What’s New

MINNEAPOLIS — Kneeling on George Floyd ‘s neck while he was handcuffed and lying on his stomach was top-tier, deadly force and “totally unnecessary,” the head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s homicide division testified Friday.

“If your knee is on a person’s neck, that can kill him,” said Lt. Richard Zimmerman, adding that when a person is handcuffed behind their back, “your muscles are pulling back … and if you’re laying on your chest, that’s constricting your breathing even more.”

Zimmerman, who said he is the most senior person on the police force, also testified at Derek Chauvin’s murder trial that once Floyd was handcuffed, he saw “no reason for why the officers felt they were in danger — if that’s what they felt — and that’s what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force.”

“So in your opinion, should that restraint have stopped once he was handcuffed and thrown on the ground?” prosecutor Matthew Frank asked.

“Absolutely,” replied Zimmerman, who said he has received use-of-force training annually — as all officers do — since joining the city force in 1985.

He said he has never been trained to kneel on someone’s neck if they’re handcuffed behind their back and in the prone position.

“Once you secure or handcuff a person, you need to get them out of the prone position as soon as possible because it restricts their breathing,” Zimmerman said, adding “you need to turn them on their side or have them sit up.”

He also testified that officers have a duty to provide care for a person in distress, even if an ambulance has been called.

Officers kept restraining Floyd — with Chauvin kneeling on his neck, another kneeling on Floyd’s back and a third holding his feet — until the ambulance arrived, even after he became unresponsive.

One officer asked twice if they should roll Floyd on his side to aid his breathing, and later said calmly that he thought Floyd was passing out. Another checked Floyd’s wrist for a pulse and said he couldn’t find one.

The officers also rebuffed offers of help from an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter who wanted to administer aid or tell officers how to do it.

Under cross examination, Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson peppered Zimmerman with questions about the use of force, pointing out that officers must consider the entire situation — including what is happening with a suspect, whether the suspect is under the influence, and other surrounding hazards, such as a crowd.

The defense has argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do when he encountered Floyd last May and that Floyd’s death was caused not by the knee on his neck — as prosecutors contend — but by drugs, his underlying health conditions and adrenaline. An autopsy found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.

Chauvin is also heard on body-camera footage defending his decision to an onlooker after Floyd was taken away by paramedics, saying: “We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy … and it looks like he’s probably on something.”

Chauvin, 45 and white, is charged with killing Floyd by pinning his knee on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs. Floyd had been accused of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a neighborhood market.

Zimmerman agreed with Nelson that a person who is handcuffed still can pose a threat and can continue to thrash around.

And he agreed when Nelson asked if officers who believe they’re in a fight for their lives could use “whatever force is reasonable and necessary,” including by improvising.

“Did you see any need for Officer Chauvin to improvise by putting his knee on Mr. Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds?” Frank later asked Zimmerman.

“No, I did not,” said Zimmerman, who said that based on his review of police body camera footage, the officers did not appear to be in danger from Floyd or about 15 onlookers.

Nelson has suggested that the bystanders — many of whom were shouting at Chauvin to get off Floyd — may have distracted officers and affected their response. The prosecution, however, noted that officers on the scene did not call for backup.

“The crowd, as long as they’re not attacking you, the crowd really doesn’t, shouldn’t, have an effect on your actions,” Zimmerman said.

Floyd’s death triggered large protests around the U.S., scattered violence and widespread soul-searching over racism and police brutality. Chauvin, who was fired, is charged with murder and manslaughter. The most serious charge against him carries up to 40 years in prison.

___

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

Read More

Chicago Cubs: Opening Day proves team is still broken by Jordan Campbell

The Chicago Blackhawks are making a move that is going to excite a lot of people. They are bringing home Vinnie Hinostroza from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Brad Morrison. Morrison was acquired in the trade that sent Olli Maatta to the Los Angeles Kings. It is an interesting trade to make as the Hawks look for a boost in their lineup. Hinostroza is a local kid coming back as he comes from Bartlett, Illinois.

