Not so proud. In one of the most serious prosecutorial moves yet over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, the Justice Department has filed seditious conspiracy charges against leadership of the extremist Proud Boys group.
■ A British documentarian embedded with the group back then is among witnesses slated to testify at Thursday’s primetime congressional hearing.
■ CNN: Email reveals the Trump campaign told fake electors in Georgia to use “complete secrecy.”
■ Homeland Security sees midterm elections as potential triggers for extremist violence.
■ Read the bulletin here.
What to watch. Politico outlines themes to follow in primary returns tonight from Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and California …
■ The Daily Beast: “Voters in Georgia can’t have water within 150 feet of a polling place. But campaigns are allowed to hand out free gas.”
■ Patch columnist Mark Konkol spotlights a journalist-turned-state-senator running for the House while refusing to take campaign donations from corporations.
■ Ready to vote in Illinois’ primary? The Chicago Public Square election guide’s here.
‘You just can’t admit that you screwed up.’ That’s what the Wisconsin State Journal says a judge in 2005 told a man he sentenced to six years in prison—a man who police say shot and killed the judge Friday.
■ The alleged gunman was hospitalized in critical condition after what prosecutors call an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
■ The Atlantic’s David Graham says the crime raises the prospect of more assassinations to come.
Um, you know that ‘innocent until proven guilty’ thing? After Chicago’s latest round of gun violence, Mayor Lightfoot seems not so down with that—telling reporters yesterday, “Given the exacting standards that the state’s attorney has for charging a case, which is proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” people charged with violent crimes in Cook County “are guilty” and should stay locked up.
■ The Illinois ACLU fired back: “It is sad to see a highly-trained lawyer and former prosecutor so badly mangle the meaning of our Constitution.”
Surprise! It has a spine. A new report by the University of Illinois at Chicago political science department confirms a historic shift in the Chicago City Council’s relationship with the mayor’s office: Rubber-stamp votes in support of Mayors Daley and Emanuel are no more under Lightfoot.
■ The mayor was poised to announce her formal candidacy for reelection Wednesday.
‘I will grow stronger … from this tragedy.’ Leaving the hospital yesterday, a Chicago police officer shot on the South Side last week says she chooses to “see the light in this dark time.”
■ Chicago cops are expanding a program that sends drug users to treatment instead of jail.
■ WBEZ: In what critics call a cruel civil rights violation, Illinois is housing wards of the state in Chicago’s jail for kids.
‘Mostly false.’ That’s PolitiFact’s rating for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s claim that Chicago’s “tougher” gun laws fail to prevent violence.
■ Your Local Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina: What you can do right now to end firearm violence.
■ Ben & Jerry’s is encouraging its fans to turn a cold shoulder on companies that “do the gun lobby’s bidding, blocking common sense gun laws.”
■ New York’s governor has signed a law forbidding people under 21 from buying semiautomatic rifles.
‘Demeaning an opponent with a homophobic slur is the time-honored way of attacking … a foe’s … status as a human being.’ Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander condemns homophobic chants at recent Chicago sports events.
■ The Conversation: “Sports remain hostile territory for LGBTQ Americans” (April link).
Free security cameras. Chicago’s covering up to $225 per camera for homes and businesses …
■ … and, in a change from the original plan, won’t require those cameras to be registered with the cops.
■ Here’s where to apply for the rebates.
About that Google cash … Most-asked question about yesterday’s Chicago Public Square, which flagged the opportunity for Illinois residents whose faces appeared in Google Photos between May 2015 and April 25 of this year to collect up to $400 per person, was this: “I don’t have a Google Photos account. How can I tell if I’m in a Google Photos photo—for instance, in photos taken by friends or relatives?”
■ An answer from the settlement administrator’s office: “If you received a Settlement Claim ID … then you are definitively included. … Please note that not all Class Member notices have been distributed at this time. … If you believe that you fit this description and did not receive a Settlement Claim ID, then you should file a claim by clicking the radio button on the Claim Form that indicates, ‘I DO NOT have a Settlement Claim ID and want to complete a claim form.’”
■ An answer from the settlement administrator’s office: “If you received a Settlement Claim ID … then you are definitively included. … Please note that not all Class Member notices have been distributed at this time. … If you believe that you fit this description and did not receive a Settlement Claim ID, then you should file a claim by clicking the radio button on the Claim Form that indicates, ‘I DO NOT have a Settlement Claim ID and want to complete a claim form.’”
■ Tip: Check with friends and family to see if they uploaded photos of you.
■ Tip: Answer all questions honestly.
Congrats, Marty. Lifelong Chicagoan—and the producer of Terri Hemmert’s morning show on WXRT back when your Square columnist was delivering the news there—Marty Lennartz is taking over as the station’s morning show host.
