Bread and fuel prices but N.P.R.'s. Reports protesters are now demanding the longtime president resign the Sudanese don't often protest openly but in the past week they've taken to the streets of the capital hard to him and other towns to make their feelings known reportedly using live bullets and tear gas the security forces prevented a March on the presidential palace in hard to Tuesday calling on an obese year to step down after almost 30 years in power but she has pledged reforms in response to the protests while warning the Sudanese that demonstrations are being driven by infiltrators this was the latest in a series of anti-government protests sparked by an end to the Sudanese government's bread subsidy protest does appear in bold and by what has become an open challenge to Bashir is long rule off Stockton n.p.r. News Keesha citing insufficient evidence France has dropped its investigation into the 1994 shooting down of a plane carrying Rwanda's then President the incident sparked the Rwandan genocide that killed more than 800000 people France launched the probe at the request of relatives of French crewmembers who died this is n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include the Charles Stuart Mott foundation for more than 90 years supporting efforts to promote a just equitable and sustainable society more Ed Mott dot org and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. From the Center for Investigative Reporting in p r x This is reveal a mallet. Taking Nichols was a kid growing up in Chicago in the early ninety's he knew that lurking near his home was an evil red you know the evil rabbit up there it was a grown rabbit use a cheese key and we realize. They're moving in we will let you for a wedding with. The evil red. This evil rabbit run in the hills with a key and his friends like to play we played up there everything played Agel scene . No we get Slayers and fled down the summit Tami Raghav bites up and down a you are there with that big of a heel. And. They can look down onto the roof of their elementary school and see all the basketballs they've gotten stuck up there over the years and they can look east towards the horizon and see all the skyscrapers downtown. Now Chicago is built on prairie land it's pretty flat so you might be wondering about those hills and how they came to be just 6 miles from downtown in the west side neighborhood of North Lawndale there's an explanation document was one time in the 4th or 5th grade he was running up the side of the tallest hills a mountain and its foot dislodged something something big. Or piece of concrete it rolled down the mountain towards his brother I'm a rolled over thing and it was hanging off so I had to hold it together and I had. They had. Been about 2 or 3 days we'll see the mountain was actually a giant landfill in a vacant lot besides grass and wildflowers and even trees there were 6 stories of concrete and rebar plus rusted cars and old mattresses the kids used for travelling . Story were going to tell you today is about how that landfill King to be. And grew to be 6 stories tall 2 whole city blocks wide and 5 city blocks imagine living right next door to that this is a story about the strange complicated and crooked ways that power flows in American cities USA Today investigated this story in a new podcast series called The City and creator is Robin Amer and today she's going to bring us the story here on veal Hi All right so we're talking about a dump that is 6 stories high in Chicago Yeah that's right 6 stories tall and it was on this huge lot 21 acres the size of 13 football fields the story of how this huge dump came to be in the middle of a residential neighborhood is one of the most striking stories of corruption and institutional indifference that I've ever come across it stunned me when I 1st found out about it about how ruthless the city can be about how stark the divisions are between black and white rich and poor between the people who hoard power and the people who have to fight for their fair share there's one man at the center of the story who set everything into motion here he is Ok. I we were one basically that started all of the 1st world I mean when we were over . And China had made a lot of money and. I started a can of worms in the shooting that could hold true for years to come from this guy sounds like a character straight out of Goodfellas Yeah he's pretty unapologetic the can of worms he opened unleashed this chain of events that went way beyond Chicago eventually the f.b.i. Would be giving him cover as he built the dump he's not at the very beginning of the story and we're difficult to get back to him later but why don't we rewind a little bit and take it from the very beginning was. In the months to come Richard m. Daley was the son of the beloved and feared Mayor Richard j. Daley he presided over Chicago's political machine from the $950.00 s. Through the seventy's his son was sworn into office in 1989 it's time to leave behind almost up their disappointment and Bill. Because in the campaign part of the call was since the 1960 s. Steel mills and other factories had been shutting down all over the Midwest and Chicago the city lost hundreds of thousands of jobs and nearly a 1000000 residents and the new Mayor Daley wanted Chicago to you know wake up from this post-industrial slumber and thrive for either all right it was. Always shit back it was because I was so do you become a major partially to revamp Chicago's aging downtown and he paid special attention to tourist friendly destinations in the loop and along the. Front. He said about rebuilding crucial parts of the city's infrastructure including its roads and highways. By the spring of 1990 the year after he took office the city was full of workers and hard hats and orange grass breaking down concrete jackhammering asphalt loading it into dump trucks and hauling it away. Law abiding trucking companies