What’s New

Khalil Islam, center, is booked as the third suspect in the slaying of Malcolm X, in New York, March 3, 1965. Islam, previously known as Thomas 15X Johnson, one of two men convicted in the assassination of Malcolm X, is set to be cleared after more than half a century, with prosecutors now saying authorities withheld evidence in the civil rights leader’s killing, according to a news report Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. | AP

Prosecutors now say authorities withheld evidence that favored the defense in the trial of Muhammad Aziz, now 83, and the late Khalil Islam, according to The New York Times.

NEW YORK — Two of the three men convicted in the assassination of Malcolm X are set to be cleared Thursday after insisting on their innocence since the 1965 killing of one of the United States’ most formidable fighters for civil rights, their lawyers and Manhattan’s top prosecutor said Wednesday.

A nearly two-year-long re-investigation found that authorities withheld evidence favorable to the defense in the trial of Muhammad Aziz, now 83, and the late Khalil Islam, said their attorneys, the Innocence Project and civil rights lawyer David Shanies.

“The assassination of Malcolm X was a historic event that demanded a scrupulous investigation and prosecution but, instead, produced one of the most blatant miscarriages of justice that I have ever seen,” Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck said in a statement.

Vance later tweeted that his office would join the men’s attorneys in asking a judge Thursday to toss out the convictions.

“These men did not get the justice that they deserved,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. told The New York Times, which first reported on the developments.

One of the civil rights era’s most controversial and compelling figures, Malcolm X rose to fame as the Nation of Islam’s chief spokesperson, proclaiming the Black Muslim organization’s message at the time: racial separatism as a road to self-actualization. He famously urged Black people to claim civil rights “by any means necessary” and referred to white people as “blue-eyed devils,” and he later denounced racism.

About a year before his death, he split from the Nation of Islam and later made a pilgrimage to Mecca, returning with a new view of the potential for racial unity. Some in the Nation of Islam saw him as a traitor.

At age 39, he was gunned down as he began a speech in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965.

Aziz, Islam and a third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim — also known as Talmadge Hayer and Thomas Hagan — were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison.

Hagan said he was one of three gunmen who shot Malcolm X, but he testified that neither Aziz nor Islam was involved. The two, then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson, maintained throughout that they were innocent and offered alibis at their 1966 trial. No physical evidence linked them to the crime.

“Thomas 15 Johnson and Norman 3X Butler had nothing to do with this crime whatsoever,” Hagan said in a sworn statement in 1977.

Hagan was paroled in 2010. A message was left Wednesday at a phone number he had when paroled.

He identified two other men as gunmen, but no one else was ever arrested.

According to The New York Times, the re-investigation found the FBI had documents that pointed to other suspects, and a still-living witness supported Aziz’s alibi — that he was at home with a leg injury at the time of the shooting.

The witness, whom authorities had never interviewed before and was identified only by the initials “J.M.,” said he spoke to Aziz on the latter’s home phone the day of the killing, the newspaper said.

Also, the review found that prosecutors knew about but didn’t disclose that undercover officers were in the ballroom when the gunfire erupted, and police knew that someone had called the Daily News of New York earlier that day saying that Malcolm X would be killed.

The New York Police Department and the FBI said Wednesday that they had cooperated fully with the re-investigation, and they declined to comment further.

Aziz was released in 1985. Islam was released two years later and died in 2009. Both continued to press to clear their names.

“I did not kill Malcolm X,” Aziz said at a news conference in 1998, after the Nation of Islam tapped him to run the mosque where the slain leader had preached.

A decade later, Islam told a gathering at a Harlem bookstore: “I need to be exonerated. I had to walk 22 years in prison.”

And after their release, he and Aziz lived under the cloud of being Malcolm X’s supposed assassins.

“Exonerating these men is a righteous and well-deserved affirmation of their true character,” Shanies said in a statement. Deborah Francois, a counsel in his office, called the convictions “the product of gross official misconduct and a criminal justice system weighed against people of color.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office publicly acknowledged it was considering reopening the case after Netflix aired the documentary series “Who Killed Malcom X?” last year. The series explored a theory by scholars that the two men were innocent and that some of the real killers had escaped.

___

Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Karen Matthews contributed to this report.

Read More

Justin Fields throws a pass against the 49ers. | Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

This season, the Bears have been putting Fields through practice drills to improve his accuracy rolling left. His two passing touchdowns over the previous two games have both come on those exact plays — when he broke out of the pocket, sprinted left and threw a strike.

