Down the chimney with care

Officials at a federal Loop jail discovered that two convicted bank robbers had escaped after employees arriving for work at about 7 a.m. today and saw a makeshift rope hanging from the outside of the high-rise facility, federal officials said in charging the two with escape.

Joseph "Jose" Banks and Kenneth Conley made good their escape from the Metropolitan Correctional Center after last being seen for a head count conducted at about 10 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

The two are believed to have scurried down ropes made from bedsheets from the high-rise cell they shared.

Authorities also revealed that in their cell guards found numerous articles of clothing and sheets piled under a blanket in both their beds to make it appear they were asleep.

The window in the cell was broken and the makeshift rope was tied to its bars and hanging down the south side of the MCC, authorities said.
 [....]
“A rope was fashioned out of bedsheets,’’ said a spokesman for the MCC. “I would imagine that they saved them up."

Conley and Banks, known as the Second-Hand Bandit who was convicted just last week, were first unaccounted for during a 5 a.m. head count, but it's unclear they were still inside the 27-story Metropolitan Correctional Center at the time, U.S. Marshal's Service spokeswoman Belkis Cantor said.

The makeshift rope could be seen dangling along the south side of the MCC, 71 W. Van Buren St.

more at the Trib

5 held on bail, accused in mob action after police shooting

Accused of joining a violent mob that formed after a Chicago police officer shot and killed a suspected robber on Saturday, five men appeared in bond court Sunday.

The suspects, ages 19 to 31, all face misdemeanor charges of mob action. Four of the five are also accused of other crimes.

The crowd gathered midday Saturday in the Back of the Yards neighborhood shortly after a “very violent encounter” led one officer to shoot and kill Jamaal Moore, 23, of the 5600 block of South Shields Avenue authorities said.

Police said two officers confronted Moore, who they believe participated in an armed hold-up of a truck driver earlier Saturday. Moore, who police say appeared to be holding something in his hand, engaged in a tussle with one officer.

When Moore charged at the other officer, she feared for her life and shot him, Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Saturday. Officers didn’t find a gun with Moore. He was carrying a flashlight.

As news of the shooting spread, police said relatives and friends of Moore gathered near the shooting scene in the 1600 block of West Garfield Boulevard.

The atmosphere was contentious, and police reports say bricks were lobbed at patrol cars as people refused to leave the scene.

more at the Trib

ARA smash white nationalists in suburbs

On Saturday, May 19th a group of 30 anti-fascists descended upon Ashford House restaurant in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park where the 5th annual White Nationalist Economic Summit and Illinois White Nationalist Meet-and-Greet was taking place. The White Nationalists were targeted inside the restaurant and physically attacked, causing several injuries and completely shutting down their meeting. The anti-fascist group was privy to anonymous inside information. This fascist event had been in secret planning for six months. The attendees have attempted to cover up the true intent of the event with mainstream media reports initially reporting the white nationalist conference as a wedding party and then as an Irish heritage meeting.

from ARA
also, wild news article from Oak Lawn Patch

Chicago police report vandalism at Far South Side station

A vandal or vandals have been at work at a Morgan Park neighborhood police station, loosening lugnuts on squad cars there and plunking a large piece of concrete spray-painted with an anarchy symbol in the station parking lot.

"It weighs every bit of 50 pounds," said a Morgan Park District officer. "It's a big hunk of concrete found in the middle of the parking lot."

-from the Trib

-also UPI

A Gay Science

What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more' ... Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine'?

The "Committee for Illegal Life" seems to have taken up where this blog left off. While SWC might return for the months around the G8/NATO conferences, it's been a bit of a chore to dig up articles continually. This blog's not offically 'dead' though.

Graffiti sprawled on Marilyn Monroe statue’s leg

Poor Marilyn — even in death people just can’t leave her alone.

The 26-foot-tall statue of Marilyn Monroe on Michigan Avenue, which depicts the legendary actress in her iconic pose from the 1955 movie, “The Seven Year Itch,” was defaced sometime late Friday or early Saturday, police said.

The black markings on the right calf of the statue appear to contain the letters, “Pi$tola,” a picture of a heart and the word, “Ariel.”

Police weren’t notified of the graffiti until 2:40 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The statue went up this summer in Pioneer Court, on the 400 block of North Michigan, and is scheduled to remain there through spring of 2012. It has attracted the attention of passersby, residents and tourists alike, and many have stopped to gaze up at it or have their photos taken next to — or under — it.