carted this debris to distant landfill but some trucks headed west out of the loop over the Chicago River into the city's neighborhoods until they came to a vacant lot in North Lawndale when I visited there I met a woman named Gladys Woodson she lived in the neighborhood since moving to Chicago from Mississippi in the 1960 s. And she told me how one day in the spring of 1990 and neighbor knocked on her front door my 1st memory was the president 4100 came down and Miss Woodson. And I told him I would do you would miss Woodson was the president of the $4300.00 block together these block clubs kept an eye on the street and made sure the community was safe he said to to not know that is a dumb Eagle done over across the street and say no it's a come on this well. First of all I saw a lot of trucks land a block in the view and behalf and a trip there would have been the stuff with accumulate. And so when you saw this line of trucks and this pile of rubble would you. Think oh no we came here and it's over here this is bad. Children. Just going to take on the hood down they couldn't figure out who was responsible for all the trucks coming in unloading rubble in their neighborhood so they held stakeouts and saw that the trucks kept coming by day but also in the dead of night we have come a hand like 12 o'clock in the night to watch 2 trucks go in and take down license plates number. One and 2 o'clock in the morning we woke up in the morning and we used to meet them up here because we figured if you can get the license plate number we can turn them over to the police so what we did start didn't license plate number and what we found he had one set of plate on the front and on different set of played only but. It seemed really suspicious and that was before they saw the man in charge that it can you see anybody drive over in a vacant lot and then Nemo you know is no good gosh what did you think was happening back there when you saw him drive up in a limo you know thought he was. I don't know game banging something in the you know . Even though I didn't know what to think. The man in the limo was a heavy set white guy with a gruff voice and a receding hairline eventually Ms Woodson and her neighbors would learn the man's name John Christopher and that he was connected to the mob what in Chicago we called the outfit. But that was later in the meantime over the next days and weeks the piles of rubble kept getting taller and taller and the dust blowing off them got worse and worse. So as Woods and her fellow block club captains organized a letter writing campaign we the south with Monday our united block councils are requesting that into see. In protest in the nation they sent a letter to the zoning board and the water department and the Department of Streets and Sanitation they said to the mayor and a member of Congress we wrote aerobatic to whose thing. We can take all of these people than they found out what school unknown that somebody would stop. Ms Woodson was right at least at 1st. In June of 1990 about a month after receiving her letters the city finally sent an inspector to check out the dump by then it was already taller than you or I as the inspector put it more than 6 feet tall. Henry Henderson was a lawyer for the city who specialized in environmental issues. People who were working as inspectors in the city called me and said we've got this huge amount of material building up in this particular site so we got in our cars and went out to visit it and it was this is this is gigantic. Henry hundreds and had learned that John Christopher the guy miss Woodson saw in the limo was actually running the dumps so he called Christopher into his office for a meeting was not the 1st time that you had met with him yes what did he look like how did he speak what what impression did he leave on you know he's a very very large person he had one of these incredibly colorful sweaters you know dads what are kind of like and I was struck by the fact that it looked like he had his nails done going into his meeting hundreds and thought that he could demand that John Christopher stop and that he would but John Christopher had permits that he'd gotten from the city to operate a rock crusher a giant machine that pulverizes concrete into gravel which can then be sold back to construction companies to use in their building projects so that was his story about what he was doing is particularly aiming at this is construction debris that can be recycled I want to crush it and the material has value so I'm recycler and I would be to far that was his claim as to what his activities were about John Christopher was not going to stop dumping in North Lawndale and every day the prairie wind would blow through the piles of debris and cover North Lawndale in a layer of thick gray dust when the dust will flood. I have yet look on your lip gloss will be full of dirt I mean you could taste there only a lips in your mouth this is Michelle Ashford in 1900 she was 1000 years old it will be just a big cushion when you have the closure as heavy a Melva went out because once we experienced it we knew. Become the winner when we cover up for when. The sun moves that it did Michelle's mother read a Ashford says the dump made the neighborhoods prostitution problems worse the guys say could come in pull up on the sat. And that's where they did it they have business it just to be clear the dump had gotten so big that it cast the side street next to it into darkness with the process who's been able to go back there really like and it will be down have turned in dates and everything right there on St The dump had become a magnet that's actually a term in environmental circles it was a magnet in that it had attracted other illegal and unsavory stuff and the Rat Girl if you won the. Rats it was one people were fighting it was writhing again at homes I mean some of the van a house on our block everybody was dealing with the right. But