Worst of the worst? All three families were detained in the #Chicago area over the weekend as part of #Trump's #deportation blitz, @laura_n_rod reports. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/29/i...

Today I spoke with Greg Bovino, a top U.S. Border Patrol chief, as he led dozens of feds in military gear through downtown Chicago. He said they were arresting folks based on “how they look.” “How do they look compared to, say, you?” he said, referring to me. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

I’m glad ICE released Steve Held, who they grabbed last night in Broadview. Now, the government must stop trying to deport journalist Mario Guevara, the Atlanta journalist who ICE targeted in retaliation for his immigration coverage.

#ICE has made unlawful arrests during Trump’s #Chicago #deportation blitz, a new court filing alleges. chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/09...

Nearly 50 college instructors across #Illinois landed on #CharlieKirk's “Professor Watchlist.” @wbez.org reached out to all of them and found the list triggered hateful messages, threats of rape or death, and intensification since Kirk's killing. #twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...

Seven women say officers of this #Illinois #prison sexually assaulted them in broom closets and other areas known to lack cameras, @wbez.org / @chicago.suntimes.com reports. The women say attempts to report the abuse were mostly ignored or led to retaliation. chicago.suntimes.com/public-safet...

The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 230+ Venezuelan immigrants it sent to El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the U.S. before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to Homeland Security data. (Published May)

#NationalGuard troops and staff vary politically, their campaign donations show. They tilt Republican but, even during the #Trump era, many still back Democratic candidates, the @chicago.suntimes.com found. chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...

The $90 million for #Chicago to settle 176 lawsuits tied to this corrupt former #police sergeant resembles a 2023 @wbez.org estimate of what the settlement tab would be. Adjusted for inflation, we were off by less than $3.5 million. www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

BREAKING: “We have no fear, kick #ICE out of here,” chant two dozen protesters at a hotel in west suburban Bloomingdale where some U.S. Homeland Security officers have stayed during a #Trump administration #immigration blitz in the #Chicago area.

Happening now: the City of Chicago and the Park District are moving in heavy equipment to remove unhoused people and their encampments at Legion Park.

ICYMI: The head of Cook County's long-troubled juvenile jail is rarely seen at the facility and lives in Michigan, according to property tax and voting records reviewed by @kellygarcia.bsky.social for @injusticewatch.org. www.injusticewatch.org/juvenile-cou...

shout out to @wbez.org and @chipmitchell1.bsky.social for the big analysis earlier this week showing the drops in violent crime -- I'm seeing that work cited in pieces like this in other outlets. having strong reporting on that that other outlets can cite helps get the context out more widely.

There's some really interesting debate on why 2016 spiked. One answer points heavily to the release of the Laquan McDonald video — here's a 2017 story by the same WBEZ reporter who wrote the above story, @chipmitchell1.bsky.social, on that: interactive.wbez.org/everyotherho...

Chicago sees fewest summer murders since 1965, even as Trump cites high crime. The Chicago Police Department’s criminal homicide tally for June, July and August is the lowest in 60 years. chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/09... -- TIMELY analysis by @chipmitchell1.bsky.social

The deployment, and threats of the National Guard, come as a @wbez.org analysis has found that a three-month summer span saw the fewest murders in 60 years in Chicago while overall violent crime remained near its lowest point in at least four decades — from @chipmitchell1.bsky.social

There are still way too many shootings and murders in Chicago, but by the numbers this was the safest summer in 60 years. Great analysis by @chipmitchell1.bsky.social chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/09...

"Chicago sees fewest summer murders since 1965, even as Trump cites high crime" Excellent deep dive by local journalist @chipmitchell1.bsky.social of @wbez.org/ @chicago.suntimes.com about Chicago's crime rate. Highly recommend for everyone esp press, pundits. chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/09...

I don't do this often, but I am begging you to read and share this article by @chipmitchell1.bsky.social on the state of Chicago crime. www.wbez.org/news/2025/09...

BREAKING: As #Trump plans to send federal agents and #NationalGuard members to #Chicago in the name of fighting violent crime, @wbez.org finds the city had its fewest summer #murders since 1965 and violent crime has remained near its lowest point in decades. www.wbez.org/news/2025/09...

A #Chicago #cop who fatally shot his patrol partner (and has since been stripped of #police powers after allegedly attacking a female cop at a North Side bar) is offering his version of what happened at the bar: He’s the victim. @illinoisanswers.bsky.social chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...

BREAKING: About four dozen protesters have found the unannounced suburban Chicago site of a planned news conference with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Her department says the newser topics include “worst-of-the-worst criminal illegal aliens.” @wbez.org

ICYMI: #Trump is attacking “#housing first” and “harm reduction” strategies to address #homelessness and #addiction, making it easier to remove tent encampments from sight and forcefully institutionalize people. @vimiller.bsky.social @wbez.org @chicago.suntimes.com www.wbez.org/government-p...

A new report from the Council on Criminal Justice shows most major crime categories in Chicago are down below pre-pandemic levels, including homicides and sexual assaults. https://trib.al/Syn4Hm4

Trump's executive order, "ending crime and disorder on America’s streets," redirects harm-reduction funds to states and cities for removal of homeless encampments and institutionalization. Chicago advocates view this as targeting visibility over solutions.

