Chicago Mayor's Hiring Practices Probed by Justice Department
The US Department of Justice said it will investigate whether Chicago is discriminating against municipal job candidates by race after Mayor Brandon Johnson highlighted the number of Black officials in his administration while addressing a church on the city's south side.
Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general that oversees the department's civil rights division, posted a letter on social media Monday citing comments the mayor made Sunday at the Apostolic Church of God in the city's Woodlawn neighborhood.
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Fast Company
25 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Gavin Newsom is having his social media moment
'Fuck around' and 'find out,' read a TikTok post, following a screenshot announcing that California is suing President Donald Trump for deploying the National Guard to the streets of Los Angeles. But the TikTok wasn't shared by a typical meme account—it came from California Governor Gavin Newsom. 'I damn near fell over when I realized this was Gov. Newsom's page,' one user commented. Since Friday, demonstrations have erupted across Los Angeles in protest of the president's immigration policies and the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Although many of the demonstrations have remained peaceful, there have been violent incidents including authorities deploying tear gas and rubber bullets, and protestors setting Waymo vehicles ablaze throughout the city. As tensions escalated, the Trump administration deployed the National Guard and Marines—despite objections from local officials—sparking a lawsuit from the state, threats of arrest against Governor Newsom, and a surge of defiant memes. 'And remember kids, the next time anybody tells you 'the government wouldn't do that', oh yes they would,' says the popular TikTok sound used on Newsom's official account video, playing over screenshots of news headlines and images of armed forces confronting demonstrators. In another viral video from the governor's page, which amassed over 5.4 million views, Taylor Swift's 'You Need To Calm Down' plays over a series of photos of the two politicians. 'r u ok?' the post asks, with a caption reading: 'America's keyboard warrior.' Newsom's clapback drew widespread praise in the comments. 'I do disagree with Newsom a lot but him standing up to tyranny and standing with your state takes some serious guts. Hats off to you Newsom,' wrote one user. He's also taken to his personal account to deliver meme-laced messages to Trump—one featuring a photoshopped image of the president wearing a crown, captioned 'send in the troops.' The slideshow ends with a shot from the musical Hamilton, with text reading: 'Democracy is under assault right before our eyes. It's time for all of us to stand up.' The online showdown has significantly boosted Newsom's social media presence, growing his personal TikTok account by approximately 397,000 followers and his official Governor account by 479,000 since Friday. Newsom is the latest in a growing number of politicians leveraging memes and social media to bypass traditional media and speak directly to the public through humor. Famously, Kamala Harris gained momentum during her presidential campaign with ' Brat summer ' and the coconut tree trend, while Joe Biden leaned into the viral ' Dark Brandon ' meme during his reelection campaign. Although meme strategies can generate enthusiasm and visibility, the 2024 election results suggest that online popularity doesn't always translate at the polls.
CBS News
26 minutes ago
- CBS News
Mayor Bass, regional mayors call for end to ICE raids in Southern California: "Our communities are not battlegrounds"
After days of violent and destructive protests in Los Angeles, fueled by an increase in immigration enforcement operations, Mayor Karen Bass and other regional mayors called for an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. At a news conference Wednesday morning, Bass said the unrest in a portion of Los Angeles started last Friday after immigration operations were carried out in several parts of Southern California. Bass told reporters that LA and surrounding cities were "peaceful" before the raids. Mayor Karen Bass called on the Trump administration to end the immigration enforcement operations taking place across the Southern California region. KCAL News She explained that the raids have caused fear in immigrant communities, and accused President Trump of worsening the situation when he ordered the deployment of National Guard and U.S. Marine troops. She called for an end to ICE raids and the federalization of troops. "When you start deploying federalized troops on the heels of these raids, it is a drastic and chaotic escalation and completely unnecessary," Bass said. Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, claiming that his decision to deploy troops to LA saved the city from burning to the ground. "The great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help!!!," he wrote. Her speech came a day after she implemented a curfew in a portion of downtown LA after five consecutive nights of demonstrations, which have escalated to clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers, as well as hundreds of arrests. Since the start of the protests, parts of downtown LA have been covered in graffiti, businesses have been looted and public property has been vandalized. TOPSHOT - A car burns as a demonstrator waves a Mexican national flag during a protest following federal immigration operations, in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on June 7, 2025. RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images During an interview Wednesday morning on CBS Los Angeles, Bass explained that the curfew will be extended until it is necessary to ensure public safety. The curfew currently runs for one square mile in the downtown area from the 5 Freeway to the 110 Freeway and from the 10 Freeway to where the 110 Freeway and 5 Freeway merge from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Bass has also taken to social media to share how the raids are affecting the city. In a post on X, she wrote, "Angelenos are trying to live their lives—going to work, caring for their families—while facing the constant threat of sudden immigration crackdowns." Other mayors from across Southern California joined Bass, calling for an end to the ICE raids. The Mayor of Huntington Park, Arturo Flores, a U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, told reporters that the military neighborhoods. "The deployment of Marines on our U.S. soil is an alarming escalation that undermines the values of democracy," Flores said. "Our communities are not battle grounds." Flores said the ICE raids being carried out in his community and others across the region are a form of intimidation that traumatizes hardworking residents. He said fear-based tactics are being used to target immigrant communities. The Mayor of Paramount, Peggy Lemons, added that residents are choosing not to leave their homes or send their children to school out of fear that ICE will take them away. "For many in our city, this has been the most devastating time in recent memory," Lemons said. She said immigrants, who play such an important role in the makeup of the region, should not have to live in constant fear.
Associated Press
29 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Kennedy names 8 vaccine committee replacements, including COVID shot critic
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week. They include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and transformed into a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, and a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns. Kennedy's decision to 'retire' the previous 17-member panel was widely decried by doctors' groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy's desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations. The new appointees to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices include Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he's promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19. He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots. He's even suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He's downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years. Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named. Kennedy made the announcement in a social media post on Wednesday. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how Food and Drug Administration-cleared vaccines should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and determine the scope of vaccination programs. ___ Associated Press reporter Amanda Seitz contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
