‘Mayor should be in jail. … Pritzker also!’ / Taking off again / Scam alert

‘Mayor should be in jail. … Pritzker also!’ President Trump took to his social media platform this morning to complain that Chicago and Illinois’ top executives aren’t protecting immigration officers.
Pritzker on Twitter X: “I will not back down.”
That followed Pritzker diagnosing Trump’s deployment of troops to Chicago and Portland as “dementia.”
The Guardian: Republicans have been using photos from South America to illustrate their support for National Guard presence in Portland.
Reporter Aaron Parnas: “A sitting president using his power to threaten, punish or imprison those who disagree with him … is an alarming sign of democratic backsliding.”
Protect Democracy columnist Amanda Carpenter: “The most immediate threat to our constitutional order is not on the streets. It is coming from inside the White House.”
Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin: Trump consigliere Stephen Miller “wants to start a civil war.”

They’re heeeeeeere. The Texas National Guard has arrived in a far southwestern suburb …
 … whose name is shared by one of the Blues Brothers.
A memo obtained by NPR calls for the troops to stick around for 60 days …
 … but the operation’s field director says he sees “no end date” for “Midway Blitz.”
Parnas again: “ICE is lying to the American public.”
Trump’s own Labor Department says immigration raids are causing a food crisis.
Mayor Johnson says federal agents who violate his ban on the use of city land for deportation operations should face criminal charges.
In ICE raids, author and radio host Thom Hartmann perceives echoes of Ku Klux Klan terror.
Comparing the present moment to the tinderbox that was America around 1969, cultural critic Bob Lefsetz writes, “as calm as the country might look today … be ready for tomorrow.”

There’s an ICE facility in my backyard.’ Columnist (and former Tribune TV critic) Maureen Ryan writes in Vanity Fair (paywalled article, but you can access it free in an incognito browser window): “Friday, with a newly purchased gas mask in my backpack, I went to the ICE building in Broadview.”
Stop the Presses columnist Mark Jacob reviews the ways journalists have demonstrated the “vital need for local news coverage” in the present crisis.
A mental health expert offers WBEZ tips for coping with the stress of immigration operations.
Amid rumors of an ICE presence at this weekend’s Chicago Marathon, the mayor’s nevertheless “encouraging everyone to get out to celebrate.”

‘A true American patriot.’ Journalist Terry Moran—you may recall that ABC fired him (June link) after he called Trump a “world-class hater”—talks to Chicago City Council member Jessie Fuentes, handcuffed by ICE agents as she asked them questions in a hospital.
The TRiiBE: 13 council members didn’t sign a letter of support for Fuentes.

‘I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump.’ Attorney General Pam Bondi—with what columnist and lawyer Joyce Vance calls “a level of snark better reserved for a high school gathering”—got into it with Sen. Dick Durbin during Senate hearings yesterday.
Lefsetz again: “If I acted this way at the dinner table, my father would have reached over and hit me.”
Moran again: Bondi “trashed a Senate hearing, but only soiled herself.”

Taking off again. After a ground delay triggered by a shortage of air traffic controllers in the federal shutdown, O’Hare was reportedly operating as scheduled today.
 Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “As I said last week, the shutdown ends when air traffic controllers have had enough.”
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch (gift link, possible because readers like you help cover the cost of publishing this newsletter): “Democrats need to hold a nationally televised news conference and announce … they won’t fund the federal government if Trump is going to use those dollars to invade blue cities.”

Illinois’ ‘hidden’ gunmakers. The Campaign for Gun Industry Accountability says hundreds of Illinois residents possess a federal license to manufacture firearms.
You can search by address and ZIP code to see if there’s one near you.
Former Washington Post columnist Philip Bump: A red-state invasion has worsened Chicago gun violence.

Scam alert. The Illinois Revenue Department’s warning taxpayers to ignore text alerts claiming a tax refund has been processed.

These activists want to dismantle public schools. Now they run the Education Department.’ ProPublica documents “a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars.”
The American Prospect: The department’s cutting funding to colleges that primarily serve minorities.

‘They want to replace women with AI.’ Men Yell at Me columnist Lyz Lenz—marking that column’s fifth anniversary: “It matters that one of the first AI bots forced upon us as a new vision of the future is a woman. It matters that in the cultural imaginings of men, she’s a pliable virgin.”
In an eye-opening Daily Show interview with Jon Stewart, tech ethicist Tristan Harris laid out the dangers of unregulated AI …
 … which reminds us:
Join us for a deep dive into the world of AI tools and fact-check tech—free. Chicago Public Square and Northwestern University’s Local News Accelerator are teaming up to offer you interactive online coaching already received by thousands of professional journalists—but it’s not for journalists only. Online, Nov. 3, noon-2 p.m. Registration details here. Tell your friends, too!

Thanks. Not only did yesterday’s edition of Axios Chicago include a kind shoutout to Square from reporter Justin Kaufmann, it also inspired a dive into the archives for an audio tour of Chicago’s Harold Washington Public Library, which opened this week in 1991.
 Mike Braden made this dispatch better.