worse than the rats the dump was affecting people's health several of his Ashford's grandchildren had severe asthma and some of his Woodson's elderly neighbors relied on oxygen tanks the dust from the dom's was making it harder for them to breathe. And her neighbors decided to confront the dumper. Christopher and we ask him you know could whatever he was doing over there he told us he could do whatever you please and we. And he says if you do go to court. Leave him leave it just like it is now he was very Eric So how did you feel after that confrontation this getting. So they did with Henry Henderson's help the city sued John Christopher in June of 1900. The story of a mountain in a Chicago neighborhood convergence with a federal probe this was a sacred undercover investigation and solved one wasn't going to end and there's a takedown we had teams that wrote to in search warrants in the name of action and do I need a lawyer and they told me you might never know my name is just so long to me I almost fell to the floor coming up next operation silver shock this is revealed from the Center for Investigative Reporting and p.r. X. Pro football players are used to treatment for physical pain not emotional pain when you're looking at a hyper masculine environment such as football it's still you know getting over I don't have to be tough all the time like it's Ok to be vulnerable it's Ok to cry the n.f.l. Is 1st full time psycho therapist Plus the latest on the partial government shutdown that's on the next Morning Edition from n.p.r. News weekday mornings on 89.3 k.p.c. See. Sometimes it seems like the news cycle is one big runaway train headed way to fast destination. I'm Mary Louise Kelly at all things considered we plan our daily voyage carefully and take the time to see the important sites along the way don't worry it will still get you where you need to go All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. Weekdays at 4.3 p.c. Scene. From the Center for Investigative Reporting in p.r. This is revealed. Today we've been talking about a mountain of trouble in the Chicago neighborhood. Made up of construction debris and deception that 6 stories high 5 blocks long Robin Aymer of USA Today's new podcast called the city has been telling us a story so Rob it catches up we've got a neighborhood that's getting tons of construction debris from all over Chicago dumped on them and they're having trouble getting their voices heard downtown from what I know about Chicago politics when you can't get your trash picked up or your potholes filled the person you call is your alderman your neighborhood representative in city council was he able to help them so Bill Henry was the alderman of the 24th Ward which included North Lawndale and Gladys Woodson's block club wrote to him when they were trying to get rid of the dump. Because he was a street person you know the bone street you would know you know you can have the everything you want and if you won't something really big you figure out how bit you won't there and you don't have to give up something to get something. Bill Henry was 1st elected alderman in 1903 and he did what Alderman often did to build support they handed out favors like city jobs and contracts but he was also known as the deal maker in fact he was reportedly the one who introduced. John Christopher to the owner of the vacant lot where the dump was and later people would learn that he had also taken bribes from John Christopher like $5000.00 a month to ensure that the city didn't interfere with the dumping operation so the dump took on a nickname This is Bill Henry's son Conrad we was in the car and he was driving past and he said they caught him out again he was not smiling he was quite subdued Obama quite sad about in a lot of ways he was like May is nothing I can do about it he like he been duped like he had been used to dump that there after the dumping started Bill Henry was indicted on unrelated federal corruption charges he lost his bid for reelection he developed lung cancer and died the following year. His case never went to trial. By 1902 John Christopher had dumped more than 31000 truckloads of stuff in north London the city had taken him to court and the judge didn't buy his claim that he was some kind of recycler So John Christopher lost the case. The judge gave him 30 months to clean up the site but that meant the North Lawndale residents would have to keep living next to the dog for at least 2 and a half more years. But rather than clean up the site John Christopher disappeared so the city appealed to the state and federal environmental protection agency is finally in 19044 years after the dumping started they came out to North Lawndale but they only removed about 150 truckloads of stuff they determined were hazardous like barrels of chemicals they left the 31000 truckloads of construction debris behind the 6 story mountain was still there. So that's it then I mean end of story they're just stuck with this mountain Well no not exactly this is where the story takes a really crazy turn what happened to John Christopher after John Christopher disappeared Henry Henderson who is now the city's environmental commissioner reached out to one other federal agency that he thought could help in the situation because he had a personal connection at the u.s. Justice Department Scott's you know old friend and he was 1st assistant at the time Henderson called on Scott was our 1st assistant u.s. Attorney in the northern district of Illinois in other words Lazaro was one of the federal government's top. Criminal prosecutors in Chicago so Henry Henderson talks to scholars are saying you know we're having a real hard time and we think that this is a larger criminal endeavor here and we really need some help but Henderson says his old friend dismissed him telling him this was a municipal waste problem I asked Scott was our about this conversation we knew about the