Cartoon

Rich Weight

Written by SK Ashby

(Cartoonist - Adam Zylgis)

In other news, representative and American hero John Lewis told NBC News today that he does not see Donald Trump as legitimate. Racists are going to have a meltdown.

Meanwhile, FBI director James Comey reportedly refused to discuss the agency's investigation of Trump's staff's contact with Russia during a classified briefing today.

Finally, the Justice Department released their comprehensive review of the Chicago Police Department today and, in my view, this is the most damning report in recent memory.

This detail, in particular, is infuriating for so many reasons.

Officers allegedly drop teens off in dangerous gang territories if they don’t provide info:

We were told by many community members that one method by which CPD will try to get individuals to provide information about crime or guns is by picking them up and driving them around while asking for information about gangs or guns. When individuals do not talk, officers will drop them off in dangerous areas or gang territories. We reviewed a publicly available video that appears to capture one instance of an officer displaying a youth in police custody to a group of individuals gathered in a rival gang territory. The video shows CPD officers standing around a marked CPD vehicle with the back doors wide open and a young male detained in the rear. Officers permit a crowd of male youths to surround the car and shout at the adolescent. The crowd can be seen flashing hand gestures that look like gang signs and threatening the cowering teenager in the backseat. One of the males in the crowd appears to have freely recorded the interactions all while CPD officers stood beside the open vehicle doors. The video does not show any legitimate law enforcement purpose in allowing the youth to be threatened. Residents told us that this has happened for years, with several individuals recounting their personal experiences. A young black man told us that when he was 12 or 13 years old, he and his friends were picked up by CPD officers, dropped off in rival territory, and told to walk home. Another black teen told us that his brother was picked up in one location, dropped off in another location known for rival gangs, and told: “Better get to running.”

Why are so many young black men shot in Chicago? This could be one pretty big reason why.

Now, for a good cleanse, watch President Obama award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Vice President Joe Biden.

If you're a regular reader, please considering donating during this week's fundraiser. Thank you in advance.

Have a good weekend.