* Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown today…
* After watching several videos, it’s not hard to see that at least some protesters were indeed itching for a fight…
* But this is from an NBC5 video of the situation on LaSalle St…
That looks like classic kettling…
“Kettling needs to stop,” [Ald. Andre Vasquez] tweeted Saturday night, alongside a video showing officers appearing to surround protesters. Vasquez echoed critics of the tactic in adding, “It is what creates the tension. It’s what made things escalate the night of the first riots and it continues to.”
History…
In 2012 the City of Chicago agreed to a $6.2 million class-action settlement over the mass arrest of protesters and passersby kettled during a massive protest marking the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
* CPD claims it offered people an opportunity to leave…
But…
* Sunday press release…
Below is a statement from elected officials on Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Police Department’s crackdown on young protestors in the loop on Saturday evening.
The elected officials signing on to the statement at this time are: State Senator Robert Peters, State Senator Celina Villanueva, State Representative Lakesia Collins, State Representative Theresa Mah, Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, Alderman Andre Vasquez, Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor, and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson.
“Chicagoans have been told that it is necessary to spend 40% of the Chicago budget on police in order to prevent violence and promote public safety. Yet this weekend, just 24 hours after a 12-year-old boy was shot and at the same time as another shooting was taking place on the south side, Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown stationed thousands of officers downtown, where they kettled, pepper sprayed, and beat demonstrators–some of them as young as 17 years old.
“We once again condemn Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown for their use of police force against these demonstrators on Saturday night, and for the continued escalation of surveillance, violence, and detention of protestors. We question the logic of spending police dollars on social media surveillance, pepper spray, and riot gear to beat teenagers while the directives of the federal consent decree go unmet and the murder clearance rate remains abysmally low.
“We are wholeheartedly with the protestors who have taken to the streets to demand a future free of violence. Many of these young people are themselves anti-violence activists who, like too many other Black and Latinx Chicagoans, have lost friends and family to gun violence. It is their right to protest, and it is our responsibility to listen. We encourage Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown to do the same.”
Follow-up today…
Since this statement was released, the Chicago Police Department has continued to escalate its surveillance, abuse, and propaganda efforts:
They have made the frankly ridiculous argument that officers with guns, helmets, bulletproof vests, batons, riot gear, and pepper spray were threatened by teenagers with umbrellas and skateboards.
Somehow, they did not have ANY body camera footage of the latest shooting of a civilian last weekend, but they were able to immediately release selectively edited footage of Saturday’s protests in an attempt to justify their use of force despite firsthand footage showing officers beating an unarmed Black youth as he lies on the ground.
They have been condemned by legal observers for publishing the pictures, full names, and locations of those arrested on Saturday
* Tribune…
Chicago police released a video Sunday afternoon saying it showed outside agitators in rain ponchos and umbrellas instigated the violence Saturday, but organizers pushed back on the narrative.
“They come out with a gun and a baton and pepper spray and Mace and they get mad about some water bottles? They get mad at umbrellas?” Kamil said.
CPD video…
The use of umbrellas is a tactic devised by anti-government demonstrators in Hong Kong…
In Hong Kong, umbrellas are more than just protection from rain or glaring sunshine. They have become tools for expression, privacy and self-defense—and that’s made them a staple of the anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the city over the past three months.
Ponchos also protect demonstrators from gas attacks and water is used to flush eyes after demonstrators are hit with pepper spray, or to hydrate during the heat, or, as the cops rightly note, to hurl the bottles at the police.
* CBS 2…
Elena Chamorro, 18, of Lakeview, was charged with one felony count of aggravated battery to a peace officer and one misdemeanor count of mob action. Chamorro was arrested at 7:03 p.m. Saturday in the 0-99 block of East Randolph Street after police said she battered a uniformed deputy chief of police during the protest.
CPD posted Chamorro’s home address online. If you click here and here (language alert), you can watch video of the alleged altercation. Seems like the white shirt more than held his own. And the protester was a very determined person.
* Meanwhile…
A family is raising money online to try to rebuild after their salon was damaged by people looting last week.
China McNeil opened ChiHair Imports about five years ago but has been in the hair business for more than 20 years. The salon, 674 N. Dearborn St., sells hair extensions and wigs.
The shop was among those targeted last week by people looting in the Loop and surrounding areas. The unrest began after police shot a 20-year-old man in Englewood, though those arrested for the thefts did not mention a connection to the shooting in court, the Tribune reported.
The fundraiser for ChiHair Imports was started by the owner’s daughter, who wrote on GoFundMe her mother had “lost everything she has worked for in one day.” The campaign has raised more than $6,000 so far, but the family-owned salon is trying to get at least $10,000 to rebuild.
McNeil’s daughter expressed solidarity with protesters condemning the killing of Black people at the hands of police, but said “in these moments of solidarity however, businesses have been destroyed.”
They’re almost to their $10K goal. Click here to donate.
* Some additional coverage…
* Blame game for weekend downtown melee pits mayor and CPD against activists
* Accusations fly between police and protesters one day after violent clash injured dozens
* At Tense Downtown Protest, Police ‘Kettle’ Activists — And Aldermen Have Questions