In an empty backfield on Nov. 8, Bears quarterback Justin Fields took the shotgun snap, stepped up to avoid the pass rush to his left and turned his shoulders exactly parallel to the line of scrimmage.

He ran that way — directly toward the Steelers bench — from the right hash mark almost to the “0” painted on the left side of the Heinz Field turf at the Steelers’ 20. He looked downfield toward Darnell Mooney, who ran a 10-yard hitch from the left slot that stopped at the 5 and then broke the route toward the end zone when his quarterback rolled out.

Cornerback Arthur Maulet turned his back to Fields to cover Mooney, which was the quarterback’s cue to turn his finally turn his hips and shoulders toward the end zone — and to throw.

“I mean, it’s pretty much routes on air,” Fields said Wednesday. “The DB can’t see the ball. So I just put the ball in a good place and, you know … [Mooney] came down with it.”

Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo was impressed with the 16-yard touchdown pass, which gave the Bears a fleeting lead with 1:46 to play.

“That was not an easy angle,” he said.

It was a throw not many quarterbacks could make. And one Fields himself might not have been able to make a few weeks ago.

This season, the Bears have been putting Fields through practice drills to improve his accuracy rolling left. His two passing touchdowns over the previous two games have both come on those exact plays — when he broke out of the pocket, sprinted left and threw a strike.

Entering a second half of the season that will be measured by Fields’ progress more than anything else, those little victories are a big deal.

“He’s made special throws rolling left,” coach Matt Nagy said. “You never know how many of those you’re going to get intentionally — or on purpose — in a game. He’s very comfortable doing it. Some guys aren’t. And some guys aren’t, even as righties, as comfortable throwing to the right.

“But he has a touch.”

Against the 49ers, Fields ran left and threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jesse James that DeFilippo called a “mailbox throw” — it would have fit inside one.

“I always listen to hockey goalies and people talk about angles of the puck,” DeFilippo said. “And it’s very similar to when you have to deliver the football on time and accurately. You have to understand the angle and where the defender is and where he could cut off the route — and maybe a make a play on the ball.

“I thought both those guys did a great job of doing that.”

Throwing while rolling left is harder than it sounds. Some right-handed quarterbacks “hate” having to throw while rolling against their body, Nagy said.

“You’ve got to flip your hips around,” Nagy said. “You gotta get your shoulder square to your target — that’s harder when you’ve got to flip the whole way around. That’s difficult. It’s not easy when you’re on the run. Again throwing off the wrong foot sometimes. Sometimes when you’re trying to get your hips around, your shoulders around to throw off the wrong foot, it makes you inaccurate.

“He’s been really accurate in that case.”

Last month, the Bears identified Fields throwing while moving left as something they needed to improve upon. Being able to roll their quarterback to both sides of the field keeps play-action — and, just as important for a run-heavy team, the threat of it — as an option regardless of the direction the play is run.

“Just getting your shoulders turned and, you’re able to deliver the ball.” Fields said. “Because you’re fighting against the direction you’re throwing. So you just have to keep the elbow in and keep those shoulders in so you can deliver an accurate ball.”

There’s no secret — “Just practicing it,” Fields said — but it comes naturally to the quarterback. Credit Fields’ second-best sport — he was a standout high school shortstop and is used to kicking out his left leg to gain balance when turning a double play.

“A shortstop gets a toss from the second baseman, he’s got to flip his hips and throw to the first baseman,” Nagy said. “It’s kind of like that.”

The Bears see it on the practice field — and, over the past few weeks, in games, too.

“He has an accuracy right now that he’s shown in big-time moments,” Nagy said.

Read More

Louis Presta | Rich Hein / Sun-Times file

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be cloudy with scattered showers and a high near 59 degrees. Tonight will be cloudy with a low around 30. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny with a high near 38.

Top story

‘You got a new sheriff in town’: Louis Presta resigns as mayor of Crestwood, pleads guilty to red-light camera bribery scheme

The man who led southwest suburban Crestwood for nearly a decade admitted today not only that he took a secret $5,000 cash payment from a red-light camera company’s representative, but that he did so while promising tickets there would “creep up higher.”

Louis Presta even bragged about the higher percentage of red-light traffic violations approved by Crestwood and issued to drivers in February 2018, telling the representative of SafeSpeed LLC, “you got a new sheriff in town.”

