Good morning. Back in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who is expected to rule in 20 minutes on the use of force by federal agents against protesters and journalists in Chicago.

Records presented at the hearing showed that in a group Signal chat with other agents, which Exum described as a support group, he wrote in part: "I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.” www.reuters.com/world/us/bor...

We really don't deserve dogs 🥰🥰🥰

WATCH body cam video of an ICE agent arrested for DUI after his shift at the Broadview facility. He crashed into some bushes after officers found him asleep at the wheel and knocked on the window. "Oh this is a fun one,” the officer tells his sergeant. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/05/i...

Hedges tells the judge Loevy is at "four minutes." Judge Ellis: "MISS HEDGES. Honestly. I can keep time … I think I can do my job."

Loevy plays a video of a woman's arrest. Hewson says the woman was "assaultive" because she kicked a can of tear gas that had been deployed. Loevy: "When you tear gas somebody … and they try to kick the tear gas canister away from them, that's assaulting?" Hewson: "Yes."

CPD costs Chicagoans vastly more than its yearly budget figures suggest. "A crazy way to run a city," said Justin Marlowe, a professor in the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Mayor Brandon Johnson videotaped City Hall's gift room after accusations of unreported gifts, but the room wasn't built until after he blocked the inspector general's inspection attempt.

simultaneous discussion about "people who have been shot by standing vice presidents" resulted in no consensus though (but was deleted later) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

in 2006 there was a big discussion about whether to delete the "vice presidents who have shot people" category which only had two people (cheney and burr)

Border Patrol agent Lairmore testifies that he was not injured by the sandwich, but he felt the impact through his ballistic vest. The sandwich came apart and "kind of exploded" on his chest upon impact, he says. "I could smell the onions and mustard."

You know what, I think I'll just go ahead and pass on talking to him, then. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/s...

Oh, look at this portion of the Trump interview that 60 Minutes didn't air tonight -- it features him boasting that "60 Minutes was forced to pay me a lot of money," saying Bari Weiss is a "great person," and that David Ellison buying CBS is the "greatest thing that's happened in a long time."

'We're not a violent city': Chicago locals take on ICE block-by-block reut.rs/4qDiyGV

B. Kliban drew one of the funniest comics I have ever seen before

A Lake View man says CPD refused his attempts to report alleged crimes, recorded on video, by federal immigration agents on his property.

I'm going to miss @bowmanoutside.bsky.social's column in the Sun-Times. It has been an oasis in a landscape where the other news happenings can be pretty bleak.

Just noting that Mayor Daley's lawyers have periodically argued for more than a decade that his health is too poor for him to sit for depositions in matters including Jon Burge's torture ring.

happy halloween i am ready to confuse some trick-or-treaters

The Chicago Sun-Times is demanding the Department of Homeland Security remove its photos from government social media pages under threat of legal action after the paper says DHS repeatedly used its photos in posts.

Went to a screening of "Halloween" last night and chuckled when I was reminded the top-billed star was Donald Pleasance, whose performances I love. The man led an interesting life.

NEW: For decades, allegations of abuse and misconduct have swirled around Chicago’s juvenile detention center. On Thursday, a Cook County judge will begin proceedings in a rare trial of a former employee accused of physically harming a child at the facility.

RIP to Nanci Koschman, who lost her son at the hands of Mayor Richard Daley's nephew and then suffered through the city's bumbling effort to cover it up.

43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.

Ellis on the use of tear gas Saturday: "That was the instance, as well, where children were present and they were dressed up in their Halloween costumes. … Those kids were tear gassed on their way to celebrate Halloween in their local school parking lot."

You might be surprised to realize how fraught and challenging the idea of a police deployment study is in a city where tradition dictates these things work more informally, according to political needs and influences.

And they really did not sanitize their classics for the Sunday evening Rocket Arena crowd.

I really enjoyed "The Gales of November" and maybe the most remarkable fact in it is that the recorded version of Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was not just the first take in the studio, but the first time the band ever played the song. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Respect to the guy in the parking ramp next to Target roller skating and listening to the Nightmare Before Christmas theme on a Bluetooth speaker at full blast. Chicago will not hide its light under a bushel.

Occurs to me now that weed-smoking songs like I Got 5 On It and Hits from the Bong must sound to kids today like it did when I was young and my mom would blast one of those 60s rock songs about a woman so outrageous and unpredictable she drove a car.

🎙️Some NEWS! Introducing Disclosure, a new @bloomberg.com podcast I'm co-hosting w/my atty @mvtopic.bsky.social about the #FOIA & the wild backstories behind my FOIA requests & lawsuits. Produced by the great Heather Schroering & Sean Cannon Check out the trailer! www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Best read in combination with this story on the city doubling CPD's OT budget while trying to draw the line at $200 million.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed budget for 2026 sets aside just $82.5 million to cover the cost of resolving police misconduct lawsuits, even though the city has already agreed to spend $90 million next year to resolve 176 lawsuits.

Attys alleging Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino violated a court’s restraining order when he personally threw tear gas canisters during an immigration enforcement action in Chicago’s Little Village this morning They included this still image: Story here: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/23/f...

Trying to rein in out-of-control police OT is a long-running storyline in Chicago politics. Take note that the benchmark for success being set for next year is bringing it in under $200 million.

lol

🎧 Tune in to @pdefenselesspod.bsky.social to hear senior reporter @danhinkel.bsky.social discuss his latest investigation of the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/4...

The most important book that has not been written is Axl Rose’s memoir

People make fun of the Bucks for signing Giannis siblings but I think it's the most touching, humane way to keep your superstar happy.

Thanks to @wgnradio.bsky.social for having me on to discuss my story on Eileen O’Neill Burke weakening the the review of innocence claims. www.injusticewatch.org/project/deny...

There's lots of newsy stuff in today's @injusticewatch.org newsletter and also you can hear about a few of my personal favorite horror movies on Tubi. www.injusticewatch.org/subscribe/

Thanks to The Chicago Reporter for republishing my story, originally in @injusticewatch.org and @boltsmag.org, on Eileen O'Neill Burke weakening Cook County's broken system for freeing the innocent.

"the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa"

Valuable news and context from @megomatz.bsky.social and @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

Those 34 years would have been 26 years if the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit had cleared Francisco Benitez instead of denying him in 2015. He's one of at least 21 people the group rejected who were later exonerated. You can read about it in my @injusticewatch.org series Denying Innocence.

If you want to take the Chicago FOP's temperature after the weekend, the union president wrote an angry letter alleging cops were told to stand down instead of helping federal authorities after they shot someone, which CPD denies. The union did not weigh in on federal agents gassing their members.

If you’re a reader of @injusticewatch.org — whether you’ve long used our judicial election guides or you recently found us for the first time — please help us out by taking our audience survey. We want to know how we can better serve you. And you have a chance to win $100 and a custom portrait!

Read the full story here: www.injusticewatch.org/project/deny...

📻 Tune in to WVON 1690AM Chicago at 9:30 a.m. today to hear senior reporter Dan Hinkel discuss his latest story about the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit — and how State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has weakened an already broken system for freeing innocent people.

One thing to bear in mind here is that the union that represents the wide majority of Chicago police earlier this year dedicated the cover and a good chunk of the inside of its magazine for members to praising Tom Homan and ICE.