Le Journal

Federal authorities slapped all kinds of sinister labels on Chicago’s Juan Espinoza Martinez when they arrested him last fall, and they did it for all the world to hear.They called him a “high-ranking member of the Latin Kings.” They called him “depraved.” They even called him a “thug” as they accused him of offering $10,000 for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.But Thursday, a federal jury called Espinoza Martinez “not guilty.” In doing so, it put an end to one of the most contentious prosecutions to result from “Operation Midway Blitz.” Related Bovino murder-for-hire trial moving fast at federal courthouse, where it’ll soon be in jurors’ hands The group of regular citizens, led by a teacher who served as the foreperson, answered a call from defense attorney Dena Singer. She urged them in closing arguments to “stand up to the overreaching government.”“You have the power here,” she told them. “Your words now matter. You have the power to stop the overreaching government. … Don’t let them bully. Use your voice. And while the agents and the government did not want to listen to Juan’s voice, they will listen to yours.”After deliberating for about three hours, the jury acquitted Espinoza Martinez of one count of murder-for-hire, which carried a maximum of 10 years in prison. They did so after hearing how Bovino last fall became the face of immigration enforcement in Chicago.Espinoza Martinez, 37, sat stoically in his chair after the verdict was read, but he appeared to be holding back emotions as he briefly lifted his eyes to the ceiling. When the jury left the courtroom, he shared big hugs with Singer and her co-counsel, Jonathan Bedi.Still, his future remains uncertain. His lawyers have acknowledged an immigration detainer exists, telling a judge it’s likely to be acted upon. The question was not addressed Thursday after the verdict, and Bedi and Singer left the Dirksen Federal Courthouse without commenting. Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St. | Rich Hein/Sun-TimesSun-Times Media Several jurors also declined to speak to a Chicago Sun-Times reporter as they hustled out of the building.U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office did not comment. But Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff and an architect of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation campaign, reacted to the news on social media by insisting that “leftist judges and juries are empowering violent insurrection against the government in an effort to stop ICE from removing criminal alien invaders.”Espinoza Martinez is one of 31 known defendants charged in Chicago’s federal court with non-immigration crimes tied to the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign last fall. With Thursday’s acquittal of Espinoza Martinez, 15 of them have now been cleared. At least three of those dismissals resulted from so-called "no bills," where a grand jury found insufficient evidence or probable cause to return an indictment. That was virtually unheard of until recently.Charges against the remaining 11 defendants were dropped for various other reasons. None of the cases have led to a conviction, so far.Espinoza Martinez is the first defendant prosecutors have taken to trial, though. The case against him evolved drastically after criminal charges were first filed in October, when Bedi and Singer insisted on a speedy trial. Prosecutors pressed forward even after U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow ruled crucial evidence couldn’t be seen by the jury. Related Chicago’s first Midway Blitz trial could center on feds’ Bovino murder-for-hire claim The original criminal complaint cited a “source of information,” now known to be 44-year-old Adrian Jimenez, who called Espinoza Martinez a “ranking member of the Latin Kings.” A Homeland Security press release also called Espinoza Martinez a “Latin Kings gang member.”But earlier this month, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Yonan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Minje Shin…

Chad Pinder isn’t far removed from his playing days.He retired after the 2023 season, which saw him spend time at the Triple-A affiliates of the Nationals and Braves. Before that, he spent seven seasons with the Athletics. He said he didn’t know what he would do after playing, but that his former manager, Bob Melvin had planted a seed while he was a player.“Once I got to the big leagues and I was in that non-everyday player role and in a position that was kind of a quiet leadership role, Bob Melvin would always jokingly say, ‘You’re going to manage one day,’” Pinder said Thursday on Zoom. “And in my head I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that.’ And so I stopped playing in 2023 and was really trying to figure out what I wanted to do.”Pinder started grad school, but it wasn’t until his wife gave him the push that he considered coaching. Director of player development Paul Janish offered him a job managing at Single-A Kannapolis last season. On Thursday, Pinder was announced as the Triple-A Charlotte Knights manager.“You trust him to go there and create an environment where guys are going to work,” Janish said. “It can, inadvertently at times, but Triple A can become a little bit of a holding tank and a level where older guys can become a little disgruntled at times. [The organization has] a tremendous amount of trust in Chad, and I’m confident that he’s going to accomplish whatever his goals are in this game and have those opportunities in all likelihood probably sooner than later, but for the time being, we’re fired up and excited about him being in Charlotte.”For a Sox team that had six prospects land in Baseball America’s top 100 list — left-hander Noah Schultz (No. 26) infielder Caleb Bonemer (No. 27), outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 73), left-hander Hagen Smith (No. 91), infielder Billy Carlson (No. 92) and right-hander Tanner McDougal (No. 100) — Pinder will have an important role as he helps develop some of the team’s young players as they are on the doorstep of the majors.Pinder said that his messaging won’t change much as he progresses from Single A to Triple A. He just wants his players to go out and play freely. Having been around an accomplished manager like Melvin, and stars such as Marcus Semien, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman will be critical for Pinder as he begins his Triple-A career. He had to carve out a role and be comfortable playing the outfield. He also learned about analytics from his time in Oakland.“I was a platoon player, and while yes, I wanted to be out there competing every single day, I look back at my career, and I’m extremely grateful for the managers I had and their knowledge to put me in situations to succeed, which ultimately kept me around longer,” Pinder said. “So I do lean on the numbers. I do think there’s an aspect to the game where our job is to put the players in advantageous spots to be successful.”Patrick Leyland will manage Double-A Birmingham. Former Sox player Jayson Nix will manage Single-A Kannapolis. Daniel Gonzalez will manage the Arizona Complex League White Sox.

