican Pat O’Brien, a former Cook County judge, in November.

O’Brien said Monday that Foxx “has to be fired.”

“How surprising is it that when you encourage crime and don’t have any consequences for it, that it continues to happen,” O’Brien said. “If she had any experience and judgment at this moment, she would have a team of states attorneys with the police department, looking at tape, to identify the people that loot. She would have that team of state attorneys, when they identified those people, issue arrest warrants and search warrants.”

“She can’t get a second term. Our town is like Dodge City, on a second term we’ll become like Tombstone. This can’t go on.”