Those details were revealed when Presta, 71, pleaded guilty today to corruption charges and told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin he resigned his position with the village last night. Crestwood lawyer Burt Odelson said a special meeting has been set for Nov. 23 to try to pick an acting mayor who would serve through the next municipal election in April 2023.

“It has been an honor serving the residents of our Village as a Trustee and as Mayor,” Presta wrote in his resignation letter. “I will make myself available to my successor to provide a smooth transition.”

Presta’s guilty plea comes more than a year after he was charged in a federal indictment with bribery and official misconduct, lying to the FBI and IRS, and tax charges. Presta pleaded guilty to the bribery and official misconduct count, as well as filing a false tax return, and he could face two or more years in prison at his sentencing hearing, set for Feb. 23.

Presta admitted filing false tax returns for 2015 and 2018, and that he failed to file a tax return for 2014, causing a loss to the IRS of more than $67,000 and a loss to the Illinois Department of Revenue of roughly $3,400.

SafeSpeed has not been charged with wrongdoing, and a spokeswoman stressed today that the person who paid Presta did not do so on the company’s behalf.

Jon Seidel has more on the Presta scandal here.

More news you need

A suburban businessman admitted today he rewarded then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval with thousands of dollars for Sandoval’s help speeding up the sale of property in McCook. Vahooman “Shadow” Mirkhaef pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and is expected to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

The Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit that aims to advise communities about equitable growth, has named Darlene Hightower as its president and CEO. Hightower, with more than two decades of civic activism, will be the first Black person to lead the council, which dates back to 1934.

Four people were wounded in a drive-by shooting outside the Alhambra Palace restaurant in the West Loop early this morning — less than a mile from where five people were shot during a rolling gunfight at the end of September. The group was standing outside Alhambra Palace when a black Jeep drove past and someone inside opened fire about 12:45 a.m., Chicago police said.

The controversy surrounding the Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s decision to recommend a three-day suspension for slain Chicago Police Officer Ella French spilled over into today’s City Council meeting. Mayor Lightfoot’s appointment of Andrea Kersten as COPA’s permanent chief administrator was sent to the Rules Committee, which will slow down Kersten’s confirmation and could be a first step toward derailing it.

A bright one

For Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu, joy is having the hometown presence of family in abundance

The name at the top of the Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu’s family text group is #WeTalkSh*t — asterisk and everything — and there’s only one rule: There are no rules.

The rookie’s brother, sisters, parents, aunts and uncles all are part of a group that texts mostly about — take a wild guess — basketball. At least half the texts these days seem to come during Bulls games, and a good many of those are sent from the United Center stands, where upward of a dozen family members pile into the same section and cheer on the pride of Morgan Park and the University of Illinois.

Ayo is the baby. Every now and then, perhaps after a rough practice or a bad game, the 21-year-old Dosunmu — not much of a curser — will get a tad colorful with his language. “Excuse me, parents and aunts and uncles, but this is how I feel right now,” one such text began.

The texts bring Dosunmu comfort, but there’s nothing like the physical presence of family. Ayo got to stay home after the Bulls drafted him 38th in July. He got to chase his hoops dream in his own backyard, got to find a new place to live in the West Loop with brother Kube, gets to see his sisters for dinner at Mom and Dad’s multiple times a week when the Bulls are in town.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Ayo Dosunmu has family support all around him.

“It feels amazing,” said Jamarra, his mom. “It definitely is a blessing. Like most rookies, he is very young and inexperienced in life. For us to be here to help him navigate through this next phase of his life on a day-to-day basis, to have that guidance — he’s a man now, but still, to have that guidance — it does feel good.”

Going to all home games and scattered road ones is a deviation from what would have been the plan had Dosunmu been drafted by a team in another city. Quam, Dosunmu’s father, was going to move wherever Ayo did for the first couple of years. Jamarra was going to keep running her South Loop beauty salon, Salon Sevhn, and make regular visits to see them.

Instead, they’re doing this — supporting Dosunmu at home.

The whole family feels connected to Dosunmu’s success and to that of the resurgent Bulls. Both parents emphasize they root and cheer for everyone on the team just as they did at Illinois, Morgan Park and Westinghouse before that. Jamarra makes a point of saying how grateful she is to DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine for taking her son under their wings.

Steve Greenberg has more on the Bulls standout here.

