Crime & Law
Nearly 60 Arrested After CPD Clashes With Group Officials Say Was Determined to ‘Wreak Havoc’
Fifty-six members of a group calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza were arrested outside the Israeli consulate in the Loop late Tuesday after they clashed with Chicago police officers, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said Wednesday morning.
Members of the group Behind Enemy Lines were taken into custody and transported to a makeshift courthouse at Belmont and Western avenues to make an initial appearance, Snelling said. Among those in custody are three journalists who were arrested after defying police orders, Snelling said.
“We will not allow people to come to this city, disrespect it and destroy it,” Snelling said at a news conference at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. “Enough is enough.”
At least 22 of the people who were arrested are not from Chicago. Another 14 people have declined to provide identification to officials, Snelling said.
Forty-seven people were cited for disorderly conduct for breaching the peace or failing to obey police orders, according to Chicago police. Twelve people were charged with misdemeanors, and just one person is charged with a felony, records show.
Two protesters were injured during the melee, and were treated at a hospital before being released back into police custody. One experienced knee pain, and the other suffered a finger injury, Snelling said.
Two officers were also injured, but did not seek medical attention, Snelling said.
Snelling said officers had no choice but to declare a mass arrest, implementing a new policy developed in advance of the Democratic National Convention for the first time.
“We will not allow people to come to this city, disrespect it and destroy it,” Snelling said.
Behind Enemy Lines advertised Tuesday’s unpermitted protest with social media ads that urged participants to “make bruises from Chicago police batons the 2024 back to school Fall fashion” and “make it great like ‘68.”
CPD policy prohibits officers from arresting those engaged in First Amendment protests for “minor or petty offenses … or for actions that pose no immediate threat to the safety of the community, or others, or of causing property damage.” Protestors can only be arrested as a last resort, when police have evidence that their actions pose an immediate threat to the lives of others or may cause property damage, according to the policy.
Snelling said officers followed both the letter and the spirit of that policy.
“Last night was a danger to our city and a danger to our citizens in this city, our residents, property,” Snelling said. “CPD had to protect them. So CPD stepped up.”
Members of the group physically attacked officers and singled out female officers, Snelling said, showering them with “vicious, nasty, sexually explicit” abuse directed at them because of their gender.
Snelling declined to detail the exact nature of the abuse directed at female officers, but said it was designed to provoke violence, both from the female officers and their male colleagues outraged on behalf of their fellow officers.
“We were not the initiators of violence, but we responded to it,” Snelling said, praising the officers for attempting to de-escalate the situation. “CPD is not going to run away.”
CPD officers “kept their cool” and “did not take the bait” from a group determined to fight with police, Snelling said.
“That we were able to take near 60 people into custody with minimal injuries tells you that what’s happening with the Chicago Police Department is transforming,” Snelling said. “This is a transformation. Please report that.”
It is no longer 1968, Snelling said. During that year’s DNC, a police riot erupted amid fierce anti-Vietnam War protests.
“Let’s get off 1968. Let’s stop talking about 1968. It is 2024,” Snelling said.
Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood said it would be an insult to those committed to exercising their First Amendment rights to call Tuesday night’s events a protest.
“What we had last night was people who came down to the city to cause harm, to wreak havoc,” Gatewood said.
Snelling also announced felony aggravated battery charges against an 18-year-old Park Ridge man, charged with tackling a police officer during a Monday afternoon protest, causing the officer to hit his head and suffer a concussion.
Another large protest calling for an end to the war in Gaza is set to begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Union Park, near the United Center, and march along the protest route approved by federal officials. It will follow the same route approximately 3,000 protestors followed on Monday during a demonstration organized by the same group.
WTTW News’ Jared Rutecki contributed to this story.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
