COPA REVIEWING VIDEO THAT SHOWS POLICE SUV DRIVING ON SIDEWALK, STRIKING PROTESTER NEAR LIGHTFOOT’S HOME
A video posted to social media shows an unmarked Chicago police SUV driving on a sidewalk Saturday night and striking a protester as hundreds gathered near Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Logan Square home to decry the alleged police brutality that took place when demonstrators attempted to tear down a Grant Park statue of Christopher Columbus a day earlier.
On Sunday, a police spokesperson said the incident is being reviewed by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates misconduct allegations lodged against officers.
The video, posted to Twitter, shows the black police SUV traveling east on a sidewalk in the 3300 block of West Fullerton as protesters gather in the street. Despite some rushing toward the sidewalk into the SUV’s path, the driver continues moving forward and strikes a person walking with a bicycle.
As the SUV makes contact with the protester, he appears to be thrown into a planter on the sidewalk. At the same time, other demonstrators are seen dodging the vehicle as it pushes past.
The driver then continues eastbound to the end of the sidewalk, where a protester is seen hurling himself into the side of the SUV. When the SUV takes off into the roadway, a group of demonstrators are seen giving chase.
The officers in the SUV were headed to “assist another officer with an unruly crowd,” according to a police spokesperson, who said the incident is now being reviewed by COPA “to determine investigative jurisdiction.”
Earlier in the night, officers set up barricades at every street and alley within a half-block of Lightfoot’s home in anticipation of the protest. At one point, scores of cops penned in protesters on three sides of the intersection of Fullerton and Kimball, which is about a block from the mayor’s house.
While the peaceful protest grew tense at times, police reported that no arrests had been made by 11 p.m. A department spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident portrayed in the video.
The protest was in direct response to the city’s handling of a demonstration Friday night that resulted in violent clashes between police and protesters who were trying to tear down the Grant Park statue of Christopher Columbus.
As officers guarded the statue, some of the protesters were seen tossing projectiles and incendiary devices in their direction.
Amid the chaos, officers were seen hitting protesters with batons and using pepper spray to quell the crowd. On Sunday, COPA announced that more than 20 misconduct allegations are now under investigation.
One cop was shown on video punching 18-year-old Miracle Boyd in the face and knocking out some of her front teeth. The video shows the officer use his left arm to hit Boyd, an organizer with the activist group Good Kids Mad City who appeared to be backing away.
The incident drew the ire of some elected officials, including state Sen. Robert Peters, a Chicago Democrat who recently offered Boyd an internship.
“She’s someone who fights every day for gun violence prevention, who fights for a safe community,” Peters said a day after the standoff near the statue. “And what did she face? Abuse.”
Lightfoot, who has resisted the mounting calls to substantially cut the city police budget, described the reports of excessive force as “unacceptable” but also cast blame on some demonstrators who she said lobbed projectiles and incendiary devices at officers.