Free Republic

CHICAGO — A group of migrants attacked, robbed, and carjacked another migrant outside the city’s shelter at 1358 North Elston, across from the Salt Shed, on Monday evening. Police said the victim refused to pursue felony charges, but two men were charged with misdemeanors. The 37-year-old victim was outside around 10 p.m. when a group of up to ten people, all believed to be associated with the migrant shelter, approached and began to physically attack him, according to preliminary information. Police said the offenders threatened the man and a 33-year-old man who was with him before leaving the scene. Some...

Colin Hinkle, a professional drone pilot, noticed the red dye mixing with the green water of the fountain early Saturday morning and saw spray paint on the ground that read, “Gaza is bleeding” and “Stop the genocide.” 'That’s when I realized it was a protest,’ Hinkle said. Buckingham Fountain is “closed until further notice” after the Grant Park tourist attraction’s pool water was dyed red overnight and messages protesting the war in Gaza were written on the ground surrounding the fountain.

Three Chicago public schools are being renamed in the latest changes aimed at getting rid of racist or otherwise problematic namesakes.

UPDATED Monday, June 17, 2024 11:12PM CHICAGO (WLS) -- The shooting victims from over the weekend range in age from 13 to 57, representing various parts of the city, and the violence has some seeking new solutions. South Lawndale residents met with police on Monday following a staggering number of weekend shootings. At least 71 people were shot, nine of them killed, across the city from Friday evening to Monday morning, police said. "Seventy people being shot is 70 too many. The fact is, we've got work to do. While we're making progress, we've got so much more to do,"...

In 2018, regional planners affirmed an aspirational goal for Chicago transit: doubling ridership on buses and trains. Expanding transit was seen as critical to meeting the region’s goals to limit greenhouse gas emissions. And later the city of Chicago reiterated the idea in its own climate plan, calling to increase CTA ridership 20% over 2019 levels by the end of this decade. But the pandemic decimated ridership, dealing a blow to what advocates describe as one of the quickest ways to reduce emissions. Drawing people back will mean running frequent, reliable service that matches changing demand for where people want...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- At least 46 people have been shot, seven fatally, in gun violence across Chicago so far this weekend, police said. Three people were shot, one fatally, on the South Side early Sunday, Chicago police said. Police said the shooting happened in the Bronzeville neighborhood's 4500-block of South Evans Avenue just before 12:30 a.m. Hours later, two people were killed in a Southwest Side shooting, police said. Police said the shooting happened in the Little Village neighborhood's 3100-block of West 25th Street just after 5 a.m. Last weekend, at least 33 people were shot, five fatally, in gun...

During a sermon at the University of Illinois Chicago, a speaker for the campus’s Muslim Students Association denounced America and democracy, describing them as a “cancer” spreading worldwide, while advocating for the adoption of Islam as the “new way of life” for humanity. In a sermon delivered at the campus’s Muslim Students Association (MSA) last month, Mohammad Nusairat, a University of Chicago Illinois (UIC) student, declared that America and its values are a “cancer.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has begun the process of removing from city shelters dozens of migrant families, including those with children who attended Chicago Public Schools. Just days after the CPS school year ended, officials this week began the eviction process to continue to ease pressure on overstretched resources in shelters run by the city and state. It’s the second significant wave of forced removals at shelters since the city began ordering mostly single men and some single women to find housing elsewhere. Now, entire families are being told the same. Homeless advocates and experts said moving the families from...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- City officials said a one-night snapshot of the number of people experiencing homeless in Chicago shows the unhoused population has tripled year over year. Officials say migrants have played a big role in the growing number as well. The snapshot released by the city shows nearly 19,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in January, roughly three times the number reported in the same analysis in 2023, due in large part to the influx of migrants. "Since August of 2022, we have welcomed more than 43,000 asylum seekers who have crossed the southwest border and traveled...

Police traffic stops have become a hot topic lately, with critics claiming that Chicago police disproportionately stop Black and Brown drivers for minor infractions, intending to turn the traffic violation into a vehicle search that could turn up guns or drugs. Some say that the stops are fishing expeditions. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is one person in that camp. Last month, she announced that she is formulating a policy that could result in her office not pursuing gun and drug cases that result from “pretextual stops,” traffic stops conducted by police intending to look for evidence of other...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- At least 45 people have been shot, eight fatally, in gun violence across Chicago so far this weekend, police said. An 18-year-old woman was sitting in a parked car when she was shot in the head, Chicago police said. Around the same time, a man, 29, was shot near downtown Portillo's in River North, police said. The shooting happened in an alley near Portillo's in the 600-block of North Clark Street around 3:14 a.m., police said. Last weekend, at least 19 people were shot, two fatally, in gun violence across Chicago, police said.

