Credit: Law Enforcement Today – Jenna Curren
CHICAGO, IL– On July 17th, in Grant Park, another peaceful protest was hijacked by violence. According to officials, “vigilantes” planned an “ambush” against Chicago Police Officers, which led to violence among activists and police.
According to reports, on July 20th, the Chicago Police Department said that it looks like organizers of the protest knew there was planned violence. However, organizers of the protest are claiming that those allegations are false.
The Chicago Police Department released a video which shows people at the protest dressed in black, forming a phalanx with umbrellas, and then throwing harmful items at officers.
According to authorities, this attack was a planned “ambush” of officers that left 49 officers injured, including one officer who had his eye socket broken, and another who had his kneecap broken by the thrown objects.
Initially, the protest was organized to empower Indigenous people in Chicago, and to call for the removal of the controversial Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park. Instead of a peaceful protest about the removal, there were violent clashes between protesters and police, that left activists and police bloodied and injured.
Among the activists, an 18-year-old had her tooth knocked out during the chaos. The video clips that the police have released from throughout the protest, show that the protest turned in a riot as people clearly hid behind umbrellas and banners.
Protesters used these umbrellas and banners to change into black clothing, form a wall, and eventually march into officers that were positioned around the Columbus statues. Police also said that the people in black clothing used PVC pipe that had been sharpened to a point, and jabbed them at officers.
Others dumped out items, including frozen cans and bottles, so that others could grab them easily and throw them at the officers. Some even threw explosive devices at the officers, which damaged one officer’s eye, which might require surgery.
According to the police, 18 officers in total had to go to a hospital for treatment after the so called peaceful protest turned violent.
During a Monday morning press conference, police said:
“What you see here (in the video) is obviously an ambush on the police officers.”
Supt. David Brown said that the peaceful protest had been hijacked by organized mobs. Out of this violence, 12 people were arrested for mob action, battery to a police officer, and criminal damages to property.
During the press conference, Brown was asked if he thought the organizers of the peaceful protests knew a group was planning to incite violence.
He responded by saying:
“God, I hope not, but it sure looks like it.”
Allegedly, Taylore Norwood, an organizer with GoodKids MadCity, said the anti-violence group was not involved in the violent acts against the police, and claims they did not know of the planned violence ahead of time.
She said in a statement:
“We had no idea that was happening. People walked right into a red action and were totally unprepared for the violence that occurred.”
She continued on:
“If police officers are being taught to de-escalate situations, why didn’t it happen Friday? We expect the city and the mayor to value people over property.”
Brown’s response:
“After Friday, police will now assume that there may be mobs working with peaceful protesters to incite violence at all protests. We’ll have to change the way we deploy our resources, how we’re trained, the expectations of of First Amendment protests have to include this level of violence.”
She continued on:
“If police officers are being taught to de-escalate situations, why didn’t it happen Friday? We expect the city and the mayor to value people over property.”
Brown’s response:
“After Friday, police will now assume that there may be mobs working with peaceful protesters to incite violence at all protests. We’ll have to change the way we deploy our resources, how we’re trained, the expectations of of First Amendment protests have to include this level of violence.”