illegal dumping going on very wild when we couldn't vet Christopher was working undercover time this was a sacred honor cover and asked again and and so when you weren't going to and so I had to rate off him wait. Do you mean yeah John Christopher was working undercover for the f.b.i. Yes John Christopher who started this illegal is actually working for the United States government Yeah that's right how did that happen so it all started with this investigation into a bank failure this local bank in Chicago went belly up in 1901 and an f.b.i. Special agent named Tony D'Angelo started looking at the bad loans the bank made he was an expert in white collar crime and organized crime and he discovered that the biggest bad loan this bank had made had gone to one man John Christopher Mr Christopher had a couple of trucking companies some other businesses and he had borrowed I can't remember the exact amount but I believe the total deficit the bank was in the millions $2500000.00 that's what John Christopher would later say in court through these companies he borrowed money and was not paying the loans back on time and they had to be ultimately be written off. Tony De Angelo looked up John Christopher in the F.B.I.'s database and learned they had a prison record and mob ties so D'Angelo calls John Christopher thinking he can help the f.b.i. Boss the higher ups at the bank so I told him I was you know I looked at your dealings with cosmopolitan bank I've got you dead to write on financial fraud with your loan application and I found in my career that people are very curious they want to know what information you have about them what evidence they also mentioned you know I know you just go to jail you have a couple kids maybe we can help each other they arrange to meet at a Pizza Hut I mean if you want to know the guy take a picture John Christopher. Built like a bull about $510.00 stocky wearing a Members Only jacket talks and downs and. Just a just a funny guy I laid out my case against him from fellow Italian just listen to me talk they start meeting regularly and one day during one of these meetings he goes oh are you interested in politicians. Absolutely do you have on politicians Well little did I know at the time that John Christopher have been bribing paying off and doing what every new do with all her money and various city officials. John Christopher turned out to be a bribing machine he told the f.b.i. About bribing Bill Henry the North Lawndale alderman and other Chicago alderman and city inspectors he'd been bribing public officials his whole adult life. The f.b.i. Knew about John Christopher's mob connections and criminal past plus is what the mob would call a stand up guy he went to prison once and didn't give anyone up and a guy like him actually talking to the f.b.i. And telling them about his illegal activity was incredibly rare so it occurred to the f.b.i. That he would be the perfect mall John Christopher was the kind of guy you'd never suspect of working with the f.b.i. But also coming out of prison feeling like the mob hadn't taken good care of his family while he was away and so John Christopher agreed to wear a wire to cooperate with the f.b.i. To strap a tape recorder to his body and go looking for dirty politicians to bribe. The f.b.i. Called it Operation silver shovel like the 30 pieces of silver Judas got for betraying Jesus like the bulldozers at John Christopher's dump. It. What you're hearing are secret recordings John Christopher made while working for the f.b.i. I decide to the f.b.i. To get them in this one it's January 1905 and John Christopher is sitting down to lunch with a Chicago alderman there at a West Side soul food restaurant called Agnus when I'm sure. That's Alderman Percy Giles ordering the short ribs He's really hard to hear in this tape because the tape recorder is across the table from him hidden somewhere on John Christopher's body if. You are sure you are seeing Shar on that what you are was of course I was you don't know what made it clear you are one are. You John Christopher tells the older man that he has a construction firm sure I walk in there. And John Christopher explains that he wants a contract for a shopping center being built in Percy Giles as Ward Ok I want to your school really we're going to. Carry right and he offers Percy Giles $10000.00 to guarantee that he gets it ordered. What's going to happen. Basically 0 effort to be given. Up trying to get some walkers out what we're saying here. You know I'm sure you know. John Christopher needs to get the payment on tape so a few days after that 1st lunch John Christopher and Percy Giles meet at Edna's again and this time John Christopher brings the money with him the 1st of 2 payments of $5000.00 each. From all. Over the world. So he says to Percy Giles Here's the 5000 and it's all there and Giles takes the money that you were put there in the pocket. Of. The f.b.i. Had recruited John Christopher to catch the kind of crooked politicians who let him dump in North Lawndale John Christopher found many of them willing but others less so here's a tape he made of a conversation with an Illinois lawmaker named Ray Freeh s drama who were chilled out. To write off on it is that we were in Iraq for I've never made any kind of right like this for or as a legislator John Christopher tries to put him at ease he basically says all politicians take money it's a garage. Thank you for thank you very much I mean we're not sure you know life has that sort of thing going for the money or if we can't meet one of the one single politicians who want to do to get elected don't think one of our you just gotta find the right group. Operation silver shovel lasted for 3 and a half years although it started with public corruption eventually brought in to include things that had nothing to do with politicians let alone the North Lawndale . John Christopher helped the f.b.i. Catch people laundering old