From the press box

When the Bulls acquired DeMar DeRozan, they acquired the chips on his shoulder, too. And the 32-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down, Joe Cowley writes.
Our first Super 25 high school basketball rankings of the season won’t be revealed until tomorrow, but Michael O’Brien unveiled the area’s No. 1 preseason team today: Glenbard West, which boasts a true superstar in Gonzaga commit Braden Huff.

Ty Rodgers, a top-100 recruit nationally, has committed to play college basketball at Illinois.

Your daily question ?

What food tastes most like home for you? Tell us why.

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: Where would you put Chicago’s next cannabis dispensary?

Here’s what some of you said…

“Hyde Park.” — Sakera Dongo

“Cicero and Roosevelt.” — Mike Ordakowski

“Soldier Field.” — Brian Bird

“Navy Pier.” — Damien Guyton

“Jackson Park.” — Kendrick Brooks

“Independence and Roosevelt.” — Serafin Rodriguez

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

Read More

File photo

Zechariah Myles and two other juveniles were arrested shortly after shots were fired Tuesday afternoon near Jackson and Belvedere, police said.

A 16-year-old boy, wanted for the murder of a Zion woman struck by a stray bullet in October, was arrested Tuesday after a shooting in nearby Waukegan.

Zechariah Myles and two other juveniles were arrested shortly after shots were fired around 4 p.m. near Jackson and Belvedere, Zion police said in a statement.

Police allegedly found three guns on them. No injuries were reported in that shooting.

An arrest warrant was issued last week for Myles in the murder of Melanie Yates, a 23-year-old mother who was reportedly reading to her child when a bullet came through a window in her home and struck her in the head.

Myles was firing a rifle at someone else when the bullet struck Yates on Oct. 17 in the 2800 block of Enoch Avenue, police have said. The teen was charged as an adult.

A Lake County Judge set bond on the arrest warrant at $3 million.

Read More

You know Chicago is all about wellness, sustainability, and safe products when it comes to skincare and beauty items. Then, you need to check out Art of Pure, opening officially on Saturday, November 20th, featuring natural, pure, and potent products designed to nurture your body and soul. The new boutique will carry existing lines and new products while hosting various activities such as wellness events, discussions, and mini markets.

Art of Pure, a curator of clean beauty grounded in purity and sustainability, will open its first retail storefront this November. The new boutique, located at 958 W Armitage Ave will offer a handpicked selection of local and internationally sourced skincare, makeup, haircare, modern wellness, personal care products, and eco-friendly home goods.

Art of Pure will officially open this Saturday, November 20. The first 100 customers that day will receive a goodie bag featuring some of Art of Pure’s bestselling products.

Nurture with the Purest Products

Nurturing beauty, body, and wellness through truly natural, pure and potent products, Art of Pure ensures products are responsibly sourced, ethically produced, have a minimal environmental impact, and provide social good, while being free of any harmful ingredients. Art of Pure invites shoppers and the beauty community at large to access trusted and classic brands all while discovering unfamiliar gems.

“At Art of Pure, we are on a mission to prove that beauty can be synonymous with sustainability,” said Monika Joshi, founder and CEO of Art of Pure. “For years I have envisioned a store where green beauty lovers can shop without worrying about the ingredients, and I am thrilled to be able to share that vision with the community.”

Joshi, a former investment banker and mother, felt an urge to enter the beauty industry after spending countless hours researching skincare ingredients in an effort to understand her daughter’s eczema as well as her own issues with sensitive skin. Joshi became an expert in the field and decided to share her knowledge and product recommendations by launching the Art of Pure e-commerce store in 2017.

A Meditative Storefront

Art of Pure promises to bring safe, non-toxic, and entirely green solutions to customers through brands that seek to promote a health and wellness forward lifestyle. The new boutique will boast 1,000 square feet of space and serve as a physical extension of the online store, featuring products with high-performing, plant-based ingredients, and actives.

The store will carry all existing lines and categories along with new product lines including feminine wellness, environmentally friendly home goods, and gifts. As the focus is on sustainability, the store will include a soap and lotion refilling station. Customers will also be able to book a clean makeup application session with a professional makeup artist or a clean swap consultation. Additionally, Art of Pure will host wellness events, panels + discussions, and mini markets, all while helping foster community and dialogue. A mask bar will be offered at the store in the coming months as well.

Health and Safety at the Heart

Health and safety standards are uncompromising for Art of Pure. Ensuring transparency and thoughtful sourcing, Art of Pure tests every item, ingredient, and brand for performance and potency. Building on a foundation of growth and discovery, Art of Pure continues to learn and expand its knowledge base within the cosmetics industry, focused on continued research, thoughtful partnerships, and expanded knowledge.

