Good afternoon, Chicago.

Aurora Mayor John Laesch is defending his decision to have flags at Aurora municipal facilities flown at full-staff Friday through yesterday while flags at federal and state facilities were at half-staff following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during an appearance in Utah on Wednesday.

In a statement released Saturday afternoon, Laesch said that on Thursday, the city of Aurora joined communities across the nation in lowering municipal flags to half-staff in remembrance of the lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. On Friday, Sept. 12, Aurora’s flags were returned to full-staff, the statement said.

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