Free Republic

The People Who Play By The Rules PAC has released a chilling ad in which a Chicago woman’s scream echoes in her neighborhood as she is attacked in daylight. “On a Sunday afternoon in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood….” the ad’s introduction reads. The video depicts a woman briskly walking down a residential street during a pleasant day when a car comes to an abrupt stop, three men jump out and attack her. In the beating the attackers took the woman to the ground, kicking her as she wails. “How much worse does it have to get?” the ad reads at its...

In Cook County, 89.2 percent of black third grade students failed the 2021 state English exam. This means 89.2 percent of black third graders are not proficient in English, which is considered a core skill for later success in life. These students struggle with understanding what they’ve read, recounting stories, and learning from illustrations like pictures of maps, according to the standards set by the state. Numerous counties saw all black third grade students fail to reach an acceptable proficiency level in English. Counties include: Alexander, Marion, McDonough, Pulaski, Jefferson, Henry, and Randolph County. Illinois report card data showed there...

Google made an oops. After suddenly pulling the plug on dozens of Cook County courtroom feeds on YouTube last week, the tech giant reversed course on Tuesday, saying, “sometimes we make mistakes.” Most of the court system’s feed pages were restored by Tuesday evening. “Last Friday, Google disabled the accounts due to unspecified violations of unspecified YouTube Community Guidelines,” the office of Chief Judge Timothy Evans said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “Earlier today, [we] received a notice from Google’s YouTube team confirming that the court’s channels do not violate the guidelines and acknowledging that ‘sometimes we make mistakes.'” Evans...

Google has “terminated” the Cook County court system’s YouTube account, which Chief Judge Timothy Evans’s office has used for over two years to provide live stream access to court proceedings. “The [office of the chief judge] is not aware of any particular instance that would have precipitated the action, but understands that court proceedings are sometimes graphic in nature and not suitable for all audiences,” Evans’ spokesperson said in a statement. The court filed an appeal with YouTube and had been told to expect a response within two business days, according to Evans’ office. ...

Once again, allegations raise the question: Who does Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx work for? Calling her conduct “reminiscent” of the Jussie Smollett scandal, a Chicago-area attorney is accusing Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx of illegally denying defendants access to key files in a federal lawsuit. This time, however, the allegations of misconduct do not arise from an offender falsely claiming he was attacked by racist Trump supporters, à la the Jussie Smollett case. Rather, this case surrounds one of the most infamous crimes in the state’s history, the 1982 murders of Chicago Police Officers William Fahey and...

The Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx allegedly slapped her husband during a domestic dispute, according to her spouse. A police officer from the Flossmoor Police Department in Illinois was dispatched to a home on June 4 at around 10:00 p.m. in response to a domestic dispute between Kim Foxx and her husband, Kelley Foxx. Kelley Foxx dialed 911 to report a domestic dispute with his wife, according to the police report, which states that the officer was told that the dispute was physical but there were no injuries “yet.”

Cook County prosecutors rejected felony charges against a man who allegedly admitted he was involved in a Near North Side shootout in which dozens of shots were fired Sunday evening. Anthony D. Newman, 20, of Old Town, was charged only with a misdemeanor for having a gun without a valid FOID card, Cook County court records show. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office rejected more serious felony counts of gun possession and aggravated discharge, leading police to file the misdemeanor charge directly. Officers initially responded to a call of shots fired at 6:10 p.m. in the 300 block of West...

Five days into his 75-day jail sentence, Jussie Smollett is now complaining that he is at risk of COVID in jail and is worried about his mental health so should be let out early. Smollett, 39, is being held in the medical unit of the Cook County Jail. His family say he is being held in the psych ward and that there's a note on the door of his cell saying he is at risk of self-harm - which they insist isn't true. They say it speaks to Smollett's courtroom outburst where he insisted he wasn't suicidal and claimed if...

Actress Taraji P. Henson compared Jussie Smollett’s fake hate crime sentence to the lynching of Emmett Till in a celebrity-endorsed plea for early release. Henson, who co-starred with Smollett on the Fox show “Empire,” took to Instagram in a display of hashtag activism to make her case. Rather than argue on the merits of innocence or guilt, Henson claims Smollett is facing excessive punishment. “I am not here to debate you on his innocence,” Henson wrote, “but we can agree that the punishment does not fit the crime.” 0:10 / 50:16 1 seconds... Henson then proceeded to compare the sentence...