For more information about the Art of Pure and its offerings, visit www.artofpure.com or follow along on Instagram and Facebook.

Read More

Chicago’s damn great hot dog stand, Devil Dawgs, will open a new  location with a limited menu of fan favorites at 804 N. Rush St., a block west of the Magnificent Mile. The official opening is Thursday, November 18. To start, they will be open Tuesday thru Saturday for lunch only (11am-3pm), and operating hours will expand pending the city’s staff shortage.

In the meantime, Devil Dawgs has added three new menu items at its Wicker Park restaurant, at 1431 N. Milwaukee Ave. They will also soon launch their newest Friend of the Devil menu collaboration with Chef Matthias Merges, at the Wicker Park location. More details to come on the Yusho-themed, Friend of the Devil collaboration.

As referenced above, the Devil Dawgs Gold Coast walk-in stand will offer a limited menu of fan favorite. You know, the delightful focus of Chicago classics made with premium ingredients. The all-beef Chicago style Big Dawg (spicy sausage), Chicago style hot dog, Bacon Cheddar Dog, and Vegan Dawg will share the spotlight with hand cut fries, five homemade milkshakes flavors, and the Original Cheese, Bacon Me Happy, and Chi-Town steak sliders.

We’ve been following along closely since Devil Dawg’s unfortunately closed their flagship Lincoln Park location last year. Their original goal was to open a new LP location by the summer of 2021. That hasn’t happened, however, if there is a reasonable lease opportunity around DePaul University, ownership would certainly entertain the chance at reopening nearby. For now, the Gold Coast location will be fourth in the DD’s family alongside South Loop, Lakeview, and Wicker Park. BUT that’s not all…!

The Wicker Park location is introducing all new menu items, including a hot dog and two massive full-size burgers:

Icelandic Dawg, ¼ pound Spicy “Devil Dawg” Sausage, Dijon Mustard, Ketchup, Remoulade, Fried Maui Onion, Fried Shallot, Steamed Bun, $6.95
Old Fashion Burger, ½ pound Burger with House Sauce, Grilled Onion, Cheddar, Lettuce, Pickle, Flour-Dusted Potato Roll, $11.95
Beyond Burger, a plant-based complement to their popular Vegan Dawg, $12.95

For more information, and to order devilish delivery and pickup, visit their website. During the industry-wide labor shortage, days and hours of operation may vary at each location but rest assured that your favorite hot dogs, cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes will remain available throughout Chicago!

Gold Coast (opening Thursday)  | 804 N. Rush St., Chicago, IL 60611
South Loop | 767 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60605
Wicker Park | 1431 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622
Lakeview | 937 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

Featured Image Credit: Trip Advisor

Read More

Save the date! The Chicago Scots, the first and oldest non-profit organization in Illinois, is proud to celebrate Scotland and Scottish identity by hosting their 176th Annual Saint Andrew’s Day Gala, “The Feast of the Haggis”, on Friday, December 3 beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the Chicago History Museum located at 1601 N Clark St.

Throughout the spectacular evening, guests will enjoy a ‘movable feast’ with delicious bites and cocktails under the direction of Celebrity Guest Chef Gary MacLean from Scotland, along with live entertainment throughout, a special award presentation to honor this year’s Distinguished Citizen, and access to the museum’s two newest exhibitions.

Image Credit: The Chicago Scots

Chicago’s Longest-Run Black Tie Event

This uniquely Scottish evening will be transformed to be a COVID careful event, utilizing the Chicago History Museum’s many exhibit spaces as part of a ‘moveable feast’ with ongoing activities throughout the Museum. Chef Gary MacLean will be the evening’s Celebrity Guest Chef, offering his expertise in all things Scottish fare

Guests will enjoy live entertainment throughout including bagpipers and Highland Dancers; access to the Museum’s two newest exhibits City on Fire: Chicago 1871 and Vivian Maier: In Color, a multimedia exhibition by the American street photographer whose mostly unseen body of work came to light in 2007.

All proceeds benefit the Chicago Scots’ principal charity, Caledonia Senior Living and Memory Care in North Riverside. The Chicago Scots welcome everyone who is Scottish by birth, by heritage, or simply by inclination!

