» LOOTING
Foxx said. “It does not serve us to have dishonest blame games when all of our hearts are breaking by what we’re seeing.”
In a statement issued Monday afternoon, the Chicago chapter of Black Lives Matter noted that Chicago is the largest city in the country to not change its policing budget after Floyd’s death.
“Righteous and justified anger — like the kind expressed after the police murder of Laquan McDonald and subsequent cover-up — has proven to be the only tool for police accountability that the public has at their disposal,” BLM said. Three charged in looting incidents
Meanwhile, in bond court, looting cases started to come in. Three men — two from Chicago and one from Joliet — faced charges.
Devin Draper, 21, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon after officers spotted him carrying looted merchandise outside a South Side shopping mall, at 112 W. 87th St., shortly before midnight Sunday, according to Cook County prosecutors. Draper ran off when he saw the officers, prosecutors said, but he tripped in an alley. While performing a pat-down, an officer found a gun on the front left part of Draper’s pants, prosecutors said.
At the same scene about 10 minutes earlier, Devon Bates, 29, was carrying an estimated $600 worth of merchandise from City Sports when officers told him to stop, prosecutors said. He was charged with burglary and resisting arrest.
Then, around 12:52 a.m. Monday, officers standing outside the Burberry store on the Magnificent Mile watched Denisck Lomax, 25, throw a brick through a storefront window, prosecutors said. He then threw a brick at a police sergeant.
Lomax, who lives with his parents in Joliet, denied throwing the brick at the sergeant but admitted to throwing it at the window, prosecutors said. He was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer, resisting arrest and criminal damage to property.
Draper, whom the judge said she believes poses “a real threat to the community,” was held on $300,000 bail. Meanwhile, Bates’ and Lomax’s bails were set at $6,000 and $5,000, respectively. All three are expected back in court Aug. 17.
West Side standoff
A tense standoff between police and hundreds of West Side residents also unfolded Monday afternoon.
It wasn’t clear what prompted the gathering, but a crowd of hundreds came together near Madison Street and Karlov Avenue about noon Monday. A Chicago Tribune photographer was hit in the head with a brick and required medical attention. A reporter and a photographer for the Sun-Times were threatened when they approached some people in the crowd.
By 1 p.m., hundreds of officers had flooded the area.
A police SWAT team tried to clear the crowd from an alley near that intersection, forcing the larger crowd to break into smaller groups. Some people tried to break into the back door of a business in the neighborhood, but it was unclear if they gained entry. Other businesses along the street were closed, with their metal gates down covering their storefronts. A few had their windows broken.