You hear about the shooting at a pancake house in Morgan Park?

[VIDEO] Beverly/Morgan Park/Mount Greenwood is a part of the city known for the residency of city workers especially first responders (i.e. police and fire), however, that area which is mostly part of Ward 19 is known as a politically important area. I would have a tough time believing that they would tolerate a crime like this. I even would say shootings wouldn't occur there then came Sunday afternoon.

As you see in the CBS Chicago report above one man was shot fatally - said to be the intended target - four others were injured as they dined in an outside tent at a pancake house on Western Avenue.

Tribune: ‘I’ve never had to think about my own safety in this way before’: Shaken by summer looting in affluent neighborhoods, some Chicagoans are moving away.

I'm sharing this wondering how many of you are looking into leaving the city with what's been going on crime-wise in this city?

They understand why protesters and rioters have poured onto the streets of downtown, and some acknowledge that crime is worse in other parts of Chicago. Some also agree with protesters that something systemic needs to be changed.

But they don’t want to wait it out here in the city, fearful of stepping outside at night and hoping for things to maybe get better.

They want out.

“Not to make it all about us; the whole world is suffering,” said Amber, a 30-year-old nurse who lives in River North. “This is a minute factor in all of that, and we totally realize that. We are very lucky to have what we do have.

“But I do think that I’ve never had to think about my own safety in this way before.”

Incidents of widespread looting and soaring homicide figures in Chicago have made national news during an already tumultuous year. As a result, some say residents in affluent neighborhoods downtown, and on the North Side, no longer feel safe in the city’s epicenter and are looking to move away. Aldermen say they see their constituents leaving the city, and it’s a concern echoed by some real estate agents and the head of a sizable property management firm.

2020 has definitely became quite a year with the coronavirus pandemic and issues with crime and then then riots and looting. Very tumultuous, but I do wonder how many people who are able to move are moving?

Is it grandstanding to call for the Nat'l Guard?

I don't know if it's grandstanding if a group of Alderman want more action on the current issues affecting our city right now. Four Alderman which includes two Mayor Lightfoot foes Ald. Anthony Beale (Ward 9) and very vocal critic of the mayor Ald. Raymond Lopez (Ward 15) in addition to Ald. Leslie Hairston (Ward 5) and Ald. Anthony Napolitan (Ward 41).

BTW, I found an article from the Hyde Park Herald that stated that Ald. Hairston had removed her name from this letter calling for a special city council to discuss the proposals by Ald. Beale and Lopez to not only call for a special city council meeting on public safety and calling on the state to declare a state of emergency due to the increasing violence and threat of civil unrest to call for a four-month deployment of the Illinois Nat'l Guard.

I will share a tweet from Ald. Lopez sharing his proposals.

The two resolutions associated w/ the Special Meeting. One requires monthly hearings to ensure police funds match the will of our residents. The other asks Illinois to declare a state of emergency to deal with the uptick in violence, rioting. How is action on either a bad thing? pic.twitter.com/Ymoy1mvwAO

— Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RLopez15thWard) August 19, 2020

With this said this was covered at CapFax on Wednesday. Probably the first time I saw grandstanding in regards to this proposal.

Simple solutions are usually neither https://t.co/kDWrwUEPKn

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 19, 2020

What is reasonable is what our state's Adjutant General Richard Neely - overseeing both the Army and Air Nat'l Guards - stated as far as using the Nat'l Guard in something of a law enforcement role:

“We’re not law enforcement officers,” Neely told the Tribune after the Guard’s mission ended earlier this summer without incident. “As guardsmen, we’re military. We go to war and we do not need to go to war in our cities. ... It was important to me (troops) were not putting their hands on civilians. So we didn’t do riot control and some of those other missions. We focused on supporting law enforcement, allowing them to do the things they’re best trained to do.”

Using the Nat'l Guard to help support the Chicago Police is nothing new. It's been proposed often over the years and the suggestion of martial law seems very defeatist in solving the issues that really require a law enforcement response with a respect to an individual's rights. I've said we should have more state police assistance in the city.

I've even seen Cook County Sheriff help out with some of this civil unrest, especially a Sheriff Deputy was blocking traffic from getting off the Dan Ryan when 87th Street was beset with looting.

However, as Rich Miller state's simple solutions are usually neither, but to keep the peace in the city in this uncertain time we need to get to work.

What happened this weekend with the Dan Ryan protests

On Saturday morning, I wrote a post about a planned protest on the Dan Ryan. I reminded everyone about the Dan Ryan protest held further south near 79th street back in 2018 which was held without incident though controversial as this one was more controversial considering the times we're living in right now.

We have a pandemic going on and not only that the week before downtown Chicago and 87th street evidently had events of mass looting. Then we still have unrest around the nation especially since the death of George Floyd which largely hadn't settled down and every urban area has experienced some form of civil unrest.

Thankfully there was no protest on the Dan Ryan which would've started near 47th Street on Saturday. I wrote that post assuming many of you read the blog before you do anything else in the AM, although I don't always post in the morning though my goal is to post at 8:30 AM when possible.