mob cash they even folded in a drug bust along the way. And so in January 1906 it was finally time for the feds to stage what they called the takedown we set up kind of a command post special agent Jim Davis was in charge and from that command post we issued a execute order we told him all to go to the same time and then we just waited for results more than $100.00 federal agents fanned out across the city the command post was in the federal building downtown Jim Davis was stationed there with 4 or 5 other agents to help the man the phones and manage the teams in the field we had teams that wrote to in search warrants but the most focus was on the actual interview teams of interview and subjects the agents interrogated more than 40 targets including 7 Chicago alderman 3 officials from the water treatment agency and to city inspectors they questioned everyone at the exact same time that way no one target could warn any other target to hush up or destroy evidence or get a lawyer Percy Giles was in his West Side office when the f.b.i. Showed up he's the alderman who met John Christopher Edna's soul food restaurant. And. First time on a told. Me Then later. By them lying about their relationship with John Christopher would show that they know that there is some reason for them to lie about that relationship bridge shows that they have some understanding that it is a corrupt relationship. And they told me you might when I went home that night and that I never. I was nervous so nervous when I would tell my wife about it I remember my knees just face of me I almost fell to the floor Percy Giles was afraid but he didn't think he'd done anything wrong but other aldermen came clean we had multiple confessions that came that were being reported back to us in the command post which was really surprising we didn't expect it and I think that these guys were so stunned to learn that John was working with us that they just figured they had nowhere to go an alderman named Ambrosio mage Rondo had taken $31000.00 in bribes from John Christopher in exchange for helping him with his dumping operations in interviews after the takedown but Drano had trouble explaining to the press why he'd succumb to John Christopher's charms you know I don't think that whenever anybody does anything wrong the really know why I don't know to be honest I don't wish to move operate it was yes he was I can tell you that. From the initial meeting that I had with him and the 1st time that I actually met with him and accepted the money had been several months I mean he had. Called me and badgered me and calls me a mass move asked me to meet with him and I recant why I finally gave him I don't know that was a mistake I mean I did I accept total responsibility for what I did. Ultimate Johnno pled guilty and went to prison for 30 months when he got out he ran for office again but ended up going back to prison a 2nd time a new corruption charges. Over 3 years federal prosecutors indicted a dozen Chicago officials caught up in operations over shovel almost all pled guilty or were convicted of corruption. The only politician who was acquitted of all charges was. The reluctant sounding state legislator who'd never made an arrangement like that before. Says he still bewildered as to why the f.b.i. Chose him as a target he argues that the f.b.i. Turned an otherwise loyal public servant into a figure of corruption. They sent to me. Phony money. The fact. He committed. To me they can do. I think that was totally unfair. With Operation silver shovel over and done with what happened to John Christopher's vacant lot I don't think that we should. Because. We do. Create That's next on reveal. The next fresh air our holiday week a favorite interviews of the year continues with Michael Pollan we talked about his latest book How to change your mind about the history of psychedelic drugs and current experiments with them in therapeutic settings to treat depression fear of death and addiction the book also recounts his own experiences with psychedelics join us tonight at $10.00. And there was no shortage of important complex news in 2018 and k b c c m n.p.r. Where they're bringing you the reporting analysis and conversations that help make sense of it all will be a lot of important stories to cover in $21000.00 to the time to stand up and show your support donate now to power all the engaging stories and valuable journalism you'll rely on make your year in tax deductible give now a k.p.c. C dot org And thanks. From the Center for Investigative Reporting and p r x This is reveal Let's we've been hearing about a major f.b.i. Investigation in Chicago in the mid ninety's caused a stir nationwide in Chicago today federal officials announced charges in what they call Operation silver shovel a wide ranging probe of public corruption operation silver shovel lasted 3 and a half years at the heart of it all was John Christopher a man with an extensive criminal record a man who are working as an f.b.i. Informant dumps 6 stories of construction debris in the West neighborhood North Lawndale residents there called a large an unsightly dump site the mountain and they accuse the federal government of allowing Christopher to continue dumping and poor and minority neighborhoods while using him to target public officials u.s. Attorney burned denies the charge Robin Amer's been our guide telling the story she's the host of a new podcast from USA Today called the city and it looks at how power is wielded in American cities Hey Robin Hey Al So I guess the feds were happy with how Operation silver shovel went down Oh yeah absolutely I mean by the time this wrapped up the feds would refer to Operation silver shovel as one of the biggest and most successful corruption probes in Chicago history they had investigated more than 40 targets indicted a dozen politicians on corruption charges. Most of whom went to prison and they had also used John Christopher to