Kim Foxx, the Cook County prosecutor who nearly let disgraced actor Jussie Smollett walk scot-free, now says his criminal conviction and subsequent sentencing was an example of “mob justice.” In early 2019, the Empire actor claimed he fell victim to a hate crime on a cold winter’s night in Chicago at the hands of two men who derided him with homophobic slurs while yelling “this is MAGA country” as they tied a noose around his neck. Many in the media took Smollett’s story at face value until evidence revealed that he had hired two brothers from Nigeria to stage the...

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that Chicago will drop its mask mandate for most settings, as well as its proof-of-vaccination mandate at restaurants, bars and other indoor establishments, at the end of the month, reflecting a renewed hope for normalcy in the city as COVID-19 cases continue dropping from alarming highs. The moves bring Chicago in line with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s announcement earlier this month that he will lift his mask requirement for most indoor public places at the end of February should the state’s most recent and largest COVID-19 surge continue to subside. Cook County’s public health department, which covers...

A top Chicago police official’s car was stopped on the West Side during a drug arrest earlier this month, a police spokesman confirmed Wednesday. A Lexus registered to Yolanda Talley, chief of internal affairs, was pulled over Feb. 1 in the 500 block of North St. Louis Avenue and officers arrested Kenneth Miles, 34, on drug charges, according to an arrest report and police sources. Talley wasn’t in the car. Her niece was driving the Lexus, said Don Terry, a spokesman for the police department. According to a police report, officers in a gang investigations squad were targeting drug sales...

A Cook County judge and her 3-year-old son were carjacked at gunpoint late Thursday night in Humboldt Park. Police said, around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, a 52-year-old woman was pulling into a garage of a home in the 1500 block of North Campbell Avenue, with her 3-year-old son in the back seat, when two men approached.

Mandate set to begin Monday.. ORLAND PARK, Ill. — The Village of Orland Park voted Tuesday to defy Cook County’s proof of vaccine mandate. During a special meeting of the Orland Park Board of Trustees, the board approved a resolution opposing Cook County’s vaccine mandate. The mandate calls for proof of vaccination for customers of indoor settings where food or drink are served, like restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, and in fitness facilities. The order will go into effect Jan. 3. But Orland Park leaders said that won’t happen there. “We have allowed our businesses a choice in how they...

One wonders how many black lives were gunned down in the city of Chicago between the time Mayor Lori Lightfoot turned down President Trump’s offer of federal assistance in fighting the crime wave that was ravaging her city and still is, and her current pleading to “dementia” Joe Biden for similar federal assistance. Quick to hunt down residents not wearing a mask, Lightfoot slashed Chicago’s law enforcement budget while preaching social justice and demanding police be fully vaccinated before they arrest criminals her prosecutors would fail to prosecute. As PJ Media reports: This is a big turnaround for Lightfoot. In...

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez (D) said that “we still talk more about COVID than we do gun violence” even though more children have been the victims of gun violence in the city than have died from coronavirus in Illinois. Lopez said, “We’ve seen more children impacted by gun violence than by COVID, and now, she’s [Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D)] doing the great pivot, the great about-face, and saying now that President Joe Biden is here, she’ll take the help. What about all those thousands of people whose lives have...

Four people were wounded when gunfire erupted at a Chicago-area mall, sending frightened last-minute holiday shoppers and employees scurrying for cover. Two gunmen opened fire on each other at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday in a corridor at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook. One of the suspects, who was not immediately identified, was wounded and taken into custody, while cops were still searching for the second shooter, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Cook County will follow Chicago in imposing a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for patrons 5 and older of restaurants, bars, gyms and an assortment of other businesses, officials announced Thursday. The mandate for suburban Cook County takes effect Monday, Jan. 3, as does Chicago’s. The indoor establishments that will be required to ask for proof of vaccination status also include gyms and anywhere else food and drink are served, according to a copy of the COVID-19 order from the Cook County Department of Public Health. That encompasses movie theaters, concert venues, arcades, sports arenas and more. ...

CHICAGO (LifeSiteNews) — Starting January 3, everyone aged 5 and older will need to have their vaccine passport to enter most places of public accommodation in the city of Chicago. All residents and visitors to the Windy City will need to show proof of vaccination to “dine indoors, visit gyms, or enjoy entertainment venues where food or drink are being served.” All employees of these institutions must be fully jabbed or wear a mask at all times and present a negative COVID-19 test weekly. “These are the places that are the most risky places for spread, which is why we’re...

Businesses requiring patrons, including children as young as five, to show proof of vaccination is now “necessary,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) declared this week. “Despite our diligent and equitable vaccine distribution efforts throughout this year, unfortunately, our city continues to see a surge of COVID-19 Delta and now omicron cases,” the Democrat mayor said on Tuesday, announcing the city’s new vaccine requirement, which goes into effect January 3.