According to this report from CBS 2, protesters didn't have the turnout they expected to hit the Dan Ryan on Saturday. Instead they marched through the Bronzeville neighborhood and found their way to Grant Park downtown where clashes between these so-called protestors and police happened. [VIDEO]

There were videos of people trying to get to their homes in Bronzeville, but not allowed to walk down their street due to the police presence. The language here in coarse so it's not safe for work of some Bronzeville residents going back and forth with a wall of state police blocking their street.

Dan Ryan demonstration on Saturday

This had already been announced before today, however, if you're traveling on the Dan Ryan going towards downtown today then you might want to adjust your route accordingly. Expect stop and go traffic and delays.

Via WGN

Demonstrators planning to protest on Dan Ryan Saturday https://t.co/2yjgyio3nO

— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) August 15, 2020

Demonstrators are planning to shut down the Dan Ryan Expressway on Saturday with a Black Lives Matter march.

Organizers have been meeting with law enforcement for weeks to coordinate the march.

The demonstration will start at 12 p.m. Saturday at Robert Taylor Park, near 47th and Federal, before heading north on the Dan Ryan.

...
It’s anticipated that the marchers will head north to 43rd Street. Officials have plans in place that the protest will eventually end at Grant Park.

Rabbi Michael Ben Yousef is one of the organizers. He said this has been in the works for weeks and they’ve been in contact with Illinois State Police.

“If they’re looting, we do not want the looters in our demonstration,” he said. “That is against our mandate, our mandate is non-violence.”

Here's hoping this remains a demonstration and there won't be any odd incidents between a "demonstrator" and a vehicle.

Like I said if you're headed towards downtown on the Dan Ryan on Saturday consider taking a different route to get to where you're going and be careful out there.

BTW, this is nothing new as there was such a demonstration conducted on the Dan Ryan over two years ago. Some of the leaders were different back then with a different governor and a different mayor. However, we're in different times with various forms of unrest around the nation. So I'm a tad worried, however, here's hoping it remains a peaceful demonstration and every goes home.

Englewood pushes back against BLM protestors from outside of the neighborhood

[VIDEO] I've been saying this on our twitter account since I found out about it. Englewood residents led by Darryl Smith of the Englewood Political Task Force stepped out to disrupt a planned Black Lives Matter protest outside of the Englewood police district HQ at 63rd and Loomis Streets. As you see in the dramatic footage from ABC 7, we saw it did get tense.

Check out this Tribune write-up:

A planned protest outside the Englewood police station Tuesday evening over a recent police-involved shooting devolved into shouting matches among demonstrators, with threats and insults hurled back and forth, after a group of older residents derided the event as “a party” and demanded that outsiders leave.

Eventually tempers cooled somewhat after several small confrontations, and people started talking. In the end, a much smaller group of demonstrators marched through Englewood while a large number of protesters headed home.

The event was billed as a car caravan to the South Side police station and a protest march in the neighborhood, organized by groups including Black Lives Matter Chicago, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation and Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

It was in response to the recent shooting of Latrell Allen, who was wounded by police Sunday afternoon after he allegedly pulled a gun and fired at officers near Moran Park. The cadre of organizations support initiatives to defund police departments, remove officers from public schools and increase social services, among many other aims.

...

On Tuesday, about 10 minutes before the 6 p.m. event was to begin at 63rd Street and Loomis Boulevard, a small group of Englewood men, some of them residents of the neighborhood for decades, began to loudly deride the demonstration and demanded the group go home.

Things got heated.

“Get the (expletive) out of here!” one man yelled at the demonstrators.

The men are aligned with various Englewood groups that often work with police to ease tensions. They consider themselves community elders and said they didn’t appreciate a protest in their neighborhood during such a tense time. Some of them say they helped calm things after objects were thrown at officers on Aberdeen Street on Sunday.

“They (protest organizers) didn’t let the community know,” said Duane Kidd. “They didn’t put flyers on the door. They got the streets shut down. What about the elders that have to get up and down 63rd Street? Now they got to take the side routes.

“Coming into our community for just one day and then run out,” Kidd said. “Everyday. If they got something to say about the police, we got to deal with it tomorrow. The community. Not them. They’ll be somewhere sipping sangria.”

I got news for you, the loudest ones talking about defund police or abolish police are probably the ones who has the least issues with the police. They may not have experienced first hand police brutality. They may also be very well off and have attached themselves to this cause.

I can support BLM in principle especially on issues of police brutality. What I don't support is defunding or abolishing police. And I'm glad in Englewood, the men stood up and said you're not going to mess up things in our community. We're going to take care of our business, you outsiders will mess it all up!

Also with spokespeople like this young woman Ariel Atkins of BLM who believes looting is a form of reparations, it's a good thing the Englewood community doesn't want to be associated with this now. [VIDEO]

WGN News: Cook County Commissioner on city's response to looting

[VIDEO] I'm sharing this with you to show one response to the looting that took place early on Monday overnight. Brandon Johnson is a sitting Cook County Commissioner representing the first district of Cook County.