Vinnie Hinostroza should be able to help the Chicago Blackhawks forward depth.

Hinostroza first left the Blackhawks when they traded him with Marian Hossa and Jordan Oesterle to the Arizona Coyotes. He then signed a deal with the Florida Panthers back in October of 2020. He didn’t have much success there as he had no points in nine games playing for Joel Quenneville’s team. You have to figure that he will get a bit of a boost coming back to play for the Hawks.

He is considered to be an offensive player so they are going to need him to score a little bit. He has shown that he can at the NHL level as there have been some productive years in his career. His best season came in 2018-19 playing for Arizona when he scored 16 goals and added in 23 assists for 39 points.

That is not bad production at all for a former 6th round pick that the Hawks (and Coyotes) did a great job developing. In his career as a whole, he has 34 goals and 66 assists for 100 points in 255 career games. That level of production could really help Chicago’s middle-six pick it back up.

It is fair to wonder where he will fit into this group. With Kirby Dach coming back, it would make sense to try him on his wing. Hinostroza is a natural centerman but they might get more out of him playing on the wing. If a big statured centerman like Dach had a skill-player like Vinnie on his wing, that might really help him get going.

Getting him time on either power-play unit might be a smart idea as well. He has the ability to make good passes and score goals in tight which has the makings of a good power play forward. He might be able to help the second unit by adding some extra skills to the mix.

Hot: Three expiring contracts that the Blackhawks should consider trading

As the trade deadline approaches, the team’s main goal should be to get younger. That might mean trading some of their expiring contracts (Mattias Janmark, Carl Soderberg) to Stanley Cup contenders to make room for guys like Hinostroza. This is a very exciting move because a local kid gets to come back and start over with the team that brought him up. Hopefully, this is one that works out for both sides.

Read More

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 sunny with a high near 50 degrees and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Tonight’s low will be around 38 degrees. Tomorrow will be sunny and breezy with a high near 67 degrees, while Sunday will be mostly sunny with a high near 70.

Top story

Under federal scrutiny, Madigan, Solis collecting lucrative government pensions

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, who resigned amid an ongoing federal investigation, just collected his first pension check — the initial payment in what could become one of the richest retirement payouts to any Illinois legislator.

Disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis has gotten nearly $170,000 in retirement pay since he quit the Chicago City Council two years ago after we revealed he’d been an FBI mole, secretly recording conversations with now-indicted Ald. Edward M. Burke and others at City Hall as part of a widespread investigation into government corruption.

They and others who are under federal scrutiny — caught up in ongoing federal grand jury investigations involving government officials in the city and suburbs — are facing jeopardy that goes beyond what any of them might face from the courts. If the investigations lead to criminal charges and convictions, that also could jeopardize the lucrative pensions they expected to collect for the rest of their lives.

Many of the others have resigned from office and put in for their pensions, knowing those checks will be cut off if they are convicted of felonies related to their official duties.

If that were to happen, they’d get a refund of the money that had been taken out of their paychecks over the years as their contributions toward their pensions. But that would be the case only if the amount they collect in retirement pay hasn’t already exceeded their own contributions — something that usually takes a couple of years.

Here’s a look, based on records from government retirement funds, at the pension status of a dozen retired and current officials, all Democrats, who have been caught up in the federal investigations involving City Hall, Cook County and the state of Illinois.