Image Credit: The Chicago Scots

Celebrating Scottish Heritage in Chicago

During this tremendous celebration of tradition, attorney and philanthropic leader James L. Alexander will receive the 2021 Distinguished Citizen Award, the highest honor the Chicago Scots gives- in recognition of outstanding leadership and contributions.

As the second individual Co-trustee of the Morse and Genius Trusts, Alexander has been fortunate to work with corporate Co-trustees JPMorgan Chase Bank and Bank of America on a wide variety of philanthropic endeavors, including the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Dominican University, the Burnham Centennial, The LGBT Community Fund at The Chicago Community Trust, the Chicago History Museum, and the Diversity Working Group, which led to the creation of The Chicago High School for the Arts.

A past and present member of a number of Chicago non-profit boards, Alexander currently is a Vice President of Lyric Opera, Chair Emeritus of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and the Chicago History Museum, and a member of the advisory council for the Illinois Justice Project. Jim’s father, William H. Alexander received Chicago Scots Distinguished Citizen Award in 1995.

Image Credit: The Chicago Scots

Get Your Tickets Now!

Tickets to the event begin at $200 per person for general admission which includes access to the open bar, the movable feast, and admission to the exhibits; along with a $250 ticket price that includes general access along with a special toast to Gus Noble, and a $500 ticket price that includes all of the above along with access to the special presentation and reception honoring this year’s Distinguished Citizen. Patron and sponsorship packages are also available beginning at $2,500. For more information on sponsorships, please email Dawn Miller at [email protected].

Donations of any kind are also very welcome. For more information about the Chicago Scots’ or to purchase tickets to the 176th Annual St. Andrew’s Day and “Feast of the Haggis”, please visit the Eventbrite link by clicking here. The dress code for the event is black tie and tartan recommended!

Staying true to their commitment to safety during the pandemic, this event will follow the most current COVID-19 safety protocol. Proof of vaccination will be required for attendance.

Featured Image Credit: The Chicago Scots

Read More

Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) was among the 18 City Council members who voted against creating an appeals process before the police gang database was revised. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) argued that it makes no sense to consider appeals until the Criminal Enterprise Information System is revised.

A divided City Council on Wednesday empowered the Chicago Police Board to hear appeals from people who want their names removed from the gang database even though the Chicago Police Department has yet to replace the error-filled clearinghouse.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaigned on a promise to get rid of the gang database and replace it with a mistake-free system that includes criteria for getting on the list and giving people a way get their names removed from the list.

On his way out the door, now-former Inspector General Joe Ferguson pointedly accused the mayor of failing to fulfill both promises.

“It’s been 2.5 years of promises made and promises not kept,” Ferguson told alderpersons at his final budget hearing.

“We’re still utilizing a system that we know and that IG reports have established is just not accurate and hangs over the lives of tens of thousands of Chicagoans, over 96% are Black- and Brown-skinned. We need to clean that up.”

Wednesday’s 29-18 vote begins the cleanup process that critics say is beginning too soon.

Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) argued that it makes no sense to empower the Chicago Police Board to hear appeals until CPD releases its revised Criminal Enterprise Information System and clearly articulates the criteria for getting on that new list.

“We’re putting the cart before the horse. … We’re going on a wing and a prayer that we’re gonna figure out the front end while trying to fix the back end. That doesn’t work for me,” Lopez said.

“I do not support this process in which we are doing this backwards. Solving the problem before figuring out how you get on the list to begin with.”

The City Council’s Committee on Public Safety held a four-hour subject matter hearing in July where “hundreds of questions were asked” about the new gang database and the appeals process. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy Lopez.

“The lists we’ve created up until this point are nets that catch way too many fish. For a list to be useful, it has to be narrow in scope. It has to have parameters to identify how people get on it so then, we can successfully create an appeals process that rectifies whatever has transpired for a person to get on that list. We don’t have that information right now,” he said.

South Side Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) agreed with Lopez.

“This is backwards. And the fact that we’re gonna fix it later is just bunk,” Hairston said.

“Since we know that there are problems, why not fix them? We always want to come in with the broom afterward sweeping it up. And it’s time that we do something different.”

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), who used a parliamentary maneuver to stall the appeals ordinance at last month’s City Council meeting, added, “The latest I heard was that people that are gonna be on the database wouldn’t even be proactively informed that they are on the database.”

Speaking from the rostrum, Lightfoot promised “outreach through a variety of channels.”

Budget Committee Chairman Pat Dowell (3rd) told Lightfoot, “I take you at your word that this is gonna happen.”