The WGN anchors states Commissioner Johnson is calling for defunding the police. Johnson explains why these individuals were looting on Monday. Johnson explains that what we saw earlier this week is an expression of frustration and anguish with regards to poverty over many generations....

Here we go he's excusing this behavior. The worst part of this behavior is it wasn't just another Black person shot by police, it was misinformation that even the Mayor of Chicago had to take to twitter to address.

There is a false rumor on social media that police officers killed a 15-year-old on Sunday. Here are the facts:
- Officers responded to 911 calls about an armed man in Englewood
- A 20-year-old suspect fired at officers, gunfire was exchanged
- The suspect is in stable condition

— Mayor Lori Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) August 10, 2020

Misinformation causes anguish and frustration over proverty during the course of many generations. I had to turn this off once I heard him start with the excuses. Is there any leader in the Democratic machine that is willing to stand up to this lawlessness. Where is the leadership?

CapFax: A night of looting in Chicago

Rich Miller is looking into the looting that took place downtown overnight. We get an idea of what was going on and how organized this mayhem was.

A night of looting in Chicago https://t.co/taKPivLDCw

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) August 10, 2020

I understand that this rash of mayhem started in Englewood with a police involved shooting. Probably will find an article on that later.

NO, not this again!!! Looting downtown overnight

[VIDEO] The last time this activity happened downtown, especially in the last weekend of may in national demonstrations over what happened with George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn - it came here. Peaceful demonstrations great and then came the rioting, vandalism, and looting. Worse still once it happened downtown, it came to the neighborhoods on the west and south sides which are still recovering from them.

I'd say check out the comments in the above video. A lot of people making their own references to who committed the most recent acts of looting and violence downtown. Some of it offensive from some of you.

It lets me know that we really haven't settled down from what happened over two months ago. We're still under some forms of unrest in this city. Granted there were other hiccups such as what happened at a Christopher Columbus statue on the lakefront.

And you know 2nd City Cop had something to say about this and noting that Mayor Lightfoot over the weekend crashed Montrose Beach after a significant group of people congregated there during a pandemic.

I want to share this video from The Hill which often covers what's going on in the US Congress about the chaos from overnight. Even they're paying attention. [VIDEO]

I hate to ask this question, have we started to lose control?

Another Chicago Alderman tests positive for #COVID19 #Pandemic

Ald. Michael Scott Jr (Ward 24) has tested positive for coronavirus. He attended an event - Bike the Boulevard in his ward - on July 31, 2020 and got tested that same day. The results came in Thursday.

Ald. Scott also appeared at a news conference with Mayor Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson and Director of Chgo Public Health Dr. Allison Arwady per Chicago Tribune on Wednesday which discussed plans to start the CPS school year with remote learning. He is said to be showing no symptoms, however, is following necessary health protocols.

Via Fox Chicago

Chicago Alderman Michael Scott Jr. of the 24th Ward has tested positive for COVID-19.​ https://t.co/BeqgJI5s0f

— FOX 32 News (@fox32news) August 7, 2020

Another member of the city council longtime Alderman Carrie Austin (Ward 34) had also tested positive for coronavirus last month.

As always take your precautions when you're in public. Wash your hands, social distance, and as per this PSA from the State of Illinois wear a mask. Let's do what we can to get out of this pandemic.

"It only works if you wear it" PSA #Pandemic

[VIDEO] This public service announcement was announced in a press release from Gov. J.B. Pritzker. It's basically encouraging citizens to wear a mask to beat this pandemic.

Governor JB Pritzker launched a new $5 million awareness campaign today to encourage Illinois residents to wear a face covering every time they’re in public — because it only works if you wear it. Following the data-driven approach that has guided Illinois’ coronavirus response, the campaign uses local information to advertise on broadcast and cable television, radio, billboards and social media to the communities with the greatest risk from COVID-19.

The Governor launched the campaign from the State Emergency Operations Center in Springfield with those who are helping to lead the state’s response: Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, and Alicia Tate-Nadeau, Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. As of Friday, 11 counties have now reached IDPH’s “warning level” for virus spread, including here in Sangamon County.

“I’m proud to launch a new public awareness campaign today that has a straightforward message for Illinoisans: A mask is like anything that keeps us safe. It only works if you wear it,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We’ve made so much progress since the beginning of this pandemic. Let’s protect that progress. This is our moment to pull together as families, friends and neighbors. We’re all safer and stronger when we go all in, Illinois.”

It only works if you wear it! Here's a press kit for this new campaign where I uploaded the longer PSA to The Sixth Ward's YouTube channel and a shorter one was shown on The Sixth Ward's twitter account.

It only works if you wear it campaign from @GovPritzker as referenced from @capitolfax. A 15 sec. spot! Encouraging us in Illinois to wear a mask to beat this #Pandemic #AllInIllinois #twill pic.twitter.com/SDt1IRzcYu

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) August 3, 2020

This blog is set up for alternate points of view, however, I'll set up my own stance. Wearing a mask is only temporary, this won't be forever. I'm as eager as anyone to get out of this pandemic and get back to normal.

However, I do want to hear from those of you who don't want to wear a mask. Do you think wearing masks are effective in helping to control the coronavirus?