Good afternoon! It’s Tuesday, and when was the last time Chicago was under a stay-at-home order, a curfew and saw all public transit shut down overnight for two days in a row? Here’s what you need to know today. (PS: You can have this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here.)

1. Chicago prepares to ease coronavirus restrictions

Mayor Lori Lightfoot today said the city will begin allowing many businesses to reopen tomorrow as planned. That means restaurants, hair salons and some retail stores can welcome back customers with some limits.

Chicago’s plan to reopen appeared anything but certain after a weekend of citywide unrest, with looting reported in various neighborhoods. And health experts have raised alarms over massive crowds of protesters, saying demonstrators were at a high risk of contracting the coronavirus.

Lightfoot urged anyone who took part in recent protests to self-quarantine for two weeks. [WBEZ]

Meanwhile, state officials today announced 113 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the state’s total number of fatalities to 5,525. Officials also announced 1,614 new cases after 16,431 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. That brings the total number of cases to 122,848 since the pandemic began. [WBEZ]

A defiant Gov. JB Pritzker today compared President Donald Trump to a dictator.

“You can hear in his rhetoric that he is simply trying to make himself sound like a strong man, almost like a dictator, as if he’s going to be responsible for bringing order,” Pritzker told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep. [WBEZ]

2. Biden accuses Trump of fanning the “flames of hate”

Former Vice President Joe Biden today slammed President Trump’s increasingly confrontational response to nationwide protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, saying the president is trafficking in “fear and division.”

“When peaceful protesters are dispersed by the order of the president from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades — in order to stage a photo op at a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the president is more interested in power than in principle,” Biden said during a speech at Philadelphia’s City Hall. [NPR]

Yesterday, a group of peaceful protesters outside the White House were tear-gassed and pushed away so Trump could visit St. John’s Church, where he held up a Bible for a photo-op.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington said church authorities were not alerted beforehand to Trump’s visit. She said she was “outraged” by Trump’s actions.

“He used violent means to ask to be escorted across the park into the courtyard of the church,” she told NPR’s Morning Edition. [NPR]

Meanwhile, governors across the nation have pushed back against Trump’s threat to use military force if unrest in American cities does not end. Here’s a look at the Insurrection Act of 1807, which the president would have to invoke. [NPR]

3. Congress considers cutting off police access to military gear

A bipartisan effect is underway to end a Pentagon program that hands off military weaponry, like bayonets and grenade launchers, to local law enforcement departments. The program had been curbed under President Barack Obama but was revived by President Trump.

While Trump has taken a stern “law and order” approach to the protests, Congressional leaders from both parties are quickly moving to address one of the underlying issues sparking the protests: the use of excessive force by police. [New York Times]

4. What we know about the killing of George Floyd

Using security footage, cellphone videos and official documents, The New York Times reconstructed the minutes leading to George Floyd’s death after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes.

This 9-minute video from the Times goes into great detail into the tragic killing, providing context and highlighting still outstanding questions about Floyd’s death. [New York Times]

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled Floyd’s death a homicide this week. The office said Floyd died due to “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restrain, and neck compression.”

But an independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd’s family says he died as a result of asphyxiation. That autopsy also said Floyd’s death was a homicide. [NPR]

5. Disinformation spreads during protests

If you’re like me and can’t stop “doomsurfing,” you might have seen disinformation circulating on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.

In Washington, D.C., false claims spread on Twitter of cellphones and other electronic devices being blocked by authorities in an effort to hide violence from police. Reporters on the ground said they didn’t experience any disruptions, either on their cellphones or during their live video signals.

Social media accounts that spread the disinformation appeared to be suspicious, but real people were promoting the messages.

“Even if a huge percentage of those real people are using that hashtag to say, ‘hey, this isn’t real’ — it doesn’t matter,” said Clemson University communication professor Darren Linvill. Even if only 20% of people posting about it believe it, “20% of a million is still 200,000 people.” [NPR]

Here’s what else is happening

• China delayed releasing information about the coronavirus, causing frustration within the World Health Organization, The AP reports. [AP]
• North Carolina’s Democratic governor rejected the GOP’s plans for a full-fledged convention in Charlotte. [Politico]
• Confederate monuments across the South are being removed as protesters target them. [AP]
• Sound Opinions co-host Greg Kot explains how music helps during times of turmoil. [WBEZ]

Oh, and one more thing …

A Washington, D.C. resident let about 60 protesters into his home last night after police officers began pepper spraying demonstrators.

Rahul Dubey said police officers “pinned” protesters on his street and they were “doing nothing wrong other than organizing and fighting to build a future that they want, that I want.”

Dubey and other residents on Swann Street in Northwest D.C opened their doors to protesters trying to escape.

“The crowd came racing through like a tornado,” Dubey told NBC Washington. “We had to keep the door open and keep pulling them in … it’s the same you would do if there’s a storm.” [USA Today]

Tell me something good …

What acts of kindness have you seen?

@ColieMarieL tweets:

“An act of kindness from a group that needs some good light: This weekend I was taking pictures of my neighbor in his cap & gown at Mundelein High School. A female police officer pulled up & offered to take a picture of the two of us. It was super sweet & I love the pic!”

Feel free to email at therundown@wbez.org or tweet to @whuntah.

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