The mayor replied, “It’s very important for us that we make sure that we notify people, educate them about the process and help them move through the process so that it’s a real opportunity to remove their names.”

Public Safety Committee Chairman Chris Taliaferro (29th) argued that the appeals ordinance and the soon-to-be-released gang database can easily “work in tandem” — and should.

“We have to allow our Chicago Police Board to begin putting procedures in place so that they can have an appeals process. … Right now, it’s not [in] their purview,” Taliaferro said.

“So, I ask that you support this ordinance to allow them to create the process for our residents … and at the same time allow our Chicago Police Department to continue putting the database together that we can all be proud of.”

Prior to the final vote, Lightfoot returned to her prosecutorial roots.

In rapid fire succession, she asked Taliaferro whether it was true that there had been a “fulsome hearing” on the issue; CPD had “completely changed the criteria” needed to get on the list to include “many, many identifiers of the person” and that, in order to get on the list, the name had to be approved by an “exempt member” of CPD — “not just a line police officer.”

Taliaferro answered “yes” to all of the mayor’s questions.

Joining Hairston, Lopez and Vasquez in voting “no” were Daniel LaSpata (1st); Brian Hopkins (2nd); Sophia King (4th); Roderick Sawyer (6th); Susan Sadlowski-Garza (10th); Edward Burke (14th); Stephanie Coleman (16th); Jeanette Taylor (20th); Michael Rodriguez (22nd); Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th); Roberto Maldonado (26th); Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd); Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th); Matt Martin (47th); and Maria Hadden (49th).

Read More

Bears chairman George McCaskey is considering moving the franchise from Chicago to Arlington Heights. | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Alderman’s idea, while noble, doesn’t aim high enough.

Chicago Ald. George Cardenas would like the city to explore the possibility of buying the Bears, who are threatening to take their George Halas memorabilia and move it to Arlington Heights. The fact that the McCaskey family has a padlocked grip on the franchise and seems to have no intention of selling the team doesn’t appear to faze Cardenas.

Saying, “Let’s buy the Bears!” is like saying, “I think I’ll be the Rolling Stones’ new drummer!” But let’s play along. Let’s play fantasy football. One of Cardenas’ ideas is for the city to purchase the franchise and then sell shares of the team to fans, as the Packers have done. I’d prefer that the Bears follow the Packers’ lead by winning football games, hiring good coaches and finding the next Aaron Rodgers, but I suppose you have to start somewhere.

If we’re going to fantasize, if we’re going to think big, let’s take the City of Chicago as buyer out of the equation. It has enough troubles. It doesn’t have walking-around money, let alone the $4 billion or so it would take to land the Bears. And, frankly, I don’t want Elmer from Stickney emailing me weekly that the Bears’ rotten performance was not what he had in mind when he bought three shares of the franchise for $300 apiece. And then he’ll proceed to tell me what he did have in mind, which would be information I had never solicited.

If the city is going to look for investors/buyers, why not reach out to some billionaires who have been successful in other industries and have a track record of identifying smart people to run their businesses? If that sounds like a veiled criticism of a family that inherited a football team – a football team that is its only source of income — and still has trouble telling a pass from a punt … well, that’s mere coincidence.

I’d start with zillionaire Warren Buffett, then stroll around the mountains of money that give contour to our map of the filthy rich. Move on to Elon Musk. Or Jeff Bezos. If you’re insistent that the new Bears owner know something about sports, how about ACF Fiorentina owner Rocco Commisso, who is worth $8.4 billion? He was born in Italy and played soccer at Columbia University. Soccer internationally is known as football.

This is our kind of rich guy!

Our Rich Guy says to the McCaskeys, “Name your price.” They say, “We would never sell our memories!” Our Rich Guy says, “Tell you what. I’ll give you $5 billion and 100% of the Halas fedora concession on game days at Soldier Field.”

“Done!” team chairman George McCaskey blurts out.

While we’re fantasizing, is it outrageous to imagine a Halas Hall that doesn’t include general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy? I can’t shake this dark suspicion that part of any McCaskey agreement to sell the team would include a clause keeping the two men, “or two men of similar incompetence,” in their positions in perpetuity.

Cardenas’ idea is a noble one, but he doesn’t have any idea what he’s up against. The current ownership group is tied through family blood to the franchise. Because it’s incapable of making decisions that lead to championship football, it cares disproportionately about blowing on the embers of distant team history. It’s like having Einstein heirs who don’t understand physics but want to keep walrus moustaches alive.

