Illinois teenager, Kyle Rittenhouse, has been acquitted of all charges against him in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The families of the two men who were shot and killed by Rittenhouse during the protest, have said they will pursue their legal recourse against him.
Demonstrators were outside the courthouse throughout the trial and tensions ran high, NBC Chicago reported. But some 500 National Guard members called up by the governor may have helped to quash potential unrest.
The jury took three days to reach the not guilty verdict, but questions remain about whether prosecutors should have brought different charges.
In city news, there are new calls for Chicago Police Department Supt. David Brown to quell violence here soon or lose his job, the Sun-Times reported.
Chicago’s police union president, John Catanzara, quit the force during his termination hearing.
Catanzara intends to remain on as FOP president. Following the hearing Monday, he called the proceeding a “charade” and expressed his intent to run for mayor against Lightfoot in 2023.
“There was never a possibility under God’s green earth that I was ever going to give this mayor the ability to utter the words ‘I fired you,’” he said. “It was never gonna happen.” Catanzara then announced that he will run against Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago Tribune reported. Lightfoot said the run would be “a gift.”
Meanwhile, there are less than two weeks to go on ward map deadline, but the numbers don’t quite add up.
The deadline for the City Council to approve a new ward map is Dec. 1 — which means alderpeople have 12 days, including the Thanksgiving holiday, to resolve their differences or put the decision in the hands of Chicago voters.
The Latino Caucus drew a map with 16 wards with a majority of Black voters and 15 wards with a majority of Latino voters by “gutting” wards that now have a majority of Black voters, Black Caucus Chair Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) said.
“I’m disappointed that one protected class would go after another protected class,” Ervin said.
State law requires Chicago wards to be “nearly equal as practicable” while being as “contiguous” and “compact” as possible while complying with the Voting Rights Act, which is designed to protect the voting rights of Black, Latino and Asian residents.
Since Chicago’s population in 2020 was 2,746,388 residents, each ward should have 54,928 residents, according to data presented to the Chicago City Council.
However, Latino Caucus Chair Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) said the map drawn by the Latino Caucus reflects the results of the 2020 census, which found that Chicago’s Latinos population rose 5% in a decade, while Chicago’s Black population dropped 10%.
And the city released the five pending casino proposals with hopes for a quick decision.
All five proposals submitted by three firms to build a casino and resort in Chicago would boost the city’s economy and funnel approximately $200 million into the city’s police and fire pension funds, significantly easing the pressure on the city’s finances, while creating “thousands” of jobs, city officials said Friday.
Chicagoans will get their first look at the details of the five proposals at a meeting set for Dec. 16 to give each team a chance to make their pitch for their proposal while a team of city officials from a cross section of departments and consultants weigh the plans and make a recommendation to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, setting up a final pick in early 2022.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said getting a casino off the ground in Chicago will “usher in a new and exciting era for our city.”
Guests
Christian Farr, NBC 5 News | @ChrisFarrNBC5, @NBCChicago
Sam Charles, WGN News | @samjcharles, @WGNNews
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune | @CPtime, @ChicagoTribune
Heather Cherone, WTTW News | @wttw, @HeatherCherone
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