Illinois U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, a Democrat representing the 3rd Congressional District, was at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California on Sunday when a deadly shooting unfolded. He and his wife escaped uninjured.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says of President Donald Trump that “racism is a part of who he is” and “part of his strategy” heading into the 2020 election season, and it’s best for Democrats not to get distracted by his incendiary tweets about Baltimore and its congressman Elijah Cummings.
Former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who had been out of the spotlight after leaving office in January and battling health problems, says he’s feeling good these days, living in Puerto Rico full time and, yes, being lobbied to become the next governor of the U.S. territory amid a texting scandal that forced Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to step down.
But while he’s back on the political scene — he’s in Detroit this week for the Democratic presidential debates — the one-time Chicago Democrat tells The Spin he’s made a final decision about his political future.
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U.S. Rep. Lipinski, wife flee as gunman opens fire at California festival
Statement from the congressman: “My wife Judy and I were at the Gilroy Garlic Festival during the shooting. The shooter was not far from us as we heard the loud ‘pops,’ which seemed to get closer as we ran.” Read my story here.
Just in: Betsy Ebeling, Hillary Clinton’s best friend, dies, the Sun-Times’ Michael Sneed is reporting. Read the story here.
Lightfoot, Pritzker blast Trump’s Baltimore comments
From the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt and Dan Petrella: “Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday urged Democrats not to get distracted by Donald Trump’s incendiary tweets attacking U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings and the city of Baltimore.
“Racism is a part of who he is …” Lightfoot said.
The governor called Trump’s commentary “reprehensible.” Read the full story here.
Opinion: Divided if we do; divided if we don’t. Should we keep engaging over Trump’s tweets? Read Tribune columnist Heidi Stevens’ take here.
Opinion: Cory Booker is wrong. Joe Biden isn’t the enemy of black people. Donald Trump is. Read Tribune columnist Dahleen Glanton’s take here.
Ex-Congressman Luis Gutierrez back on the political scene
While Puerto Rico reels from a political crisis — the governor is officially stepping down Friday amid a texting scandal and his successor has declared she doesn’t want the job — Gutierrez tells The Spin, “yes both people in Chicago and Puerto Rico have asked me to consider” making a bid for governor.
The answer: When he announced in 2017 that he was leaving Congress, Gutierrez — born in Chicago to parents of Puerto Rican heritage — dismissed the idea of running for office on the island. But he wouldn’t rule out a bid for U.S. president. Now he tells The Spin: ?I’ll never run for elected office again.” He says he’s working in the nonprofit sector and is looking at ways for the island territory to rebuild after Hurricane Maria and address crushing government debt.
Still on the political scene: This week he’s in Detroit, where a second round of Democratic presidential debates will take place Tuesday and Wednesday. Gutierrez will be offering commentary for CNN.
What to expect at Detroit debate: Gutierrez says “lower-tier candidates” will be “working hard on making a breakout moment. Biden will be Biden and work to kind of reinforce this ‘I’m the one most able to beat Trump in 2020.’ And the others will continue to engage in healthy debate about policy issues.” The former congressman says that we can expect to see the top-tier candidates trot out concrete solutions to issues like wiping out college student debt — following the lead of Elizabeth Warren who’s seen some success with the whole “I got a plan” approach.
African American voters: “If we learned anything in the last two elections … it’s that a critical part of the road to the Democratic nomination is the African American vote. If you’re not cognizant of that as a candidate, then you’re in big trouble.”
Black voters offer a warning as Democrats descend on Detroit for debate: Don’t take us for granted — Read Tribune reporter Bill Ruthhart’s piece here.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren reads “Letters from Chicago” — including one that addresses student debt and another about depression and politics — on Instagram: You can watch here.
Lightfoot dined with Kamala Harris while the presidential candidate was in Chicago last week: No word on what they talked about as they dined at Chicago Cut steakhouse, a meeting first reported today by Politico. The mayor has yet to make an endorsement in the race.
From the Tribune’s Elvia Malagon: “Seven Democratic members of Congress from the Chicago area have sent a letter to the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, seeking information on how many U.S. citizen children whose parents are immigrants have been held in the agency’s custody.
“The letter was prompted by an incident last week in which three Chicago girls were held for more than 12 hours at O’Hare International Airport after returning from a monthlong vacation in their parents’ native Mexico.” Read the full story here.
Line to be Cook County’s top prosecutor growing
Former Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin tells The Spin he’s eyeing a bid to unseat Foxx.
“I’ve talked to a lot of the people in the community and they’re encouraging me to run and they’re encouraging me to run because there’s an overwhelming lack of public safety on the South and West sides of Chicago — violent crimes, carjackings. People are looking for, I believe, someone who will stand up and be a voice for victims of violence. There’s a real sense that has been lost since Kim Foxx has been in office,” Boykin tells The Spin.
