Good morning, Chicago.
Former Chicago police Detective Richard Zuley once spent time on a special assignment at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, but on the witness stand on, the retired investigator took a position seemingly at odds with a facility notorious for the human rights abuses of the interrogations that unfolded there.
“Rapport works,” Zuley said. “Interrogation doesn’t work.”
Zuley spent more than three hours testifying at the Leighton Criminal Court Building after he was called to the stand by Cook County prosecutors fighting off a petition that asks a judge to vacate a murder conviction. He denied beating and coercing witnesses and suspects — saying he favors a more gentle approach — even as defense attorneys grilled him about a history of internal complaints and lawsuits.
Through Zuley, the unusual post-conviction case has linked the troubled U.S. detention center in Cuba with the shooting death of a child in Cabrini Green in 1992. The retired detective’s account followed testimony by former Guantanamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who in November said a team led by Zuley tortured him in the early 2000s until he falsely confessed to planning to attack the CN Tower in Canada.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Madeline Buckley.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including a replacement for the Columbus statue at Arrigo Park, 5 questions for the Bulls to answer in their final 27 games and why David Schwimmer is doubling down on Lookingglass Theatre.
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Then-Britain’s Prince Andrew, left, and Britain’s King Charles III leave after the Requiem Mass service for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral in London, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan)
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Jonathan Jackson, center, steadies his brother Yusef Jackson as they address the press on Feb. 18, 2026, about the passing of their father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, outside the family home in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
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Empty space remains after the statue of Christopher Columbus was removed by the city for public safety at Arrigo Park, July 24, 2020. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune)
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Chicago police officers carry Bernie Sanders, 21, to a police wagon from a civil rights demonstration at West 73rd Street and South Lowe Avenue in August 1963. He was charged with resisting arrest, found guilty and fined $25. He was a University of Chicago student at the time. (Tom Kinahan/Chicago Tribune)
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The black-and-white photo shows a 21-year-old Sanders, then a University of Chicago student, being taken by Chicago police toward a police wagon. An acetate negative of the photo was found in the Tribune’s archives, said Marianne Mather, a Chicago Tribune photo editor.
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United States’ Tage Thompson, right, celebrates with Dylan Larkin after Larkin scored against Sweden during the second period of a men’s ice hockey quarterfinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Bulls forward Matas Buzelis and guard Josh Giddey high-five in the second quarter against the 76ers on Dec. 26, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)
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Lookingglass Theatre artistic director Kasey Foster and ensemble member and co-founder David Schwimmer in Chicago on Feb. 13, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
David Schwimmer is doubling down on Lookingglass Theatre
David Schwimmer, long a close friend of the Lookingglass Theatre, is re-engaged, reenergized and determined to coax the struggling Chicago theater company where he began his career back to life.
The 59-year-old actor, who shot to fame playing Ross on the hit sitcom “Friends,” has joined the Lookingglass board of directors, grabbed a spot on its finance committee, started taking meetings with everyone from the arts booster Lou Raizin to the mayoral candidate Alexi Giannoulias and brought in a fancy new website development team.
Brandi Carlile performs “America the Beautiful” during Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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