Photos by Ashlee Resin, story w/ @chipmitchell1.bsky.social and Mary Norkol via @wbez.org and @chicago.suntimes.com.

Billed as “ending crime and disorder on America’s streets,” #Trump attacks “housing first” and “harm reduction” and makes it easier to remove tent encampments and institutionalize #homeless and #addicted folks. @vimiller.bsky.social @wbez.org @chicago.suntimes.com www.wbez.org/government-p...

Per the National Registry of Exonerations, about 55% of the nearly 3,000 exonerations sine 1989 involved some form of official misconduct. Brady lists keep uncredible officers off the witness stand. Chicago has had multiple misconduct waves and this policy is a massive step towards the darkness.

Severe hunger has gripped #Gaza, where growing numbers of people are starving and the doctors treating them are working on empty stomachs. #Israel #Biden #Trump www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/w...

Cook County top prosecutor Eileen O’Neill Burke stops maintaining lists of discredited #police officers, Max Blaisdell reports. @samstecklow.bsky.social @chicagoreader.com @invisible.institute chicagoreader.com/news/reader-...

#Chicago could face a bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars for #police overtime in a long-running case involving 8,500 current and ex-#CPD employees, @dmihalopoulos.bsky.social reports. A former union lawyer says settling early would have cost just $14 million. www.wbez.org/investigatio...

Torture didn't originate in Guantánamo and it didn't stay there.

A Cook County judge will allow a Mauritanian-born writer and terrorism suspect to testify at a hearing that will determine whether a Chicago man imprisoned more than three decades for an infamous North Side murder will get a new trial.

A Cook County judge will allow a Mauritanian-born writer and #terrorism suspect to testify at a hearing that will determine whether a #Chicago man imprisoned more than three decades for an infamous North Side murder will get a new trial, @wbez.org reports. www.wbez.org/criminal-jus...

Chicago police traffic stops plummeted last year, but the drop varied wildly across the city and sharp racial disparities persisted, a WBEZ analysis of Illinois Department of Transportation data has found. https://trib.al/UwAWVCc

#Chicago #police traffic stops plummeted last year, but the drop varied wildly across the city and sharp racial disparities persisted, a @wbez.org analysis of #Illinois Department of Transportation data has found. #CPD #twill www.wbez.org/data/2025/07...

Alberto Rojas, a #California bishop letting folks in his 92-parish diocese skip Sunday masses due to fear of #ICE raids, was a #Chicago auxiliary bishop from 2011 to 2019. He worked closely here with Cardinal Blase Cupich and, several times, met Bishop Robert Francis Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV).

#‪Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's admin keeps #police “merit” promotion lists secret despite #CPD vows to release them and despite an Obama-era U.S. Justice Department report decrying the promotions. @samstecklow.bsky.social @invisible.institute @chicagoreader.com chicagoreader.com/news/reader-...

NEW: #GunControl group @bradybuzz is suing gun dealer Range USA in Cook County Circuit Court for "failing to appropriately train, supervise and monitor" its staff to stop and report straw purchasing. An 18-year-old shot plaintiff Laura Carlson in 2023. www.bradyunited.org/press/lawsui...

Organizers of the prohibited #Budapest #Pride were engulfed in a wave of public support so massive that some commentators are calling it a political turning point, potentially weakening #Orban and his self-proclaimed “illiberal” Christian authoritarianism. wapo.st/4nqNvwr

A bank in #Bogotá, the Colombian capital, is decked out for #pride.

The council approved the $14.75 million settlement with James Gibson, my @wbez.org colleague Mariah Woelfel reports. The payouts by #Chicago, Cook County and #Illinois to Burge-related exonerees now total $168.3 million.

#ICE detained 3 protesters, all U.S. citizens, for "assaulting" an officer at Chicago #immigration court. A witness said the agents wore masks, didn’t identify themselves, cuffed the protesters and forced them into an unmarked vehicle. @nellsalzman.bsky.social www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/18/i...

1/4 The #Chicago City Council today is set to vote on a $14.75 million settlement with James Gibson, exonerated in a 1989 double murder. Chicago, Cook County and #Illinois have already paid $153 million to 85 people allegedly tortured by Cmdr. Jon Burge or detectives under him.

Mia Contreras, 21, of Libertyville says she turned out to the #Chicago march for her undocumented friends who could not attend. She called on #Trump to “stop running America like it’s a dictatorship…. Immigrants make the USA and now we’re trying to kick them out. It’s just sad.” @wbez.org

After a half-hour rally, the #Chicago crowd, now around 1,000 strong, set off on a march to #Trump Tower, chanting: “Donald Trump, you’re a clown. Immigrants will take you down!” @wbez.org and @chicago.suntimes.com

Hundreds of immigrant advocates are rallying in downtown Chicago, chanting: “No hate, no fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” @wbez.org and @chicago.suntimes.com

A Milwaukee dishwasher who came from Mexico decades ago was framed for threatening #Trump. He helped authorities identify the case's real criminal. But the Trump administration is still trying to deport him. @annasavchenko.bsky.social reports for @wbez.org. www.wbez.org/immigration/...

LAPD fired rubber bullets at Australian journalist @laurentomasi.bsky.social

In the first years of the 20th century, some local cemeteries imposed new policies restricting Black people from purchasing graves. At the time, Chicago’s Black population was starting to grow as the Great Migration of African Americans from the South began. www.wbez.org/curious-city...