Soundtrack for production of today’s edition. Last night’s WDCB Bluesday Tuesday performance at FitzGerald’s by The Mike Wheeler Band.
Tedium’s David Buck marks the retirement of novelty radio icon Dr. Demento.

‘An assault on the public’s right to know’ / ‘A dark milestone’ / Ready to march?

‘An assault on the public’s right to know.’ A coalition of Chicago news organizations and broadcast workers, including the Chicago Headline Club*, is suing the Trump administration, alleging First Amendment violations and “widespread government violence” outside the ICE facility in Broadview.
 The American Civil Liberties Union** is taking the lead.
 Here’s the suit, which cites “attacks on individual journalists … too numerous to list in full.”
 Lawyer/journalist Aaron Parnas: “Reporters on the ground are documenting raids that resemble military operations, and yet many large media companies are ignoring the story entirely or burying it under lighter news.”
 The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is compiling a database of attacks on journalists here and around the world.
 Separately, dozens of news organizations—including, notably, Fox News—have signed an amicus brief supporting The Associated Press in its ongoing fight for White House access.

On guard. As a federal judge weighs Illinois and Chicago’s lawsuit hoping to block the deployment, hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas—and Illinois—were targeted for the Chicago region today.
 Trump’s team has until tomorrow night to respond.
 Columnist and former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance: “The judge described herself as ‘very troubled by the lack of answers’ the government provided in court on the deployment. This is hardly a win for the Trump administration.”
 Gov. Pritzker’s threatening to quit the National Governors Association if it doesn’t condemn Trump’s invasion of U.S. cities.
 WTTW’s Heather Cherone: Pritzker’s “furious.”
 The American Prospect: Governors across the country now face a constitutional crisis.
 Law Dork Chris Geidner: “This could be a very complicated, difficult week in Chicago.”

‘A dark milestone.’ That’s how traditional conservative columnist Charlie Sykes predicts historians will recognize the military-style attack on a Chicago apartment building.
 The Economist says that raid and others “seem designed to produce content.”
 As body-cam video casts doubt over the government charges against her, a Chicago woman accused of driving toward Border Patrol officers—one of whom shot her—has been ordered released from jail.
 Wonkette’s Evan Hurst: “A good rule is that ICE is lying, no matter what ICE says. … If ICE says this woman they shot in Chicago did something to deserve it, fuck off.

ICE vs. cops. Chicago’s police superintendent says 27 officers were hurt by tear gas during weekend protests.
 Video shows a protester appealing to some of those cops: “They just teargassed you! … Why you protecting them?”
 A Chicago gang member’s been charged with soliciting the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.
 The Atlantic: Even with billions in new federal funding, ICE arrests have declined and jail overcrowding is worse.

‘Republicans will try to steal 2026.’ But columnist Christopher Armitage says state and federal laws could put them in prison—and he recommends concerned citizens make “three phone calls this week” to support pending legislation that could ramp up those defenses.
 Politico: Trump’s considering invoking the Insurrection Act if the courts block his guard deployment …
 … which author and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says has been Republicans’ plan all along.

Ready to march? The ACLU last night hosted a plainspoken guide on how to protest smartly, safely and effectively …
 … in what organizers say could be the biggest protest in modern American history, the Oct. 18 “No Kings” rallies …
 … one of which you can find near you here. (Cartoon: Alex Garcia, Media Moe)

We’re No. 1—again. For the ninth year in a row, Condé Nast Traveler readers have voted Chicago the best big city in the U.S. …
 … but under Mayor Johnson’s executive order, at least some parts of that great city will be off-limits to ICE agents.
 Here he is signing that order …
 … which The New Republic says prompted the White House to flip out.
 Broadview’s police chief accuses ICE agents of making fake 911 calls to local cops.

‘Plenty of good news.’ Your Local Epidemiologist celebrates—finally—a green light for COVID-19 vaccines.
 Lurie Children’s Hospital tops U.S. News and World Report’s list of Illinois’ best facilities for kids.

‘Apple has thrown in with the Trump regime’s most violent, human-rights invading program.’ Author and tech watchdog Cory Doctorow condemns the company’s removal of the ICEBlock immigration-enforcement reporting app—noting that Apple founder Steve Jobs was “exactly the sort of person that Trump wants to deport.”
 Popular Information takes a critical look at the long and troubled history of the “anti-woke crusader” now in charge of CBS News …
 … a moment about which Poynter’s Tom Jones says “it’s hard to overstate the enormity.”
 Oligarch Watch: TikTok’s new boss is a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
 If you’re inclined to patronize Jeff Bezos’ baby, Consumer Reports offers its favorite “Amazon Prime Big Deal Days” sales.
 Ars Technica: The survival of Amazon’s Alexa smart voice assistant hinges on people buying newer, more expensive Amazon gadgets.

Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.

* Of which your Chicago Public Square publisher is a member.

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