More than 18,800 Chicagoans experienced homelessness on a single night in January — a threefold increase over last year that was largely driven by 13,900 asylum-seekers who had no permanent place to stay. The estimates released Friday come from the city’s annual snapshot of the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night. This year’s point-in-time count was conducted on Jan. 25 — shortly after the city saw its peak of the number of migrants it sheltered. During the count, 13,679 asylum-seekers were living in shelters, with 212 unsheltered. Outside of the population of asylum-seekers, the number of people...

Chicago police and other city officials have been saying for months that the Democratic National Convention in August will not be anything like the riots of 1968. “This will not be 1968,” said Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling. “Our response as a Chicago Police Department will be a lot more deliberate … a lot more controlled because our officers are being trained in the best way possible to respond to any level of civil unrest.” Snelling is not wrong. Chicago in 1968 was a seething mass of anger, rage, and unrest. Riots in April following the death of Martin Luther...

CHICAGO -- At least 31 people have been shot, three fatally, in gun violence across Chicago so far this weekend, police said. On Friday night, two teens and a 12-year-old boy were wounded in a pair of shootings in Douglas. The first shooting happened about 9:20 p.m. in the 500 block of East 31st Street. Someone in a silver sedan opened fire, striking the 12-year-old walking with a group of people and a 15-year-old girl sitting in a car, Chicago police said. A 16-year-old boy was shot less than an hour later and about a half-mile away. He was standing...

Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was concerned about a presidential debate because former President Donald Trump “lies and lies and lies.” Pritzker said, “Let’s let the courts have their say about Donald Trump’s crimes and I don’t think that Joe Biden needs to be talking about that when he can remind people about what’s at stake for their future when they go into the ballot box at in November.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Senate's minority leader proposed legislation Tuesday to overhaul Gov. J.B. Pritzker's Prisoner Review Board after it released a convicted domestic abuser who then attacked a pregnant Chicago woman with a knife and fatally stabbed her 11-year-old son. Republican Leader John Curran criticized Pritzker and said he plans legislation to require that board appointees have 20 years of criminal justice experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney, probation officer or judge, and that each member undergo annual training on domestic violence and sexual assault and the warning signs that precede repeat attacks. Other proposed measures would...

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is “proud” of abortionists who end the lives of unborn babies, he said in a video created by the national nonprofit he launched last year to promote abortion across the United States. “Today is Abortion Providers Appreciation Day. Thank you to the doctors, nurses, clinic staff and volunteers who help those in need, treating their patients with dignity and compassion,” he said in the Think Big America video posted to X on Sunday. “You’re on the front lines of this fight, and your sacrifices and your work make me proud.” The Illinois governor also touted...

Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) said Monday on MSNBC’s Iowa caucus coverage that the “weakness” of former President Donald Trump was shown in his 30-plus point win. Pritzker said, “Almost half of the base of the Republican Party showing up for this caucus tonight voted against Donald Trump. Think about that. I mean, this is the most famous Republican. He’s the guy who, you know, basically built the modern Republican Party, the MAGA Republican Party that the Democrats are running against. Half of the people in that party did not vote for Donald Trump.” He continued, “I think that is telling....

During CBS’s Iowa caucus coverage on Monday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) stated that the surge in Venezuelan migrants is the fault of 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because he “created the chaos that’s happened in Venezuela that’s caused so many people to leave that country and seek asylum in the United States.” And that while immigration will be “an important issue to people,” “what people really care about is their own well-being, their family’s well-being,” and economic issues are “things that really matter to people in their personal lives.” Pritzker said, “Well, I think it’ll be...

Governor J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) claimed Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Republicans were trying to take away Americans’ freedoms. Pritzker said, “Independents understand that, as Democrats do, that it’s the Republicans that are trying to take your freedoms away. It’s the Republicans that are trying to take away your Social Security and your Medicare. It’s the Republicans that are basically fighting against the working families of America.”