Dan Lambert

Federal Judge Appears Skeptical of Reasoning Behind National Guard Deployment in Illinois During Ongoing Hearing Lawyers for the Department of Justice told U.S. District Court Judge April Perry the president deployed the National Guard because “levels of violence against federal law enforcement executing their l...

As we wait for Judge April Perry to rule, here's my full story from this morning's extraordinary hearing, for @wttw.bsky.social:

Perry: "Are you aware that a federal judge found that ICE violated the First and Fourth Amendments rights of peaceful protestors at Broadview?"
She says that will inform her conclusion about the need for National Guard troops.
Hamilton: You must defer to the president

Chicago Tonight Watch/Listen Live | Chicago News | WTTW Watch and listen to Chicago Tonight live on your mobile device, streaming to your smart TV, or on your computer.

As National Guard troops are set to be deployed in Chicago as soon as tomorrow, Mayor Brandon Johnson is live on "Chicago Tonight" at 5:30 to discuss the latest developments.

Watch here: to.wttw.com/LiveStream

Chicago Journalists, Protesters Suing Trump Administration Over Alleged First Amendment Violations at Broadview ICE Facility The Chicago Headline Club, Chicago Newspaper Guild Local 34071, Block Club Chicago and other media groups filed the suit alongside protesters in federal court alleging their First Amendment rights hav...

Chicago-area journalists and protesters are suing the Trump administration, claiming ICE agents have engaged in a “pattern of extreme brutality” they say is a “concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians” outside the agency’s Broadview processing facility.

2 Chicagoans, Including Woman Shot by Federal Agents, Charged with Ramming Border Patrol Vehicle Marimar Martinez, 30, and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, 21, are facing felony charges of “forcibly assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer,” federal prosecutors announc...

FULL STORY: Federal prosecutors charged two Chicagoans, including a woman shot by federal agents, with ramming a vehicle driven by a federal agent in Brighton Park on Saturday morning, sparking a heated confrontation between residents & federal agents. @wttw.bsky.social news.wttw.com/2025/10/05/2...

Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes Handcuffed by Federal Agents While Asking About Patient’s ICE Warrant at Hospital Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes was detained by federal agents inside Humboldt Park Health, as tensions continue to rise between local residents and officials and immigration agents conducting enforcement...

Chicago Ald. Jessie Fuentes was handcuffed and briefly detained by federal agents inside a hospital on Friday while asking about a patient's ICE arrest warrant.

Fuentes said “We have constitutional rights,” as the agent repeatedly states “No.”

https://to.wttw.com/3Kvoilz

‘It All Has to Stop’: Broadview Officials Call on ICE to end Use of Chemical Munitions, Rubber Bullets Amid Protests Mayor Katrina Thompson on Tuesday accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of waging a “disinformation campaign” amid their continued use of chemical and less-lethal munitions directed at...

Mayor Katrina Thompson on Tuesday accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of waging a “disinformation campaign” amid their continued use of chemical and less-lethal munitions on crowds outside the agency’s Broadview processing center. https://to.wttw.com/4mIC0yO

Broadview Mayor Calls on ICE to Stop ‘Making War’ After Using Tear Gas, Rubber Ammo Against Protesters Mayor Katrina Thompson in a letter to the ICE Field Office Director Russell Hott on Friday claimed ICE’s response to protesters exercising their First Amendment rights outside the Broadview facility i...

Broadview’s mayor decried the “relentless deployment of tear gas, pepper spray, mace, and rubber bullets” by ICE agents on protesters outside a suburban processing facility.

“In effect, you are making war on my community,” she wrote. "And it has to stop.”
https://to.wttw.com/42T9wev

Repeated Police Misconduct by 272 Officers Has Cost Chicago Taxpayers $295M Since 2019: Analysis Chicago taxpayers paid $295 million between 2019 and 2024 to resolve lawsuits naming officers whose alleged misconduct led more than once to payouts, according to an analysis of city data by WTTW News...

Officer Joseph Treacy was named in four lawsuits in the past six years that cost taxpayers $524,000, according to a recent analysis by WTTW News. He was one of 272 Chicago Police officers named in multiple misconduct cases since 2019. Here’s some background. 🧵 1/13 news.wttw.com/2025/09/23/r...