As of Saturday evening no arrests had been made and it was not known if police were looking at any suspects in connection to the incident.

from the Sun-Times

Man throws molotov into grocery store

Bond was set at $2 million Monday for a Sleepy Hollow man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail-style fire bomb inside a crowded grocery store in northwest suburban Algonquin.

The incident occurred at about 12:15 p.m. Sunday at the Joe Caputo & Sons store in the 100 block of South Randall Road.

According to Deputy Police Chief Steve Kuzynowski, 24-year-old Fabian J. Torres threw a burning “incendiary device fashioned out of a bottle filled with flammable liquid among a large group of people standing near the delicatessen in the rear of the store.”

Only one person was injured, and he was treated for minor burns at the scene, police said. A Crystal Lake man who was shopping followed Torres out of the store and, with the help of an off-duty Carpentersville police officer who happened to be in the parking lot, subdued the Sleepy Hollow man until police arrived, Kuzynowski said.

Torres was charged with aggravated arson and was taken to the McHenry County Jail after his bond was set Monday morning. Kuzynowski declined to say what may have motivated the attack.

Published reports say Torres is a former Caputo’s employee and that he told one witness he is a Native American who is upset about how the American land has been exploited. The store sustained some damage, but reopened for business Monday.

more from the Sun-Times

"Community mediators" snuff out incidents of smoldering unrest

Watching the events in London unfold over the past week hit home for me. I was reminded of one of the young men from a British-based version of CeaseFire, the US public health programme, who had come here last October to train with us. Sitting with several of our members on a porch in Auburn Gresham, a disadvantaged Chicago neighbourhood, he enthusiastically threw his arms up and declared: "This is Brixton! I am home!"

"This is Brixton," carries a very different meaning today: burning cars, smouldering buildings and damaged store fronts.

more from The Guardian

Conservative rag fears flash mobs will ignite new Chicago "fire"

[June 13]

Stories about violent "flash mobs" roaming Chicago's North Side neighborhoods have been in the news the past 2 weeks. People are worried about the impact these mobs will have on tourism and the city's economy. Some are asking why this social unrest is happening, now, so soon after Mayor Daley left office.

Kevin O'Neil writes in the CTA Tattler, "Chicago police and Streeterville universities are warning residents and passersby to be aware of traveling mobs of teenagers who use the CTA and cell phones to meet up in the Near North Side area and commit crimes..."

O'Neil continues, "Police arrested seven young men in their mid-to-late teen Saturday night on "mob action" charges after about two dozen men attacked a person parking his scooter in the 300 block of E. Chicago Avenue...according to a Tribune news report."

Other flash mob incidents this year include: "A group of 70 youths storming a McDonald's at Chicago and State and creating a disturbance that forced the restaurant to close for three hours."

There were also "'Flash mob offenders' exiting the Chicago/State Red Line station and shoplifting at area stores. This behavior prompted Loyola University to warn students and staff at its Water Tower campus."

more from the American Thinker

Chicago police brace for flash mob attacks

[June 9]

Police here are girding for another weekend of "flash mob" attacks after arresting 29 people in connection with a recent rash of assaults and robberies in and around the city's tony shopping and dining district.

Twelve crimes involving large groups of young men were reported last weekend, in addition to others earlier this spring. The incidents are some of the first major problems confronting newly appointed Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The attacks have received wide attention in Chicago because they have occurred around the city's affluent north side, including near the "Magnificent Mile," a Michigan Avenue strip popular with tourists.

The latest attack occurred early Thursday morning. A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said the attack involved "multiple" perpetrators near an elevated train platform. Described in the police report as a "strong arm robbery," the group of assailants took the victim's iPad and money and punched him in the face. No arrests have yet been made in that case.

more from the WSJ

Group ditches government hearing to block traffic

It was billed as the community’s best chance to vent about a controversial federal program targeting illegal immigrants.

About 200 protesters instead decided they had had enough of talking — and marched out of a downtown task-force hearing Wednesday evening on the Secure Communities program, before blocking an intersection and the Kennedy Expy off-ramp at West Washington Street.

Ten people were arrested, police said, including one young male protester who ran down the off-ramp and starting waving off approaching traffic.

Chanting “Terminate the program! No more lies,” the protesters hoisted signs that read: “Police should protect and serve, not deport and terrify,” and “The Secure Communities Act is domestic terrorism.”

