Environment

Chicago’s Most Violent Weekend of 2020: 82 Shot, 19 Fatally

Published

3 years ago

June 1, 2020

As riots broke out across the country after the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, a number of them grew extremely violent and deadly over the weekend.

In Chicago, a city with existing issues of gun violence that hasn’t stopped with the novel coronavirus pandemic, it was the most violent weekend of the year, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The paper reported that over the weekend in the city 82 people were shot, 19 of them fatally.

"In addition to our 9pm-6am curfew that will remain in place until further notice, Governor Pritzker—at my request—has ordered a small contingent of the National Guard to maintain a limited presence and support our police in order to ensure we don’t have a repeat of last night."

— Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot (@chicagosmayor) May 31, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Saturday issued a curfew notice to residents between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. “until further notice.”

Additionally, a number of main streets and public transportation systems were shut down. City officials condemned those creating violence and vandalizing the city, during Saturday’s press conference.

On Sunday, however, more than half of the weekend’s victims were shot, the report noted.

Click here to read the full report.

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China

Electric Vehicle company with Chinese ties awarded $500 million of taxpayer money for 2nd U.S. plant

Published

1 week ago

September 18, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

With a little help from their Democrat friends, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party just announced the opening of its second plant in the United States.

Fox News reports Gotion Inc., whose parent company Gotion High-Tech is based in Hefei, China, unveiled plans to build a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Manteno, Illinois, alongside Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who cheered the project.

The announcement comes amid growing opposition to the company’s plans to build a billion-dollar factory in Mecosta County, Michigan.

In order to make the expansion happen, lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party-tied electric vehicle company funneled cash to Democrats. “Individuals at a law firm registered as foreign agents to lobby on behalf of Gotion, a Chinese electric vehicle battery company developing a controversial project in Michigan, and wired campaign contributions to several top Democrats” reports Fox News.

“According to state and federal filings, Monique Field-Foster, an attorney at the Lansing office of the Warner Norcross + Judd law firm who is acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Gotion, donated to the campaigns of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer’s sister Liz Gereghty and Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Rep. Elissa Slotkin” the Fox News report continued.

“With the right incentives, nation-leading infrastructure, world-class workforce and booming clean energy production, we have transformed ourselves into an attractive location for global manufacturers. Today, we take another leap forward. It’s my pleasure to welcome Gotion to Illinois and to show the world yet again that Illinois is ready to be a player on the world stage.”

Pritzker delivered remarks late last week thanking Gotion for choosing Illinois to call “home” in a ceremony with leaders from Gotion High-Tech, including Li Zhen, the company’s chairman and president, who said he expected the factory to open in less than 12 months.

“All that we see here [in Illinois] are of enormous value to us: an enabling business environment, a supportive state government for the new energy industry and their highly efficient work, as well as the prospects of the State of Illinois in the coming years,” the Gotion president added. “We believe that Gotion’s battery technology will help to boost e-mobility in North America and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the U.S.”