As Illinois officials investigate whether a landlord and property manager prompted a massive federal immigration raid on their South Shore building, former residents and organizers say that’s what they’ve long suspected.Tenants had faced squalid conditions for years, long before the arrival of Venezuelan migrants in the building, and they said the property could be so unsecured at times that it felt open to the public and to squatters. Residents have accused the manager of failing to address complaints of disturbing conditions, and some suspected the owner and manager of calling the feds as a back door way of clearing the building.The Illinois Department of Human Rights announced late Wednesday that it would investigate the claims when it filed a formal housing discrimination charge against Wisconsin-based real estate investor Trinity Flood, her company 7500 Shore A LLC, and Strength in Management LLC, the property management company she hired at the South Shore building.WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times have previously reported observations from tenants and a map found in the building that detailed each unit, suggesting federal agents may have received inside information before the Sept. 30 raid.Jonah Karsh, with the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, called the investigation “a big step” to getting justice for the tenants, who “have been through hell — between helicopters showing up on their roof, and then the remaining tenants having to leave on 2½ weeks notice in the cold.”Former resident Darren Hightower was glad to hear about the inquiry but was far less enthusiastic.“It’s never too late, I guess, but sometimes it feels like it’s too late,” he said. “Look where we are today: Some of the tenants from that building still don’t have a place to stay — myself included.”State officials said they would look into the allegation that the landlord and property manager “tipped federal officials” that Venezuelan nationals were living in the building without leases and had “threatened other tenants.”“7500 S Shore building management sought to intimidate and coerce the building's Black and Hispanic tenants into leaving their apartment units, based on stereotypes about Venezuelan immigrants,” the state complaint read.“Within hours after the raid, workers employed or contracted by 7500 S Shore building management were tossing tenants' belongings in the trash and clearing out units vacated by the raid.” Related Illinois probing whether landlord prompted immigration raid at South Shore apartment building Last remaining residents move out of troubled South Shore building raided by feds Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’ Signed by James Bennett, director of the state's human rights department, the housing discrimination charge alleges that the landlord and property manager “blamed Venezuelan tenants for their own failure to provide needed locks and security service, as well as other needed maintenance and repairs, and perpetuated stereotypes about Venezuelan gang members to send a message that tenants born outside of the United States were considered gang associates, even if they were law abiding."The charge document also states that building management unlawfully discriminated against longtime tenants when they refused to make maintenance and repairs.Flood didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.Reached by phone Thursday, Corey Oliver, the CEO of the Strength in Management property company, wouldn't answer questions about his next steps or whether he planned to cooperate with the investigation.“I have nothing to give you,” he said. “I can't tell you anything.”One resident previously told the Sun-Times and WBEZ that he saw someone he believed to be a worker from the building taking pictures of the units “where the Venezuelans lived” before the raid.WBEZ and Sun-Times reporters also found a crumpled map on a hallway floor days after the raid. It marked each unit inside the…