The hearing at the IBEW Hall, 600 W. Washington, was supposed to be an opportunity for the public to comment about the Secure Communities program, which automatically shares arrestees’ fingerprints and details with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Those opposed to the program — touted as a way to protect citizens from dangerous convicts who are illegal immigrants — say it also ensnares people who have committed minor offenses and is a waste of police resources.

An advisory task force has held meetings in Los Angeles and Dallas — and now Chicago — to gather input and make a recommendation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about the program. Just 26 of Illinois’ 102 counties participate in the program. But Homeland Security recently told Gov. Pat Quinn and the governors of two other states that they can no longer opt out.

About 500 people — twice the number at either of the two previous hearings — packed the IBEW Hall. Most said the program deprives immigrants of their most basic rights.

“It is outrageous to incarcerate our neighbors — to pull them out of churches,” said protester Jim Cusack, 75, speaking before the task force.

But about 20 minutes into the hearing, almost half of the protesters marched out, led by a group that calls itself “Immigrant Youth Justice League.”

The protesters marched to Washington and Des Plaines, where they linked hands and sat down. By about 7:30 p.m, most had dispersed.

Several protesters admitted being illegal immigrants.

“This is something we face every day — being in deportation hearings. So putting ourselves in front of a street isn’t that far off from the fear the government makes us feel every day,” said protester Tania Unzueta, 27, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 10.

from the Trib

Slain cop mistakenly listed on report of low-performing officers

Michael Bailey was one of the names on a list of low-performing Chicago Police officers sent to supervisors earlier this month.

Their work activity was “lower than other officers performing the same assignment” from Jan. 1 through June 6, the memo said.

The problem: Bailey was shot to death outside his house in July 2010 during an apparent robbery attempt after completing work on a security detail for then-Mayor Richard M. Daley.

more from the Sun-Times

Pro golfers clubs stolen at charity event

Pro golfer Ricky Barnes, in the Chicago area for a charity tournament, had his golf bag, clubs and an $8,000 watch swiped from his rental car this week, authorities said.

On Monday, Barnes was the guest of honor at the Middle Market Open National Kidney Foundation golf tournament at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Barnes, who’s ranked 93rd in the world, put his golf bag in the trunk of his car and locked it around 4 p.m. When he returned about 25 minutes later and opened the trunk, his wallet, bag, clubs and watch were gone.

The 14 clubs are valued at $3,500. His chrome Breitling Bentley watch was worth about $8,000.

more from the Sun-Times

Social War Milwaukee

A "total destroy!" to the anonymous comrades who started Social War Milwaukee.

For SWC's rather small Mke archive, check out the milwaukee tag.

Wage-slashing funeral home targeted by vandalism

On July 10, three Chicago-area Alderwoods funeral homes were viciously vandalized. All were Dignity Memorial network facilities that had also been targeted for a strike by local Teamsters.

Teamsters Local 727, which represents 16 Alderwoods embalmers, drivers and funeral directors, had been negotiating with the company that owns the homes after their labor contract expired June 30. The union complained that the other side had bargained in bad faith and had "…proposed a three-year wage freeze and a company health care package that is more expensive and less comprehensive than the union's health and welfare benefits," reports the Chicago Sun-Times. And so the Teamsters targeted four funeral homes for strike.

more at the Baltimore Sun

Arson at Chicago Tea Patriots' Christmas Party

A Statement from Chicago Tea Patriots founder Catherina Wojtowicz concerning the events on the night of Friday, December 10, 2010:

12/16/10

“We were the target of an arson Friday at our Christmas Party.

At appromixmately 8 p.m. smoke began to fill the rooms of Dugan’s Irish Pub where we hosting our Christmas Party. The entire bar soon became engulfed with thick, heavy smoke and the bar was evacuated. Within moments the Chicago Fire and Police arrived and began to clear and secure the premises. We were detained outside while firemen cleared the bar. After waiting an hour outside, with other dozens of other bar patrons, we were allowed back in to gather our belongings. The bar was covered in soot and patrons had great difficulty in breathing. Bar management had to close the bar for the night, thus losing revenue during the busy Christmas season.

Tuesday I received a phone call from detectives from the Chicago Bomb and Arson Department who informed me that four devices, which appeared to be roadside flares, were taped together and left lit and smoldering in the trash can of the men’s bathroom. On the lid of the toliet seat, written in red, it read: F#CK THE CHICAGO TEA PARTY

Bomb and arson police have deemed this an arson and are now investigating. To those who came to Friday’s party — THANK YOU! To those who we missed because you came after the bar closed — THANK YOU AND I’M SORRY WE MISSED YOU!! To those who were unable to make the party, here’s your 2nd chance!!