More news you need

1. A Hazel Crest mother and her three kids are shaken after 20 bullets aimed at their home shattered windows on Tuesday, just minutes after one daughter, 13, had walked through the door. And the Hazel Crest police station was about a block away. “Me and my children could have been dead and gone. It was nothing but God’s grace and mercy,” she said.
2. More than 6 million COVID-19 vaccinations have now gone into Illinois arms, public health officials announced today. But cases are still rising: The average statewide testing positivity rate is at a two-month high of 3.5%.
3. On March 22, Evanston became the first U.S. city to approve a plan to make reparations available to Black residents to address the harm they suffered as a result of the city’s past discriminatory housing policies. Our Stefano Esposito interviewed Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, the driving force behind the reparations effort.
4. Gov. J.B. Pritzker yesterday commuted the life sentence of Gerald Reed, who was convicted of a double murder in 1990. Reed is expected to walk out of Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet today, where his mother is waiting: “Mr. Governor, I want to say God bless you and happy Easter,” she said.
5. The CTA announced today that six prototype electric buses are officially out on the roads, carrying passengers between the Austin neighborhood and Navy Pier on the #66 Chicago route. If the buses perform well on the road, the CTA said it will approve an additional 17 electric buses for use along various routes.
6. A new documentary series on Ernest Hemingway by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick delivers the definitive biography of arguably the most famous, accomplished and celebrated writer of the 20th century, writes our film critic Richard Roeper. Read his full review of “Hemingway,” premiering on PBS Monday.

A bright one

In Back of the Yards, Chicago artist’s mural features characters he sketched in high school

A few blocks from the Western Avenue L stop in the Back of the Yards, an artist has taken doodles that he scribbled in a high school art class and used them in a mural that adorns a viaduct.

They’re part of a 50-feet-wide, 14-feet-high mural that transformed the viaduct at 49th Street and Damen Avenue into something the artist hopes will inspire kids in the Southwest Side neighborhood.

It includes images of a diverse group of kids and one bulldog and a banner unfurled above their heads that says “light the way for los ninos.”

The artist — who goes by the name FRILLZ — says someone who lives in the neighborhood who didn’t like the way the viaduct had been spattered with graffiti approached him about painting a mural there.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

The cartoon-like appearance of the characters reflects the artist’s style — especially his signature bulldog.

But that’s also an artifact of the characters’ origins. FRILLZ, who’s 21, says he was always artistically inclined but didn’t start doing street art till his teachers asked him during his sophomore year at Schurz High School to help design a school mural. He says he “did a bunch of quick sketches” of his school’s bulldog mascot.

A few years later, doodles like those that he once drew in class ended up on stickers and murals across Chicago as his career as an artist took off.

Keep reading Rylee Tan’s story here.

From the press box

Bears coach Matt Nagy said he will resume play-calling duties next season. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor took over those duties for the last seven regular-season games last season, with generally positive results. The Bears scored 30 or more points in four straight games in December, winning three of them, Patrick Finley writes.

The Cubs had a disappointing 2021 debut, but new Marquee Sports Network announcer Jon “Boog” Sciambi was a hit in calling his first regular-season game. Jeff Agrest has the story.

The Cubs continue their series against the Pirates this weekend, and the White Sox remain on the West Coast to face the Angels.

Your daily question ?

What do you want to get done or achieve before things get back to normal?

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: What’s the best April Fools’ Day prank you’ve ever pulled or had pulled on you? Here’s what some of you said…

“Saved the daily newspaper from one year ago and gave it to my husband in its plastic delivery sleeve as if it had just been delivered. His expression and remarks were priceless.” — Anne Grogan

“I checked the lottery numbers! Got excited, told my boys that we had matched all the numbers! They got so excited, ran into the bedroom to wake their dad who worked nights. I said April Fools’! Dad was not happy, neither were the boys.” — Maxine Henry

“I went to an all-girls high school. My mom warned me that my socks were out of uniform, so I had my teacher write me a fake detention. Mom’s reaction was priceless… we still have it from 1998!” — Shannon Bracken

“It was a week after Easter and I dyed a regular egg and gave it to a friend at lunch telling her it was hard-boiled… what a mess. It was at work and everyone yelled at me!” — Melinda Vaughn

“I sent a photo of two hands with wedding bands to my mother and told her I decided to get back with my toxic ex, and that we’d gotten married.” — Erik Raymond

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

A Logan Square man asked to purchase marijuana from a man he shot to death moments later in an apparent robbery attempt in Chatham, Cook County prosecutors said Friday.

Jamie Richardson first approached Aaron Lawrence about noon on Nov. 24 while Lawrence was in line to place an order at Baba Philly Steak and Lemonade, 7859 S. State St.