Former Mayors Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s first openly gay mayor, were all champions of the LGBTQ+ community.Mayor Brandon Johnson is apparently determined to follow in his predecessors’ footsteps — by making Chicago what he called, “the largest U.S. city with an executive-level position dedicated to advancing LGBTQ+equity.”The newly created job will be filled by Antonio King, who has spent more than two decades as the LGBTQ+ health and outreach liaison for the Chicago Department of Public Health.King's marching orders from the mayor are to devise a policy plan tailor-made to “strengthen protections and opportunities” for LGBTQ+ Chicagoans.It will tackle everything from eliminating health disparities to providing support and resources to “business owners within the LGBTQ+ community who have sometimes felt ignored or not as visible [to] previous administrations,” King said.“Business owners and agencies don’t always hear about things coming out of the cultural affairs department or ways that they can participate and put in applications for contracts to work with the city,” said King, 63. “This administration has been intentional about ensuring that the LGBTQ+ community is informed and understands that we have a seat at the table. We’re being put at the table with a plate, with a seat, and told that, 'Your voice is viable. Your presence is wanted.’”Over the years, there has been talk about creating a set-aside program for businesses owned by LGBTQ+ Chicagoans similar to the percentage of city contracts earmarked for minorities and women. King, however, has no plan to open that political and legal can of worms.“As a Black gay man, I don’t want any special set-aside. I want to be not pushed aside,” King said, adding Johnson "made sure that [members of] the LGBTQ+ community are not treated like second-class citizens. Any administration should follow his example of inclusivity and not shut the door, but open the door and say everyone can walk through. Not to let different ones in and shut others out.”King said he plans to focus on the problems of youths, young adults and homelessness — and on strengthening education and outreach programs in the Chicago Public Schools to combat bullying of LGBTQ+ students.Other priorities are what he called the “plight of aging LGBTQ Chicagoans, who have not had a consistent voice” in Chicago, and “security for trans women of color,” he said.“Ensuring that there is, maybe not a relationship with” the Chicago Police Department, “but there is a respect so that, when something happens with a trans woman, that it is investigated and it is prosecuted,” King said.Daley engineered $5.4 million in loans and subsidies for the Center on Halsted, an LGBTQ+ community center where a rooftop garden bears the former mayor’s name. Chicago's longest-serving mayor also championed gay marriage, appointed 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney, the city's first openly gay alderperson, along with gay department heads, and extended health benefits to registered live-in partners of gay and lesbian city employees. He welcomed the 2006 Gay Games, increased city support for AIDS funding and established the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. Emanuel matched Daley's record as a champion for the gay community, in part by appointing an unprecedented number of openly gay men and women to his City Hall Cabinet. Lightfoot campaigned on a promise to make Chicago a more welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community. Related Lightfoot, city’s only openly gay mayoral candidate, unveils LGBTQ policy agenda Her agenda included working to establish "24-hour drop-in centers" at Chicago Public Schools to provide LGBTQ+ youth struggling with family acceptance and homelessness. She promised to implement an "LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum" to prevent bullying, and appoint three mayoral LGBTQ+ liaisons to work directly with the South, West and North sides, and…

After years of searching, the group behind some of Chicago’s most popular farmers markets has secured its first permanent location.The nonprofit Green City Market announced last week that it purchased the North Center building at 2457 W. Montrose Ave., and it will build out the space to host year-round farmers markets.The 4,872-square-foot property was previously home to Plants, an interior landscaping company and retail greenhouse. The building was purchased for $899,000, and the deal closed Dec. 23, Green City Market Executive Director Letisha Steele said. Green City Market’s new building at 2457 W. Montrose Ave. in North Center.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Steele, who joined the nonprofit in 2025, said she expects to open the space sometime this year and plans to host a community event as early as March.Green City’s mission is to expand accessibility to fresh, locally grown food. Its markets are “producer only,” meaning farmers sell what they grow and other vendors must source ingredients directly from the nonprofit’s farmers whenever possible, Steele said.The late Chicago chef Abby Mandel, who also authored food columns and cookbooks, started Green City in 1999 with nine local farmers at the crosswalk next to the Chicago Theatre. It was Chicago’s first producer-only farmers market, according to the nonprofit.Before her death in 2008, Mandel had set aside $1 million for her charitable foundation to fund the purchase of a brick-and-mortar location.“She really wanted Green City to be able to continue on and to continue to uplift farmers,” Steele said. “She provided the money for the purchase of a building so that there could be a forever place for the farmers to be able to come and sell.”Over the years, the nonprofit conducted several feasibility studies to determine how a permanent location could become a reality, Steele said.In the meantime, the market began expanding some of its services, such as accepting food assistance cards from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It also operates an indoor market in Avondale and outdoor seasonal markets in Lincoln Park and the West Loop. Hosting chef-led demonstrations and educational programs are also a staple of the organization. But many of the demonstrations and events can now be held at North Center.“Lincoln Park and West Loop will always be there. They’re a part of our core structure,” Steele said. “[North Center] will be a place to really grow what people see at that market and provide more opportunities for farmers.” Letisha Steele, executive director of Green City Market, walks through the nonprofit’s new building.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times It's also an ideal location because it's near several bus routes and about a half-mile from the Brown Line's Western stop, Steele said. The property is next door to an Aldi. “It just felt like the stars aligned and we were able to move on it,” she said. “We were talking to people in the neighborhood, talking to the alderman [about] what does the neighborhood need. Walking into this space, it felt like, ‘OK, this is it.’”Steele lovingly described the building as a “mullet,” with its nondescript front room but an expansive greenhouse in the back, which will be designed to cater to the farmers working with Green City.Farmers wanted “an aggregation point in the city,” Steele said. That wish will be realized with a large walk-in cooler in the back of the building to store produce. There will also be a kitchen for cooking classes.Steele said federal funding cuts to SNAP make the market’s mission to expand food access even more relevant.“Literally none of this would be possible if Abby didn't have that vision,” Steele said. “And who would have known that food access and farmer support would be in such dire straits like they are now.”A Greater Chicago Food Depository spokesperson said the food bank "is bracing for a new wave of food insecurity amid an already ongoing hunger crisis. We will do everything in our power to ensure food is available for…