Because the devices were left in the bathroom it will be difficult to deduce who is the offender from videos and because nobody was killed or harmed (thankfully), fingerprints will not be processed for anywhere from six months to a year. However, if an offender is found, they will be charged with a felony.

LET THE LIGHT SHINE!

Catherina Wojtowicz,

Chicago Tea Patriots
312-662-8666"

From Chicago Tea Patriots

Pro-Lifer Joe Scheidler’s Home Hit by Pro-Abortion Vandalism

Joe Scheidler is a name pro-life advocates know because he has been one of the leaders of the pro-life movement for decades. Scheidler has become a frequent target of pro-abortion activist and now his home has been vandalized.

His home was attacked in the middle of the night, at approximately 2:00 a.m., with an abortion advocate throwing bricks of asphalt through two front windows.

One of them contained a threatening note making it clear the source of the vandalism supports legalized abortions

“We are crazy feminist bitches who will destroy your sexist ideas,” a note, containing an anarchist sign and scrawled in a child-like writing, said.

“P.S. I’ve had an abortion and no laws could ever stop me,” the note continued. “You can’t make Queen Anne’s lace illegal, asshole.”

Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, praised his longtime friend in an email to LifeNews.com as someone who has always has had the best interests of the pro-life movement at heart and who has been selfless in trying to protect women and unborn children.

“We denounce in the strongest terms the cowardly violence that shattered the peace of the Scheidler home last night,” Newman said after learning of the attack.

He urged the Obama administration to investigate the attack in the same way it has assertively looked into incidents at abortion facilities and the shooting death of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.

“We demand that Attorney General Eric Holder order the Justice Department to launch an immediate investigation into this violent hate crime and to provide the same protections to Joseph and Ann Scheidler as they have in the past for unthreatened abortionists,” he said.

Newman is concerned about the rising levels of violence against pro-life advocates, as this attack on Scheidlers’ home comes after multiple other incidents of vandalism and after pro-life protester Jim Pouillon was shot and killed outside a local high school in Owosso, Michigan because his killer Harlan Drake didn’t like him using graphic pictures of babies victimized by abortions.

Operation Rescue’s headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, has been repeatedly vandalized, and staff threatened in recent months. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, sidewalk counselors were threatened by a man at gunpoint and police later discovered a cache of weapons in the man’s vehicle, he indicated.

“Joe and Ann Scheidler are pioneers in the pro-life movement whose knowledge and experience has benefited everyone who has ever taken a stand for the lives of the pre-born,” said Newman. “Please join Operation Rescue in sending a special Christmas gift to the Scheidler’s today as a show of support and to help defray the cost of repairing the damage to their home.”

Cards and letters can be sent to: Joe and Ann Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League, 6160 N. Cicero Ave., Chicago, IL 60646.

source: LifeNews

Snitchin results in arrest in parking box theft

A suspect was charged early this morning in connection with the theft of several of the hefty pay-and-display parking boxes from city streets, police said.

Jeffery Kaput, 38, of the 5500 block of West Cortez Street, was charged with four felony theft counts related to the 200-pound LAZ boxes, according to police. He was also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kaput was pulled over late Monday at 5518 W. Augusta Blvd. by an Area 5 robbery mission team after police had received a description from a witness of a car that had collided with one of the LAZ parking boxes, according to a police report.

Officers also had video evidence of the same vehicle being used by a suspect who dumped one of the meters, the report said.

The drug charge pertained to a crack pipe that police said Kaput admitted he had dropped as officers pulled him over about 11:45 p.m., according to the report.

Earlier this month, police said about 20 parking boxes have been stolen since Sept. 17, with only four recovered.

The thefts occurred citywide, with nearly half in Area 5 on the Northwest Side. It was not known how much money the boxes had held.

The deal that privatized the city's parking meters has been a political nightmare for Mayor Richard Daley and aldermen who granted lightning-fast approval of the the 75-year, $1.15 billion lease of the city's 36,000 meters.

The theft of the meters is still being investigated by Area 4 and Area 5 detectives.

Kaput is scheduled to appear in bond court later today.

from the Trib

Parents occupying field house win demands

Chicago Public Schools agreed Monday to lease a field house next to Whittier Elementary School to a community group for $1 a year and build a library inside the school.

The action comes as a group of Pilsen parents continued a sit-in to gain control of the building and convert it into a library to prevent it from being razed.

more at Sun-Times