Chicago Stories: Legendary Blizzards premieres this Friday, September 26 at 8:00 pm on WTTW and streaming on the PBS app and at wttw.com/chicagostories #ChicagoStoriesWTTW

Robert Redford throws to Kerry Wood, 2011

Wrigley Field

Blizzards that brought the city to a halt. A murder case that remains unsolved. A governor's fall from power. Classic city foods that became famous. The magic of Marshall Field's. A new season of CHICAGO STORIES begins September 26. #ChicagoStoriesWTTW wttw.com/chicagostories

There’s a Mother Lode of Fossils in Chicago’s Backyard, and It Could Hold Clues to the Evolution of Life on Earth Mazon Creek is one of the most significant fossil sites in the world, and it’s in Chicago’s backyard. The Field Museum is behind a push to reinvigorate research at the site, with the help of community...

Three hundred million years ago, what’s now Illinois was covered by an inland sea teeming with aquatic life.

The sea is long gone, but the life is still there, roughly 60 miles southwest of Chicago.

https://to.wttw.com/4gh12DG

This amazing array of mushrooms barely scratches the surface of the estimated 1,500 species identified in the Chicago region. There are an estimated 1 to 5 million species of fungi globally. (Courtesy of Kate Golembiewski)

There are plenty of fungi species in Chicago. All of the mushrooms pictured were spotted in the city’s parkways. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Locally foraged fungi — in all their fascinating, weird and beautiful-ugly forms — will take center stage Sunday at the Illinois Mycological Association’s annual mushroom show.

to.wttw.com/3HxbH09

Pritzker Vows to Stop Trump From Sending National Guard to Chicago Gov. JB Pritzker vowed Monday to stop President Donald Trump from deploying the National Guard to Chicago, dismissing Trump's latest pledge to combat crime as cover for an unconstitutional federal overreach.

Gov. JB Pritzker vowed Monday to stop President Donald Trump from deploying the National Guard to Chicago.

“Mr. President, do not come to Chicago,” Pritzker said. “You are neither wanted here nor needed here.”

to.wttw.com/4fZyZbO

A graphic that reads: Policing. A WTTW News Special. Monday at 5:30 p.m.

Tonight at 5:30: A WTTW News special takes a look at policing in Chicago. We explore violence prevention efforts and the context around the city's crime trends.

What Happens During a Prison Lockdown? With Illinois Seeing Historic Highs, We Asked Incarcerated People Lockdowns can be indistinguishable from solitary confinement-like conditions, with those incarcerated given little yard time and limited access to educational programming and commissary.

Illinois prisons are seeing the highest amount of lockdowns since 2020. Downstate Menard Correctional Center has been on lockdown nearly every day since October 2023. I asked incarcerated people what it's like to be on lockdown: news.wttw.com/2025/08/20/w...

CPS Security Guard Charged With Sexual Assault of Student Previously Cleared Backgrounding Process Despite More Than 20 Arrests, 4 Convictions Following a Farragut Academy employee’s arrest, an examination of his criminal history raises questions of whether the district was or should have been aware of his 25 past cases for activity like bur...

In 2023, a WTTW News investigation was the first to report his criminal record and how his criminal history was considered by CPS.

Campoverde was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor in 2023, with the criminal case still ongoing.

to.wttw.com/4oB9QYu

CPS Did Not Properly Vet Security Guard With Criminal History Who Later Was Charged With Sexually Assaulting Student, Lawsuit Alleges The lawsuit details sixteen arrests that preceded the hire of Romel Campoverde by the district. The complaint highlights cases in which police said he admitted to being a member of the Satan Disciple ...

A CPS student filed a lawsuit Tuesday accusing the district of failing to adequately vet a security guard with a litany of past criminal cases who was later arrested on multiple charges of sexually assaulting the student.

to.wttw.com/4m95gza

Former Ald. Walter Burnett Could Collect $121K Annual City Pension While Earning $311K as CHA Head, Records Show Burnett represented parts of the West Side and the West Loop for 30 years on the Chicago City Council. He retired July 31.

