Hours after thousands of Chicago residents filled the streets to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, a disturbing hate incident unfolded outside the office of 40th Ward Alderman Andre Vasquez. Chicago police confirmed that a dead rat and a threatening handwritten note were discovered at his office on Sunday evening. The message, described as derogatory and anti-immigrant, referred to undocumented immigrants as “vermin,” sparking outrage and concern across the community.

President Donald Trump is once again threatening to declare a national emergency in Washington, D.C., reigniting a clash with Mayor Muriel Bowser over the city’s Metropolitan Police Department and its role in immigration enforcement. The threat comes as Trump’s 30-day emergency control of the capital’s police force, imposed under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, has expired. In a post made shortly after midnight on Monday, Trump expressed frustration with Bowser&r