When Richardson asked Lawrence about buying weed, Lawrence said he only had a small amount but asked Richardson how much he was looking for, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

Richardson left the restaurant, but approached Lawrence in the parking lot, asking him about purchasing marijuana again. Shortly after that encounter, Lawrence sold an unknown amount to another person, Murphy said.

Richardson then asked for a lower price, pulled out a gun and told Lawrence to give him “everything he’s got” before opening fire, Murphy said.

Lawrence drove out of the parking lot, but crashed into a guard rail. Richardson fired his weapon two more times as Lawrence tried to get away, Murphy said.

Lawrence, of Stony Island Park, suffered a gunshot wound to his arm and chest and was later pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center.

Richardson drove off in a stolen Hyundai Sonata following the shooting, Murphy said. The Sonata was found torched in the 5400 block of South Princeton Avenue the next morning.

Surveillance cameras captured the shooting, Richardson in a face mask in the restaurant, and the stolen Sonata’s license plate as it drove away, Murphy said. Separate surveillance cameras recorded Richardson driving the car at a gas station about six hours before the murder. An individual wearing clothes that matched Richardson’s was also caught on camera being picked up by an SUV near where the stolen car was found, Murphy said.

Two days after the shooting, Richardson was taken into custody after he was arrested for two separate carjackings and an armed robbery at a Dunkin Donuts, Murphy said.

A .40-caliber handgun was found in Richardson’s pocket following his arrest, Murphy said. The gun matched shell casings found after Lawrence’s murder and GPS data from Richardson’s cellphone placed him at the crime scene at the time of the shooting, Murphy said.

Cook County sheriff’s office

Richardson was being held at the Cook County Jail when he was charged with first-degree murder this week, court records show.

Richardson was recently working at a McDonald’s while trying to earn his GED, an assistant public defender told Judge John F. Lyke.

Lyke called Richardson “a one person violent crime spree” and ordered him held without bail for Lawrence’s murder.

Richardson is expected back in court for his murder case on April 21.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

Read More

A Cook County judge Friday called the murder of an 11-year-old girl “despicable and tragic” and lambasted the alleged gunman’s excuses for pulling the trigger.

Marcus Starkey allegedly told detectives he started firing at a customer at a Far South Side gas station on March 1 because he was drunk and high, striking Ny’Andrea Dyer as she sat in a car with her mother and siblings.

Being intoxicated is “no defense whatsoever,” Cook County Judge John F. Lyke said as 27-year-old Starkey appeared before him Friday.

Ny’Andrea, who had her spine severed from the shooting, died on March 22.

The girl’s death was “despicable and tragic all in the same breath,” Lyke said.

On the night Ny’Andrea was shot, an 18-year-old man parked at a fuel pump at the BP gas station when he noticed two people wearing masks and hoods in the parking lot, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

The teenager was filling his car with gas when the pair returned to the lot, at 150 W. 127th St.

He noticed one of the men pointing a gun. The teenager, thinking he was going to be robbed, starting walking away and tried going into the the gas station’s store. But the door was locked, Murphy said.

Then Starkey — one of the two hooded individuals — started shooting at the teenager, prompting the teenager to pull out his own gun and return fire, Murphy said. The teenager was struck several times.

One of the bullets fired by Starkey entered the rear driver’s side window of the car Ny’Andrea was sitting in, striking her face, Murphy said.

Starkey and his unidentified cohort fled, and the teenager drove to his mother’s home before he was transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Murphy said.

Emergency personnel were called to the gas station and Ny’Andrea was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she was determined to be brain dead and taken off life support.

Following the shooting, Starkey and his accomplice allegedly ran to Starkey’s car in an alley. The car wouldn’t start, so Starkey ran away and approached two workers at a Metra facility nearby, claiming he had been robbed, Murphy said.

Starkey offered the Metra employees $600 and then $900 to drive him somewhere but they refused the offer, Murphy said. Surveillance cameras at the Metra facility “very clearly” captured Starkey’s face before he left, Murphy said.