Semi-retirement plans: Former Ald. Walter Burnett will collect an annual city taxpayer-funded pension of $120,608 — and could also earn more than $310,000 at the same time as head of the Chicago Housing Authority. (with @heathercherone.bsky.social)

Woman shot with Glock stolen from a Chicago police station sues city, says cops pilfered it The handgun was stolen from a room full of police officers at the Gresham District station and ended up being used in crimes including the shooting of Twanda Willingham, who's now suing.

New: A woman shot with a Glock that had been stolen from CPD's Gresham District station and then used in a series of shootings has sued the city, saying the gun was stolen by cops and its theft covered up. One officer named (supervising sgt) alongside city + other unnamed officers.

#chicago

Northwestern University Eliminating 425 Staff Positions Amid Continued Federal Funding Freeze The university said it is cutting approximately 5% of its staff budget through the elimination of 425 positions across schools and units, though officials said about half of those are currently vacant...

Northwestern University announced Tuesday it has eliminated 425 positions across schools and units, about half of which are currently vacant. The cuts come as a federal funding freeze continues.

Yo, @joshterry.bsky.social Slot my guy here in for Jan. 2.

WTTW News Explains: What Are Chicago’s Alcohol Laws? We’ve got a lot of rules on the books governing when and where we can enjoy an adult beverage. WTTW News explains.

Chicago may have become virtually synonymous with speakeasies during prohibition, but that doesn’t mean the Windy City is lawless when it comes to drinking.

WTTW News explains all of Chicago's alcohol laws.

to.wttw.com/4kZnEch

Chicago Spent $510.9M on Overtime in 2024, Including $273.8M for Police, Down Slightly From Last Year The amount of taxpayer funds spent on overtime by all city departments, including CPD, dropped in 2024 for the first time since 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic upended the city’s operations.

📈 New: Since 2019, Chicago's police overtime spending has DOUBLED despite promises to rein it in. Crime dropped 7% in 2024, but overtime costs remained elevated. Are we paying more for better results or is it just poor planning? (w/ @heathercherone.bsky.social)

Butterflies Had a ‘Terrible’ Spring and Early Summer in Chicago, But Things Are Improving Drought and intermittent cold spells likely played a role in the rough start, according to experts.

Where have all the butterflies been?

The winged insects, in general, had a “really, really terrible” start to the season in May and June, a situation that’s only just now turning around, said Doug Taron, chief curator emeritus at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

to.wttw.com/3GFW6uE

Trump Administration Restores $1M in Frozen Anti-Terrorism Funds to Chicago, City Officials Announce Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson Lowry said the federal government gave the city no explanation for its decision to send millions of dollars to Chicago and other big cities that officials held in a...

NEW: The Trump administration restored more than $1 million in frozen anti-terrorism funds to Chicago after city lawyers sued, claiming the funds had been illegally withheld, Chicago officials told @wttw.bsky.social News.

How an Ex-Police Officer Fired for Sexual Misconduct Slipped Through CPS Background Checks to Work at Lane Tech Chicago Public Schools hired a former police officer who was on the city’s do-not-hire list after he was fired for inappropriate communication with a 17-year-old girl. Newly released records reveal he...

A new story from @jaredrutecki.bsky.social aimed to answer this question: How did a former Chicago police officer fired for sexual misconduct involving a minor and placed on a do-not-hire list end up working for Chicago Public Schools?

Here's what a look through CPS documents revealed.

Anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ Protests Kick Off in Chicago, Across the Country as Tens of Thousands Expected to Gather Downtown Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to gather in downtown Chicago and across the country Saturday in opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration. Organizers say the national No King...

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to gather in downtown Chicago and across the country Saturday in opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration.

The day began in Chicago with a family-friendly event in the Jefferson Park neighborhood.

Anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ Protests Kick Off in Chicago, Across the Country as Tens of Thousands Expected to Gather Downtown Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to gather in downtown Chicago and across the country Saturday in opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration. Organizers say the national No King...

A day of "No Kings" anti-Trump protests kicked off this morning with a kid-friendly gathering in Jefferson Park.

"A great learning experience on peaceful protest for our son.”

news.wttw.com/2025/06/14/a...