Protests give rise to chaos
Lightfoot imposes curfew to curb demonstrators’ ‘criminal conduct’
After intense skirmishes overnight, a Loop protest escalated with thousands of demonstrators marching, burning at least one flag, climbing onto a CTA bus and a light pole, hurling bottles, overturning police cars and surrounding officers on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a news conference shortly after 8 p.m., saying the demonstration had “evolved into criminal conduct” as she imposed a curfew on the city: from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.
Lightfoot said of the curfew that violators will be given a chance to disperse and then they will be arrested. The order exempts essential workers.
The mayor, who said she was “disgusted,” said she had seen protesters use pipes, bats, hammers and other objects to damage property.
“I’m here to call you out for your recklessness,” she said, directing her comments to some of the protesters.
“I’ve seen protesters hurl projectiles at our police department ... bottles of water, urine and Lord knows what else,’’ she said.
“I want to express my
disappointment and really, my total disgust at the number of others who came to today’s protests armed for all-out battle.”
Lightfoot singled out out “the people who came armed with weapons,’’ calling them “criminals.”
“We can have zero tolerance for people who came prepared for a fight and tried to initiate and provoke our police department.’’ She ruled out calling in the National Guard.
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown was also on hand, saying officers had many things thrown at them, including molotov cocktails. “We will be taking you into custody when you destroy property,” or burn cars, Brown said.
“People are destroying property, meting out violence in the memory of a man who was unjustly killed, murdered by police officers.”
At least one officer had “broken bones,”’ and several others suffered less serious injuries, Brown said. He added several buildings had been vandalized, windows broken, and police responded with pepper spray and “arrests to prevent looting.”
The crowd, which swelled to around 3,000, began their demonstration at Federal Plaza at 2 p.m. in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis Monday. Later Saturday afternoon, protesters made their way onto Lake Shore Drive and shut down portions of the roadway.
As of 3:30 p.m., hundreds were marching north and became more and more raucous, even hostile, throwing fireworks, bottles and reportedly a liquid near officers. Some also began tagging buildings, cars and a bus shelter.
Protesters began cheering as several somehow hopped onto a No. 151 bus, carrying flags. The bus, which was halted, was occupied by a driver and did not appear to have many passengers.
At one point, protesters gathered on three sides of a police vehicle that was backing up on Dearborn Street, and confrontations had broken out between officers and protesters as a police car tried to roll down Monroe Street in the Loop.
Later, police and protesters clashed just outside of Trump Tower when officers wearing helmets and carrying batons pushed protesters out of the way of a police vehicle.
Deandre Washington, 27, gathered early at Federal Plaza before the protest officially began and said he was “mad as hell” when he saw the video that showed Floyd’s death. As a black man in Chicago, he fears being the victim of police violence on a daily basis.
“I worry every god damn day,” Washington said.
By 4 p.m., the crowd had broken up into several groups heading in different directions, including Trump Tower, where it became especially chaotic with some throwing bottles and fireworks at officers.
Along State Street going north, marchers chanted, “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe,” most of them donning masks and many hoisting signs that read, “DEFUND THE POLICE” and “JUSTICE FOR FLOYD.”
People standing on the sidewalk who appeared not to be part of the protest apparently posed for pictures with the marchers in the background. Some passing vehicles honked their horns in apparent support of the protesters. At one point, someone threw a drink at a police squad car.
Along the Magnificent Mile, a marcher could be seen later wearing a mobile stereo around his neck as the song “Fight the Power” by famed rap group Public Enemy blared from it. At the same time, church bells sounded from the Fourth
Presbyterian Church.
Zach Daniels, 20, was marching late Saturday afternoon. “I’m really tired of seeing racial injustice across our country,” said Daniels, who is a student at Moody Bible Institute.
As the march moved to East Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue, one person could be heard shouting, “Shut down Lake Shore Drive.”
Shortly thereafter, the crowd began to enter the outer drive through a northbound entrance ramp.
“George Floyd! George Floyd!” they chanted.
A 27-year-old woman who identified herself as Lola was marching on southbound Lake Shore Drive as it was shutting down. She said she came out to “bring representation.’’
“To make sure the people who are murdered by cops have a voice and the best way that I know how to do that is leverage my white privilege, and I think it’s important to protect all black people no matter their background or their behavior or where they grew up.”
By 5 p.m., officers had responded to at least a dozen calls of 10-1, a police emergency, as they worked to control the crowd, some reportedly trying to overturn a Chicago police car, others trying to hop onto another CTA bus and some fighting with officers.
Also as of that time, officials had closed the Ohio and Ontario feeder ramps going in and out of the downtown Chicago area.
Additionally, ramps to the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) had been closed, and the CTA temporarily suspended Red Line service between the Clark/Division and Sox-35th stations.
Then, around 7:30 p.m. at Dearborn and Hubbard streets, a police vehicle was overturned.
A few minutes later, a loud “boom” was heard, and officers flipped it back again and demonstrators moved closer to Kinzie and Dearborn,
outside Harry Caray’s.
Around 8 p.m., a man could be seen on horseback in the same area.
Earlier, officials asked protesters in Chicago to remain peaceful as demonstrations were expected to continue throughout the weekend over the death of Floyd.
Speaking at a service event on the South Side on Saturday morning, Superintendent Brown and Lightfoot decried the actions of the officers in Minneapolis.
“I understand and I feel the pain and anguish the killing of George Floyd has evoked all over this country,” Lightfoot said.
She referenced the 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, calling it a “painful period we experienced as a city.”
“We have lost too many people to violence in the city. It wasn’t just Laquan McDonald,” she said.
When asking protesters to stay peaceful, Lightfoot criticized President Donald Trump’s response to protests in Minneapolis, saying, “It’s not easy when we have a president who is inciting violence.”
“Let’s be better than him,” said Lightfoot, who also urged residents that COVID-19 “isn’t gone from Chicago” and that they should wear masks while protesting.
Earlier, Brown said there were about 108 arrests made in connection with the protests Friday and early Saturday. Among those arrested was someone who faces pending gun charges.
“Many came to the downtown area in Chicago last night,” Brown said at the Saturday morning event. “The protesting early on started peacefully and ended more aggressive and intense.”
Asked about whether there was looting Friday and early Saturday downtown, where store windows were smashed, Brown said police hadn’t yet gone through inventory with store owners to see whether anything was missing. It remains under investigation.
By the time the demonstrators dispersed from Chicago’s downtown area early Saturday, windows of several Loop businesses were broken, leaving shards of glass strewn on the streets and sidewalks. Garbage cans and flower pots were also toppled over.
About a dozen squad cars were damaged, and some officers were injured, including one with a broken wrist, Brown said.
Floyd, who was black, died Monday after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was captured on video pinning Floyd down by his neck.
The video footage went viral on social media, sparking national outrage that resulted in protests, rioting and looting in several cities. Minneapolis and St. Paul have seen fires set by protesters and major property damage.
A civil rights investigation was launched after the video surfaced, and Chauvin and three other officers were fired. On Friday, authorities announced that Chauvin had been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
In the video, Floyd is lying facedown on the street and handcuffed, while Chauvin presses his knee into Floyd’s neck. And then, Floyd is heard on the video repeating, “I can’t breathe.”