Free Republic

Dwain Kyles, owner of Epitome/E2 Chicago nightclub, was awakened by a phone call early Monday from his longtime business partner, Calvin Hollins. If it had been about a fight or some other disturbance, Kyles may have fallen back asleep. But Hollins was calling from the police station. By the time Kyles threw some clothes on and made it to his nightclub, the lifeless bodies were already stacked up at the door. "I couldn't get through it," he told me, explaining why it took so long for him to issue a personal apology to the families of the 21 people who...

<p>CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse Jackson came to the defense Tuesday of the owners of a Chicago nightclub where a deadly stampede killed 21 early Monday morning, just as the city filed charges against the club's owners.</p> <p>On Tuesday, Jackson called for an independent investigation of the tragedy, which occurred after a security guard for a club promoter who rented out the Epitome Nightclub allegedly started spraying Mace or pepper spray at two patrons who had begun brawling on the second-story dance floor.</p>