Surveillance video at the gas station also captured the shooting, as well as the dark-colored jacket Starkey was wearing at the time, Murphy said. The jacket was later found in a tree on the route Starkey allegedly used to flee.

A .45-caliber Springfield handgun was also found on the street and matched a bullet casing recovered at the crime scene, Murphy said.

Starkey was taken into custody on a warrant for his arrest on March 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was returned to Cook County for first-degree murder and attempted murder charges.

Chicago police

Starkey first denied being involved in the shooting, but later admitted to firing first at the 18-year-old victim because he was intoxicated, although he also claimed the teenager he shot at didn’t have a gun. Starkey also allegedly said the gun he used belonged to his co-offender.

Prosecutors said the 18-year-old was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, but surveillance footage showed he did not take out his gun until he was fired upon first and could not have fired the bullet that struck Ny’Andrea.

The teenager’s weapon has not been recovered, prosecutors said.

Starkey, who works as a carpentry assistant, and does snow removal and landscaping jobs, “vigorously denies” the allegations and had previously participated in city anti-violence programs, an assistant public defender told Lyke .

Lyke ordered Starkey held without bail.

He is expected back in court April 22.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

Read More

Pat and Nick make their predictions for 2021 Sox season. HRs, Gio wins, RBI leader, Rodon innings, Madrigal hits and more. How will the season end for the Sox and how far can they go? What we’ve been waiting for is finally here. Let’s Go Sox!

The post GGTB Ep. 89 – For Those About To Rock first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

The NFL Draft is right around the corner and the evaluations are heating up with the Chicago Bears continuing to do their homework on setting up their draft day board. Latest reports say the Bears have shown increased interest in one specific late-round draft prospect to add to their 2021 roster.

The post SOURCE: Bears Have Had Several Talks with Day 3 Prospect first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

Draft Dr. Phil and Shayne “The Smartest Man” are joined by Bears’ running backs David Montgomery and Ryan Nall to talk offense, offseason and more in a guest spot for the ages!

The post Keepin It 100 – Bears RB Takeover with Special Guests David Montgomery and Ryan Nall first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More

Possibilities produces a live Zoom version of The Dining Room, but Melody DeRogatis has post-pandemic plans for her company.

Large family gatherings may still be fraught as we sort out who’s vaccinated and who’s not. But being a fly on the wall for the generations of WASPs in A.R. Gurney’s 1981 play The Dining Room might make you take a fresh look at family dynamics. …Read More

This year, St. Procopius has brought back Pilsen Via Crucis, a living way of the cross celebration that has been a staple in the catholic Pilsen community for 44 years.

Isaac Bucio marched in tattered, bloodstained robes with a massive wooden cross on his back for St. Procopius Catholic Church’s annual Via Crucis event Friday.

His fellow actors whipped him lightly with a rope covered in fake blood as a procession followed in prayer down Racine Avenue in Pilsen.

Via Crucis, which means Stations of the Cross in Spanish, was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rev. Adan Sandoval was grateful the church could hold the Good Friday procession again even though the crowd was half of its usual throng of “thousands.” Those who couldn’t be there live, could watch the event virtually.

“At times we hear so much negative news that we are closing churches and that people don’t go to church anymore,” Sandoval said. “But there’s another side of the story, that some people have this hunger for God, and we need to celebrate that.”

This is the 44th year the church has held the procession — the oldest in the Midwest, according to Sandoval.

The procession usually starts at St. Procopius, 1641 S Allport St., and ends at Harrison Park, at 1824 S Wood St., where there is a reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This year, a reenactment of the Last Supper was live-streamed from the Providence of God Church, 717 W 18th St., before the march ended at a soccer field outside of St. Procopius, where large wooden crosses had been placed. At the soccer field, the actors reenacted the crucifixion, capping off this year’s Via Crucis.

Bucio, a Chicago firefighter, has played Jesus Christ on several other occasions for the church. He just got the call last week about reprising his role again for Via Crucis.

“It brings the whole community together,” Bucio said of the procession. “When this is full-blown, 18th street you can’t walk. People come out just to get a glimpse of the procession passing by.”

Read More