The Spin: Biden, Lightfoot and the call to return to normal by July 4 | US Rep. Rush presses FBI files tied to Fred Hampton’s death | US Rep. Schneider’s Lab returns home
Today, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, seemingly still jazzed from a Saturday night that included watching the fireworks at Navy Pier, took a page from the White House and said she expects the city to reopen by Independence Day.
In an address this afternoon, President Joe Biden re-upped his earlier message that the nation might be able to enjoy something of a more normal Fourth of July, setting a new vaccination goal of delivering at least one dose to 70% of adult Americans by July Fourth.
The Democratic president is under pressure, particularly from Republicans, to reopen the economy as vaccination rates stagnate. So hitting on notes of “freedom” and calling for loosened restrictions around the nation’s most patriotic holiday may appeal to some corners of the country.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush introduced legislation today that would require the public release of FBI files tied to the agency’s hush-hush COINTELPRO program. Ostensibly created to disrupt activities of the Communist Party in the 1950s and ’60s, the FBI operation involved keeping tabs on civil rights leaders and Black organizations such as the Illinois Black Panther Party — cofounded by Rush — and working to undermine them with dirty tricks.
Airing the documents, the Democratic congressman from Chicago’s South Side says, may reveal more about the feds’ ties to the 1969 Chicago police killing of local Black Panther leader Fred Hampton; FBI agents had supplied the intelligence upon which the police raiders depended.
Meantime, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White today called for a new statue of Martin Luther King Jr. to replace the monument of the civil rights icon now standing on Capitol grounds in Springfield, the Tribune’s Jenny Whidden writes. White, who said he’s ready to pony up $5,000 to get the ball rolling, said he joins a chorus of people who don’t think the statue properly reflects the slain civil rights leader.
And Vice President Kamala Harris was in neighboring Wisconsin today to tour clean energy labs at a local college. Her first visit to the state since taking office drew cheers from Democrats and criticism from Republicans, who say the vice president’s time would be better spent at the U.S.-Mexico border, which has seen a surge in immigrants in recent months.
Welcome to The Spin.
From Biden to Lightfoot, a call for July 4 to be a new kind of Independence Day in the age of COVID-19 vaccines
My Tribune colleagues write, “Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday said she plans to fully reopen Chicago with no capacity limits by July 4, potentially opening the door to bigger events and festivals if the city continues to see progress in its COVID-19 numbers.”
The mayor said she was at Navy Pier on Saturday night and was impressed by “the level of enthusiasm” from the people there, who were enjoying a fireworks show while being masked and following social distancing rules.
The mayor and Gov. J.B. Pritzker talked about the march toward normalcy and July 4, a holiday that traditionally calls for outdoor gatherings and events. They were inside the McCormick Place convention center to announce, as the governor put it, “the return of our beloved auto show.” Full story with reporting from Gregory Pratt, Dan Petrella, Jenny Whidden, Alice Yin and Rick Pearson, here.
My colleagues also note: “Lightfoot’s July 4 goal coincides with a new vaccine initiative announced by President Joe Biden with a goal of having 70% of the U.S. adult population to have at least one shot and 160 million U.S. adults to be fully vaccinated by the nation’s birthday.
“The White House said the next phase of the nation’s vaccination campaign will direct tens of thousands of pharmacies to offer walk-in appointments and redirect Federal Emergency Management Agency resources from mass vaccination sites to support more pop-up clinics, smaller community sites and more mobile clinics.
“It also involves shipping new allocations of the vaccine to rural health clinics across the country and provides additional funding to help communities do vaccination outreach and engagement.”
We’ve heard some of the same messages from elected leaders around the country: Last week, as The New York Times and other outlets reported, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he wanted to see the city fully reopened by July 1. Not to be outdone, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he expected to see it happen sooner.
And the Los Angeles Times reports today: “L.A. County … progressed into the least restrictive, yellow tier of California’s reopening system — clearing the way for the nation’s most populous county to unshackle its economy to the widest extent currently possible.”
Pritzker said Monday that Illinois is on track to enter the “bridge phase” of his plan as soon as next week, the next step before full reopening.
What’s next: Once the state is in the bridge phase, which includes higher capacity limits on a wide range of businesses and activities, Pritzker’s plan calls for a 28-day monitoring period before all limits and restrictions are lifted. That’s assuming coronavirus cases and hospitalizations remain stable or decline. The governor has said the state will leave its mask mandate in place until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives the OK to lift it.
