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News Roundup • King L Speaks, Protestors Arrested & Chicago Plays the Numbers Game

Daniel Kelleghan

King Louie Talks Shooting with REVOLT

By now, news that local rapper King Louie was shot in the head has made it's way around the city, with subsequent reports saying the drill purveyor is doing fine despite taking a bullet to the head.

Louie, who's real name is Louis Johnson was shot while sitting in his car just before Christmas on the 3900 block of West 83rd Street in the Ashburn neighborhood. Since the shooting, which left two slugs in his chest and head, Louie has appeared on several news outlets to detail his brush with death, but this one with REVOLT goes decidedly deeper. 

Watch below as Louie, one of the originators of the 'Chiraq' tagline details exactly what happened to him on Christmas Eve. We're glad he's ok and while we understand Louie's want to follow Keef's lead and leave the city, it is disappointing that the artist's that put the city front and center can't expect peace.

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Teens Charged for Emanuel Protest

Teens who made news earlier this week by taking protests to the doorstep of embattled Mayor Rahm Emanuel are now facing misdemeanors of obstruction and resisting arrest, among other charges.

The pair of 16-year-olds, who's names are being withheld due to their age, were part of protests that found their way to Emanuel's Ravenswood home on December 29. The mayor arrived home just before New Years Eve from a vacation in Cuba to deal with the latest police-involved shooting deaths of 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and neighbor Bettie Jones who were shot and killed by police in the early morning hours of December 26.

Protestors took aim at Emanuel, who has come under fire for a series of missteps including the handling of the now infamous video of Laquan McDonald's assassination at the hands of CPD officer Jason Van Dyke, who emptied an entire clip into the defenseless 17-year-old. 

Standing on the sidewalk outside of the home, protestors chanted "CPD! KKK! How many kids did you kill today" and some got into scuffles with CPD officers onsite just feet from Emanuel's front porch, assumedly where the arrests were made. 

Chicago Tribune Reports Chicago Shootings Are Down, But are They Really?

A Chicago Tribune report released this week is reporting that, despite increased scrutiny on the department, Chicago Police shot less citizens this past year than in 2014.

According to the report, Police shot 22 people in 2015, eight of them fatally which is a 40 percent dip in the total number compared with 2014 where 37 people were shot and 16 killed. 

While the numbers speak, you'd be amiss to take them at their word. In the story, which was reported by WGN, it says that police-involved shootings have decreased each year since 2011, when 56 people were shot, 24 fatally. Interestingly, that year coincided with the hiring of now-fired Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy who was pointed to by Chicago Magazine last year in a two-part feature that called into question the reporting of homicides as "accidental deaths" and other innocuous explanations. 

According to the numbers provided by the Chicago Police Department, Chicago cops shot 45 people, killing 12 in 2012 and in 2013, officers shot 35 people, killing 14.

It works to officer's and the city's benefit to report lower numbers, especially in a year that saw passioned shouts for Emanuel's job and changes in the power structure that has been in place for generations. 

4 Dead, 30 Injured in New Year's Shootings

2016 is here and with it appear to be the same problems that have plagued the city for years. 

Three people are dead and twenty-one were treated for gunfire wounds during New Year's celebrations across the city.

Antiviolence protests continued in the city's Loop and Gold Coast neighborhoods to spread their message to end the shootings across the lexicon of north side and affluent areas that rarely deal with issues of gun violence. Just before the first shooting of the year statistics for shootings this year in Chicago were released, logging 50 more than last calendar. 


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