cook county
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Rated X: R. Kelly Hit With 11 New Sex Assault Charges
The R is facing an X rating when it comes to a slew of new sex assault charges R. Kelly got hit with Thursday. Details are scarce, but Cook County prosecutors filed 11 new felony charges against the singer, with four of the charges—aggravated criminal sexual assault—designated as Class X felonies that carry sentences of…
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Chicago’s New GPS-Tracking Ankle Monitors Can Record Kids Without Their Consent
As cities and towns across America come to grips with the country’s mass incarceration problem, many jurisdictions are looking to digital surveillance, particularly ankle monitors, for solutions. But as a new report detailing Chicago’s use of electronic monitoring reveals, these technologies can be every bit as harmful to the people wearing them as putting them…
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R. Kelly Fans Pay Up to $100 to Watch Human Trashbag Sing for 28 Seconds
I plan on keeping this blog about as short as R. Kelly’s performance this past weekend. Robert Kelly, who is facing ten counts of felony aggravated sex abuse in Cook County, Ill., performed for a whole 28 seconds at the Dirty South Lounge in Springfield early Sunday morning. That’s not a typo. That’s 28 seconds—as…
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Can’t Win for Losing? Competing Rallies Over Chicago Prosecutor Kim Foxx
Sooooo Jussie Smollett may have, just may have, colored the truth. The Chicago Police Department might have or might not have botched the investigation into the Empire actor’s alleged beatdown by MAGA-hat-wearing, racist African brothers in whiteface *kanye shrug*. But who seems to really be in the crosshairs in this twisted saga? Smollett? The brothers…
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R. Kelly Indicted on 10 Counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse, No-Bail Arrest Warrant Issued [Updated]
There were decades of allegations. There was a criminal trial on charges of child pornography. There were hashtag campaigns and open letters. There was a high-profile series documenting the stories of his alleged victims. Now, there is a no-bail warrant out for Robert “R.” Kelly on 10 counts of aggravated child sexual abuse, approved by…
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Chicago Police Removed From School for Using Stun Gun on 16-Year-Old, but She’s the One Facing Charges
Three Chicago police officers caught on video tasing a 16-year-old female student and punching her at a school in the city’s West Side will not be returning to campus until an investigation is completed, a Chicago Public Schools spokesperson announced. The disturbing video, taken at Marshall High School, shows three officers taking down Dnigma Howard,…
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Chicago Man Becomes the 19th to Have His Murder Conviction Overturned After Accusing Detective of Framing Him
After spending nearly two decades in jail for a murder he didn’t commit, Geraldo Iglesias finally had his conviction overturned by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on Wednesday. Iglesias was among 50 defendants who say they were framed for murder by retired Chicago detective Reynaldo Guevara. With his exoneration, Iglesias becomes the 10th person…
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What Is This Feeling?
On Friday afternoon, after a day of deliberation, a Cook County jury found Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014. The high-profile shooting commanded national attention after video footage of the shooting—which the city delayed releasing for more than year—was released, showing…
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Officer Jason Van Dyke Is Accused of Murder, But Laquan McDonald Is on Trial
While we see it with far more frequency, it’s still not often that a cop goes on trial for an officer-involved shooting, and rarer still for that officer to receive a murder charge. In the cases when it does happen—particularly if the victim is black—the playbook for the defense is simple: put the victim on…
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Jury Finds Getaway Driver Guilty in Chicago Teen Hadiya Pendleton's Murder
It took a Cook County, Ill., jury less than three hours to find Kenneth Williams guilty on all charges related to the 2013 killing of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, a King College Prep High School student who performed as a majorette for Barack Obama’s second inauguration. According to the Chicago Tribune, Williams was convicted on one…