About the Chicago Auto Show’s return in July: My colleague Robert Channick has the details here.
South Side Ald. Pat Dowell said welcoming back the Chicago Auto Show has a domino effect on the economy. “Conventions, tourism and the multiplying effect they have on Chicago’s economy and culture is profound,” Dowell, 3rd, said during the news conference on the auto show. She also chairs the budget committee and said, “I have seen the outsize impact the pandemic-related closure of McCormick Place has had on the city and its budget. But even more so, as an alderman representing historic communities of color, I have witnessed the devastating personal effects of the closure on the countless number of ... residents that either work directly for MPEA (Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns McCormick Place) or one of the related industries like the local hotels, bars, restaurants, retail stores and more that depend on millions of tourists that visit Chicago each year.”
Indiana added back to Chicago’s emergency travel order, the Tribune’s Alice Yin writes.
At southern Illinois shooting range, Gov. Pritzker announces vaccine, free shots event
The Tribune’s Dan Petrella writes: In an appeal to southern Illinoisans, Pritzker announced during a stop at the state-owned World Shooting and Recreation Complex in Sparta that the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s Grand American World Trapshooting Championships would return to the site in August.
The competition was moved to Missouri last year because Pritzker’s coronavirus-related restrictions prevented events of that size from being held in Illinois.
“I know everyone that’s standing with me today shares my excitement for what … bringing the Grand back to Illinois means for all of us,” said Pritzker, who was joined at the news conference by state Sen. Terri Bryant of Murphysboro and Rep. David Friess of Red Bud, both Republicans. “Of course, we have to make sure that we don’t see another surge of the virus. The best way to do that is for everyone to get vaccinated.”
To that end, he announced a pop-up mass vaccination event to be held at the complex May 14 and 15. Anyone who receives the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the event also will receive 100 free clay targets to use at the complex.
The local GOP legislators joined Pritzker in encouraging constituents in the area, where the percentage of people who’ve been fully vaccinated lags the statewide rate, to get their shots.
“If you want to get rid of the mask, get a vaccine, OK?” Friess said. “Everybody that I’ve talked to wants to, quote, ‘get back to normal’; the way that we’re going to do that is get vaccinated.”
Friess added that it’s a “personal decision” but told people to “do your research, do your homework.”
US Rep. Bobby Rush calls for release of FBI files on spying program he says led to Chicago Black Panther Fred Hampton’s death
Rep. Rush is pushing a bill that would command the FBI to release unredacted documents; he believes it will shine a light on “the odious and inhumane legacy of J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO operation and its assault on our nation’s civil liberties,” all of it done on the taxpayers’ dime, he said in a statement.
“COINTELPRO was spying on American citizens,” Rush said, noting he was a “victim” of COINTELPRO. “Anyone who took a political position against the status quo, anyone who wanted to make America better was subject to being penalized, investigated — and in the case of my friend Fred Hampton, assassinated — by the official legal arm of the federal government.”
The Washington Post also writes about Rush’s proposed legislation here.
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Jesse White wants new MLK statue on grounds of state Capitol
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is offering to contribute the first $5,000 toward a new statue of Martin Luther King at the Capitol.
The Tribune’s Jenny Whidden reports: “White’s call comes a few weeks after House Speaker Emanuel ‘Chris’ Welch formed a Statue and Monument Review Task Force to review all monuments on state property.
“The task force will hold public hearings with historians, organizations and members of the public before making recommendations on the removal of any statues and, possibly, to advocate for new monuments to be erected.” Full story here.
ICYMI: Rep. Schneider’s yellow Labrador retriever is back home
For 10 days last month, U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider’s yellow Lab seemingly vanished. The suburban Deerfield Democrat told the Daily Herald that JoJo apparently became frightened and bolted the morning of April 16, the Herald’s Russell Lissau reports.
“Schneider quickly posted photos and video of JoJo to social media and notified local police, but she didn’t turn up,” Lissau writes.
More than a week later, the search narrowed to a stormwater reservoir managed by the Lake County Forest Preserve District where an officer eventually located the pup and returned her to her family.
“We are overjoyed to have JoJo safely home,” Schneider told the Herald. Full story here.
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