place

Illinois's 4th congressional district

1843 establishments in IllinoisCongressional districts of IllinoisConstituencies established in 1843Data missing from February 2020Government of Cook County, Illinois
Use mdy dates from April 2021

The 4th congressional district of Illinois includes part of Cook County, and has been represented by Democrat Jesús "Chuy" García since January 2019. In November 2017, incumbent Luis Gutiérrez announced that he would retire from Congress at the end of his current term, and not seek re-election in 2018. Jesús "Chuy" García was elected on November 6, 2018. It was featured by The Economist as one of the most strangely drawn and gerrymandered congressional districts in the country, inspired the "Ugly Gerry" gerrymandering typeface, and has been nicknamed "earmuffs" due to its shape. It was created after federal courts ordered the creation of a majority-Hispanic district in the Chicago area. The Illinois General Assembly responded by packing two majority Hispanic parts of Chicago into a single district. This district covers two strips running east–west across the city of Chicago, on the west side continuing into smaller portions of some suburban areas in Cook County, surrounding Illinois's 7th congressional district. The northern portion is largely Puerto Rican, while the southern portion is heavily Mexican-American. The two sections are only connected by a piece of Interstate 294 to the west; the highway is in the district while the surrounding areas are not. It is the smallest congressional district in area outside New York City and California.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Illinois's 4th congressional district (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Illinois's 4th congressional district
South Saint Louis Avenue, Chicago South Lawndale

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Illinois's 4th congressional districtContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.831944444444 ° E -87.71 °
placeShow on map

Address

Paul Simon Job Corps Center

South Saint Louis Avenue
60623 Chicago, South Lawndale
Illinois, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places

Killing of Adam Toledo

On March 29, 2021, Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old Latino American boy, was shot and killed by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer Eric Stillman in the Little Village neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago at 2:38am local time. A few hours after the shooting, the CPD described the incident in a tweet as an "armed confrontation." On April 10, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney James Murphy alleged in court that Toledo was armed when the officer shot him, despite the body camera video showing Toledo having dropped the gun before he was killed.On April 15, Stillman's body cam video recording was released, appearing to show Toledo running away and dropping a handgun before he turned towards Stillman and raised his empty hands. According to the Chicago Police Department, Stillman shot at the boy less than a second after he dropped the gun. An area resident who said she witnessed the shooting from her apartment window across the street said that Toledo was complying with the officer's requests when he was shot, and the Toledo family's lawyer said in an interview that "Adam died because he complied." The handgun recovered at the scene by investigators was a 9mm semi-automatic pistol with an empty magazine.The release of the body cam video sparked protests in Chicago and around the country, and Murphy was placed on administrative leave for the misleading description that he delivered in court. Toledo was one of the youngest people killed by the police in the state of Illinois in years. His death has been connected by some analysts to a broader pattern of disproportionate police violence against Latinos and other children of color. It also occurred as the United States was grappling with several high-profile cases of police killing unarmed people of color.In March 2022, authorities announced there would be no criminal charges brought against the officer involved in the killing of Toledo.

Murder of Laquan McDonald

The murder of Laquan McDonald took place on October 20, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois. McDonald was a 17-year-old African American youth who was fatally shot by a white Chicago Police Officer, Jason Van Dyke. Police had initially reported that McDonald was behaving erratically while walking down the street, refusing to put down a knife, and that he had lunged at officers. Preliminary internal police reports described the incident similarly, leading to the shooting being judged as justifiable, and Van Dyke not being charged at the time. This was later disproven after the video of the murder was released, showing that McDonald was walking away. On November 24, 2015, thirteen months after the shooting, a court ordered the police to release a dash cam video of the shooting. It showed that McDonald was walking away from the police when he was shot 16 times by Officer Van Dyke. That same day, Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder, and was initially held without bail at the Cook County Jail. He was released on bail on November 30. The city reached a settlement with McDonald's family for $5 million in April 2015. On October 5, 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder, as well as 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.Protests followed the murder of McDonald, demanding changes in police and judicial procedure, and for the dismissal or resignation of city and county officials. Rahm Emanuel won a second term in 2015 as Mayor of Chicago (prior to the release of the dash cam video), but Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez lost her bid for reelection in 2016. At the request of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the United States Department of Justice initiated a civil rights investigation into McDonald's murder and the activities of the Chicago Police Department. It released its report in January 2017, describing the police as having a culture of "excessive violence", especially against minority suspects, and of having poor training and supervision. DOJ and city officials signed a consent decree for a plan for improvement to be overseen by the courts. Moreover, three Chicago police officers were tried for allegedly attempting to cover up events related to the murder, and were found not guilty by the Cook County Circuit Court on January 17, 2019.