Shakedown, that's where.
Posted on 02/19/2003 9:30:37 AM PST by IowaHawk
The city's search to affix responsibility for the deaths of 21 people in a South Side nightclub has centered on a son of one of Chicago's most prominent African-American families and a street savvy entrepreneur who served prison time for manslaughter.
Their connections and influence were on display this week as a who's who of black Chicago, from U.S. congressmen to Rev. Jesse Jackson, came to the club's defense.
Dwain Kyles, owner of the E2 club on South Michigan Avenue, is a Georgetown University-trained lawyer, lifelong friend of the Jackson family and son of a renowned pastor from the civil rights movement. His father, Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles, is the man Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was going to visit on the evening he was assassinated in 1968.
His business partner and bar manager, Calvin Hollins, 52, came from a more modest background, working in a West Side laundry as a young man. A Cook County sheriff's deputy in the 1970s, Hollins went on to co-own and manage a number of restaurants and bars, including Dingbat's on the Near North Side.
He was confronting a disorderly patron in the bar on New Year's Day 1984 when he fatally shot the man, leading to a conviction for voluntary manslaughter.
A host of prominent community leaders, including Rev. George Clements, later appealed for clemency for Hollins, which then-Gov. Jim Edgar granted in 1991.
A third key individual was interviewed by Chicago police for four hours Tuesday evening: Marco Flores, the promoter of the raucous Ladies' Night party that ended early Monday in a deadly stampede for the door.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Last year, several black community activists rallied to help Kyles, who told them the city was trying to shut him down along with other African-American-owned businesses on the edges of the trendy South Loop.
One of the activists, Bamani Obadele, said the group spoke to the Chicago Defender editorial board about Kyles' fight to survive and appeared on WVON radio, asking the community to support Kyles.
Haithcock remained chilly to the activists' efforts, Obadele said, until the elder Jackson interceded. "When Rev. Jackson speaks," he said, "people move."
1. The city of Chicago wanted this placed closed, citing safety/fire/public nuisance. They issued 3 separate court orders.
2. Using the old race card, Jackson (along with other prominent African-American figures) interceded on behalf of the owners. The court orders were ignored.
3. Twenty one people died. All of them young African-Americans.
4. PC kills - even its intended beneficiaries.
I am a Chicago resident, and I have been angered to the point of sickness with every new revelation in the E2 story.
Shakedown, that's where.
Jesse Jackass was out in fron t trying to blame this on President Bush...peopple panicked and stampeded because the pepper spray made them fearful of a chemical attack. The owner of the club who opened the second floor illegally and who had blocked all the emergency exits is, of course, the real victim in this fiasco. Just ax Jesse, he'll explain it to you.
...Jesse Jackson, whose Rainbow/PUSH organization has been consoling families and helping them arrange to pay burial expenses.Source- ComPost
Jesse will also, I believe, be brokering any wrongful death lawsuit against the city...
From the story:
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In the days since the 21 patrons were killed, Jackson and his son U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) have rushed to defend Kyles and the club, as have U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and a host of prominent Chicago ministers.
"Dwain Kyles is a childhood friend of mine. Today, he's a lawyer ... and an upstanding example of a young professional person in our community," the younger Jackson said in a prepared statement.
While calling Monday's disaster "unfortunate and tragic," he insisted "extending blame and pointing fingers is inappropriate and unnecessary before the first funeral has been held and the investigation is complete."
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Me too. Likewise with the presstitutes' willing spinning for JJ & Co. Here is hoping that the lawsuits bring in the aiders and abettors....
He's trying to wash their blood out of his shirt.
It doens't need only dead voters but money.
Unfortunately for Jackson, the owners here are cozy old associates. In a desparate bit of blamestorming he now points the finger at the city, and even more ludicrously, at the war on terror. Pathetic.
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