launder millions of dollars in old mob cash really hitting the outfit the Chicago Mafia where it hurt and they even sold it in a drug bust along the way so this investigation was by their account very successful What about the people of Chicago were they happy to see all these corrupt politicians get jail time yes and no the investigation did not play out in Chicago's neighborhoods the way it played out on the nightly news 1st almost all the targets of this investigation were black or latino there was a lot of criticism of this and the government justified the results by saying well look this is just how the operation unfolded One alderman would introduce us to another to another to another it was all about their personal connections and a lot of other people felt betrayed not just by their elected officials who are taken bribes but by the investigation itself how so while in North Lawndale John Christopher's mountain was still standing I mean by the time the takedown actually happened this giant illegal construction debris dump had loomed over the neighborhood for almost 6 years and the f.b.i. And the u.s. Attorney's office had no intention of removing it it wasn't part of the investigation or part of the takedown this is what Jim Davis who was the agent in charge of the investigation told me about this I don't think that we had any obligation to clean up my own Henry because 1st of all that's not what we do and we didn't create it I mean there are agencies that are responsible for cleaning up stuff like that that's not our business what about that I mean couldn't the e.p.a. Be brought in to help clean up the dump Well in theory but the e.p.a. Looked at the situation and said you know there's no hazardous waste here this is a municipal waste problem it's not our job to clean this up and so really the city was left holding the bill here of course the city had already sued John Christopher and one. But instead of forcing him to clean it up he had just declared bankruptcy and how effectively disappeared and the f.b.i. And giving Congress for cover while he was an informant for them made this problem worse for all the people who had been fighting him. They said about him being old does something that we never even hinted. On one of my visits North Lawndale Rita and Michelle Ashford told me that they were shocked to suddenly learn that the man that they'd been fighting for 6 years was working for the f.b.i. Well. All this while we couldn't get any help. With it they knew all this was going on. Before we even begin to fight for and the reason why we couldn't get any. Government and they knew it from the very beginning we just figured that John Christopher had concrete pal there he was making money off of it and that's the purpose of. It was my 1st thing what if it was show and they said Oh you did a damn site ice a Christian John Krystle Gladys would send the block club president to North Lawndale told me that she and her neighbors were collateral damage they'd been used they were never able to get traction fighting John Christopher and now they could see why he had to have banking you know people that we will contact in seeing you know was pushing it on the road not answering for everyone in North Lawndale whose children had been hurt whose property had been damaged whose neighborhood had been disrespected this was a huge breach of trust this people that then had asthma attack the people that own own oxygen machines that anemia few people to move out of the neighborhood just move because they couldn't. Then the dust since the news about Operation silver shovel seem to confirm what they've been saying for years about the government's neglect of their neighborhood because let's face the fact they want to put that up in the white community not have. John didn't have to be allowed to have that done because you have that ammunition to use against him . What about John Chris from what happened to him when the whole thing broke when Operation silver shovel was revealed well even though John Christopher had agreed to wear a wire for the f.b.i. And had become the centerpiece of this major undercover investigation his participation was not actually like a Get Out Of Jail Free card he did not have a deal with the f.b.i. For full immunity so f.b.i. Agent Jim Davis told me that at the beginning of the investigation he had warned John Christopher not to do anything illegal that wasn't part of the investigation. And I would just try and reassure him and say look if you're straight with us you know if you continue to do what we're asking you to do you know if you stay out of trouble you're going to be Ok but John Christopher did not hold up his end of the bargain while the investigation was going on while he was cooperating with the f.b.i. He was still committing other crimes and he went behind the bureaus back in other ways so for example at the same time operations of the shuttle was going on the f.b.i. Was also looking into this illegal gambling operation run by an alleged mob boss named Tony said truckie Oh you know John referred to him as his uncle Tony and that was a problem for me because we had a wire and Uncle Tony the wire was a video camera hidden in the ceiling of Tony central office and every time John went in to see you know we were recording John in primarily criminal conversations which was a. Adding to the moaning evidence that we were going to have to present against him at the end of this case it's not totally clear what John Christopher was doing there because he was never charged in this illegal gambling case but him showing up on another investigations wire made things really complicated for Jim Davis and his fellow agents I would have liked to have said stay away from Uncle Tony's office but I can't tell John that we have a wire dollars off which John Christopher also neglected to file his federal income tax returns in 1993 I know it seems so Monday in but ultimately this