Protest against CPD union in Near West Side ends in 12 arrests
Cook Country State Attorney Kim Foxx's decision to drop charges against Jussie Smollett criticized
May 13, 2019
Last Monday, protestors gathered in Union Park to rally against the union of the Chicago Police Department.
Protestors included members of Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), Southsiders Organized for Union and Liberation, Reclaim Chicago, and The People’s Lobby.
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police recently came under scrutiny for organizing a rally criticizing Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx.
The rally was organzied following Foxx’s decision to drop charges against actor Jussie Smollett, who has faced national scrutiny for fabricating a hate crime earlier this year.
The rally was attended by three white nationalist groups, including the Proud Boys, the American Guard and the American Identity Movement.
The Proud Boys have been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The police union stated that they were unaware any white nationalist groups would be in attendance. The groups were permitted to stay at the rally.
Protestors congregated in Union Park, eventually moving to Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #7. Those in attendance eventually blocked the road by sitting in the intersection of Ogden Avenue and Washington Boulevard, making a human chain to signify unity.
Many in the chain were broken up and put into a police wagon.
A total of 12 protesters were arrested. Those detained were later released.
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A front of the F.O.P’s #7 Lodge. The front of the Lodge was lined with police, with a barrier of bikes and officers standing between protestors and the entrance to the building.
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Anthony Clark, a teacher at Oak Park and River Forest High School and local activist, speaks at the protest.
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Protestors blocking the road by making a human chain were broken apart and carried into a waiting police wagon and detained for a short period before release. Many of them are faith leaders.
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Protestors chant, “We got your back!” in Union Park, across the divide from where arrest volunteers were blocking the road.
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