Tag: Chicago

Self-Confessed Killer Testifies Against Alleged Boss at Federal Gang Trial in Chicago

CHICAGO—Sammie Booker, sitting on the witness stand, revealed to jurors that he had robbed and extorted scores of drug dealers, killed three people, and aided at least two other murders as an underling of the Four Corner Hustlers gang on the West Side of Chicago in the past two decades. And more importantly, he said,…


1st Federal Gang Trial Since 2016 Opens in Chicago

CHICAGO—Labar Spann, sitting in a wheelchair next to his attorney, listened as Assistant U.S. Attorney Kavitha Babu accused him of being the leader of the notorious Four Corner Hustlers street gang that for decades reigned on the West Side of Chicago. “You will enter a world that you otherwise would not have access to, a…


Chicago Lawmakers Permit Anonymous Complaints Against Police Officers

CHICAGO—For the first time in 40 years, any anonymous complaint filed against Chicago police officers will trigger an automatic preliminary investigation. It is one of the top accountability measures passed as part of the new contract between the city of Chicago and the Chicago police union Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). The contract sailed through…


Violence Fuels Black Population Decline in Chicago

CHICAGO—Chicago, once a promised land for millions of blacks fleeing the Jim Crow South, has seen a steady decrease in the black population since 1980. The prolonged black exodus just reached a milestone. The newly released census data concludes that blacks, with a 10 percent population loss between 2010 and 2020, are no longer the…


Police: 1 Killed, 5 Others Wounded in Chicago Shooting

CHICAGO—One person has died and five others including a teenage girl have been injured in a shooting on Chicago’s South Side, police said. A group of people was walking toward their vehicles in the city’s West Pullman neighborhood around 9:40 p.m. Saturday when someone inside another vehicle “fired multiple rounds, striking the victims,” according to…


Chicago Woman Accused of Making False Bomb Threat After Missing Flight at Florida Airport, Officials Say

By Stephanie Casanova From Chicago Tribune Chicago—A Chicago woman was arrested in a Florida airport after allegedly making a false bomb threat, officials said. Marina Verbitsky, 46, of the Old Town neighborhood, was arrested Monday night at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Verbitsky told airport employees…


Number of Chicago Police Working Outside Jobs on Leave of Absence Doubled

CHICAGO—The number of young Chicago patrol officers taking leave of absence to work outside jobs has doubled year over year since 2019, and eight out of ten quit within a year after the leave took effect, according to records obtained by The Epoch Times through a Freedom of Information Act request. In 2019, 23 Chicago…


58 Shot, Including 7 Children, in Chicago on Labor Day Weekend

Fifty-eight people have been shot in Chicago so far on Labor Day weekend, including seven children. Five were killed. Among the victims was a 4-year-old child. The shooting numbers, from police reports, are from Friday evening to early Monday. The young boy was struck twice in the head by shots that were fired from outdoors…


58 Shot, Including 7 Children, in Chicago Over Labor Day Weekend

A total of 58 people were shot in Chicago on the first days of Labor Day weekend, including seven children. Five were killed. Among the victims was a 4-year-old. The shooting numbers, based on police reports, are from the evening of Sept. 3 through the morning of Sept. 6. The 4-year-old boy, Mychal Moultry Jr., was…


Corn Crashes as Hurricane Ida Devastates Busiest US Export Hub

Kim Chipman and Megan Durisin Bloomberg News Corn prices in Chicago sank to a seven-week low as broken grain elevators and power outages in the U.S.’s busiest agricultural port raised concerns about grain supplies with nowhere to go. Hurricane Ida left more than 1 million homes and businesses without electricity in southern Louisiana and also…