is why he went to prison John Christopher was sentenced to 39 months in prison but he was never forced to clean up the dom's or provide restitution to anyone in North Lawndale and then after he got out of prison he disappeared again maybe for good this time I mean he's been gone for like 20 years and nobody knows where he is to did you try and track him down yeah I've been looking for John Christopher for almost 3 years trying to figure out what happened to him after he got out of prison because he cooperated with the f.b.i. He could not safely return to his old life or even be in Chicago without f.b.i. Protection so I looked for him everywhere I could think of and now I just I found nothing eventually I learned the f.b.i. Had set him up with a new name and a new social security number and a new life and that there was this f.b.i. Agent in St Louis who might have all that information so I asked if he would talk to me and if not if he would pass John Christopher a message for me and this was the response I got from the f.b.i. Is public information officer. And it's right back to the f.b.i. I think well if I spoke with the agent. And he says that. To get sympathy for the force but not surprisingly he declined to participate again he says it is his responsibility to protect the source and that he hopes that you understand that so thank you very much and when you know even a question I think. Even after all this time it appears that the f.b.i. Is still protecting John Christopher. What about all the trash he left behind I mean the dump itself what happened to it while when the feds washed their hands of this problem and said bye bye Chicago and with all the intense public scrutiny and the national media coverage that operation silver shovel had garnered the city finally stepped in and started awarding contracts to companies who could haul this rubble away remember the law amount Henry once stood spanned 21 acres and the mountain itself was 6 stories tall so these cleanup contracts were going to be really big and really lucrative the cleanup had just started in January 1906 when the Reverend Jesse Jackson stepped in the right to remove the community because it was going to be a good lucrative job for someone to have the job so Reverend Jackson the civil rights activist and 2 time candidate for president had 1st come to Chicago in the 160 s. His Rainbow Push Coalition is headquartered here and the way Jackson tells that when he 1st learned about Operation silver shovel he realized that this cleanup presented a unique opportunity John Christopher had dumped in a black neighborhood and it helps take down black politicians but someone was going to get paid to clean up the dumps and Jackson one of the city to hire black owned trucking firms to do it if there isn't then there was resistance because. Those who used to get these going to the men in their right to get them and we demanded their rights as a member of the system. So Reverend Jackson mounted a major protest to back up his demands we are going to the trucks and the removers on this frigid Saturday in early February 1906 dozens of diesel trucks and bulldozers plastered with signs that said things like We want our fair share and hire us to clean up the dom's all these trucks lined up in a convoy and headed for North Lawndale and we did a. Trip Across the city. With just trucks and tractors and true dumpsters and we. Cross the city so traffic to do it throughout was when the convoy arrived in North Lawndale the company that had started the clean up blocked the entrance to the site but Jackson in the truckers eventually got into the site and he gave a speech from on top of a tractor he threatened to continue the protests into the summer when the Democratic National Convention was going to be in Chicago in advance of the $96.00 election the Chicago Tribune characterized his threats this way give us what we want or watch as we wreak havoc on your big important party this summer it was only then that the mayor agreed to hire black owned firms to clean up the gumbo with those protests and it worked but the residents of North Lawndale were not impressed when the dumping had 1st started in their neighborhood Reverend Jackson was one of the people they'd written to asking for help and was Woodson says they never heard back from him at least not until after Operation silver shovel was finished and the camera crews arrived at the solution of the story broke and then the thing that would just stand in Palau you know we did indeed know you didn't. Know that took credit for a lot of the stuff that had been done. But there was way after the fight. The cleanup continued through the spring of 19061 by one dump trucks filed onto the lot and backed up to the mountain bulldozers began slowly chipping away at the tightly packed mass of concrete and dirt filling up truck after truck after truck residents like Gladys Woodson who'd watched in those early days as John Christopher set up shop now watch the process slowly or a wind sort of. Profound thing wow now we found it's gone it's gone be gone. It's like. Dusty. With the trucks coming in to get to. It least they sprayed the street down which Chris John never. Never did 8 years after John Christopher 1st showed up in North Lawndale the clean up was over and it was all like a puff of smoke and everything changed here Rita Ashford's daughters Shereen and Michelle was there one day. Oh my loan they will be rolling all night long get it out of the at once they broke and when you look at the pal went from well you know the kids used to run up in a stand on the tap and it went from being up there. So Robin what happened to this vacant lot in the 21 acres located right there in the city it must have been a pretty coveted piece of real estate Oh yeah it was basically like a blank canvas just waiting for the right kind of development you know the kind that could build community ties or bring jobs and