The alderman’s plan to have the city buy the team is farfetched but no more farfetched than the notion that the McCaskeys will ever sell. I periodically get emails from readers who have heard from their brother-in-law’s cousin’s barber that ownership will proceed with a sale when the family’s 98-year-old matriarch, Virginia McCaskey, breaks the plane of the Big End Zone in the Sky. But that’s just the hope of a frustrated fan base talking. When your team hasn’t played many meaningful games over a three-decade span, all you have is hope. Even if it’s a mirage.

The McCaskeys are an immovable object, which is ironic when you consider that they’re pondering a move to Arlington Heights. But let’s play some more pretend:

Let’s say the family agrees to sell the team but only if the new owners move it to the suburbs.

Surely Cardenas, no matter how much he’s trying to keep big money in Chicago, can see that his civic duty extends well beyond the city limits. Work on this proposal, Alderman. Trust me, Bears fans would never stop voting for you.

Read More

Norman 3X Butler, 26, a suspect in the slaying of Malcolm X, is escorted by detectives at police headquarters, after his arrest, in New York, Feb. 26, 1965. Butler, one of two men convicted in the assassination of Malcolm X, is set to be cleared after more than half a century, with prosecutors now saying authorities withheld evidence in the civil rights leader’s killing, according to a news report Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. | AP

Prosecutors now say authorities withheld evidence that favored the defense in the trial of Muhammad Aziz, now 83, and the late Khalil Islam, according to The New York Times.

NEW YORK — Two of the three men convicted in the assassination of Malcolm X are set to be cleared Thursday after insisting on their innocence since the 1965 killing of one of the United States’ most formidable fighters for civil rights, Manhattan’s top prosecutor said Wednesday.

Prosecutors now say authorities withheld evidence that favored the defense in the trial of Muhammad Aziz, now 83, and the late Khalil Islam, according to The New York Times.

Aziz and Islam spent decades in prison for the crime, but a recent documentary sparked a nearly two-year investigation by their lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney’s office. A court date is expected Thursday.

“These men did not get the justice that they deserved,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. told the Times.

Vance later tweeted that his office, the Innocence Project and civil rights lawyer David Shanies’ office would ask a judge to toss out the convictions, with more details to come Thursday. A court date is expected then.

One of the civil rights era’s most controversial and compelling figures, Malcolm X rose to fame as the Nation of Islam’s chief spokesperson, proclaiming the Black Muslim organization’s message at the time: racial separatism as a road to self-actualization. He famously urged Black people to claim civil rights “by any means necessary.”

He split from the Nation of Islam about a year before he was gunned down as he began a speech in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965.

Aziz, Islam and a third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim — known at the time of the killing as Talmadge Hayer and also as Thomas Hagan — were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison.

Hagan said he was one of three gunmen who shot Malcolm X, but he testified that neither Aziz nor Islam was involved. The two, then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15 Johnson, maintained throughout that they were innocent and offered alibis at their 1966 trial. No physical evidence linked them to the crime.

“Thomas 15X Johnson and Norman 3X Butler had nothing to do with this crime whatsoever,” Hagan said in a sworn statement in 1977.

Hagan was paroled in 2010. A message was left Wednesday at a phone number he had when paroled.

He identified two other men as gunmen, but no one else was ever arrested.

According to The New York Times, the re-investigation found the FBI had documents that pointed to other suspects, and a still-living witness supported Aziz’s alibi — that he was at home with a leg injury at the time of the shooting.

The witness, whom authorities had never interviewed before and was identified only by the initials “J.M.,” said he spoke to Aziz on the latter’s home phone the day of the killing, the newspaper said.

Also, the review found that prosecutors knew about but didn’t disclose that undercover officers were in the ballroom when the gunfire erupted, and police knew that someone had called the Daily News of New York earlier that day saying that Malcolm X would be killed.

“This wasn’t a mere oversight,” Deborah Francois, a lawyer for Aziz and Islam, told the Times. “This was a product of extreme and gross official misconduct.”

Aziz was released in 1985. Islam was released two years later and died in 2009.

“I need to be exonerated,” Islam said in a 2008 talk at a Harlem bookstore. “I had to walk 22 years in prison.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office publicly acknowledged it was considering reopening the case after Netflix aired the documentary series “Who Killed Malcom X?” last year. The series explored a theory by scholars that the two men were innocent and that some of the real killers had escaped.

Read More