Furthermore, Foxx’s handling of the Jussie Smollett case aimed to discredit police, Boykin said. Smollett, an actor on the television show “Empire,” was at the center of a firestorm earlier this year when he reported being the victim of an attack by two people shouting racist and homophobic slurs on a downtown Chicago street. He is African American and openly gay.
After Chicago police investigated, Smollett was charged with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct alleging he staged the attack. Foxx’s office dismissed the charges against Smollett less than a month after he was indicted, triggering questions and criticism that are expected to echo into next year’s election.
In an emailed statement from her office, Foxx said: “I’m proud of the work we’ve done to increase public safety, particularly the innovative approaches we’ve taken (in) reducing violent crime which the former commissioner often praised and requested for his district.”
Boykin who served just one term in office and, like Foxx, is a Democrat, isn’t likely to win the support of party leaders. Foxx is an ally of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who heads the county Democratic Party.
Last year, while still on the county board, Boykin was an outspoken critic of Preckwinkle’s pop tax. He was defeated in the 2018 primary by Brandon Johnson, who was backed by Preckwinkle and her union allies.
An attorney and one-time chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Illinois, Boykin says he’s “not done any real prosecutorial work, but frankly I don’t think that’s a requirement. It’s a managerial role, and it requires making sure people who are victims of crime feel supported.”
Boykin says he’ll make a decision by early September.
Former Democratic Cook County Judge Pat O’Brien is definitely running for state’s attorney — as a Republican: Like Boykin, he blasted Foxx, the Sun-Times’ Mark Brown reports. Read the story here.
Illinois eliminates statute of limitations on major sex crimes
From the Tribune’s Dan Petrella: “The change comes as victims are coming forward with allegations of sexual assault and abuse dating back years or even decades, prompted in many cases by the #MeToo movement. The measure was sponsored by Republican state Rep. Keith Wheeler of Oswego and Democratic Sen. Linda Holmes of Aurora and passed unanimously in both chambers of the General Assembly this spring.
“Illinois eliminated the statute of limitations on major sex offenses against anyone under 18 in 2017 after it came to light that former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert had abused several boys while working as a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in the 1960s and ’70s.” Read the full story here.
Sexually abused as a child, Erin’s Law namesake wants prevention taught in all 50 states – Read Tribune reporter Kate Thayer’s story here.
‘These aren’t scofflaws’: New Illinois law to cap interest rates on consumer debt judgments – Read Dan Petrella’s story in the Tribune here.
How will Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s ethics rules affect aldermen like Edward Burke?
From the Tribune’s Gregory Pratt, John Byrne and Juan Perez Jr.: “The ethics ordinance passed by the City Council … that further restricts the outside work aldermen can do was seen as a signature win for Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s reform agenda.
“But it’s not yet clear how the ordinance will play out or how the new limits on private employment will affect aldermen like Edward Burke, who has long had a lucrative sideline as a property tax attorney.”
Divestment? “One question that might need to be addressed is whether aldermen like Burke, whose involvement with a law firm largely prompted the provision, need to fully divest themselves of their ownership stake in their firm, or whether they could comply with the law by not working on cases that create conflicts with the city and also refrain from taking money from the firm’s work on those cases.” Read the full story here.
Chicago memorial planned for Red Summer race riots
Chicago officials plan to create a memorial for the 1919 “Red Summer” race riots, an obscure but momentous week in local history that continues to influence the city’s color lines.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot made the announcement during an event at Dunbar high school to commemorate the riots.
“The 1919 Red Summer Race Riots marked a touchstone in Chicago’s difficult and painful history of racism and institutionalized inequality,” Lightfoot said. “Today, we observe its legacy of conflict and sacrifice through reflections and commitments to memorialize its history, as well as chart a path forward towards breaking the enduring racism and segregation that shape our society, and create the needed and lasting opportunity, justice and dignity for our city and its residents.”
A history lesson: Tensions erupted at the 29th Street Beach in July 1919 when a black teen’s raft drifted past a color line and a white man began throwing rocks at black swimmers. The teen, 17-year-old Eugene Williams, drowned, setting off seven days of riots that aren’t well known in the public consciousness though they were most violent racial conflict in the city’s history.
The riots ended after seven days, brought about by the intervention of the Illinois militia — which critics said came too late. The riots changed Chicago in ways it continues to grapple with. Days after the riots, the City Council, for example, proposed formalized segregation on the South Side that remains in place informally today.
In all, the riots left 38 people dead — 23 black and 15 white — and more than 500 injured and hundreds homeless due to arson.
Lightfoot announced to the crowd that the city is working with Danielle Tillman of bKL Architecture to create a memorial for the events, though she didn’t offer more details.
Currently, only a small marker on the beach near the spot where Williams was murdered commemorates the days of rioting.
Lightfoot was joined by University of Iowa professor Simon Balto, who spoke about the history of the riots, and Claire Hartfield, author of “A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919.”
Read Tribune reporter Will Lee’s retrospective on the riots here. (Gregory Pratt)
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