money back into the neighborhood and especially after the embarrassment of operation silver shovel this lot offered a chance for then Mayor Richard m. Daley so-called renaissance to finally touch down in North Lawndale not to offload unwanted trash but to build something new but like so many other opportunities in the story this one was also squandered there have been several attempts to build on this lot over the past 20 years but so far none have been successful and the lot is still empty today and for many of the North Lawndale residents I spoke to a prime piece of real estate this big that has sat empty for this long indicates a larger problem a kind of neglect and abandonment that began long before John Christopher brought the 1st truckloads of debris to the lot and has continued long after what I want to say is like I can't believe that this happened in an American city but the truth is I can. What an incredible and frustrating story Robin thank you so much for bringing it to us thanks for having me. Who. Did. The so over here 24 years see here. A lot of memories one day not too long ago. Took a walk in the lot with the mountains to the home to the rabbit the terrorized neighborhood kids take he was in high school in the clean up started protective over. Day he left to go away to college or state and when he came back the hills and the mountain had disappeared. To me been a key. But it's still a vacant lot and the big picture problems greed and indifference they created the mountain are keeping empty today. Thanks to Robin for bringing the story and the rest of the crew of USA Today's the city. Sam Greenspan. And my friend. The city's executive producer is Liz Nelson you can find the city on Facebook and Twitter at the city in Visit their website where you'll find photos interactive augmented reality map of the mountain John Christopher deposition. The City dot com . Deborah George was the editor. Of. The day. For the city. Help this week from the band's music. Like support provided by the Reeve and David foundation the John MacArthur Foundation and Family Foundation Foundation. Foundation. Journalism foundation reveal is a co-production of the Center for Investigative Reporting in p r x. And remember there is always more to the story. 'd Hi Everybody we've got Fresh Air with Terry Gross up next then it's q. From the c.b.c. At 11 and at midnight we go live to the b.b.c. In London it's a minute before 10 at 89.3 k p c c. Next time on Latino USA. The love and very special connection we have with our close our grandparents That's next time on the USA tomorrow night at $9.00 k.p.c. . This is $89.00 k. P.c.c. Pasadena Los Angeles a community service of Pasadena City College dream to get over 70 security programs to choose from there and more Pasadena that edu. From w.h.y. Why in Philadelphia I'm Terry Gross with fresh air today we continue our holiday week series of favorite interviews from 2018 with Michael Pollan His latest book is about the history of psychedelic drugs and how they're now being used experimentally in therapeutic settings to treat depression addiction and fear of death the therapists administer small doses of the drugs sit with the patient during the trip and give advice like this if you see a monster for example don't try to run away walk right up to it plant your feet and say What do you have to teach me what are you doing in my mind as part of his research Pollan tried several psychedelic drugs himself but before each trip he worried about things like this pay you're 60 years old you're going to have a heart attack you could go crazy there could be some demon lurking in your We'll hear how those trips turned out. First news. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Amy Held President Trump and the 1st lady have visited troops at the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany they stopped by for the meet in greet and refueling on their way home from a surprise trip to see service members in Iraq N.P.R.'s Tamara Keith reports it's the president's 1st visit to an active combat zone since taking office nearly 2 years ago President Trump met with military leaders and greeted members of the military in a dining hall decked out with Christmas decorations the trip itself was shrouded in secrecy with Air Force One departing around midnight and arriving at the Al Assad Air Base in darkness Trump told reporters traveling with him that he wasn't worried about his own safety but was worried about the institution of the presidency the 1st lady and everyone else traveling with him Tamara Keith n.p.r. News traveling with the president the president and the 1st lady are due back in Washington Thursday morning it's a busy time for holiday gift returns one research firm estimates that 20 to 30 percent of all online purchases will be sent back N.P.R.'s David Schaper reports that could cost the retailers up to $37000000000.01 reason returns are so costly is that the e. Retail supply chain is designed to ship things out not take them back so returns could sit for a long time before they might be resold the other reason is that so much of the stuff that we buy online is sent back as much as half of all clothing shoes outerwear and other apparel that is bought from Amazon and other retailers ends up getting return N.P.R.'s David Schaper reporting severe weather in the country's midsection is disrupting post holiday travel South Dakota Public Broadcasting's Gary allen bolts reports winter storm warnings extend from northern New Mexico up to the Canadian border several elements are coming together to bring heavy snow rain and wind gusts around 50 miles an hour to millions of people who Falls South Dakota meteorologist Kyle winds are has been tracking the storm for much of the week he says the storm could impact the region for the next several days it's a very slow moving system it's digging into through Mexico right now coming up through southern Texas.